“Faster, Ernie!” I yelped, true terror whipping my arms and legs into an even greater frenzy.
“Left, and then into the plane,” he yelled back at us. “Shit, don’t look back.”
Oh, why did he have to go and say that? I couldn’t seem to stop myself. I glanced over my shoulder. Above the piles of junk, I could see Cerberus’s heads bobbing here and there as he chased us down. He was probably only twenty feet or so back, but the curves through the junk created something of a barrier.
I stumbled, and Remo grabbed my elbow, steadying me. The airplane hull came into view, and we leapt for it as Cerberus roared behind us. Warm, wet spit slammed into the back of my neck, and I fell to the floor of the plane. The world shifted, and I clutched at Remo as the plane spun as if it was falling from the sky. Heat and explosions ripped through the air around us, and I tucked my head against Remo’s neck. “I love you.”
If we were going to die, I wanted those to be my last words. Love might not be strong enough, but it was a reason to keep fighting, to keep on doing what we were doing and hoping for the best. Remo pulled back a little, his eyes on mine. “I love you too.” His lips were on mine, and we fell through the strange sky, clinging to one another.
We landed with a thud, but not so hard that we were more than bumped apart, sliding over the interior of the plane. I sat up and brushed hair out of my eyes. Adrenaline still coursed through me, and I shot to my feet as I searched around for the next monster, the next challenge we would have to face, the next ghost from our past. But there was nothing but a flickering light from outside the plane. I held a hand out to Remo, who still sat on the floor. He wove his fingers between mine, and I helped him stand.
Ernie fluttered around us. “Here we are, Hades’s house.”
“Hades’s house?” I shook my head. “Are you sure there are no more monsters? No more bad guys to deal with?”
Ernie shrugged and then winked at me. “Only Hades. I’ll leave you to decide if he’s a monster or a bad guy. It will depend on his mood, to be honest.”
“Awesome, so he’s hormonal, is that what you’re saying?” I frowned, and Ernie laughed.
“Aren’t all the pantheon?”
He had a point that I chose to ignore. With Remo’s hand in mine, I stepped from the plane and took a good look at where we’d landed. The place was exactly what I would have conjured in my mind if someone had asked me what the underworld looked like. We were inside a dark, dank cave that was lit here and there with torches. Even that light wasn’t enough to truly illuminate the place, or the figure that sat on the stone throne in front of us.
Hades—I mean, who else could it be—was dressed in a long black cloak with a hood that was pulled up to shade his face. I couldn’t have said if he was handsome, ugly, a monster, or human, other than the fact that as he stood he was more human in shape.
“Well, well, I see you finally decided to visit, Drakaina. Tell me, how do you like the underworld so far? Is it all you could have hoped for?” His voice was a deep timbre that sounded as though it were filled with gravel.
“Please, don’t act like we didn’t already talk. You were impersonating my gramps, you jerk.” I let go of Remo and stepped forward, finding myself more than irritated. I was downright pissed, and Hades was about to hear about it. “You knew I was coming.”
“Of course I did.”
“And you made it as difficult as you could.”
He laughed. “Yes.”
“You’re an asshole,” I said. Ernie and Remo groaned at the same time, whispering for me to ease off. But I was done easing off. I was done with it all. I wanted answers, I wanted to make things right, and by heaven, hell, and the underworld, Hades was going to help me.
Whether he knew it or not.
CHAPTER 17
“I’ve been called far worse, Drakaina.” Hades didn’t seem at all bothered by my assessment of him. “But it is the first time someone who has come to me for help has called me names as an opening line.”
“I doubt it will be the last.” I took a few more steps forward. I refused to back away from him. “You started the Aegrus virus, which means you can stop it.”
“That is correct.” There was laughter in his voice that I didn’t like. Laughter at me. Like I’d come all this way for him to just tell me no. Well, he had no idea who he was up against.
“How do I get you to listen to me? What will convince you to stop the virus?” I knew how to bargain. I knew how to negotiate. It was just a matter of getting him to spill the beans as to what he wanted in exchange.
