I walked over to the window and looked down at the empty street, and out at the silhouette of the Quarter in the distance. I never imagined I would be choosing to stay in this house, though it wasn’t as bad having my friends here with me. I thought of Soren and Eira back in the fields, and hoped they were OK.
“You doing alright?” The voice came from behind me in the doorway.
I turned and smiled at Ray. “I am. Just tired.”
He shook his head and ran his fingers through his hair.
He had taken off the blue shirt he had on earlier, and was in a white undershirt, still wearing the same jeans and black leather belt. It reminded me of life with him back at our cabin in the cemetery, watching him fry bacon and eggs in the morning before we got to work.
“Are you alright?” I asked him.
He smiled and let out a breath. “Yeah. I couldn’t be happier to see you again. I just wish the circumstances were a little different.”
“A smart man once told me that nothing is ever perfect, and you just have to appreciate whatever good you have at the time,” I winked at him.
“Must’ve been a smart feller that told you that.”
“The smartest,” I replied.
The time alone in our rooms to rest and regroup made all of us feel a little better, and not quite as hopeless. I knew that I needed to head back into town to try to track down Melinoe; I still wasn’t very excited about that.
We were all in the large living room, where everything was way too fancy for us to feel relaxed, with the exception of Andreas, who was lounging across an elegant black chaise looking like a happy cat. He always felt at home in luxurious settings.
Boude and Grace were sitting on the edge of the couch with their arms around one another, Ray was pacing and looking out the windows, and Billy and Margaret were discussing going back to the Assignment Hall to see what they could learn.
“Should you go to the fields and check on Soren and Eira?” I asked Billy.
“He’s a big boy. They know where to find us,” Billy said in a tone of voice I’d never heard come out of him.
Billy was so sweet and lovable, to see him upset was foreign. Margaret put her arm around his tall, skinny frame and leaned into him. He pulled her closer and kissed her on the head, his frustration visibly easing.
“There’s more to this than I know, isn’t there?”
“I don’t think she’s the same person he knew once upon a time, or maybe it’s him that changed. He’s not been himself since she came back, which would be OK if he was happy. But I think he just feels obligated to make it work, since he waited so long,” Billy said.
“When and how did she get back? Was is when the doors were opened, or before, when Thaddeus was gathering the souls? I mean, I don’t even know how long I was gone,” I rambled.
“She was one of the first souls that Thaddeus retrieved. When he told her that Soren was waiting on her, he said she couldn’t wait to return to him,” Boude said. “That was very soon after you left, within what would probably be a week.”
I couldn’t recall the details of the things that had happened in the palace before I met Hades. I knew I hadn’t been there long; I didn’t remember Thaddeus telling me he had retrieved any souls.
“Did he bring any others back with him?” I asked.
“A few, but not the one you’re asking about,” Andreas answered.
“Eira has just been difficult since she got here. She didn’t want to get assigned, tried to keep Soren from reaping and encouraged him to find another job, and she made it very clear she didn’t want me hanging around him. She’s just tried to keep him all to herself,” Billy grumbled.
“It’s been a hundred years or more since she saw him, maybe she just wants some time with him to reconnect,” I said, not sure why I was trying to defend her.
Billy shook his head. “I don’t think that’s it. Why would she avoid getting assigned, and what reasons does she have to dislike any of us?”
I didn’t have any good replies, and no one else seemed to think they had anything to add.
“She has no redeeming qualities?” I asked. I knew Soren pretty well, and I found it hard to believe he would think so highly of someone unworthy.
Andreas rolled his head to look at us as he joined the conversation. “She must have a powerful pussy.”
I bit my lip a little too hard, and felt my face redden. I did not want to think about Eira’s pussy, on any level. I turned away, hoping no one would notice my discomfort. Andreas’s eyes caught mine—of course he noticed, but he didn’t call me out on it. I appreciated that.
“I guess I need to get out of here and find Melinoe,” I sighed.
Ray walked over to me. “I don’t think you should go alone. None of us should be out by ourselves.”
I looked around the room, waiting for someone to offer. My eyes lingered on Grace long enough for her to get my hint.
“I’d be glad to come with you,” she said, standing as she volunteered herself.
I wasn’t certain she was being truthful about the “glad” part, but I was grateful.
“Thanks,” I said.
Boude didn’t look happy about her going with me, but didn’t protest as she let go of his hand.
Grace brushed her silky, black hair behind her ear on the whole side of her face, and kissed her love on top of his head, letting her fingers play a moment in his curls. “I won’t be long.”
I watched as Boude closed his eyes and sighed at her touch. I hadn’t approved of their relationship in the beginning: a nearly centuries old vampire with a recently dead young woman—I was sure his motives were less than pure. But in time, I had come to see the love that he had for her was indeed real. It made me happy.
