Promise of Shadows

by Ireland, Justina

“Yeah, well, you aren’t the only badass here. Help me with this. We have to protect the Oracle.”

  We break away the remaining shards and push out the screen. I stick my head outside. Blue’s sword moves in a silver arc as he fights the cerberus in the middle of the street. I wonder if anyone’s keeping the norms from seeing this.

  I can already see the headlines in the tabloids.

  I duck back in the room. “Blue’s distracting it. Let’s go.”

  Jimmy stands and shakes his head. “You two go. I’ve got to go check on Ricki.” Alora starts to argue, and he raises his hand for silence. “There’s no need to worry. We’ll be fine.” He says it with a confidence that makes me think he might’ve just taken a peek at the future to make sure.

  I nod. “Good luck,” I say. He doesn’t have to tell me twice.

  I launch myself through the window. I hit the ground on the other side and roll, rocks digging into my bare arms. I slowly climb to my feet with a groan, and someone steadies me. It’s Tallon.

  “You need to get out of here.”

  “Me?” I say as Alora comes flying out the window. She’s much more graceful than me, even in a dress and heels. No wonder I’m jealous.

  “Yes, you. The cerberus is after you, not us. If you guys can get to the car, you can maybe lose it.”

  “Too late,” Alora says, pointing down to the edge of the yard. The cerberus has turned. Blue continues to attack the thing, which is already bloodied from earlier sword strikes. It ignores him and stalks toward us, healing as it goes.

  “Oh, I think I should maybe listen to the Oracle and take off.”

  “Good idea,” Alora says, slipping out of her heels. “I’ll try to distract it.”

  I take a single step backward. Alora starts waving her arms around and yelling at the demon dog. “Hey. Hey! Yeah, you. Here, puppy, puppy, puppy.”

  I take another step back, and then another. I’ve just made it to the back of the trailer when the cerberus sprints toward me, barking.

  I turn tail and run.

  I weave between the trailers while the cerberus breathes heavily behind me, snuffling as it keeps track of my scent. I cut around a trailer and through a weed-choked yard, the heads of the demon dog barking excitedly as the beast runs me down. Skidding around another corner gives me a few feet of breathing room. The cerberus doesn’t corner so well. It slams into trailers and shaves off corners in a screech of metal. The beast’s clumsiness is the only reason it hasn’t caught me yet. That, and it’s about as smart as the average mutt.

  I gasp for breath as I round another corner. I need a plan. I can’t just keep running through the trailer park willy-nilly. I won’t be able to keep this up forever.

  I slide around another corner and come face-to-face with a chain-link fence. I take a step backward before turning to run back the way I came. The demon dog is there, the tongues of all three heads lolling out in doggy grins as it stalks forward. Panic flares in my chest, and the darkness begins to rise off my arms like angry black snakes. I wonder if erebos will work against Hades’s pet.

  There’s a flash of white light behind me. I look over my shoulder, and I’m surprised to see Hermes leaning against the chain-link fence. He wears designer jeans and a fashionably distressed T-shirt. The sight of him causes an ache to rise in my chest. He looks exactly the same as he did when he came to visit Whisper. I’m surprised to realize that I miss him. I lost him the same time I lost my sister. There’s been too much loss in my life.

  He grins at me. “Hey, Peep.”

  I turn and look back at the cerberus. The giant dog sits down, letting out a trio of puppy whines. What in the hells is going on?

  “You have a choice, Peep,” Hermes calls. “Up or down.”

  I don’t answer, and for a long moment the only sound is that of my labored breathing. I look at Hermes, and then back to the cerberus. Of course. Why didn’t I see it? The High Council wouldn’t send a cerberus after me. Hades would. The High Council would send Hermes, just like they did the night Whisper died. The night I killed Ramun Mar.

  I can’t help but look down at the erebos still rising off my arms. No way I’ll get a fair trial this time.

