I slumped back in my chair unhappily as the waitress returned with my box and check before retreating just as quickly.
“Speaking of work, I need to get back to the hospital.”
I reached into my purse for my wallet, but he was already moving, bill in hand, towards the front of the restaurant.
“Hey, I’m more than capable of paying for my own meals.”
He stopped mid-stride, looking over his shoulder at me. “I know you are, but it doesn’t mean that you should. I’ll be right back.”
I rolled my eyes and slid my lunch into the Styrofoam container.
“Excuse me, honey.”
I glanced over at the little old lady in the booth next to me, hands folded neatly in her lap. Her eyes were a piercing hazel under a mop of short white hair. “Are you Miss Hensley? Amy Hensley?”
“Yes, I am. Can I help you with something?”
She smiled, but it was pitying in nature, and made the blood run ice cold through my veins. “I’ve been looking for you for over a year. You’re a very hard woman to track down.”
“Do I know you?”
“No, you don’t, though I know your husband well. That’s him, isn’t it?”
She gestured behind us and I swiveled, yelping when the woman reached out and grabbed my arm in a stranglehold. “He came here for you, but he can’t stay. The longer he does, the more chaos reigns.”
“Let go of me,” I said, desperately trying to pry her fingers loose.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Gabriel bearing down on us, gaze stormy and wild and I twisted again, tears springing to my eyes when her hold tightened.
“We don’t want to hurt you, Persephone, but we will if he doesn’t come back to his kingdom. The dead cannot rule themselves.”
“Release her.” His voice echoed around the room, and she shrank back against the cracked vinyl, lips curling over her teeth.
“Hades, long time, no see.”
His fists clenched at his sides as he pulled me to my feet, keeping one arm wrapped firmly around my shoulders.
“Sephora. I would say that it’s a pleasure to see you, but it’s not. What do you want?”
“You’ve been away too long. The dead have taken command.”
I felt him stiffen, an almost imperceptible shudder running through his body.
“That’s not possible. I had men...”
“Who fled the moment they realized you were nowhere to be found and I mean, really, what did you expect? You shirk your duties and leave boys in charge. You’re lucky things aren’t worse.”
“I’m needed here.”
“That’s debatable...” I said as he threw me an exasperated look.
“Ignoring this won’t make it go away,” she said, standing to loop her arm through her purse. “You have forty-eight hours to return to the Underworld, where you belong, or we decide your fate for you, which may not end well for her.” She nodded towards me, and Gabriel growled, low in his throat.
“Get out – that’s not a request.”
She shrugged, walking away. “Forty-eight hours.”
“Let’s go,” Gabriel said, pushing a hand against my lower back as he steered us outside. “Car?”
“Over here,” I said.
When we reached the Toyota, he held the passenger door open for me, glancing around the nearly deserted parking lot.
“Oh, hell no. You’re not driving,” I said, clutching my keys to my chest.
“Yes, I am. I’m dropping you off and picking you back up every day until I can be sure Sephora doesn’t follow through on her threat. So, give me the keys, or I’ll make you.”
“No matter what you do, in forty-eight hours, she’s going to come back unless I... what? Agree to move with you to the Underworld?”
He held out his hand for the keys as I slapped them into his palm.
“That’s not going to happen,” he said, sliding into the driver’s seat. “She’s full of empty threats and false promises.”
“But, what she said...about the souls taking over your kingdom...”
He glanced sideways at me as he turned down Burnside. “Well, look at you, all comfortable talking about my world.”
“You mistake this bravado for acceptance, when really, I just want to find a nice dark hole to crawl inside and hide.”
“First of all, it’s impossible for me to feel anything other than mild irritation at the insistence that my kingdom is in jeopardy. I’ve built careful safeguards in place that ensure nothing will happen. Second, you’re in no more danger today than you were yesterday, or the day before that.”
“So, is that why you’re driving me to work, and why you’re clutching the steering wheel so hard your knuckles are turning white?”
