by Mur Lafferty
I swallowed. “Wow.” Sometimes I could be so eloquent.
We went into the cave where I found that the White Tiger glowed, making our way fairly easy.
Souls had surrounded us, having ignored us since drinking the water of Lethe, but when Metal Tiger illuminated the dark cave, the souls appeared translucent, and as we went deeper, they faded away completely until we were alone.
“That was weird. Where did they go?” I asked.
“Let me guess, ‘blah blah, each soul has his own path to the underworld, blah blah,’ right, Kazuko?” Daniel said, grinning at her. My stomach twisted as I saw her smile back at him, and I told myself not to get so worked up. She’d saved our lives more than once. Jealousy was not proper thanks.
The walls glittered as we descended deeper into the ground. “Daniel, check it out. Gemstones,” I said. “Hades was considered the richest of the Greek gods because his domain was underground, where all the gems and precious metals were. He liked to flaunt his stuff.”
Daniel paused to examine a chunk of emerald sticking out of the wall. He whistled. “Nice. I suppose he’d be here in a moment if I even got my fingerprints on it.”
“Remembering to use that god’s wisdom in your head now, are you?”
He made a face at me. “Why don’t you just find the souls and get us out of here?”
Tunnels appeared in the wall ahead, and we had a choice of three ways to go. Daniel and Kazuko looked at me.
“Fine, fine. I’m starting to feel like a metal detector.” I inhaled slowly and closed my eyes again.
The lost souls were clearly down the first corridor; they pulled at me like a vacuum. But there was something… something in the second. Something that demanded our attention. It wasn’t as important as the souls, but it needed us.
Or maybe just me.
The third corridor held something huge. Something godlike.
But behind us…
Something growled. Daniel swore. “There’s a dog guarding the Underworld, isn’t there?”
I heard Kazuko drew her sword as I opened my eyes. She had turned to face behind us.
Daniel and I turned after her. Cerberus, the three-headed guard dog of the Underworld, stood behind us, his great shoulders brushing against the gem stalactites. His coat was wiry, like a terrier, but his heads were thick like pit bulls. I don’t know how we’d missed him, except that his black coat blended well with the shadows, and if he wasn’t growling, I assume he’d be quite stealthy.
One head sniffed the air, another one sniffed toward us, and the third growled at us, baring its teeth.
I swallowed and fumbled with Metal Tiger, the sword that suddenly felt like an ineffective twig in my hands.
Daniel’s voice shook. “Three heads. Three of us. We can take him.”
“No, you can’t. Go.” Kazuko’s eyes never left the dog.
“What? We’re not leaving you!”
“Go.”
I took a step backward down the first corridor.
Daniel pulled on Kazuko’s arm. “Come on, run!”
Kazuko dropped her sword. I thought she was going to hit Daniel, but she elbowed him away and tore the bandage off the hand that I’d wounded.
“GO NOW,” she said, and her voice echoed through my mind, demanding my obedience. Her compulsion tore through me and I turned and ran down the dark tunnel. I thought I heard Daniel’s footsteps close behind mine, but beyond that, nothing but a great buzzing sound and the yelps of a very large dog.
CHAPTER EIGHT
I could have sworn Daniel was behind me. I really thought he was. When you’re running through a dark cave and the only light is coming from you, echoes and shadows can wreak havoc on your perception.
Kazuko had told us to run, and everything in my body had told me to obey her. I figured Daniel had obeyed her, too.
And so I ran down that first corridor, heading through twists and turns, too dark to figure out where I was headed. When I finally slowed to a stop, I was quite frightened to find I was alone-in hell. The dog’s anguished sounds had ceased, but the buzzing noise continued.
“Daniel?”
My voice died in the cave. The air had become wet and dank; water leaked from the walls in little droplets. I took a tentative step and slipped, sliding for several feet. Once I’d gained my footing again, I realized that my sword was not the only thing glowing. Ahead, the rocks themselves glowed.
I peered into the gems and saw to my great shock that each hunk of emerald, sapphire, or diamond ensconced in the wall imprisoned a living, glowing soul. “What the hell?” I muttered.
