He pushed a sweat-dampened curl away from my face. “You won’t be saying that when you’re in front of them with nothing but a half-cocked plan to back you up. And I thought you got over your objections to being here a long time ago.”
“I have,” I said, rocking back on my heels. “But my dad used to get me 7-Up and Saltines whenever I was sick, which was often, thanks to the souls. I miss that. I miss him.”
He frowned, standing. “I’m not a replacement for your dad-never will be-but should I go to the store and get those crackers for you?”
“No!”
I moved too quickly, felt the bile rise in my throat again and turned, just in time, as he stroked a hand up and down my back soothingly. I spat and crawled my way to the sink, filling a cup with water. “No, I’d rather keep that a fond memory between dad and I but thank you anyways.”
“Hades, I have some-oh.” Hermes ground to a halt as I stood, using the counter next to me for support. “You look like Hell, Emma.”
I squeezed some toothpaste onto my Sonicare, flipping him off as Hades led him from the room. My stomach felt squidgy, like a water balloon only partially filled, and I willed nausea away-imagined it receding and winking out, bit by bit. How the hell did I get sick anyway? I’d never once seen Hades, Hera, Hermes or Poseidon with anything but a slight sniffle, let alone a crippling fear of being more than twenty feet from the nearest bathroom.
“It’s your weakness,” Hades said re-joining me. “I pulled you out of the water after you became immortal and before your entire body could follow suit.”
“So, I have the lifespan and invincibility of an immortal being, but the immune system of a human?”
“Essentially, yes.”
“Yay.”
He crossed his arms over his chest, leaning against the doorframe. “Hermes tells me that the Fates have moved up the time of your trial to a half an hour from now.”
“You’re kidding, right?”
“They’re not known for their sense of humor, so no.”
I groaned aloud. “Tell them to stick it where the sun doesn’t shine and choose another day.”
“Emma…”
“Don’t you dare ‘Emma’ me, Hades! I’m sick. The last thing I need, on top of puking my guts up for the last hour, is to see their smug faces as they dole out punishment as gleefully as they can.”
“Are you upset about the timing, or that you have to go in front of them at all?”
“Both. I refuse to believe that they called a special meeting just to discuss the way in which I chose to become immortal. Completely waste of time if you ask me.”
“There are rules and laws the gods are expected to adhere to, which now includes you.”
“In all their millenniums of meddling, have they ever taken it easy on someone because their heart was in the right place?”
“No.”
“Perfect.” I turned and walked into the bedroom, Hades on my heels.
“If you’re worried about what they’ll do to you, I can-”
“What? Convince them to give me a second chance? Let me off with a warning and slap on the wrist?”
“You know I can’t do that.”
I sank to the couch, pulling a blanket around my shoulders as I stared into the flames of the fire. “They can banish me from the Underworld or tell me that I can’t help another soul, but they can’t take away my immortality. And as long as I still have that, I’m safe from the Furies.”
“I won’t let them take you away from me, Emma. That’s not an option.” His face was set like stone as he sat beside me, pulling my legs across his lap.
“You might not have a choice, Hades,” I said. “And, if that does happen, I don’t want you to blame yourself for it. We’ll make this work from Portland.”
He tilted my face towards his. “You sound like you’re already giving up hope.”
“I don’t want to go there without weighing all the possible outcomes, Hades.” Light flashed through his eyes and knew I had about a minute before the anger caught up to it.
“I will fight any decision that separates us. That’s my promise to you.”
“Except that you don’t have control over what happens,” I said, shaking my head sadly. “So please don’t make promises you might not be able to keep.”
He mumbled incoherently into my hair as I snuggled closer, inhaling the spicy-sweet scent of him and after a few moments, he sighed heavily, shifting me in his arms.
“I know you don’t want to, but maybe we should…?” He gestured to the door and I grimaced.
I don’t want to do this.
“Here’s a great idea, why don’t you go in my place, and tell me later what they’ve decided?”
“I’ll be right there with you, love. You won’t go through this alone.”
“I just wish that I knew what their options were ahead of time, so I could prepare for it.”
“The Fates are unpredictable, merciless in their sentencing and strict about the rules. You’ve broken a major one, an irreversible one. I have no way of predicting what they’re going to do.”
I slid a sweater over my shoulders as he helped me to my feet, where I swayed once but didn’t puke, a small victory. “Way to make me feel better, Hades. Now I’m sure that I don’t want to go. Tell them I’m too weak to move, or that I’m attached to the toilet and can’t move, which isn’t even far from the truth.”
“Love…”
His voice said it all and I sighed, dragging my feet as he led us down the hallway.
“Emma, ward of the Underworld and soulmate to Hades, Lord of the Underworld, step forward, please.”
I did, eyes flitting between the four Fates and Hades, who stood next to me, hands tucked into his pants pockets, expression tight and calculating.
“You willingly submerged yourself in the River Styx without permission or knowledge of the act from either us or Hades. In doing so, you became an immortal being. Do you deny this?” The Furies folded their arms in front of them, waiting.