He was silent a moment, though I could see his eyes occasionally dart my way.
“Alright, fine, I may have to disappear for a few days, but just as a precaution. Totally unnecessary.”
“Uh-hmm...sure...”
“She’s trying to rile me up, as they usually do whenever I take an extended stay somewhere other than the Underworld.”
“Hey, you know them, I don’t, so...”
“I don’t want you near Prometheus while I’m away and when you’re not at work, lock your front door and don’t answer it for anyone who isn’t me.”
“You might as well assign me a 24/7 security detail.” I smirked at the thought.
He glowered in response. “I tried to do that, once, when your cousin made a play for you on our wedding night.”
“Oh, good lord,” I mumbled as I toyed with the buckle on my purse. “Why couldn’t I come from a completely normal, boring family, huh? The kind that plays Scrabble on the weekends, fights about politics and isn’t related to everyone by both blood and marriage? Is that really too much to ask?”
“One out of three isn’t bad.”
“I’m serious, Gabriel.”
“So am I,” he said, pulling into a parking spot in front of the hospital. “‘Normal’ isn’t something the gods are known for. We take pride in our bloodline, no matter how messed it up might seem from the outside. Don’t make me regret this,” he said as he slid the keys into my lap.
“I’ll be fine.”
“If anything happened to you because I wasn’t here...”
“The only reason that old hag threatened me was because you’re around me. Once you go back, she’ll leave me alone.”
“And what if she decides to hurt you anyways, just to spite me?”
“Why do you always think the worst of people? Sometimes, just trusting them to do the right thing is enough, even when you don’t think they will. She said she won’t hurt me if you return to the Underworld, and I know she was telling the truth, so stop fussing and leave already.”
He smiled, reaching across the center console to trace a path along my jawline. “How you can be so good, all the time, is beyond me. I don’t deserve you.”
“Well, at least we agree on one thing. Seriously, though, I’m going to be late if I don’t go now.”
I gathered my things together, slipping out into the muggy afternoon air. “I don’t need to tell you to be careful, do I?”
“You’re not starting to care for me, are you sweetheart?”
I snorted, straightening my scrubs. “Absolutely not, but I still don’t want you to be mauled by vicious, angry spirits or...whatever.”
He stood, leaning against the hood of the car. “You’re fighting the way you feel about me. That’s understandable, given everything you’ve seen and learned, but whether it takes two years or twenty, you’ll love me again, as you once did, and I very much look forward to that day.”
“Don’t hold your breath,” I said, and he laughed, running a hand through his hair.
“I’ll see you soon.”
He caressed me with his eyes before turning around and walking down the sidewalk, and I clutched my purse and notebook to my chest, trying in vain to calm my erratic heartbeat, long after he faded from view.
Chapter Eight
I hunched over the keyboard, cradling a mug of hot tea in one hand as I clicked through local news stories, smiling when Maddy flipped herself onto her back in her dog bed, paws twitching mid-air.
Seven days post-Gabriel and I was soaking up every minute of alone-time that I could.
Max left three days ago, storming into the apartment to grab his stuff without so much as a ‘hello’. It wasn’t that I expected a tearful goodbye or anything, but eight months together, and he couldn’t even muster up a ‘thanks for all the sex; our time together was epic and short-lived, but good luck with the rest of your life.’
Typical.
My phone buzzed, and I answered, pressing it between my ear and shoulder as I carried my mug and cereal bowl to the sink. “Hello?”
“Is this Amy Hensley?”
“Yes, it is. How can I help you?”
I heard some interference on the other line and winced, holding the phone away from my ear.
“She can’t help you from there, not now anyway.”
“I’m sorry, but were you still talking to me?”
“Just a minute please, ma’am.” Static again. “Are you home alone right now?”
There was some noise in the background, like china breaking against a solid surface and I jumped, goosebumps prickling my flesh painfully.