I reached my hand out to touch a gem and heard Daniel call out to me.
“Kate, stop!”
Relief washed over me as he ran up, coming from the hall in front of me.
“Where did you come from?” I asked him, giving him a brief hug.
He stiffened in surprise, but carefully hugged me back. “I went down the middle corridor.”
“And that loops back around this way?”
“Not exactly. There’s really no time to explain, Kazuko is buying us all the time she can, but we need more help if we’re going to do this.”
I held up my hand. “Wait. I have no idea what’s going on. Where is she, and what did she do back there?”
He clamped his hand on my shoulder. “Kazuko and I talked about this while you were asleep. The other souls we got in cat hell were just abandoned; it’s likely some god would have run across them and taken them. The lost souls here aren’t unclaimed; we’re on Hades’s turf. He doesn’t like outsiders, and he certainly doesn’t like outsiders taking his shit. We are about to steal from a god, Kate. A stern, easily angered god. And we’ve lost our bodyguard.”
I sighed, forcing the tension and annoyance out of my shoulders. “What do you suggest we do?”
Daniel held out his right hand, which glowed with a bluish light. A single blue orb floated gently above his palm.
“That’s… not a soul.”
“Not a human soul, no. He followed me in the other corridor, showed me the shortcut here. But he needs you, Kate. Don’t ask me why, I’m not sure.”
I held out my hand and the orb floated to me. I carried it closer to my face and knew immediately, even as it spoke to me in a weakened voice in my head.
Hello, lover.
“Hermes,” I said, forcing my voice steady.
You need help, but first you have to help me. Can you do that, Kate? Have you figured it out?
“Figured what out?” I asked. Daniel was shifting from foot to foot as if he were about to dash off. Time was, apparently, short.
Kiss me.
I hesitated. For one thing, where were his lips? For another thing, there was Daniel right there in front of me. And what would kissing this orb really accomplish?
Kate, once I gave you my life force. All I ask is now you give some back. Please. I can help you after you help me.
“You said you found this in the middle hall?” I asked Daniel, remembering the feeling I’d felt when I’d focused that way.
“Yeah. There were others there, but this is the only one that noticed me. I had a hunch what he was; I can apparently touch god souls while I still can’t touch human souls.”
“And Odin tells you what?”
“Kate, we don’t have time. That’s Hermes. Whatever he needs from you, do it.”
With one more glance at Daniel, I leaned forward and kissed the shining orb.
It dissolved immediately, tendrils of light and god stuff entering my nostrils, mouth and eyes. I threw my head back and gasped as Hermes slid into me, leaving behind fingerprints and picking over my soul as if it were a buffet.
Strong hands picked me off the ground where I hadn’t realized I’d fallen. I settled back, blind, against a firm, broad chest.
“Thank you,” he whispered, and his lips touched mine.
I lost myself in the kiss, in the taste of him, all other concerns minimal. I think I stopped breat
hing there for a moment, but he pulled away and whispered, “We have work to do.”
I opened my eyes. Daniel looked at me, his face inscrutable. Hermes took my hand and pulled-
And we ran.
God, how we ran. Hermes, the fleet-footed messenger of the gods, pulled me along with him and the caves became blurs to our eyes. I lagged only a moment as we exited the cave and I saw Kazuko rewrapping her hand, the unmistakable skeleton of a three-headed dog behind her, but Hermes tugged, and we left her.
The wind made me blink, which was a mistake, as I missed most of the trip. We came to a halt outside a great hallway, not even out of breath. I looked around, but Hermes was gone.
Kate, came the voice in my head. Hades knows all of my tricks. We have to distract Hades with something new so you can get what you need.
“Distracting Hades? You’re the trickster god, not me,” I said, fear flooding my mouth with bile.
Not necessarily, he said. I will guide you. I need something new, something Hades won’t see coming. Then there was that feeling again, that he was moving around in my head, gently touching my memories. A memory appeared in my mind like a movie, of me sitting in my second grade classroom as one of the last true Appalachian storytellers regaled us with tales of Jack. Jack and the King. Jack and the Beanstalk. Jack and the Bull.