Hades stood and began to slowly pace in front of me, tucking his hands behind his back. “What, you aren’t going to offer yourself?”
“I doubt you’d want me.” I shrugged. “You have a wife that, from my recollection of the stories, you love, and she returns the sentiment.”
He grunted. “The stories are rarely anywhere near the truth. Regardless. You are right, you aren’t my type.” He paused. “No offers of money?”
“Again, I doubt that flips your switch or floats your boat,” I said.
“Interesting turn of phrase . . . ,” he murmured.
“I could always have Ernie shoot you with one of his arrows, see if that gets a response,” I said. Ernie and Hades grunted at the same time, and I kept talking. “But what I want is for you to do the right thing. People are dying.”
“Which brings me more power, stupid snake,” Hades growled. “More power means that I have more control in the world and I have more say in how things are done in Olympus. You have somehow managed to bungle your way through, surviving two heroes and avoiding a third to this point. Do you know what a pain in the ass Theseus is here? Truly.”
“I have an idea,” I said. “He was hardly easy to deal with when he was alive.”
Hades stopped in front of me, and his hooded face drew near. There was no heartbeat I could discern coming from him, and the smell rolling off him was one of burnt wood and incense . . . the smell of death wasn’t thick on him like I’d expected. I didn’t slouch. “You are a business man, then? You want power, you want a say . . . Hera has offered you those things, but she isn’t in control yet. Technically your brother still rules.”
There was a heavy pause while that dark face, its features hidden, hovered in front of me. “True,” he finally said.
“So let’s negotiate. Zeus has given me the right to negotiate in his place.”
“Zeus?” Hades roared and snapped his fingers. There was a poof, like a magician showing off his tricks.
And there was Zeus all wrapped up in chains, in front of me, a gag in his mouth and his eyes about as pissed as I’d ever seen them. There was only one thing I could do.
“Hey, Zeus.” I waved at him, as though his situation didn’t bother me in the least. Because I suddenly realized just how much the world really was waiting on me. Not just the Aegrus virus, but Zeus’s life, and the future ruler of Olympus, which was going to impact the entire world. Hickory sticks, this was going to be tougher than I’d ever imagined. I drew in a breath. “You still good with me negotiating for you?” Like he had a choice. I wanted to laugh but didn’t dare.
Zeus’s eyes bugged out, and I nodded as though he’d given me the go-ahead. “That’s what I thought. You all saw him agree?”
Ernie stared at me like I’d sprouted another eight heads and become a Hydra. Even Remo didn’t seem to know what to make of me. But they both nodded, slowly, as though they weren’t entirely sure what I was up to but were going to go along with it.
Hades chuckled. “Oh, I think I’m going to like you. I agree, my big brother looked like he just handed you the reins to his rule.”
I cleared my throat. “Excellent. What do you want exactly in exchange for not only stopping the Aegrus virus but backing your older brother once more?”
Hades roared with laughter; he even went so far as to throw his hands in the air and wriggle his fingers. “Good gods, Zeus, where did you find her?”
<
br /> Of course, Zeus couldn’t answer.
“He didn’t, Merlin did,” Ernie said. “He picked her because he thought she was weak, but as you can see she is anything but.”
I didn’t smile at Ernie but kept my attention on Hades. “As I said, what do you want?”
I could almost feel the sands of time slipping by, feel the souls that floated toward us as more and more people died from the virus. Hades chuckled and wiped at his face with a hand. “Well, how about this? You make it so I still get an equitable number of souls that I’m getting from the virus, and we can talk.”
“Well, that’s just plain stupid, and you know it,” I snapped. He froze, as did every other man in the room with me. I didn’t care. Enough of this garbage. “I’ll give you power to make what you want of the underworld. Redecorate, change the colors, change how it’s run. You can be second-in-command at Olympus next to Zeus, above Hera, even.”
Zeus tried to yell around the gag, but Hades just stared at me. Or I assumed he did. “And flip that damn hood off, I want to see your face.”
“No, it’s in my favor to remain hidden.”