Grace straightened and walked over to me. As she moved across the room, I was struck by how much older she looked, which was odd. Whatever age you died at was the age you stayed in this part of the underworld. She had killed herself at seventeen to escape a very bad person, and had chosen vampirism soon after meeting Andreas. I didn’t approve of her giving up her soul, but looking at her now, it wasn’t physical aging I saw, but strength, confidence, and yes, grace. She moved across the floor like a tiger, muscles subtly gliding just beneath the skin. No matter the situation, she always looked like a sexy assassin. Today it was a black leather vest that zipped up the front, red leggings, and black boots that laced all the way up and over the knees. She was wearing her black leather eye-patch, and her red lips matched the leggings. When I dug her up, she’d looked like a sweet little school girl, in clothes the pedophile had put her in for all of eternity. The moment she was able to make decisions for herself, she never looked back.
“What’s your deal?” she asked, raising an eyebrow at me.
“What do you mean?”
“You’re just staring at me, grinning kind of stupidly,” she said.
“”Sorry… I was just looking at how pretty you are, and thinking how far you’ve come. I’m really proud of you,” I told her.
“Aww, Hel!” Grace said sweetly, then hit me on the arm. “Stop it! I don’t want to cry off my eyeliner.”
With a parting wave to everyone, we went out the door and headed in the direction of the palace. I really hoped we learned something useful, and most of all, I really hoped we got to come back.
As we walked towards town, Grace seemed more quiet than usual.
“What’s on your mind?” I asked her.
“Do you hate me?” she asked.
I stopped walking and looked at her. “Why on earth would I hate you?” I was genuinely stumped.
“I don’t know how long you were missing before we realized it. I just assumed you were safe, and needed time to process everything with Soren. I should have been checking on you.” She wouldn’t meet my eyes. “I swear though, as soon as we realized something was up, we asked everyone, and looked everywhere we possibly could. We couldn’t find you.”
“How did you learn I was miss
ing?” I asked.
“Soren went to see you at the palace. It was just before Thaddeus brought Eira back. Someone he didn’t recognize answered the door, and said they had no idea who you were and pretty much dismissed him. Then we all went back, and the same thing happened. It was so awful, and they wouldn’t let us in to look for you.” A tear streamed down from Grace’s amber colored eye.
I hugged her tightly, and she cried on my shoulder. “Grace, I didn’t expect you to rescue me. I didn’t expect anyone to. I didn’t even know where the Hell I was. But I knew you would try, and that’s enough. There’s no way we could have seen this coming.”
After her tears were dry, we continued our mission into town. There were people calmly walking down the streets, and businesses seemed to be open as they usually were. I took those things as good signs, but didn’t stop to chat.
Standing outside the palace doors, I tried to think of any possible way we could get inside. I had a feeling that knocking wasn’t going to do it for us. There was no other way in or out that I knew of, and if we wanted information, we needed it straight from the horse’s mouth, so to speak.
“Maybe just one of us should knock and the other one hide. That way if we’re captured, the other can get help,” Grace suggested.
“Yes, because all of our plans always work out exactly like we think they will,” I mumbled.
Grace looked at me like she was going to tear up again, and I realized I was punishing her for frustration she'd had no hand in causing.
“Sorry,” I whispered.
“Well, do you have any other ideas?” she asked (not unkindly, which told me she'd accepted my apology).
About that time, the door opened, and Grace and I froze as we saw our own terror reflected back at us by the mirrored eyes of Hades. We had been found out, and now both of us were going to be locked away.
Fear ran through me like icy water; my knees tried to give way beneath me, and I wanted to cower in front of this man, this thing, this god.
Grace’s hand found mine, and she squeezed it so hard that I whimpered, but the pain was good. It brought me back to myself, and I remembered she was there with me. I might not fight for myself as hard as I should, but I would protect her with every fiber of my being, even if she was the vampire and I was only human. I took a breath and pushed it all the way into my feet to steady myself, forcing myself to look past my own reflection in Hades’s eyes.
“Why are you back?” His voice rolled across my skin, smoother than I remembered, and less menacing. “You must be a brave one.” He looked Grace up and down. “And I see you brought a friend.”
He didn’t seem surprised that I had escaped, and he didn’t strike me as angry—both points in my favor.
“We came to find out what’s going on with all the freed souls. Persephone left me as reigning Queen, and when she comes back, I’ll owe her an explanation.” I hoped throwing his wife’s name in there, and reminding him that she was coming back, might be useful.
I saw the faintest of smiles cross his lips—I amused him. “She won’t be back for some time. All of the doors being open makes travel between the world of the living and dead a little more challenging than usual. As for telling you my plans, I think I’d rather let you find out on your own. I’ll be making an announcement shortly.” His eyes shined with a mischievous light.
“Let the poor girl in and tell her what you’re doing. You owe her that much after locking her away in a tomb,” Melinoe’s voice called from behind the door.
Hades turned to glare at her. I couldn’t see her face, but heard her say, “Besides, mum will be back at some point, and she’s going to be pissed about how you treated her.”
Relenting, Hades opened the door wide enough for us to come inside.
I leaned around the door without stepping in until I could see Melinoe. She was leaned back against a orange tree, peeling an orange with her black fingers.
She saw me, and the hesitation in my movements. “It’s fine, come on inside. He won’t harm you… again.”
I stepped inside the palace, followed closely by Grace.