  I take a step toward the cerberus. Hades’s words come back to me. I would not let any harm come to you in my realms. If I go with it, Tallon and everyone else in the trailer park will be safe, and maybe I will be too. My stomach clenches as I debate my options. Hermes was right. I know now that he kept his promise, and I think Hades will too. Nothing bad happened to me while I was in the Underworld. I’m not sure how much of that is because of Cass, but I like my chances there. What are the chances I’ll get a fair shake in the Æthereal Realm? Not good, with Hera leading the charge against me.

  Hermes gives me a slight nod, as though he knows what I’m thinking. “I won’t be able to come after you in the Underworld this time, Peep. There’s a war brewing, and Hades has locked down travel between the realms. If you go with the cerberus, there’s no way the High Council will be able to come after you.”

  I want to ask Hermes what war he’s talking about. Hera’s pending attack against the vættir? Or something worse?

  What could be worse than an attempt to annihilate the shadow vættir?

  I don’t ask him any questions, though. I don’t even apologize for thinking he abandoned me. Now I know he was looking out for me all along, but there isn’t time for a heartfelt reunion. Maybe later, gods willing.

  I run toward the cerberus. The beast stands and licks me affectionately. I lean backward to try to avoid the slobbery tongues, but it gets me anyway. I turn around and look back at Hermes, who is smiling sadly at me.

  “Thank you,” I say, my voice choked with unsaid things.

  “Take care, Nyx,” he says before flashing out of sight. I stare at the spot where he stood for a long while, then I climb onto the cerberus.

  “Let’s go,” I say. And then we are gone.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  ONE MOMENT I’M IN THE trailer park, the next I’m in one of the halls of Hades’s palace. The cerberus lies down on the black marble, and I slide off. My boots echo eerily as I walk toward a doorway bleeding light. It’s so much like my last trip here that I have a moment of déjà vu.

  Dark fire burns in fire bowls in between the giant columns of æther. The columns seem to retreat as I walk down the hallway, and the darkness inside of me likes that. It feels more awake now, churning through my belly like a bad case of indigestion. I ask it to settle down, and I get a sense of amusement from it. But then it does as I ask, and the sick feeling fades a little.

  I wonder if Tallon’s erebos feels like a creature inside of him. I’ll have to ask.

  If I ever see him again.

  The doorway is closer than it appears. When I walk through it, I enter a room unlike anything I’ve ever seen in the Underworld. The marble floor is covered with thick rugs, and the furniture around the room has a modern look. The columns of æther are more numerous here, casting the room in a sunshinelike brightness. Plants, real Mortal Realm trees and flowers, grow in riotous abundance. Nanda would love this room.

  Sitting in the center of it all is Persephone.

  She smiles and stands when she sees me. “Oh, good. I was afraid that Hermes would get to you before the cerberus.”

  “No. I mean, the cerberus got to me first, but Hermes let me go. He gave me a choice. . . .” I trail off, because I’m suddenly not sure what I’m doing here. I was expecting Hades. Not Persephone. “Did you send for me?”

  She grins, and for a second she looks like a little girl about to steal the last cookie. But there’s a glint in her eyes that I don’t like. I’m kind of wishing I would’ve gone with Hermes instead. Or kept running.

  “Oh, I sent for you, Zephyr Mourning. I have watched you for your entire life, waiting for this moment.”

  I take a step backward, away from Persephone. “What moment?”

  “The moment you meet your father.”

&nb
sp; My brain short-circuits, and I stand there dumbfounded. While I’m frozen in shock, Persephone moves, quicker than anyone I’ve ever seen. Before I even process her words, she’s up from the cushions and behind me. I don’t even realize she has a knife in her hand until the tip of it digs into my throat. I swallow convulsively, afraid to move.

  Her voice is loud in my ear. “Do you know how long I believed the lie? Do you? He told me nothing ever happened, but he is a liar just like the rest of them. They promised me so much, and all I was given was hell.” She sounds on the verge of tears, and the knife at my throat wavers. There’s a sharp pain, then the sensation of blood. It’s all the darkness needs to rise up.