I licked my lips nervously and saw, out of the corner of my eye, Poseidon slinks into the room, stationing himself along the wall. My first gut instinct was to call him out-throw him under the bus with me, but I made the decision long before he arrived, and it wasn’t right to sentence him, too, when he just wanted to help me.
“No, I don’t deny it.”
“There are rules which prevent anyone, god or otherwise, from entering the River Styx without first consulting us or allowing one of us to accompany you. You did neither, instead of taking it upon yourself to undergo this reckless mission alone. Do you deny it?”
“No, I don’t, though I won’t apologize, either.”
I heard the collective gasp spread through the room and held my ground, refusing to be intimidated by any of them. I pushed on, despite Hades’ attempts to get my attention. If I was going down, I wasn’t going without a fight first.
“Becoming immortal was the only way to save myself from the Furies, who would’ve killed me the second they had the chance. I knew Hades would try to stop me and convince me that he could protect me from them, but doing so puts him in danger, too. So, I made a judgment call.”
“Furies which you, yourself, created in a misguided attempt to address the sudden surge in extra souls. Is this correct?”
“That was a mistake, and if I could, I would undo what happened that day in a heartbeat.”
“She’s not here to answer for those souls, only to address the issue of her immortality,” Hades said, threading his fingers through mine. “If you have further concerns, you may speak to me about them later.”
One of the Fates pursed her lips together in agitation, surveying me with shrewd, beady eyes. “You took it upon yourself to change the course of your fate, something which was ill-advised and poorly thought out. It’s because of this serious misstep that we’ve decided it’s best if you returned to Portland, memoryless of your time here in the Underworld, or the people you’ve met.�
��
I felt my head spin as I clutched Hades’ hand.
“You’re cursing me like Prometheus cursed Persephone?”
“No, not curse, never curse. But we’d wipe the slate clean.”
“What about my gifts?”
This can’t be happening. I thought I knew the worst-case scenario, but I wasn’t even close.
“You’ll still be able to see, hear and communicate with the spirit world, but you won’t remember how to help them, as things were meant to be before you met him,” she said, pointing to Hades, who barred his teeth.
I could hear the snarl ripple its way through his throat before it burst into the air and I turned my head against his shoulder.
“First you take my wife away from me. Now you’d take my soulmate, too? That’s beyond cruel, even for you.”
“We make rules for a reason, Hades. Your soulmate broke one. If we didn’t punish people when they deserved to be punished, how would we maintain the balance of the Universe?”
“You’re just as vindictive as the Furies,” Hades said, and the Fates’ raised their eyebrows in challenge.
“You’re not on trial here, Lord of the Underworld, but continue to insult us, and you might be.”
“Find another way to punish her. I need her here, by my side.”
“Our decision is final. Let her go.”
“No.” He held onto me tighter, even as the truth of her words hit my stomach like a bunch of TNT.
I’m safe, the Furies can’t hurt me now, but what I did to make sure that happened was stupid. I have to face the reality of that eventually. Maybe this is for the best.
I slid out of his embrace, tucking a lock of hair behind my ear as I took a deep, calming breath.
You don’t mean that. They’ll separate us, Emma-and their decisions aren’t always temporary.
They’re not going to let us leave this room until they get what they want, Hades. Do you actually think I wanted this to happen?
Then fight, goddamn it! We’ll find another way out of this.
No, we won’t, and you know I’m right.
“I accept my punishment.”
Our worlds were never meant to cross paths. Besides, I’m so bad at this whole sorting-souls thing. You’ll be better off without me.
Never.
“So be it.” The woman stepped forward as the others shuffled behind her and I glanced over to Hades again, trying to tell him with my eyes what I couldn’t say out loud and he inhaled sharply, hands balled into fists.
This isn’t forever, love. I’ll get you back, I promise.
Don’t make promises you can’t keep.
As the woman raised her arms, I took in the room around me one last time, felt the warmth of Hades’ hand in mine, and squeezed my eyes shut.
This is best.
One breath,
Two breaths,
Nothing.
“Blueberry scone and white chocolate mocha,” the barista said, sliding a plate and ceramic mug in front of me and I thanked her, licking a bit of whipped cream from the tip of my finger as I stared out across the busy café. Early morning sunlight filtered in through a couple of bay windows, illuminating the space in hues of butter and gold and I closed my eyes, savoring the warmth.
Which lasted approximately a minute before I felt the familiar chill in the air, groaning to myself as I peeked over the table at the woman hanging her purse on the back of her chair, patting a couple of stray hairs into place.
She glanced up at me with bright hazel eyes, smiling a little as I tried-mostly failing-not to stare directly at her. Most normal people found that weird and slightly alarming.
“I know you can’t talk to me, Emma, and that’s fine. But you’ve been ignoring me lately, and for the life of me, I can’t understand why. It’s not like I have anything else to do with my afterlife except watch over you and wait for you to-begrudgingly it seems-acknowledge my presence. But if all I have is you, the least you could do is try.”
I kept my face composed as I pulled my cellphone out of my bag, pressing it against my ear and waiting for a few moments as she sighed dramatically, rolling her eyes skyward.
