Sensing her dismissal, I stood. “No problem.” I walked back to my spot on the floor.
“Jiro?” she called through the darkness. “Do you think you could come and lay with m—”
A knock sounded at the door, cutting her off.
What now? I once again yanked myself from the floor and shuffled over. I unlocked it and pulled it open to find a familiar face in the doorway. Her lips were scarlet red, her pin-straight hair pulled into a sleek high ponytail. She wore nothing but a black corset, garters that held up lacy stockings, and some tiny black shorts to match. I should have known she’d show up tonight. The demigoddess always made time to visit me for some late night fun.
“Not tonight, Lyrica,” I said, suddenly conscious of the girl in my bed.
She took me by the collar. “Come on, Jiro. You always want to.”
I inhaled sharply. “I said not tonight.”
I yanked my shirt from her manicured fingers and tried to shut the door, but she stopped it with her high-heeled boot. “Do you have someone here?”
Trying to block the entrance with my body, I muscled her out. Her gaze snapped back to me. “Well, she can watch.”
“Stop.”
She tilted her head to the side, reading my face. “She’s the mortal girl. So the rumors are true. You’ll be training the Champion of Hell again.”
Unwilling to disclose anything else, I held her gaze.
She grinned, shrugging. “That’s okay. It just so happens that I’ll be entering the tournament this year too.”
I shook my head. “Wh-what? On whose behalf?”
She spun to give me a look at her ass and called over her shoulder, “You’ll have to wait and see tomorrow like everyone else,” before strutting her voluptuous curves back the way she came.
As I locked the door, I hoped that my personal life wasn’t going to make Yesenia any more of a target than she already was, and that she hadn’t heard or seen the demigoddess at my door. I knew Yesenia wasn’t going to survive the tournament, but she had to at least put on a show for Hades. That wouldn’t happen if Lyrica went for her right out of the gate.
I returned to my spot on the floor when I remembered Yesenia was going to ask me something. I turned to her. “Sorry about that. Was there something you wanted?”
She shook her head, her vacant expression unreadable. “It was nothing.”
17
Yesenia
I clenched my teeth, careful not to make a sound as I listened to Jiro’s visitor. I peeled the blanket back slowly, afraid to make any noise as I rose from the bed and peeked around the corner to see the source of the sultry voice that Jiro was intimately familiar with.
A blonde bombshell stood outside the door, and as she pouted her luscious lips and tugged Jiro closer to her, my jaw clenched. Unwarranted jealousy surged in my chest as I backed away, returning to the bed and arranging myself to match the way I had been before Jiro walked away.
It wasn’t as if I was angry with him, but I’d be lying if I said my heart didn’t twinge a bit. I had almost allowed myself to ask him to join me in bed, to hold me as I battled with the demons that always seemed to prey on me at night, but the goddess’s arrival was the proverbial cold bucket of water I needed. Jiro was a means to an end, a way to save my sister. The draw of the Underworld was already skewing my mind.
As he returned to the room and asked what was wrong, it took everything in me not to snap at him. Instead, I told him it was nothing and laid back down—alone. He wasn’t the one I was angry with. I was mad at myself.
My dream swirled inside my brain, refusing to leave me. I could still feel the whispers of pain against my body. The bruises may have faded but the mental scars only grew deeper. The only distraction that came to mind was Jiro and Bondage Barbie, and that was not helping.
I threw the covers off in frustration after a few moments and glared down at Jiro. “You can have the bed.”
He looked up at me, startled, as I stormed into the bathroom and slammed the door behind me. The eerie coal-like walls glowed brighter as I entered the room for the first time, casting shadows around me. The light grew steadily stronger until it illuminated the entire room. I leaned against a countertop that appeared to be made of onyx and hung my head, my eyes closed in frustration. What is my problem?
I had no reason to be upset that Jiro had a lover, I hardly knew the guy, but I was—irrationally so. As I opened my eyes, I realized I was so agitated that I had stormed out in front of Jiro in my underwear, so small they barely covered my ass. I groaned as a knock sounded on the door.
