Elementals 5: The Hands of Time

by Michelle Madow

“Ah.” Hades nodded, giving us a knowing smile. “I see now why you ventured down to the Underworld. You think the Oracle will tell you something that Nyx couldn’t.”

  “We think it’s a possibility,” Blake said. “We don't have many options—this seemed like it had the best chance of working. Because if there’s another way to close the portal, the Oracle would know, right?”

  “She would,” Hades said. “But when the Oracle was alive, she was merely a mortal. Now she’s a spirit living out her afterlife in Elysium. She can still see the future, but going to her with this question could be an insult to Nyx herself. And as I understand it, Nyx has watched out for you and supported you throughout your entire journey. Do you truly wish to risk insulting Nyx by questioning her knowledge?”

  “We’re not questioning her knowledge,” I said. “I trust that Nyx is being honest with us about what she knows. But if the Oracle knows something more… I just couldn’t live with myself if we left any possible stone unturned.”

  “I understand that you see it that way.” His eyes were far off, and I could practically see the wheels in his brain spinning. “However, Nyx might see it differently.”

  “Then that’s a risk we’re willing to take,” Blake said.

  “You might be willing to take it,” Hades said. “But am I?”

  “It’s just one question,” I begged. “Let us see the Oracle, and I promise you won’t see us again until our souls come to the Underworld to live out our afterlives.”

  A shadow passed over Hades’s eyes, and I feared he was about to say no.

  “This is too complicated of a decision to make on a whim,” Persephone finally spoke up. She turned to Hades, her gaze soft and loving, and placed her hand on top of his. “Perhaps we should sleep on it and come to a decision in the morning?”

  “You’ll stay here tonight even though it’s one of the months that you’re allowed on Earth?” He watched her carefully, waiting for her response.

  “Yes.” She rearranged her hair so it perfectly framed her face, and her lips curved up into a small smile. “I’ll show Blake and Nicole their accommodation, and then I’ll meet you in our room.”

  “Very well.” He nodded to her and looked back at us. “I’ll send Persephone to find the two of you in the morning, and she’ll bring you to me so I can inform you of my decision.”

  And then, without waiting to see our reaction, he disappeared.

  CHAPTER FORTY-SIX

  “I would walk you to your room so you could see more of the palace, but it’s best that I don’t lose any time that I could be spending with Hades,” Persephone said, holding out her hands for us to take. “Come. I’ll make sure you’re situated in your room, and then I’ll come get you in the morning, once Hades has reached a decision.”

  We took her hands, and she teleported us to our room.

  I opened my eyes to the sight of a huge canopy bed with a red comforter that looked as soft as velvet. Fit for royalty, the bed was magnificently carved, as were the nightstands, chairs, and tables. I turned and saw a buffet spread across the wall near the glowing fireplace, with food and drink ready for us to eat. It smelled delicious, and my stomach growled, reminding me that it had been a long time since my last meal.

  But I kept glancing back at the bed. Because despite its size, there was only one bed.

  Warmth rushed to my cheeks, and I wrung my hands together, unable to look at Blake. We’d never spent the night together before. In fact, I’d never shared a bed with a guy—ever. Perhaps I should ask for my own room?

  But I didn’t want to sleep alone in Hades’s castle, and despite how upset I’d been at Blake since he’d volunteered to sacrifice himself to Kerberos, I trusted him.

  So despite my trepidations, I said nothing.

  “There are night clothes in the dresser, and a private bathroom through that door,” Persephone said, pointing to each of them. “I hope these accommodations will do. It’s rare that we have visitors, but apart from Hades’s room and my room, this is the nicest in the castle.”

  “It’s beautiful,” I assured her, since it was. “And thank you for doing all of this for us. I don’t know why you’re helping us, but I really do appreciate it. Without your help…” I glanced at Blake, unable to say more without risking bursting into tears, and turned back to Persephone. “I’m just glad we might be able to learn about another option.”