“Do it,” I snapped, wishing I had the strength of the siren behind me still to affect people. Miracle of miracles, he flipped his hood back, much to what was his own obvious astonishment. Damn him for being as good looking as the rest of the pantheon. He didn’t fit with the rest, though; he was obviously the black sheep of the family, at least in coloring. His hair was as raven black as mine, but his eyes were a bright blue that shone with power. He glared at me. “Happy?”
I shrugged. “Better than staring at a black hole. Now, back to negotiations.”
“You always this intense?” He arched an eyebrow, and I arched one right back.
“No, but then I’m not usually bargaining for the life of so many people, and the fate of the world.” The words were out of me before I could filter them. Hades folded his arms over his chest and stared me down.
“I like where you’re going with the negotiations. But I want something more.”
“What?” I asked, knowing that it was probably going to be something I regretted. Call it a feeling, but I was learning to listen to my instincts. Finally. I tugged the jacket a little at the bottom hem. Hades had a slow-growing smile that I didn’t like.
“I want there to be an easier way to divorce my spouse. No more of this ‘you both have to agree’ shit. If I want out, I get out. I want that for all of us, and the only ones who can make it happen are Zeus and Hera agreeing.”
My jaw dropped open, and Hades gave me a slow nod. “Now you begin to see the problem, when it is up to those two idiots to lead the way. They are the example, and it is by that example that we, the pantheon, live.”
I spun and glared at Zeus. “Is this true?” He rolled his eyes and nodded. I stalked over to him and yanked the gag out. “Explain.”
“Look, I don’t want to be married to her, but it isn’t up to me, I’ve told you that. It’s in Hera’s court, and it’s what she holds over me. Hades knows that. Until she agrees to the divorce, none of us can be free,” Zeus said.
I spun back to Hades, who nodded again. “True. Which is why I’ve been helping her. If I can soften her up, maybe we can all be free of each other.”
Holy smokes in a kitchen on fire. My mind whirled. “Wait, so all this Aegrus virus, the infighting, all of it . . . is so you can both get divorces?”
Zeus and Hades shared a look that I recognized. A look between siblings that spoke volumes. Zeus finally blew out a sigh, and Hades grinned. “Yeah, I guess it is.”
I blinked several times, horrified. This was how far the pantheon would go to get what they wanted. They’d light the world on fire and let it burn. What a lot of greedy bastards.
“So if I can get Hera to agree to this, then you make it all go away? You make sure that the virus stops killing people?” I wanted to be crystal clear on this part.
Hades and Zeus started laughing at the same time, so hard that tears streamed from their eyes. Ernie drew close to me. “You’re suggesting that you can do something that no one else has managed in thousands of years. And if you remember, Hera hates your guts. Remember? She’s been trying to kill you? Sending the Hydra after you?”
I did remember, but I knew something that the men didn’t understand. A woman scorned, a woman cheated on and tossed aside as though she were nothing . . . I knew that pain as well as anyone. And that was my ace in the hole, the only ace I had. “Is it agreed? If I can get Hera to agree to the new system of divorce, you will stop the virus?”
Hades wiped his face. “If you can manage that, I will kiss the ground at your feet and set you above me in Olympus.”
I frowned at him, and repeated myself. “Do you agree that if I can get Hera to agree, you will stop the virus and you will support Zeus again?”
His laughter stilled. “Shit, you really think you can do it?”
I held my head high. “I do.”
There was silence for a moment while I waited for Hades. With obvious reluctance he nodded. “Alright. You have my word.”
I turned to Zeus. “And if I do it, you are going to take the reins of the supernatural world. You are going to be Zeus again, not just some pansy Blue Box manager. You will become the liaison between us and the human world. And you won’t allow the pantheon to treat the world like its playground again. Understood?”
Zeus stared hard at me, glittering with anger. “Fine. But you won’t convince Hera of anything. She’s a hard-nosed bitch who is out for revenge, and you are on her shit list, Drakaina.”
My guts tightened at the thought of not being able to convince Hera. “I have a backup plan. One I know she’ll go for no matter how much you think you know her.”
Remo put a hand to my lower back. “There will be another way if she won’t agree. We can figure this out.”
