She reassured herself with the thought that Alec had probably used his powers to get out of his room and was likely standing right outside trying to work out how to get the doors open.
Hailey faced her back to the door and sank to the ground. She hated herself for making yet another colossal mistake. She was such an idiot to have thought she could come to the Underworld and put the Erinyes to sleep without any drama. Why didn’t she give the wand to Amathia? Why?
The teachers had probably found them missing by now. Hailey didn’t know what they’d be thinking had happened to them—maybe that they’d drowned—but definitely not that they were in the Underworld. And even if they did somehow work out where Hailey and her friends had gone, it wasn’t like they’d be able to find them. No one knew where the Underworld was.
They were trapped here. No one was coming to save them. Escaping was up to Hailey and her friends, and they needed to do it soon. Not just because they had to warn the world about what was happening, but because she needed her mum to know she was okay. She didn’t even want to think about how much she was freaking out—assuming the Academy had been brave enough to tell her they’d lost her daughter again.
Sobbing broke the silence.
A woman was crouching in the corner, crying. ‘Mum?!’ Hailey jerked to her feet and then hesitated. The room was creating another one of her fears. But fake or not, she didn’t care. Having her mum with her brought her a sense of comfort, making her feel as though everything was going to be okay. She sat next to her. ‘Mum, it’s okay. I’m all right.’ She wrapped an arm around her mum’s shoulders. ‘I’ll be home soon.’
Evonee shook her head and sniffed. ‘No. You’re dead. You died because you broke your promise to me.’
‘I’m sorry, Mum. I was trying to fix a mistake I made. But I made things worse.’
Evonee lunged to her feet and glowered down at Hailey with hate-filled eyes. ‘I will never forgive you. Your weakness killed Owen.’
Tears burned Hailey’s throat, and her heart squeezed. ‘I tried to stop it,’ she said desperately.
‘You killed me, Hailey.’
Hailey stifled a scream. Her dad stood in front of her, his blackened flesh smoking. ‘Daddy, I’m sorry. I tried. I really tried.’
‘You should never have been born a Zeus. You are a disgrace to the power. You’re weak, Hailey. And that’s what killed me. I’m dead because of you. IT WAS ALL YOUR FAULT!’
‘NO!’ Hailey shouted as the feelings she kept locked in the back of her mind broke free and swarmed her.
Guilt pushed against her chest like a knoxen trying to crush the life out of her. She tried to breathe against it, but it was too heavy. She drooped back on the ground, gasping for air.
Evonee and Owen loomed above her, shouting over and over again how she’d killed her dad and wasn’t worthy to be a Zeus.
It’s not real, Hailey told herself, but she wouldn’t believe it. Her parents might not be standing in the room with her right now, but what they were saying was true: her dad was dead because she was a weak Zeus.
Hailey stopped trying to breathe.
She let the heart-crushing pain and lung-squeezing guilt of her dad’s death consume her until her parents’ angry voices faded into the background.
She felt herself falling down a dark tunnel that seemed it would never end.
32
Worship Us
‘Hailey. Hailey, wake up. It’s over.’ Someone was shaking her, dragging her back through the darkness. Slowly, she opened her eyes, staring up at Alec’s face, which relaxed with relief. ‘You’re okay.’
Hardly, Hailey thought, climbing back to her feet. Her eyes combed the room for her parents, but they were gone. She calmed a little, especially when she saw the door was open. ‘How’d you get it open?’
‘With Goldarin. I don’t think Hades or the Erinyes expected us to know it, or I doubt they would have put us in here. Come on.’
Demi, Jayden, and Aaron were waiting outside.
Demi sprang on Hailey, hugging her. ‘You’re all right. I thought I’d never see you again. Any of you. The room made me think I’d be trapped and alone forever—it was my worst nightmare come to life.’
‘It’s over now. You’re not alone,’ Jayden reassured her.
‘Aaron, are you all right?’ Hailey asked. He stared at the open doors, looking as if he expected something, or someone, to run out and accost him. ‘Aaron,’ she said again when he didn’t answer.
He shook his head, as if clearing it. ‘I’m fine. So, are we escaping or what?’
