My Tattered Bonds

by Courtney Cole

  “Then perhaps I could have a word with you, alone?” He glanced at the rest of the group. “I’m sure Aphrodite should rest. And Persephone, perhaps you could keep the rest of our visitors entertained?”

  “Of course, my love,” she nodded. “I would be happy to.”

  She rose from her seat without eating and swayed toward me. But she didn’t even look at me. Instead, she fixed her gaze on Cadmus and took his arm.

  “We have many lovely things in our home. I so rarely get a chance to show them off. Please, come with me.”

  Cadmus looked to me, his forehead wrinkled in concern. Here in the Underworld, I wasn’t able to read his mind but I already knew what he was thinking. He didn’t want to leave me alone with Hades. And to be honest, I didn’t want him to. My heart was racing already. But I didn’t have a choice. Hades might know something about Raquel. In fact, I was fairly certain that he did. And I knew that he wouldn’t share anything if we didn’t play by his rules.

  So, I sighed and nodded. “It’s fine. I’ll be fine.”

  Cadmus stared into my eyes. “Are you certain?”

  “Of course,” I answered with as much bravado as I could muster. “Hades just wants to talk to me. It’s alright.”

  Persephone laughed, her voice tinkling like expensive crystal bells. “What harm could come from a conversation?”she laughed. “Truly. She will be fine.” She looped her other arm through Aphrodite’s.

  “We have so much to catch up on,” Persephone murmured to my mother. “Please, tell me everything.”

  She led them away and out the door. Cadmus glanced worriedly over his shoulder as they left and I smiled at him in reassurance. It was an assurance that I didn’t feel, but hopefully he didn’t know that. The Amazons trailed behind them and as the last one turned the corner, Hades turned to me.

  “I’ve known for a long time that this day would come,” he confided in me, his voice like velvet. I honestly could listen to his voice forever. It was like creamy caramel drizzling over my entire body. It was that smooth. I shook my head. Why was I dwelling on that? What was wrong with me?

  “You have?” I studied his handsome face. He didn’t seem worried or concerned. Like everyone else, he was simply expectant. “And now that it is here?”

  “Now that it is here, I find that I do not know what to say.”

  He laughed softly as he picked up my hand and turned it over to trace my birthmark with his fingers. His touch was electrifying and I wondered if it was that way for everyone or if he and I just had a strange connection. I tried to calm my breathing.

  He bent his dark head to examine my mark more closely.

  “This looks painful,” he said as he traced the blackened outline of the Phoenix. “Why did they do this to you?”

  His eyes held sympathy and it appeared to be genuine. Every trace of danger that had been there only a few minutes ago was gone and now, he somehow seemed kind. But I knew better than to trust it. I pulled my hand away.

  “I do not know,” I admitted. “But it doesn’t hurt any longer.”

  He shook his head. “It is a pity that they marred even a fraction of your perfection.”

  “I am not perfect.”

  “That is debatable,” he replied softly and I couldn’t help but watch his perfectly formed lips as he spoke. What had he done to me? Why did I feel such a pull toward him? I had never experienced anything like it. Even with… Cadmus. My soul mate. I cleared my throat.

  “Can you help me find my daughter?”

  He studied me for a moment, cocking his head just a little, causing his dark hair to tumble into his eye. He tossed it out of the way.

  “Perhaps,” he answered. “But what would do for me in return?”

  Panic took off in my chest like a flock of startled birds. There wasn’t anything I wouldn’t do for Raquel. But here in the Underworld with Hades, I felt as though my very soul was on the line. And I knew that more than likely, that was exactly the case.

  “What do you mean?” I whispered, taking a step back.

  He circled around me, putting both hands on my shoulders and leaning in to speak softly into my ear. His breath was warm on my cheek.

  “I think you know what I mean,” he answered. “I want you to stay here… with me. Is that too high a price for your daughter?”

  His voice was almost intoxicating, as if it was caressing my face as he spoke. I almost leaned into it before I realized what I was doing. I blinked hard and yanked away.

  “What are you doing to me?” I demanded. “Stay there. Don’t come any closer.” He laughed, but remained motionless as I requested.

  “We have a connection. Don’t you see?”He watched me from a distance as I backed slowly away.

  “We don’t have a connection, Hades. You just want what you cannot have. I think you must get bored down here and this is how you bring excitement into your life.”

  Before I could say another word, he blurred into motion and was at my side in an instant. I had forgotten… I might not have goddess abilities here, but he certainly retained his. I cringed away as he pulled me to him, sliding his hands against my back.

  “You think that was excitement?” he asked innocently. “I think not.”

  He pressed his lean form against me, running his hands along my sides, trailing his fingers upward along the sides of my breasts. My nerve endings were on fire. I inhaled sharply and looked away.

  “Now we’re getting somewhere,” he continued softly, pushing the hair away from my neck. “I can see your pulse beat here,” he said as he lightly caressed my neck. “You seem afraid.”