“Excuse me? Who is this?”
“That’s not important right now. If there’s anyone there with you, get rid of them.”
“Okay, this is seriously creepy. I’m hanging up.”
“If you do that, Hades will die.”
I felt a nasty little pit settle low in my belly and crossed to the bedroom, yanking on a pair of sweats as Maddy followed, tail tucked.
“And you wouldn’t want that, would you?”
“Don’t tell him anything, Amy.”
I heard Hades’ voice, but it sounded off, like he was speaking through a tunnel.
“If you want to hurt me, do it, but leave her alone.”
“We don’t want to do anything at all, but you’ve forced our hand. We’re coming for you, Miss Hensley, so don’t try to run.”
Click.
I dropped the phone, breath coming in short little gasps as my mind tried to process the information. Gabriel was in the Underworld, presumably, wherever that was, and, from the sound of things, it wasn’t going well. But come for me? What the hell did they think I could do that he couldn’t?
A knock at the front door had me scurrying to the other side of the bed, crouching down low as I crushed my dog to me, ignoring her squawk of protest.
“Miss Hensley, open up.” Another knock.
Well, crap on a biscuit, what was I going to do now?
“Not a chance!”
Take that, you stupid little hell-man. “I’ve called the police, and they’re on their way, so you should go before they catch you.”
I swear I heard a low chuckle, followed by several jangling noises. The front door swung wide open and three men stepped inside. “I highly doubt that.”
I winced when Maddy struggled in my arms, sharp little claws digging into my skin.
“Come with us, or we’ll force you.”
“Maddy, stop,” I whispered, holding her close despite the blood welling up from a couple of puncture marks, but I underestimated her strength and resolve when she truly wanted to escape.
With a high keening whine, she broke free, racing into the living room as I surged to my feet. “Please don’t hurt her.”
The leader – a tall man with a mop of jet-black hair – held her aloft for a minute before tucking her under his arm, where she snuggled up, periodically licking his arm.
Traitor.
“I don’t hurt animals. You, on the other hand, are a different matter. The more time you waste in protest, the more danger there is to your husband.”
“He’s not my–you know what? Never mind. You can’t make me come with you against my will. This is a free country.”
“Yes, but this isn’t really your home, is it? Not in any way that matters.”
I glared at him, picturing his hair on fire as he ran around the apartment, trying to vain to extinguish the flames. “I’m not coming with you, and that’s the last time I’ll say it.”
He shrugged. “Very well. Horace.”
One of the other men stepped around him, fist raised high and I felt a sort of...tug...like a vacuum cleaner stuck on a bit of carpet as my body moved forward, feet dragging with every step. I tried to stop – tried to latch onto anything I could, but it wasn’t enough. Whatever weird power he had over me was stronger and after a second, I gave up fighting.
“You’ll thank us for this one day, so cheer up; you’re being reunited with your family. We wouldn’t do this just for anyone,” the first man said, smiling.
“You won’t get away with this. Gabriel will—”
“Make us pay, torture us...yes, we’re aware of that, but you see, he won’t get the chance to – neither of you will – if our plan succeeds.”
The man grabbed my shoulders, yanking me to him and I bit back a sob of protest and pain as the world swirled around me.
The Underworld
“I’m not wearing that.”
The man – Nicholas – held out a long crimson dress, hem brushing the stone floor in a whisper of satin.
“You can’t be presented to this court in sweatpants.” He tossed it to me, turning his back. “There’s a partition in the corner.”
I thought about sneaking past him when he wasn’t looking, then running as fast as I could in the opposite direction, but that idea was short-lived and followed by the sinking realization that I didn’t know where I was, or how to escape and my best chance, crazy as it was, lay with Gabriel.
“Does Gabriel routinely keep a stock of women’s clothes laying around?”
I wriggled out of my clothes and stepped into the dress, using the wall next to me for support.