  “I’m happy to help.” Persephone walked to the buffet and picked up a pomegranate, looking down at it sadly. “I respect Hades very much, and after all the time I’ve been forced to spend with him here in the Underworld, I do love him as a partner and as a co-ruler,” she said, lifting her gaze to look back at us. “But I’m not in love with him. I never have been, and I don’t think I ever will be.” She took a deep breath, replacing her melancholy expression with a small smile. “Like the other Olympians, I’ve been following your adventures since the night of the comet. So much hinges on your closing the portal. And as an observer, I’ve also witnessed the love between the two of you. Your love may still be blooming, but it’s the type of love I always wished I had myself. I’ll never have it, so it’s my pleasure to do everything in my power to assist you in your quest to not be separated for all eternity.”

  “You’re able to see what’s happening on Earth from the Underworld?” Blake asked her.

  “Yes.” Persephone nodded. “Hades knew how much I missed my family during the six months I’m required to spend here every year, so centuries ago, he provided me with a mirror that allows me to watch what’s happening on Earth. It’s a one-way mirror, so those I’m watching can’t see me, but it’s better than not being able to see them at all. It helps make my time here more bearable.”

  “That was kind of him,” I said. “He seems to care about you a lot.”

  “He does,” she agreed, placing the pomegranate back down with the other fruit. “But love—true love—can’t be forced. It either exists or it doesn’t. It’s rare to find love that’s true, and even if someday I did find it, I can’t see how it would work out given my current situation. So I make the best with what I have. And helping others—especially two young people in love—makes me happy. That’s why I’m helping you.”

  “Thank you,” I told her. “I’m not sure what I could ever offer of equal value that you would want, but someday in the future, I hope I’ll be able to repay you.”

  “Please don’t feel as if you owe me.” She brushed the idea away as if it were silly and headed to the door, resting her hand on the knob. “Now, before I take leave, is there anything else you need?”

  “Not that I can think of,” Blake said. “But I do have one last question.”

  CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN

  “Yes?” Persephone watched him closely, waiting for him to continue.

  “This food looks delicious,” he said, motioning to the buffet. “But I’ve been studying Greek mythology for as long as I remember. An important rule I learned is not to eat or drink anything while in the Underworld. Doing so can get a person stuck down here forever, just like what happened to you when you ate the six pomegranate seeds and were forced to spend six months of every year here because of it.” He glanced at the fruit that she’d picked up earlier. “Will the same thing happen to us if we eat or drink anything laid out for us tonight?”

  “I swore upon Zeus that I would return you to Earth when you request that I do so,” she said. “That oath supersedes the law that those who eat in the Underworld must stay in the Underworld. Plus—I am the Queen. If I wish to break the law, then the law will be broken. So please, eat. It wouldn’t do to have you go hungry while you’re here.”

  “Thank you,” I said, and relief washed over me, since I was starving, and the food looked delicious.

  “Now, Hades is waiting for me, so I will take my leave,” Persephone said. “I will see you in the morning.”

  A warm light surrounded her, and she was gone.

  * * *

  “So…” I looked ar
ound awkwardly, not knowing what to do. Blake and I hadn’t been alone for longer than ten minutes since he’d volunteered to bind the portal from Kerberos. I was still processing my feelings about it all—and I was so hurt that I didn’t even know where to start.

  Instead, I walked to the buffet and opened one of the silver containers, my stomach growling at the sight and smell of my all-time favorite food—pizza.

  “The pizza’s half pepperoni and half pineapple,” I said with a smile, since we had an ongoing joke about how I didn’t understand how he could possibly enjoy pineapple on pizza. I opened up the other containers, pleased to find more of my favorite foods—grilled cheese, tacos, mini-hamburgers, and macaroni and cheese. There was way more than two people could possibly eat, but I put one of each on my plate and sat down at the table, wanting to try it all.

  “Do you want red or white?” Blake asked from the buffet.

  “Red or white what?” I asked.