‘Oh, we’re definitely escaping,’ Demi said. ‘Things have gone too far.’
‘We can’t yet,’ Alec told them reluctantly.
Everyone rounded on him.
He shrank from their hostile gazes. ‘It’s too risky. The Erinyes are probably in the pit, so there’s no way we’d get through it without one of them seeing us, especially when Aaron uses his powers to raise us to the entry tunnel. I think our best chance of getting out of here is to wait until the Erinyes take us back to the hatch and go with our original plan.’
‘We can’t go back into those rooms,’ Hailey’s said, her voice catching. She couldn’t face her parents again—especially her dad.
Alec dragged a hand through his grimy hair. ‘We’ll stay out here until we hear someone coming, then we’ll have to go back in.’
‘And what if they don’t come back for us?’ Aaron asked. ‘What if these rooms were meant to be our new residence?’
‘Then I guess we’ll escape from here—but not until it gets really late.’ Alec looked at Jayden. ‘Keep an eye on the time with your watch.’
‘Shh,’ Aaron hissed an hour later. ‘I think I hear something.’
Footsteps echoed down the tunnel.
‘Quickly, get back into the rooms,’ Aaron whispered.
Everyone jumped up in a panic, and Jayden, Demi, and Aaron vanished into the rooms. Hailey stood outside the door to hers, not being able to step back into the blackness, knowing her grudge-holding parents would be waiting for her—she could practically feel the chill of their hate in the air.
‘Come on, Hailey.’ Alec steered her back into the dark room. ‘Remember, it’s not real.’
Hailey lunged forward to stop him from shutting the door, but she was too slow. She tried to control her rapid breathing and closed her eyes, emptying her mind. White light. Just think of white light. Nothing but white light.
‘Murderer!’
Hailey squeezed her eyes shut tighter. White light, just think of white light.
The room fell quiet. It’s working!
Two hands clamped down on her shoulders, and she sucked in a breath as she looked at her dad’s charred face glowering down at her.
‘You can’t ignore me, Hailey.’
‘Yes, I can! You’re not real!’ She squeezed her eyes shut again, desperately trying to empty her mind.
Owen slammed his fist against the door. ‘I WILL NOT BE IGNORED!’
Hailey’s eyes flew open, and she darted away from the man posing as her dad. ‘Please just go away!’
A wicked smile curved Owen’s lips, and he lunged towards her just as the door creaked open and light filtered into the room, forcing the blackness to retreat.
Hailey was so relieved when the charred image of her dad vanished that she could have hugged the Erinys standing in the doorway.
‘Come,’ the Erinys barked.
Hailey ran to the door, not wanting to spend another millisecond in the room, and found her friends all waiting outside. No one spoke a word, afraid the Erinys would lock them back up or torture them with her gaze. They obediently followed the creature back down the tunnel.
Hailey assumed she was returning them to the hatch, but when they entered the pit the Erinys shoved them into line with the miners, who the other Erinyes were herding into the tunnel leading to Hades’s palace.
Hailey coughed, choking on the reek of body odour.
‘What’s going on?’ Demi asked in a quiet voice as they shuffled towards the tunnel with the prisoners.
‘I don’t know, but I don’t like it,’ Aaron said, his body tensing into fight mode.
If it was only them, Hailey would have assumed Hades had changed his mind about not killing them. But it looked as though every prisoner in the Underworld was heading to the palace, and Hailey doubted Hades would kill them all. So why is everyone being brought to him?
A cold chill of dread settled over Hailey when she realised what was happening. ‘I think we’re being taken to meet the other gods.’
Demi stumbled a step. ‘What?!’
‘Demi, shh,’ Jayden hissed, gazing around to make sure they hadn’t attracted an Erinys’s attention.
Alec hugged his arms as the throng of prisoners shoved them down the tunnel. ‘What do you mean we’re being taken to meet the gods?’
‘It’s the only explanation I can think of as to why the Erinyes are leading everyone to the palace. Hades must have woken the other gods, and he must want everyone to see how powerful they are or something. We’re too late.’