“This room was yours when you lived here, and I know, for a fact, that the dress you’re wearing was a favorite of his. If we’re to discuss his future here, we might try to make him happy.”
“How thoughtful of you. Thanks for kidnapping me and bringing me to the land of the dead, which I have no memory of, so you could use me as a bargaining chip. I really don’t like you right now.”
“The feeling is mutual. Ah, that’s perfect.”
I smoothed a hand down the front of my dress, fidgeting a little as I adjusted the halter-neck tie.
“Whatever you’re planning to use me for won’t work. I don’t care about him that way.”
“But he loves you and really, that’s all that matters to us. Come.”
He held out a hand to me, which I ignored, picking my skirts up to follow him out of the room and down a long hallway, studded occasionally by torches that threw wicked-looking shadows up the wall and ceiling.
I heard the faint murmur of voices drift up to us as we descended a white marble staircase and I stiffened my spine, heart pounding out a frantic rhythm against my ribcage.
“You need to calm down; if the spirits sense your panic, this will all go south quicker than I’d like. Breathe deeply through your nose – that should help.”
“Well, I’m sorry, but you’re bringing me into a room with no escape, surrounded by complete strangers who want to hurt Gabriel. Forgive me if I’m not in a calm mood.”
“First of all,” he said, spinning around to face me. “The fact that you don’t remember how things work here doesn’t give you the right to act so concerned. He may be your husband, but he’s been lord far longer than you’ve known him. Secondly, this is a means to an end for us, so if you muck it all up, you’ll pay.”
“And lastly...?”
“These spirits are vengeful, vicious and blood-thirsty. Don’t talk to them, don’t interact with them and above all else, never acknowledge their presence. If you heed my words, you might survive the night. After you.”
He ushered me through a set of double doors and I ground to a halt. Every pair of eyes turned to watch me, but I wasn’t paying attention to them, my focus solely on the man sitting atop a massive bronze throne, ball of fire balanced in one hand as he surveyed the crowd below.
I felt the weight of what he tried to tell me – for days – press down on me until I thought I’d go crazy with it as I stared at him in his element, and there wasn’t a damned thing I could do to settle the conflicting emotions racing through my body.
Nicholas joined me, clapping his hands together as a hush fell across the group. “May I present Persephone, goddess of spring, and consort to Hades, lord of the Underworld.”
“My name is Amy,” I said. “Just Amy.”
He turned to me, surprised. “Persephone is kind of a mouthful, right? And, to be honest, I can’t think of a single nickname for it. Would you go by ‘Sephie’? ‘Pers’?”
The phrase if looks could kill ran through my head as Nicholas reached out to grip my arm...hard...eyes drilling a hole through my head.
“Until I remember my life here, it’s pointless to call me that, so Amy will do,” I said.
Nicholas rolled his eyes skyward.
“Release her.” Gabriel strode towards us, boot heels tapping against the polished floor and I shook myself free, attempting to punch my captor as he stepped just out of reach.
“Hello, sweetheart. I trust they treated you well?”
“As well as they can when you’re forced into being here against your will. This wasn’t your idea, was it? Last ditch effort to prove to me that the stories were real?”
“Does it look like I wanted this to happen?” He gestured to the side of the room where eight guards stood, hands on the swords at their hips. “While you’re not here under ideal circumstances, welcome home, Amy.”
“Enough chit-chat; we have some things to discuss,” Nicholas said, stepping forward.
Gabriel lay a hand against the small of my back as he led me to the dais, pushing me into the chair at his left. I ran a wondering hand over the intricate scrollwork on the arms; intertwining roses and lilies with flecks of poppy and blackberry bushes.
“Hades, you’ve abandoned your duties, preferring to live and work in Portland, Oregon. As such, the dead rule in your absence, creating chaos and uncertainty that will take decades to correct. What is the reason for this error in judgment?” Nicholas said, crossing his hands behind his back as he surveyed us.
After Midnight Page 9