  “Wine.” He smirked. “They’ve left both options for us. I guess there’s no drinking age in the Underworld.”

  “I guess not,” I agreed. “But… I’ve never actually had wine before. The only drinks I’ve ever had are beer and mixed liquor drinks at parties, and to be honest, I’ve never liked the taste.”

  “That’s because people buy the cheap stuff for parties,” he said. “Not liking that shows you have good taste. But these wines are in a decanter, which aerates the finest wines so they’re ready to drink. I think it’s safe to assume that the King and Queen of the Underworld spared no expense.”

  “Which do you prefer?” I asked.

  “For tonight?” His eyes softened, and my heart flip-flopped all the way from my stomach into my throat. “Red. Definitely red.”

  “Okay,” I said, my voice catching in my throat. “But only a little. I don’t want to get drunk.”

  “Witches have a naturally high alcohol tolerance,” he told me. “And you’re a demigod—yours is probably higher than ours. One glass of wine won’t get you drunk. It won’t even get you tipsy.”

  I nodded, since I supposed that made sense. Back in Georgia, I’d gone to a few parties where there was alcohol. Some of the girls acted silly after only one beer. They’d claimed it was because of the alcohol, but I could barely feel a thing, so I assumed they were acting drunk to get attention. They convinced me to have one more beer to see if I felt it, and it didn’t work. I just felt gross from all the liquid sloshing around in my stomach.

  That was the end of my adventures with drinking… but at least now I knew that if I enjoyed the wine, one glass wouldn’t hurt.

  Blake brought a plate of food to the table—he’d taken even more than me—and then he went back to pour the wine, bringing back one for each of us. He sat down to join me and raised his glass in the air. I followed his lead and raised mine as well.

  “To getting an answer from the Oracle tomorrow,” he said, his gaze locked on mine.

  “To getting an answer that we want,” I clarified, clinking my glass with his. Then I lifted the glass to my lips and took a small sip, smiling at the burst of flavor on my tongue.

  “You like it?” He cocked his head to the side, waiting for my answer.

  “Yes.” I took a full sip this time to fully enjoy the flavor. “I do.”

  It had been nearly an entire day since our last meal, so we dug into our food, barely speaking as we ate. It was the best food I’d ever had. I wondered if Hades and Persephone had hired the best chefs of all time to make it for us. It was possible, since they had every dead person in the world accessible to them. I doubted that any other meal I would have in my life would compare.

  I came close to finishing everything on my plate, but it was so much food that I eventually dropped the final half of my cheeseburger down in defeat.

  Blake raised an eyebrow at my nearly empty plate. “I guess you won’t have room for dessert?” he asked.

  “No way.” I shook my head, scrunching my nose at the thought of fitting any more food into my stomach.

  But then my thoughts went back to Blake—mainly, about what he would have to endure in Kerberos. Because in Kerberos, the food was dangerous. I didn’t know what it would do to him, because Erebus had ensured that we had enough power bars to keep us going through our journey, but I had no doubts that the effects of the food there would be horrible.

  And Blake would be forced to endure it for all eternity.

  “What’s wrong?” He reached forward to rest his hand on top of mine, but I pulled away, bringing mine back down to my lap. Not because I didn’t want to hold his hand—I did, more than I could say. But because I was afraid that if he touched me right now, I wouldn’t be able to stop myself from bursting into tears.

  I didn’t want him to see me weak like that—not when he was being so strong.

  “It’s just been a long day,” I said, pushing back my chair and standing up. “I’m going to go shower.”

  I rushed to the bathroom without waiting for his response, got into the shower, and finally allowed the tears to fall.

  CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT

  I stayed in the shower for a while, crying until my tear ducts were so dried out that crying any more was impossible. I once had a science teacher who said that when people cried, the sadness in our brains was an actual chemical that transferred out of our bodies through our tears. If that were true, crying was supposed to make me feel better.

  But my heart felt just as crushed as it did before.