Alec shook his head. ‘No, Hailey, I think—’
‘Silence,’ an Erinys growled from behind them.
No one dared utter another word while they inched down the tunnel. Hailey was trying to focus her mind on what she’d do if all the gods really were waiting for them on the other side.
It wasn’t as if she could do much but run away screaming. Her powers didn’t work in the Underworld, and as far as she was aware, she hadn’t randomly gained the ability to shoot lightning from her hands. Screw the prophecy! she thought as she imagined everyone turning to her to save the world. Of course, they couldn’t exactly do that if she was trapped in Tartarus.
Hailey’s mind emptied and her heart pumped fresh fear through her body when she entered the cavern, its heat enveloping her while the raining ash’s acridness burned her nose and throat. She barely noticed the sweat pouring off her, too terrified by the looming abyss.
She dug her heels into the ground, not wanting to go on the bridge, which was crowded with prisoners. Can it hold that much weight?
The people behind Hailey thrust her onto the black crystal. She wanted to scream but couldn’t find her voice. And she was afraid someone might push her off to shut her up. You can do this, Hailey told herself, trying to keep her legs from locking as she was shoved across the bridge.
She reached the other side and exhaled in relief, but the pushing didn’t stop. She was crammed forward into the hundreds of people crowding the palace’s rocky grounds.
It wasn’t easy, but Hailey managed to claw her way through the horde with her friends until they had a view of what was happening. Hades and Persephone lingered in front of the palace’s doors.
Hades stepped forward, throwing his arms out to the sides. ‘Bow before your gods, humans,’ he bellowed.
The prisoners dropped to their knees, bowing their heads low. Hailey stared, stunned. Her confusion quickly changed to terror when an Erinys locked eyes with her.
‘Everyone down,’ Aaron hissed, yanking Hailey and Demi to their knees by their shirts. Alec and Jayden fell to the ground, too, all of them lowering their heads. But Hailey peeked up enough to watch Hades, waiting to see what he’d do next.
He smirked imperiously. ‘What offerings do you bring us today?’
Three people near the front rose and pushed three carts brimming with an assortment of sparkling jewels towards Hades, the squeaking of the carts’ wheels the only sound in the cavern. ‘We have mined these jewels for you, King Hades,’ one of the people said in a cowed voice before backing up with the other two prisoners.
Hades waved a bored hand at the carts. ‘Put them with the others.’ The Erinyes broke from the crowd and vanished in a swirl of red mist with the carts. ‘What are you waiting for?’ Hades demanded, staring impatiently at everyone bowing before him. WORSHIP US!’
The prisoners bowed their heads lower and chanted, ‘Hail King Hades and Queen Persephone, mighty gods of the Underworld.’
So, this is how Hades is ensuring he doesn’t die from people not worshiping him; he’s forcing the prisoners to. Hailey would have found the whole thing revolting if she weren’t so busy being relieved about the Olympians not being back.
33
The Second Escape
‘Yuck, I’m all wet again,’ Demi whined, after an Erinys shoved them back down the hatch. ‘When can we escape from this cesspool?’
‘We just have to—’ Alec began.
The hatch door creaked open and someone said, ‘Kavvutwkarnakat.’
There was a flash, and then a shining orb zoomed down towards them.
Hailey leapt out of the way, but the orb paused a foot above her, where it floated like a dim light.
‘I thought you may appreciate some light.’
Hailey’s stomach twisted in knots when she saw who was peering down at them.
Persephone! She might not have been as cruel to them as Hades had been, but she was still a god, which meant Hailey would be stupid not to be afraid of her.
‘Don’t be frightened. I wish you no harm. On the contrary, I have come to escort you to more comfortable surroundings.’
‘Are you taking us back to the Elysian Fields?’ Demi asked eagerly.
Persephone shook her head. ‘Hades refused to allow that. But I was able to sway him into allowing you back to the dungeon.’ She flicked her hand at them.
Pink, red, yellow, and white wild flowers swirled around Hailey, engulfing her in a beautiful perfume before they vanished, leaving her standing in a dungeon cell with her friends. Persephone materialised outside the bars. ‘It wasn’t easy convincing him to allow you back here, but I assured him you wouldn’t escape again. I beg you not to, as he will kill you.’