The bull. Jack’s bull’s horns gave milk and bread and saved him when he was starving. After the bull died in a battle, Jack cut a strap from the bull’s hide. Whenever Jack was threatened, he would command the strap to whip and the horns to beat his attackers. “Tie strop tie! Beat horns beat!”
This we can use.
“Where’s Daniel? Is he okay?” I asked, looking back over my shoulder. I had no idea how far we had run.
Your guide will find him, now that she’s done with Cerberus. He’ll be safe with her.
I nodded and took a deep breath.
And so with Hermes whispering to me and making me feel utterly confused and confident at the same time, I walked into the grand hall of Hades and Persephone.
#
Bury your lies deep within the truth, Hermes said.
“My Lord Hades,” I said, bowing to him and pulling the Traveler necklace from around my neck.
The god and his prisoner wife Persephone sat on thrones at the end of a dismal throne room, flanked by the dead. Cold stone walls stretched high to form an arched ceiling, and gems winked at me, reflecting firelight. The dead souls milled about, making the throne room look more like a room full of bored teenagers than a grand court.
Hades and Persephone stared at me impassively. They were tall: as larger than life as the gods at Olympus were, even Zeus. Being gods, I supposed they could be any size they liked. Hades had gold and silver rings adorning each finger and a long black beard. His hair was shaggy, giving him a wild mountain-man look. Persephone wore no jewelry whatsoever, a silent protest against her husband, I guessed. Hermes quietly affirmed my suspicion.
I approached them confidently, with Hermes calming my hammering heart.
Look in the bag. Show him the gifts you have for him.
“I bring gifts to the lord and his queen,” I said, pulling off my backpack. I pulled out a gaudy emerald necklace and a circlet encrusted with diamonds and handed both to a bored-looking attendant soul to give to Persephone and Hades. Persephone ignored my gift, choosing instead to stare at me, frowning. Hades smiled as he greedily inspected the circlet and his wife’s necklace.
“The god of Abraham, El, Adonai, Jehovah, sends you these gifts,” I said.
“Elohim? I thought He was on His way to joining us,” Hades said with a chuckle. “I certainly see that His followers have made things rather busy down here.” He waved his hand to indicate the crowded hall.
Joining them? I thought. Hermes caught my hesitation and urged me to focus. His presence sharpened my wit, letting the words come more quickly. “Why do you think He wants to bring you gifts, my Lord?”
I looking down and saw the corner of the corner of the ornate chest sticking out of my backpack. “I also know you have interest in gems, some more than others,” I said quickly. I opened the chest and saw a soul sphere there, a relatively new soul, with only one life to its credit. It quivered slightly as I touched it, and I picked it up and stretched out my hand to show Hades – close enough for him to see, far enough so he couldn’t snatch it.
He gasped. “Where did you get such riches?”
“I am on a mission from Elohim to find the lost souls. He wishes to give them to their proper afterlife. I think some of these belong to you.”
“That is excellent news,” he said, stretching out his hand.
I pulled back the soul. “I need to see your collection, first, sire.” I dropped my eyes deferentially. “Elohim wants me to see if you have souls that do not belong here. We are missing someone special.” I put the soul back in the chest and then back in my bag.
I chanced a glance up. Hades had narrowed his eyes in suspicion. Uh oh.
Persephone, whose eyes hadn’t left my face, placed her hand on her husband’s arm. “Follow them, beloved,” she said, her voice old and sad for all her youthful beauty. “It is only fair to do an exchange.”
Hades looked as if a one-for-one exchange was not fair at all, and with all of the wealth in the world belonging to him, one could hardly expect him to be altruistic. He got off of his throne and beckoned me to follow him through a door behind Persephone. As I passed her, she rewarded me with a small, knowing smile.
“What was that about?” I whispered.
Hermes’s tone was light. She recognized me. She’s helping us. More memories of myths came back to me, including one in which Hermes and Persephone had been lovers.