Hades and Zeus shared another of those sibling looks again, and I glared at them both, but finally settled on Hades. “If I’m going to deal with Hera and get you what you want, you need to send me and Remo back. I can’t talk to her from here.”
The two brothers nodded at one another, and then Hades looked at me. “Fine. But I keep Zeus here as a security deposit. Also, I don’t want him helping you. You made the negotiation, you follow through on how it’s going to be done on your own. No help at all.” His brilliant blue eyes sparkled with something dangerous. Like he too had an ace up his sleeve. An ace I wasn’t going to like, like the bite of a rotten peach in the middle of the pie.
“Fine. Not like he’s been much help anyway,” I said. Hades laughed, and Zeus grunted as if I’d slapped him. I shrugged. “What do you want? It’s the truth.”
Hades approached, and Remo tightened his hold on me. The two men were of the same height, but Remo was broader across the chest with more muscle. Hades looked at him first. “You stuck my dog with the pipe?”
“Yes.” Remo’s voice was deadly intense.
“Excellent. Then I won’t regret this one bit. Another piece of insurance, to make sure you put your all into making Hera change her mind.” Hades grinned at me as he snapped his fingers, and the underworld around us faded into a blast of color and light.
“No!” I screamed the word as Remo was torn from me. No, he couldn’t keep Remo, because what if I did fail? Wasn’t it enough I’d lost my mom?
My whole body jerked as I sucked in a breath of stale air, my skin cold on the cheap linoleum floor of the hospital room. I lay in a puddle of my own blood, coagulated and thick, but still with the multicolored rainbow lights that it held within it. I sat up, and the feather Merlin had stabbed me with fell to the floor, cracked in half down the spine. I touched my chest over my heart, a tiny ridged scar the only evidence that I’d been mortally injured. A soft groan and the sound of an unsteady heart spun me around. Remo lay on the floor behind me, and I fell on him, kissing him. “You’re here, you’re alive, I thought he’d kept you.”
Hades hadn’t taken him after
all. What in the world had the underworld boss been talking about, then? How could sending Remo back with me be insurance?
Remo’s eyes opened slowly, and they were fogged with pain. I put a hand to his face. He was hot to the touch, and his heartbeat was unsteady, like it was out of sync . . . Wait . . . his heart?
He coughed and blood coated his lips. The first stages of the Aegrus virus clutching him close.
“Oh my God.” I cupped his face and stared into his eyes. “He made you human.”
CHAPTER 18
Hades’s voice floated around us.
“No, I did not make him human. He was dead when he came to the underworld. I cannot send the dead back; I can only send people back alive. And in this case, that makes him rather human. I did, however, give him the virus. That is my insurance, and a rather tight deadline to make things happen. Your man has less than twenty-four hours before the virus kills him. Get to it, Drakaina. Find Hera and make her believe that you are serious.”
Hades’s voice faded, and I stared in shock at Remo. A very human Remo, who was dying in my arms. I picked him up and laid him in the hospital bed I’d been in not all that long ago. “I’m going to get Merlin. He can turn you.”
“No. Deal with Hera. You can do it. I trust you.” He breathed the words out and then coughed—hard enough that I heard something crack in his chest. I couldn’t stop the cry that slipped past my lips. I put my hands on his and held his fingers tight.
“Remo, he can turn you, and then you won’t die.”
“No, you’re going to stop the virus, and Hera will take it away from us all. Go.” He smiled, but it was weak and his heart seemed to stumble, like it didn’t know how to beat properly anymore. A small hand touched my shoulder, and I saw Ernie floating beside me. “He’s right, you have to go. There is no way that you can help him by staying here and watching him die. We have to find Hera. And the only way to do that is . . .”
“Through Hercules and the Hydra,” I said. I already knew that. I knew I’d have to face them, and when I faced them, Hera would show up. But I didn’t want to leave Remo. I knew all too well what it was like to be lying in quarantine with no one there to comfort you. No one to hold you as you died.
Hisses and Honey (The Venom Trilogy Book 3) Page 19