‘Um, thanks for bringing us here,’ Hailey said, not sure what else to say, and confused about why a god was helping them. Hailey had been taught her whole life that gods were all evil and despised humans. ‘Why are you being nice to us?’
‘I don’t like seeing children suffer,’ she replied simply.
Aaron curled his fingers around the bars. ‘So let us go.’
‘I wish I could, but Hades is right in saying you will spoil our plans if you go free, and I don’t want anything to stop us from awakening the Olympians. I miss my mother, Demeter, terribly.’ Persephone sighed. ‘But I promise you, we will release you once they’re awake.’
‘And when will that be?’ Jayden probed.
‘Soon. Hades wishes to enjoy not having his brothers to contend with a little longer. I must go now. Sleep well.’ Persephone dematerialised in a swirl of wild flowers.
‘Well, that was… weird,’ Demi said. ‘She seems so nice.’
‘Don’t be fooled. She married Hades, so she’s gotta be dark and twisty on the inside,’ Aaron said. ‘I guess we’re back to our original plan.’
Demi patted Alec on the back. ‘You’re up, muscles.’
‘Wait,’ Hailey said. ‘Dazatr.’ She spoke the Goldarin word for open, thinking the barred door would slide across as it had when the Erinys had said the word.
The door didn’t budge.
‘It only works if you’re standing on the outside,’ Alec explained.
Hailey shrugged. ‘Thought I’d give it a try.’
Alec stepped up to the bars. They let out a wailing groan as he wrenched them apart. One by one, Hailey and her friends squeezed through the gap and steered through the dungeon.
The other cells were now occupied, and Hailey felt horrible walking past the prisoners, especially knowing they were there because of her. But she couldn’t free them yet. It was going to be hard enough for her and her friends to get out of the Underworld without being seen, let alone close to a thousand people.
She doubted they’d come with her anyway. Not one of them begged to be freed. They merely stared at Hailey and her friends with empty eyes, as though their minds had
vanished long ago. How many days down here does it take a person to lose all hope? Hailey wondered, walking past a woman coated in dried mud who was lying on the ground in her cell, staring at the rock ceiling, unblinking. Days? Weeks? Months? She didn’t want to find out.
Hands lunged out of a cell and grabbed Aaron by the arm. ‘You’re not going anywhere.’
‘Get off me!’ Aaron tried to pull away, but the man holding him jerked him closer to the bars.
Hailey darted forward and helped Demi, Jayden, and Alec yank Aaron free. She turned back to scowl at the person trying to ruin their escape—a greasy-haired man covered in oozing sores, who smelled like stale urine. ‘We’re trying to get out of here so we can send people back to rescue the rest of you.’
‘You can’t escape from the Underworld,’ the greasy-haired man replied. ‘But maybe if I alert the Erinyes to your escape, they’ll reward me by letting me live in the Elysian Fields.’ He sucked in a breath. ‘ESCAPE! ESCAPE! ESCAPE!’ he shouted at the top of his lungs.
Aaron thrust his hands forward, his force field ploughing into the greasy-haired man and smacking him against the rock wall with a thud. His shouts came to an abrupt end as he crumpled to the ground.
‘What if someone heard?’ Alec gulped, gazing down the tunnel. ‘An Erinys could be heading this way right now.’
‘Then we better not be here when they come.’ Aaron took off at a run.
Freedom! Hailey cheered in her mind when they burst into the empty pit and dashed towards the entrance tunnel, crowding under it. This nightmare is almost over.
‘Do you think you’re strong enough to lift us all up at the same time?’ Jayden asked Aaron.
Aaron gazed at the entrance tunnel dozens of feet above their heads. ‘Only one way to find out.’ He extended his palms over the ground.
Tingling exploded in Hailey’s fingertips.
‘Don’t bother.’
Hailey whipped around to confront whoever had discovered them. But there was nobody there. She frowned. ‘Did anyone else hear—’ Hailey’s sentence fell away as her heart slammed against her chest.
Poseidon's Academy Page 26