  The erebos is stronger here. It swarms quickly, a living creature beyond my control. It engulfs me and Persephone. The pain at my throat disappears as the darkness heals it, and Persephone screams as the shadows pick her up and throw her to the side. I grapple with the shadows, trying to reel them in. If they kill Persephone, I will definitely be next. Hades will kick my ass, promise or not.

  Persephone stands. She’s shaken, her hair tousled and her expression confused. The black leaves woven through her hair wriggle in agitation. She takes a step toward me, and the darkness whips out, snapping at her like a whip. She freezes.

  “Stop,” I say. “Let’s talk about this.” Gods, I sound like a therapist on a talk show.

  “There is nothing to talk about. I know who you are, what you are. As long as you live, the rest of us will suffer.” Her words don’t make any sense, and I’m starting to wonder if maybe Persephone is just as insane as the rest of the Exalteds.

  “What are you talking about? Why did you bring me here?” I demand. Her lips press together, and she takes another step forward. I relax my hold on the darkness enough to let a tendril whip across her face. She stills as a cut opens up and doesn’t heal. I clamp down on the shadows before they can do any more damage. She’s of the bright. Her kind can’t heal themselves down here in the Underworld.

  “That is enough.” Hades walks into the room with purposeful strides. The darkness surrounding me leans toward him affectionately before retreating.

  “Traitor,” I mutter as the shadows curl around me. They snuggle close, but they don’t disappear.

  Hades gives me a bemused look. “You have learned much since you left the Underworld.”

  I look down at my arms, which are wreathed in darkness. “I didn’t really have a choice.”

  Hades turns to Persephone, who has slumped to the floor. She cries loudly, the sobs racking her body. I’m half convinced that she’s faking it. “I think you should return to the bright for a while, my wife.”

  She shakes her head. “I want to stay with you.”

  Hades gives her a pitying look. “You made a promise. A promise you broke.”

  She cries harder, and around us the plants begin to shrivel and die. I wrap my arms around myself and step away from a pot of geraniums as they suddenly wither. Okay, so maybe she really is upset.

  “I am sorry,” Persephone sobs. “I should not have touched her. It will not happen again.”

  Hades sighs. “No. It will not. I think you should stay with your mother for a spell.” A cerberus comes padding into the room. It walks over to Persephone and nudges her. She puts her arm around it, still crying. A circle of darkness opens up around them, and they are gone.

  I blink and look around the room. It’s dismal without her, a dank room full of dead plants. I want to ask Hades why he sent her away, where she went, and why she tried to kill me. It must’ve been personal for her to send the cerberus after me like that. Otherwise she could’ve just let the Council deal with me.

  Hades looks at me. “You have questions.”

  “Yeah, a few.”

  He catches the edge of my sarcasm and smiles. It’s a terrifying expression. “Come with me.”

  Darkness opens up and we step through it. Just like that we’re in a new room, one similar to the round chamber where I first met the King of the Dead. This one is also round, but the windows are real windows. We’re high on the side of a mountain, looking down on a dark forest. In the distance is the confluence of the Acheron and the Styx, and it’s strange to think that less than two weeks ago I was there, running with Cass to the Mortal Realm. Grief clogs my throat, and I have to swallow hard to force it down. So much has happened in such a short time.

  Hades gestures for me to sit on one of the easy chairs, and I do. It’s strange to see such modern furnishings in the underworld. I guess even Hades likes to be comfortable.

  He sinks into the chair opposite me. The darkness writhes around him. My own darkness is held tight to me, and as I watch, part of Hades’s darkness detaches itself and floats over to me. He watches it with a bemused expression. “So, is that how it is going to be?”

  The dark cloud hovers before me, and I get the sensation that it’s studying me. I open my arms a little in a welcoming gesture. The cloud zips down my arms, joining with the rest. The thin tendrils of darkness on my arms are now a little fuller, the tattoos more prominent. I blink. “What just happened?”

  Hades waves his hand. “It is the nature of darkness to be fickle. That bit of erebos knows that it will be well cared for with you.”

  I look down at my arms, at the writhing black markings, and the cloud of darkness they emit. “Can you please tell me what is going on?” There’s an edge of hysteria in my voice, and I choke down my panic.