  “I’m not afraid,” I answered. “But I am married and I am not enjoying this. You need to stop.”

  “There’s something you should know about me,” he said as he looked into my eyes. “I am the King of the Underworld. And one of my gifts is knowing when someone is lying. You are lying. You are enjoying this right now. Perhaps it is deep down in the murky part of your soul where you hide bad things away, but nevertheless… you are enjoying this.”

  And by the gods, he was right. Everywhere he had touched me was tingling with pleasure and it turned my stomach. But it didn’t mean that it wasn’t true.

  Even still, I knew it wasn’t my fault. Hades had done something… enchanted me somehow. Perhaps this strange magnetism was one of his gifts, just like Aphrodite. I was in love with my husband with every cell in my body. Somehow, some way, Hades had turned my body into a traitor. I wrenched away from him, shaking as I stood several feet away.

  “Please,” I pleaded. “Please. Do you know where Raquel is?”

  He nodded seriously.

  “Yes.”

  My heart rate picked up and I stepped toward him once again.

  “Where?” I heard the desperation in my voice myself, but it didn’t matter. He already knew that I was desperate to find her. I couldn’t hide that.

  “You know the price,” he said simply.

  I closed my eyes and sagged against the wall dejectedly. How was I ever going to save her? Would I really have to sacrifice my soul to do it?

  “Harmonia, come with me,” Hades murmured from two inches away. I opened my eyes hesitantly. He had silently moved to my side and reached to take my elbow. “There is something that might help you decide.”

  “There is no decision,” I snapped. “I am not staying with you. You have a wife. You love her dearly. Why would you want me anyway?”

  He looked at me in surprise. “Of course I love Persephone. What does that have to do with anything?”

  I stared back in exasperation. “It has everything to do with it! You have a wife, I have a husband. I am not staying here with you.”

  He threw his head back and laughed.

  “Ah, Harmonia. I should have expected nothing less from you and it is so delightful and refreshing.” He sobered as he studied me once more and I felt as though he was looking into my soul.

  “But I will have you.”

  He began str
olling, lightly grasping my elbow. “Come. I must show you something.”

  I was nervous, but I didn’t have a choice. Although his touch on my arm was light, it had bound me to him with invisible steel. I found my feet moving along with his, even though I wasn’t propelling them myself. Strange.

  We crossed through the lavish banquet hall and out onto a manicured terrace. Exotic flowers grew around the stone tiles of the courtyard and I inhaled them. The heady scent was delicious, like nothing I had ever smelled before…like a combination of peaches, roses, honeysuckle and jasmine. It was heavy and lingered on my tongue.

  In the center of the courtyard was a bubbling fountain. I could tell that it was very old. Three large layered bowls were balanced on a stone pedestal with water pouring from the top down. Hades led me to it.

  “This is the Fountain of Truth,” he explained. “Drink from it and it will reveal parcels of truth to you, things that have happened or things that will be. There is nothing else like it in all the world.”

  “Can it help me find Raquel?” I turned my eyes to him. He shrugged.

  “I do not know what it will reveal to you. Would you like to find out?”

  I looked at it again. It seemed innocuous enough. It was only water. Right? What harm could it do? I nodded.

  “Alright.”

  He picked up a nearby bronze cup and dipped it in the bottom bowl of the fountain. He handed it to me, stepping back to allow me to drink. I sniffed at it. It had no smell. It appeared to truly be water.

  I took a tentative sip. Then another. Nothing happened.

  And then my eyes clouded over and the present ceased to exist. I was staring through murky fog at what seemed to be the past. Zeus and Cadmus walked the cobblestone streets of Olympus, speaking in earnest.

  “You must,” Zeus implored my husband. He was frightening with his insistence, his silver eyes drilling a hole in Cadmus. Zeus clearly wanted something very badly from him. “It is the only way to protect her.”

  The hair on the back of my neck stood up. Me?

  Cadmus stared absently at the horizon of the bustling city. “I do not think I can. It is not right.”

  “Not right?” Zeus boomed and everyone on the streets around him drew to a stop, staring in apprehension. He immediately calmed and dropped his voice again.

  “Why do you think we are in this position? Because of the treachery and deceit of the Fates. They think to overthrow me. I have heard of their plans.

  “In readiness for it, I must put safeguards into place to protect us all, although I know you are only concerned for your wife. So know this, this is the only way to protect her. Otherwise, they will eventually hunt her down and eliminate her, because they know that she will stand in their way.”

  Zeus’ face was thunderous even though his voice was now calm.

  “I knew this long ago. Why do you think that I allowed Hephaestus to use my own blood when he created the necklace for Harmonia? Because my blood will be the key to save us and Harmonia must be the one to hold it.

  “You must become mortal, along with Harmonia. It is the best way to