“Go away. I’m going to shower or whatever it is you call it down here.”
“Yess, what’s wrong?”
“It doesn’t matter. Don’t worry. The mortal will be ready to train tomorrow. Now leave me alone.”
I heard the door handle jiggle and I was glad I had the foresight to lock it. I could hear Jiro’s muttered curses as I turned toward the shower, determined to figure it out without his help.
It looked like an ordinary shower stall. One side was made of glass, partially frosted so that it would cover from just below the collar bone to the knee from the outside once you stepped in. The other three walls were lined with the same onyx-like material that lined the counter. A panel was situated inside the shower, full of buttons, where a handle would normally be. A quick glance up showed holes where there would normally be a rain-style shower head.
I stripped my clothes off, folding them on the counter and grabbing a towel off the cabinet that was nestled above the toilet to place on top of them.
I reached my hand in and pressed a button experimentally. The water jutted down harshly as steam filled the bathroom from the sudden rush of heat. No way.
I stuck my hand in again, continuing to press buttons until the water was a normal stream and a tolerable temperature. I stepped in and placed my head under the cascade, tilting my head back to wet my hair. I tried to shake the thoughts of Jiro and the blonde, Lyrica he had called her, from my brain.
My thoughts, or rather my attempts to drown them, were interrupted by the handle of the bathroom door jiggling once more. I frowned, staring at the knob before shrieking as the door swung open. My hands went to cover my body as I shouted at the Prince of Hell.
“Jiro! What the fuck, man? I’m naked!”
“I can see that. Well, I can’t... unfortunately.”
“Get out!” My voice grew hoarse as I did my best imitation of what I thought a banshee would sound like.
Jiro held up his hands in surrender, his face pointed toward the ceiling. “Better?” I could hear the smile in his voice and it pissed me off.
“It’d be better if you got the hell out.”
“Too bad but, for the record, my eyes were closed when I came in. I’m not a creep. I just wanted to see what was going on with you,” he retorted as he crossed his arms. “What’s wrong? You’re being... different.”
“Nothing,” I snapped. “Just trying to wash off any lingering sex germs you and Lyrica left in the bed.”
Jiro brought his face back down to make eye contact with me, his eyebrows raised incredulously as a smile spread across his face. “You’re jealous.” I wanted to snap at him, to tell him to turn around or something, but he wasn’t looking at my body. Instead, his gaze locked firmly on mine as his grin flashed with a cocky edge.
“No. I. Am. Not.” Each word came out as an angry hiss. “I’m disgusted and washing myself off. You can bone as many goddess hotties as you want. I just don’t want to lie in your filth.”
His grin grew incorrigible and it only made my temper flare. Laughter bubbled out of his chest before he turned on his heel. The smile was still evident in his voice as he made to exit the room. “Well, the sheets are changed daily so there is no filth or sex germs. The bottom left button will give you body wash. The bottom right shampoo and conditioner.”
He finally strode from the room before he stopped and turned to look at me once more as he r
eached in to grab the doorknob, his gaze still never drifting lower than my face. “Oh, and Yesenia? You’re pretty hot when you’re jealous.” He shut the door before I had a chance to respond, and I groaned as I gently banged my head against the wall. Why was it that I had almost wanted him to look?
18
Jiro
My mother’s monstrous form crept through the tunnels, her scales scraping against the sharp peaks that hung from the ceiling like icicles. Her expression was somber.
“And so, my only choice, of course, is to let her fail. If not, Hades will—”
She slithered forward so quickly that I stopped short. “I know,” I said, reading her glossy eyes. “It’s not like I want her to die. If she were to win, I could have you back, but at what cost?”
She nudged me with the tip of her nose.
“It’s not like she can win. She has no chance, no matter how I prepare her.”
Her head bobbed.