“Grandma, it’s Emma. Believe it or not, I do have a life that’s not dictated by familial visits. If you’re really keeping tabs on me as much as you say you are, you’d probably know this. I’m sorry that you feel slighted by me, but to be fair, you’re not going anywhere in a hurry.”
She pursed her lips together into a thin line. “Your grandfather asks for you constantly, and I’d like to be able to give him more news about you other than ‘yes, she’s still in Portland and no, she still doesn’t have a job.”
She brings him up as a guilt trip. He didn’t care much for me during his life, so I highly doubt he does now.
“I’m taking things slow. Weighing my options.”
“For the past eight months? I swear, Emma, I have no idea how you’re not living on the streets, but-”
“I have money, grandma.”
“From a mysterious stranger, you know nothing about. Haven’t you ever stopped to wonder where it’s coming from?”
“Of course I have-I’m not stupid. But Bank of the West has no knowledge of the wire transfers, or even where it might be coming from. It just…appears in my account once a month. And I’m not complaining,” I said as she opened her mouth to speak. “You know that I can’t hold down a regular job, not with the constant influx of people waiting to see me twenty-four hours a day. Including you. And I swear to God if you say, ‘you’re a beacon’ one more time, I might go crazy.”
“I wasn’t going to say it, but you know I was thinking it.”
“I’m going to hang up now, Grandma, but you can tell Grandpa that I’m fine-happy-and don’t need either of you to worry about me.”
“Never going to happen, honey bucket,” she said, standing. “As long as you have those gifts, the spirit world will never leave you alone. Get used to it.”
“I’m not sure I ever will, oh yeah, and you need to think of another nickname for me because that one is gross.” I slid the phone back into my purse.
She sent me a look that was half pity and half resignation before disappearing, and I leaned back in my chair, pinching the bridge of my nose. I loved her to pieces-she was my grandma, after all-but these constant intrusions into my life were a bit much. She wasn’t around me for the last few years of her life, due mostly to some unfortunate political disagreements that left her favoring my brother’s company over mine, and maybe this was her way of making up for lost time. Who knew. But it was downright depressing now.
I picked my scone apart, head down so I didn’t have to look at anyone as Grandma’s words swirled through my brain. It wasn’t true what I said about the money. It worried me because I didn’t have anyone who would do that for me willingly without first telling me about it or expecting something in return. Unless Barb became wealthy overnight and decided to share some of that with me. The thought made me giggle and glance up, straight into the most striking pair of forest-green eyes I’d ever seen.
He sat a couple of tables away, facing me, newspaper open and untouched in front of him, the corners of his mouth quirking upwards into a little half-smile as I quickly looked away, eyeing the ceiling panels like they were the most interesting things ever.
There was something about that first interaction, though-something that tugged at the recesses of my mind, and it was frustrating that I couldn’t place any of it.
I watched as he stood, moving towards me, and I steeled myself for conversation, but he bypassed my table completely, depositing his paper cup into the recycling bin before leaving the café, and I felt the breath whoosh from my chest as I lay my hands flat on the tabletop. Who the hell was that and more importantly, why was he making me feel like I just ran a freaking marathon? Did I know him from somewhere? The way he looked at me, like we’d known each other for years-unnerved me because I was sure I would’ve remembered meeting him.
&n
bsp; People milled around me as I sat there, listening to the breath whistle through my lungs as my mind beat wildly against steel bars that encased it.
Chapter Twenty-One
Hades
He strolled onto the beach, checking the lists once more as salty ocean air whipped its way through his hair. Same thing every day-same routine-except this time, she noticed him.
Good first step he thought, smiling a little to himself as he walked towards the lines of souls.
Hermes detached himself from Horace and Jasper, taking in Hades’ joyful expression, and scowled. “You were in Portland, weren’t you?”
When Hades remained silent, he cursed, low under his breath, handing Hades a tablet. “You can’t keep doing this, brother! She might still be your soulmate, but she doesn’t remember who you are, and won’t anytime soon, thanks to the Fates. Leave her be.”
“I accept your counsel on things dealing with the souls, brother, but stay out of my personal life, if you know what’s good for you,” Hades replied, calling the first soul forward.
“Emma deserves a life free from this chaotic, danger-filled place.”
“You don’t need to tell me what she deserves; I’ve tried to make her happy since the moment I first met her,” Hades said, swiping another name off the screen.
“And you think you’re doing that by continually visiting her? She’s going to notice you stalking her, Hades, and start asking questions that you can’t answer.”
“I’ve been careful so far. Sticking to the shadows, surveying her apartment from across the street -”
“And today’s coffee shop date? What of that?”
Damn. I knew that wouldn’t go unnoticed.
“Her grandmother decided to pay her a little visit. I was simply making sure Maxine didn’t tell Emma anything she’s not supposed to.”
Hermes gazed back at him for a long moment before shaking his head. “You can’t even lie convincingly to yourself, let alone me. She’s not Persephone-there’s no curse to break this time-so the best thing you can do for her is to stay out of her life.”
Before I Fell Page 21