  By coming to the Underworld, I was doing everything I could to make it so Blake didn’t have to sacrifice himself to Kerberos. But I wouldn’t be able to feel better until the Oracle gave us another solution to the challenge ahead. I doubted I would sleep well tonight, but if I tried to fall asleep, then tomorrow—and the answers it would bring—would come faster. So I turned off the water and got out of the shower, hoping I didn’t look like a complete wreck after my crying session.

  I’d bolted to the shower so quickly that I hadn’t bothered to take pajamas into the bathroom with me, so I wrapped myself in a towel, brushed out my hair, and walked back into the bedroom. My eyes met with Blake’s, and I held the towel closer, feeling practically naked there in front of him. I was sure in that moment that he could see straight into my soul, and every inch of my body ached to run up to him and kiss him and pretend that everything was going to be all right and that he would be able to live out the rest of his life on Earth.

  Instead, I just stood there, my gaze locked with his, saying nothing. What could I possibly say that wouldn’t result in me breaking down into tears again?

  “I’m going to jump in the shower too,” he said, finally breaking the silence. “You can get changed while I’m in there.”

  I nodded, watching him as he walked into the bathroom and closed the door behind him. Once the shower was running, I opened the wardrobe and gasped. Because the doors opened to reveal a hidden walk-in closet and dressing room that was nearly the size of my bedroom at home.

  I stepped in, closed the door behind me, and perused what was available. There were gowns on the female side and tuxedos on the male side. It looked like a closet for nobility in the time of Victorian England. My appearance today had been the last thing on my mind, but Hades must have thought that Blake and I looked a mess in the throne room in our jeans and t-shirts. I hoped it hadn’t negatively influenced his decision.

  I searched my side of the closet for pajamas, finding only a selection of lacy, silk, or see-through nightgowns. They were nothing like what I normally wore to bed at home—shorts or sweatpants with a tank top. But with no other option, I found a sort-of modest black silk one and slipped it on, turning to see how it looked in the full-length mirror.

  It fell to the top of my thighs, showing more leg than I would ever reveal in public. But at least the material wasn’t sheer, so I didn’t feel completely exposed. If my eyes didn’t feel so puffy from crying, and if they didn’t have dark circles under them from exhaustion, I might even t
hink I looked pretty. As it was, I felt like a mess—both inside and out.

  I was so tired that it was tempting to get into bed, bury myself under the comforter, and fall asleep. But I couldn’t go to sleep without seeing Blake. Because—as much as I hated to remind myself of it—I didn’t know how much time I had left with him. I had to at least talk to him and see if there was anything I could say that would get him to change his mind about his decision. If I didn’t say or do everything in my power to try to convince him to change his mind, I would never be able to forgive myself.

  I wasn’t sure what I could say, but I had to try.

  With nothing else to do but wait, I slipped on a pair of fluffy slippers, picked up my glass of wine, and curled up in the armchair facing the fireplace. Our plates had been cleared and the food had miraculously disappeared while Blake was in the shower and I was in the closet. All that remained was a decanter of red wine, and a selection of cookies, chocolates, and pastries. But I still wasn’t hungry, so I sipped my wine, getting lost in my thoughts as I stared into the fire, which was burning smaller and smaller as time passed.

  Suddenly, the flames flared back to life, so high that they licked the top of the mantle. I turned around and saw Blake standing near the door, a satisfied smirk on his face. He wore black silk pajama pants, but none of the shirts in the wardrobe must have been to his liking, because his top was bare, showing off his tanned, chiseled chest. His hair was still wet from the shower.

  He picked up his glass of wine and sat down in the armchair next to mine. His eyes roamed the length of my body, and heat rose to my cheeks under his gaze.

  “I was curious about which nightgown you would choose,” he said, the light of the flames dancing across his face. “You look beautiful.”

  “Thanks.” I glanced down at the nightgown again and straightened, feeling less self conscious about it now. “That closet was… something else.”

  “It was.” He nodded, and we sat together in silence for a few seconds, sipping our wine.