“You mean… just let her try and let fate take over?”
Her nostrils flared with her exhale. Give her a chance. A fair chance.
“And what about Hades?”
She nuzzled closer and I rested my hand on her smooth scales. Her warm breath soothed me. Even in the short encounter, my mother became protective of Yesenia, a phenomenon I was beginning to understand. But Yesenia’s presence altered my mother’s position. She was more concerned with the mortal’s survival than Hades taking the throne, which meant I had permission to save her. We’d have to figure out a way to stop Hades if we somehow pulled this off, and I wasn’t sure Yesenia had it in her to take on the demigods of Olympus, but for the first time she and I were on the same side.
It certainly didn’t make me a good guy, but I could rest a little easier knowing that, if she died, it wouldn’t be because I didn’t give my all to train her. I snuck back into my apartment, hoping not to wake Yesenia as I entered, and exhaled my relief when she didn’t stir. I took my spot on the floor and slipped into the images of my subconscious before I’d even known sleep had taken me.
A scratching sound at my front door jogged me awake. My body ached from a night on the stone floor, my immortality easing it as my waking consciousness returned. I bit back a smile as my thoughts flashed to Yesenia, thrown into a jealous huff after Lyrica showed up. It was nice to know I wasn’t the only one battling against our obvious mutual attraction.
I glanced up and Yesenia lay still, half her body hanging off my oversized bed.
A second series of scratches at my door propelled me to my feet. I waited for the sound again, but it was silent. It could’ve been a hellhound prowling for some rotten souls to feed on, but the giant paws of one of those would have made a louder sound. Was it Lyrica? I unlocked the door and cracked it open.
A tiny ball of black fur on four paws barreled through the gap and into my apartment. I spun, chasing after it as it barked playfully. I cornered it, and it turned to me, its tail wagging playfully as it dodged me and shot through my legs. It yipped at Yesenia and she sat up slowly. It panted at her, giving me just enough time to sneak up behind it and grab it. It was no bigger or heavier than a grapefruit, and I was about to march it back to the door and toss it out when I saw Yesenia’s face.
Her eyes bulged as she reached out for the animal. “Is this your dog?” she asked.
Still, with half a mind to toss it out, I eyed the door. “No, it’s a stray. It just snuck in.”
“Can I hold him?”
I handed her the puppy and it scampered up her arm to her face and licked it. She gasped. “It’s so cute.”
“It’s a hellhound,” I said. “They’re not so cute when they’re grown.” My wrist burned with the memory of what fully grown hellhounds were capable of.
“So it’s a hell-pup?”
I pressed my lips together to suppress a smile. “I’m going to shower. We’re tossing it out when I get out, so say your goodbyes.”
I closed my eyes and let the hot water burn my skin. Yesenia had somehow managed to get me off of soul collection, but training her for the tournament would be a far more difficult task. She’d be going against demigods like Hercules and Lyrica. She wasn’t the first mortal to enter either. In fact, all of Hell’s champions had been mortal—and they all died in the tournament. I clenched my fist. Fuck. Now that I liked her, I wasn’t sure what to do. If I sabotaged her entry, her life would be spared but her soul would still belong to Hades. She’d be trapped in the Underworld. My mother would remain in her current form. Plus, if Yessi ever found out that I’d done it… I shuddered. My only other option was to find a way to trust that she’d continue to surpass my expectations—or even find an ally to protect h—
The bathroom door swung open and Yesenia walked in.
I grinned. “Is this revenge for last night or are you here to join me?”
“You wish,” she spat, but the red in her cheeks gave her away. “I’ve come to tell you that I’ve decided to keep Rogue.”
I wiped the water from my eyes. “You named it?” I sighed. “We can’t take it to Olympus with us.”
“Can we give her to Araceli to look after?”
“You want to unleash a hellhound on Earth?”
“She’s sweet,” Yesenia said, coddling the pup in her arms. She looked up at me. “Jiro.” I couldn’t say why, but the combination of her serious tone and my name on her lips startled me. “Please.”