  Hades sighs and leans forward. “Yes. But perhaps you should start with what you already know.”

  “Okay, yeah. I know that there was some sort of promise made a long time ago, and there were two champions. One got killed by the other, and that little snippet of Cass’s history that you showed me was her going all rage on Hera because she organized the whole thing. Once the dark champion was gone, the bright Exalteds started screwing over the vættir, so most of them went into hiding of some sort. Then there was some sort of vision, this messy Prophecy about the Nyx that no one is really all that sure about.”

  Hades nods, not stopping me. I take a deep breath and continue. “And now everyone thinks I’m the Nyx, and they want me to go and kill Hera because she’s getting ready to use shades she’s been amassing for a while to kill all of the shadow vættir so that no one stands between her and complete enslavement of the Mortal Realm.”

  Hades props his cheek on his hand and nods. “That is very nearly everything.”

  “Oh? What did I miss?”

  Hades stands and begins to pace, his cloak of darkness swirling around him. “First, you are the Nyx. You are the new dark champion, and you will be responsible for righting the balance.”

  “Brilliant,” I mutter. A crushing disappointment hits me. I’m flattened. All this time I was kind of hoping that everyone was wrong and I was just a really strong shadow vættir. I could deal with that. But I’m not. I’m the Nyx. Being the Nyx has all kinds of expectations attached to it. It’s not something I want.

  But it doesn’t look like I have a choice.

  “Are you sure?” I ask. It’s the last-ditch effort of a drowning girl. Hades just gives me a side-eyed look, and I realize if anyone would know, he would. He’s practically made of shadows.

  “What else?” Fine, I’m the Nyx. That sucks, but I’ll get over it. Too many people are counting on me to spend my time boohooing about it.

  Hades stops pacing and looks at me. “Persephone wanted to kill you because she knows what you are. But that also means she knows the truth about you.”

  Something in his expression makes my stomach drop out. “What truth?” I whisper. But I already know what he’s going to say.

  “Zephyr Mourning, I am your father.”

  I can’t breathe. There’s no air and I can’t breathe. So I just sit in the chair, my mouth opening and closing like a fish on the riverbank.

  Hades is speaking, and I should be listening, but all I can think of is my mother’s scolding words: You’re the daughter of an Æthereal
, Zephyr. Act like it.

  I shake my head, refusing to believe it. “No, it doesn’t make sense.”

  Hades studies me, his expression impassive. “How is there confusion? You are my child, of that I am quite certain.”

  I glance down at the darkness rising off my arms. His point is clear, but my brain refuses to believe what I’m hearing. I take a deep breath and let it out. “But I don’t understand why. I mean, did you love each other?”

  Hades frowns at me. “Love? No. Æthereals do not love, at least not in the way that humans do. We have our dalliances, but for the most part we do things for a reason, not because of an emotion. The prophecy was clear that the Nyx would be the child of the Dark Lord and a warrior. When your mother sought me out, I knew that she was the one to help me fulfill the promise. It made sense to conceive a child with her.”

  His words make me feel cheap. Most Harpies are born from business arrangements. Whisper’s conception was a contracted affair. After all, that’s how Harpies procreate. They find an interested party and pay them. If the child is male, it’s sent off to live with the father. Females grow up in the Aerie with their mothers. But me, I’d always hoped I was different, mostly because I never fit in with the rest of the Harpies in the Aerie. I wanted to think maybe I’d been born out of something other than business. I wanted to be different.

  Turns out I’m not.

  Once again Whisper’s words come back to haunt me. Love really isn’t for our kind.

  But then I think about Hermes asking Cass to protect me so that he could keep a promise he made to Whisper. Surely he didn’t go to all that effort for a “dalliance”?

  I decide that maybe Hades isn’t being completely honest with himself. Otherwise why would Persephone have been so upset?

  I turn to Hades. “What about Persephone? What was all of that about?”

  His expression shutters. “That is not something you need to concern yourself with.”

  I laugh, the sound bitter. “She brought me here and then tried to kill me. I think maybe I should be concerning myself with that.”