Hades still had on the black robe, and I had to fight not to think about what was under it. He brushed his hair back and ran his fingers through his dark beard. “And you are?” he asked Grace.
“Grace.” She stood tall and held her hand out to him.
He waved her hand away. “Vampire,” he growled, and rolled his eyes, stepping closer to me.
That was the first moment since I’d been here that I almost wished I was a vampire. He was standing way too close, hovering just a breath away from touching me. I could smell him. He smelled like rich, fresh dirt, heavy with minerals from decomposing things; he smelled like the sweet roses and lilies you’d find on caskets in funeral homes; and underneath, he smelled like saltwater. The combination of scents coming from his skin and hair fit with the scary/beautiful theme he had going.
“So…” he tapped his finger to his lips, “you want to know what I’m up to, do you?”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Melinoe motion for Grace to come and stand beside her. Grace went to the other woman, and I was glad.
I looked back at Hades. “Yes.”
“That nasty vampire, Rasputin, did quite the job of muddying things across the afterlives. My wife should have never let Thaddeus handle retrieval and bargaining. Gods don’t want to deal with a go-between: it’s insulting. Some souls came back, and some weren’t allowed to leave, and then there was begging from other souls for a chance to try out another afterlife. Since the gods didn’t want to play nice, I just opened up the doorways myself, and everyone can choose where they want to go and stay. At some point, I’ll close the doors again, and that’s where the souls will stay.” His eyes flashed with amusement. “Sort of like musical chairs!”
Souls wandering in and out of other afterlives, with angry gods roaming about—this did not sound good at all.
“Aren’t all these other god’s upset with what you’ve done?” I asked.
He shrugged and smirked, the right side of his mouth raising just a bit. He knew he was handsome.
“They were, but I told them to think of it as a game. There is potential for loss of souls in their worlds, yes.” He held up a finger. “But there is also potential for growth! If they don’t go around throwing temper tantrums and trying to capture the souls they claim belong to them, they could schmooze even more souls into joining them. It’s a fresh start for all!” Hades seemed so proud of himself and his grand idea.
“And all of the gods of the afterlives are going along with this?” I asked.
“No, not all of them. Some gods just have no sense of humor, so they just kept the souls that belonged to them, and sent ours back.They sealed their doors and won’t play with us.” He rolled his eyes and turned to walk away.
I still had questions, so I followed. “Who all is participating in this? I mean are there souls running around from the Christian heaven, or Muslim heaven? Is Valhalla open to anyone after this?”
Hades stopped, and sighed, “No, the big God keeps heaven sealed up so tightly a flea couldn’t sneak in, and He isn’t one to participate in our dealings. He has his own set of rules. No one in Jannah seemed interested either. Really, so far in the competition, it’s been us, Loki, and Lucifer.”
The room swirled with this new information. “You mean Hell is open? Souls from Hell are free, and Satan is looking to claim more? People are wandering into Hell, asking themselves, ‘Hmm, would I like to spend eternity in here?’” I couldn’t even begin to process this on a logical level of understanding.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Hades spat. “Lucifer would never allow souls to just walk away from Hell—no one would stay! Besides, Hell is nearly impossible to get to unless he takes you himself. That’s part of the appeal for him: convincing souls to follow him, and then once they are there, it’s too late,” he winked.
“And you’re fine with this? Souls suffering for all eternit
y because you were playing some game!” I shouted.
“Hey!” he roared at me. “I told you this was a fair game. We aren’t allowed to lie about what our afterlife is, if we are asked directly. We can only sway with our charming personalities and wit. No false promises. I’ll be making a public announcement later to let everyone know they are free to go about their time as it was, or choose a new location at their will. I’ll also be introducing Loki and Lucifer, so that everyone knows who they are dealing with.”
Somehow I wasn’t reassured by this. I bit my lip, and tried to think of what else I could ask that would be useful.
“I figured you would be all about this. From what I hear, you enjoy reuniting people with their former lovers and families. This is an opportunity to do that for a lot of souls.” The tone of his voice tried to make it sound as appealing as possible.
“It seems like that’s information you wouldn’t usually share,” I said.
“The rules are a bit relaxed right now,” he grinned.
My mind of course went straight to Raphael. Maybe this was my chance to find him and be with him, or at the very least, find him and get closure.
“OK, I have to prepare for my speech. Time for you and your little friend to go.” Hades shooed me away with his hand.
I still didn’t like him, but he hadn’t tried to hurt me this time, and he had told me what was going on. “Thank you, Hades,” I said with true sincerity in my voice.
He stopped, and gave me a slight bow of his head. “You are welcome.”
Hades left the garden where we had been chatting, and suddenly my head was flooded with all of the sounds I had been tuning out to focus on him: namely, the rushing of water into the little pond. Beyond that, laughter.
I turned to see Melinoe and Grace with huge smiles plastered across their faces, laughing loudly and staring into each other’s eyes. Uh-oh.
“Hey there. Seems like the two of you are enjoying yourselves,” I said as I approached.
Digging to Hell (The Gravedigger Series Book 3) Page 4