“Fine. Now go so I can finish or we’re going to be late.”
With a victorious grin, she spun and headed for the door, pup in hand.
19
Yesenia
I clutched Rogue to my chest as I stared at the portal Jiro had conjured. We had rushed through getting ready—having to stop to drop the hell-pup off with my sister was putting us at risk of being late to the champion announcement ceremony.
The small creature curved into me, as if she was scared of walking through the fire portal too. I took a step towards it before pausing and grabbing Jiro’s hand in my free one, intertwining our fingers.
He turned to look at me and I knew, even as I looked forward and refused to meet his gaze, that his eyebrow was quirked in question. I remained silent, shaking my head once without responding and stepping toward the flames.
My eyelids fluttered shut as I squeezed his hand and stepped into the fire, walking forward until the heat subsided. I opened my eyes, looking at Jiro who looked incredulously down at me. “You didn’t need me to talk you through it.”
I shook my head. “It’s easier to walk through fire when I know my sister is on the other side.”
His lips quirked at the corners as if he were fighting a smile before he motioned for me to lead the way. It was weird how closed off he had become. In the Underworld, he seemed so open—sometimes even playful and flirtatious—but as soon as we entered the mortal realm, he was stoic once more.
I didn’t stick around to analyze Jiro because my sister was so very near. I jogged to the back steps, running up until I reached Andy’s apartment. I knocked on the door, shifting my weight from foot to foot in anticipation.
Andy opened the door and I paused to kiss his cheek in greeting before ducking past him and running to the couch where my sister sat. “Araceli!”
She shouted my name and jumped up, moving towards my voice. I met her in the middle and gave her a half hug, turning my body so the small dog wouldn’t be squished between us.
“I brought you a present.”
“Sweet! What is it?”
Instead of answering, I held the dog up to Celi and she dutifully licked my sister’s cheek and yipped. A bright smile spread over Araceli’s face as she reached out to pet her. “What’s its name?”
“She’s a girl. I named her Rogue because she ran off from... wherever she was... and found us.”
Araceli giggled and turned her face up to me as she reached out to grab the little fur ball from my arms. “So she went rogue? Seems legit.”
I rolled my eyes at her vernacular an
d kissed her forehead. “I’ve got to go, but Rogue will keep you company. Can you handle the responsibility?”
She nodded enthusiastically and I smiled before stepping away from her, pausing as her voice rang out, “Yessi? Be careful.”
“Always, baby sister. What did I tell you?”
“You’ll never let me down.”
“Exactly, and I’m not going to start now. I’ll be fine, love.”
I gave her another small squeeze before nodding to Andy. As my very best friend in the world, he was able to read the look I sent him and nodded in response. “Go and come back. We’ll be okay, Yesenia. I promise.”
I smiled at him, reaching out to squeeze his arm before turning to leave.
“By the way, ya rude bitch, sure the dog can stay,” Andy called out as I opened the door.
“You’ve been saying you wanted a dog for the past year. Now you have a trial run. I’ll bring food by when I can. Te amo.”
“Love you too.”
Jiro was waiting in the alley when I found him. “Ready?” he asked.
I nodded once and managed to force a smile. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”
20
Jiro
“Why can’t you just draw us a gate?” Yesenia asked as I pulled her back to the Underworld. She’d hardly flinched as she stepped through the fiery vortex.
“It’s kind of a security thing,” I said, dropping her hand and guiding her through the snaked passages of Hell. “If you’re not Hermes, there are only three ways into Olympus. The first is to be born a god or goddess of Olympus, or gifted divinity by a god or goddess of Olympus, which…” I looked her up and down, her hair already frizzing in the heat of the dark caves, “isn’t you.
“The second is to fly there on the back of a pegasus, but Zeus doesn’t really let anyone borrow those. Believe me, I’ve tried.”
The Trials of Olympus Page 6