My heart pounded and I bit my lip as Hades reached inside his red silken robe and brought out a key ring with hundreds of keys. He led me down a hall with many doors, stopping at one.
I was very aware of his closeness, and the divine power wafting from him. I had to play this just right.
“Your bag,” he said, and reached his hand out to me. I handed it over with no hesitation and he opened the door. I stepped inside, trying to keep my gasp to myself. Hades had captured thousands of souls and trapped them within gemstones; many more than I had seen in the previous cave. The gems glittered unnaturally, and I could feel them reaching out to me.
The ones outside were the overspill, Hermes explained. I shook my head.
I took another step into the room and was completely unsurprised when Hades, still holding my backpack, slammed and locked the door behind me.
#
Although the room still glittered brightly, I closed my eyes and put my hands on the wall. I felt a sharp gem that pulsed slightly. The soul inside was as clear to me as if it had spoken out loud. The soul identified as male, had existed in Australia and France and in some caves in an area that had no definitive boundaries. An old soul.
“Come on, then,” I whispered, and I drew it into my hand. It pulled easily from the wall, my palm flaring in a brief heat as I drew it into my hand. I had no idea where to store it, as my backpack was with Hades. As I wondered, it dissolved, sinking into my skin, leaving behind a glowing circle on my palm. I gasped as it sank in, heat sinking in and spreading up my arm and warming my entire body.
Excellent. Now you know what to do, Hermes whispered in my head.
Next I scooped up a soul that identified only as a writer, then a soul that thought of itself only as a mother, and I gasped when I caught her memories of all of the children she had birthed, loved, and lost. A woman from Russia. A man from Ireland. I pulled them all from the prison of Hades and kept them safe.
I turned on occasion, following the call of other souls, forcing myself to relax and stop trying to see and understand their lives. I kept my eyes closed. My mind drifted to Daniel and his lost eye, and I wondered what it had been like to choose to lose it a second time. I wondered when he would tell me. I wondered if I’d be worthy of the sacrifice he ma
de for me.
After gathering all the souls around me (I’d lost count after eighty) I explored them.
First, of course, I looked for Megan. I wasn’t sure what I was looking for, but I’m sure memories of a loving brother and a crazy mom would stand out pretty baldly. I didn’t see anything like that.
Scanning the souls was like reading a great epic with numerous plotlines that never seemed to tie together. This war story, this romance, this violent death, this boring, safe life. The stories lulled me, but Hermes’s impatience stirred. Although it had felt like a long time, I hadn’t been in there but ten minutes or so. I smiled to myself.
“Tie, strop, tie. Beat, horns, beat.”
The bellow of the lord of the underworld shocked me out of my meditation, and I tried to protect my face as the door exploded inward. A sliver of wood cut my cheek, but I was otherwise unharmed. I ran out of the room and found Hades lying on the floor of the hallway, soundly restrained with a leather strap that still wound itself around him, snakelike. I picked up my backpack from where Hades had flung it when he had only found a leather strap and bull’s horns inside. The horns lay beside the door from where they had burst it open, and I tossed them inside the pack.
“Keep the strap,” I said, and Hermes and I were off.
#
Daniel and Kazuko stood by Cerberus’s skeleton, arguing as we dashed by. We gathered the souls in the far corridor in an instant and joined them.
Daniel’s eyes were wide as they stared into mine. “Is it you? Really?”
“Of course it’s me, dumbass. Who does it look like?”
He pulled me to him and crushed me, then. I hugged him back awkwardly and tried to pull away, but he wouldn’t let go. “God, I was so scared,” he said. “After I gave you Hermes’s soul, you got all glassy-eyed and then you disappeared.”
“He just helped me take care of some unfinished business with Hades,” I said, smiling. “We got the lost souls, we’re good to go.”
“Hades will be free soon, we should leave,” came the calm voice from behind me. Daniel finally let me go and I turned to see Kazuko. But it wasn’t Kazuko. She looked the same, and yet her presence had increased. It was like she teased me at my peripheral vision. There was something else there.
