by Skyler Andra
This is going to suck, I thought before I set off.
I’d never been the world’s most active person. My old jobs usually kept me sitting in front of the phone, whether I was telling love fortunes or getting dudes off; I’d always hated P.E or any kind of physical activity. Plus my boobs were generous enough that they’d bounce with each step, and I wasn’t exactly wearing a fitness bra. Alas, I wasn’t doing this for my health; I was doing this to save Byron and stop the dark suits once and for all.
Eros help me get back to my men.
Armed with the items I’d wrapped in a sheet last night and fashioned into a sling that crossed my chest, I strode over to the doorway. Pausing at the wall, I pressed my back to the cold marble, listening—not that I could really hear the ghosts silently floating down the hallways. I peeked around the wall, finding the passage all but empty except for the vines winding around the columns and along the ceiling, a haunting reminder of Persephone’s touch.
Uneasiness trembled inside of me as I continued, determined to break out of this place. I hoped if any of the servants noticed my departure, they’d think nothing of it considering I often left the palace to explore the underworld. But I never took a bundle of sheets with me.
Confidence swelled in me as I started to jog through the halls of the palace. A burning pain in my lungs and calves stopped me several embarrassing minutes later. I hunched over, leaning on my knees, sucking in deep breaths.
“Dammit, Locke,” I swore. “You’re getting on the treadmill once we get home.”
Knowing me, I probably wouldn’t really inflict that kind of torture on myself, but it was damn good motivation to inspire my ass.
Panting like an exhausted farm dog, I pressed on, hauling my ass out of the palace. After a while, I learned to ignore the pain. I descended the stone stairs down to the fields below in a semi-daze. An hour or so later, I’d crossed the fields, picking flowers, plucking their petals, adopting the good old he loves me, he loves me not as a distraction tool. I was happy to report it worked for the first five minutes. But then an unsettling feeling swamped me; I kept checking over my shoulder, convinced I was being followed.
Light crept over the darkened palace, highlighting the gold and encrusted jewels of the exterior façade. Columns supported tall arches and domes. Curtains ruffled in the breeze on the balconies. Creepy statues like the ferryman and his boat were carved into the stone walls. None of them were as ominous as the depiction of Hades himself, seated atop his throne, watching over the underworld. God, it made me shiver. It was like he was frowning at me, disapproving of my escape, judging my soul.
At that thought, I picked up my pace, bulleting into the foothills.
I didn’t know how long this journey would take me, but I assumed it wouldn’t be easy. Persephone had escaped; surely Hades would have made the exit tunnel even more difficult to reach, set it across terrain not meant for mortals. Dammit, I was going to make it, even if the journey killed me. At least then the next avatar of Cupid could tell stories about my adventure to save my lost loves. But then again, how sad would I sound, a lone mortal girl going to rescue her men. Wasn’t I the one who should be rescued? Curse the dark suits!
By what I assumed was mid-afternoon, I stopped at the edge of a stream to rest. A warm breeze carried through the vibrant forest decorated in leaves of all sorts of colors, like a beautiful painting. Lounging back on a long rock, I nibbled on the fruits I’d packed. I didn’t dare try any of the fruits or mushrooms on offer throughout the forest floor in case I ended up like Snow White or something.
My legs, feet and ankles ached; I rubbed them after my meager meal. Luckily I’d swapped my palace sandals for the boots I’d worn into the underworld, but they weren’t exactly made for hiking. Still, they were the best I had.
So far, I hadn’t encountered any deadly animals, thank Eros, or anything else threatening. Souls of the dead tended to mind their own business, which was handy. I’d seen a few, gave them a nod and kept moving on.
After a brief repose, I set off again. The faces of my men inspired me to keep going. I held them in the forefront on my mind the whole way.
It seemed like the day stretched forever, and my breaks extended longer as I need more time to recover. Let’s face it, I wasn’t the hiking type. This wasn’t going to be a quick and easy exit. Still, I kept dragging myself forward, even as the bell tolled and night set in. Finally, I collapsed beside a log, lost in the never-ending wilderness, a deep ache radiating from my overworked muscles, my feet blistered to hell and back as the cold leached all the warmth from my bones. I was too weak to eat, so I just lay down using the log to prop me up.
Pretty soon I fell into a deep sleep, letting it carry me away. When I woke, it felt like I’d only had about three hours of sleep; I was dazed for a moment or two and tried to recover my bearings, register my surroundings. The first thing I realized was the delicious warmth from a fire crackling beside me. The second thing was that something smelled amazing; it teased my nostrils, begging to be eaten.
I sat up straight, staring at the fire and wondering who had lit it. I scrambled backwards, almost toppling over the log, when my brain finally put together that it was Hades who tended to the flames, poking at a twisting roast on a spit.
I might have expected to see Rane grilling food over a fire, or maybe even Mads if he was desperate, but not Byron. Definitely not Hades—that was beyond strange. He was a giant of a man, albeit pretty elegant-looking. And he shouldn’t be here…the only reason he roasted people was to punish them.
Fuck. He’d busted me. I gulped, wondering if he had come to punish me for my attempted escape. Yep. This was my eternal damnation. I was about to be sliced up and sautéed for his meal! Or thrown into the pits of hell and inflicted with every known eternal torture possible.
Well, no reason to anticipate something awful before it happened…
“Heya,” I said, sitting up with a yawn and trying to play it cool, like I’d innocently wandered too far and gotten lost. “Did you come out to drag me back to the palace?”
Hades smiled at me just a little bit. “No. I was worried about you.”
Worried? Maybe I’d pegged him all wrong. At the dinner table last night, he’d expressed concern that I hadn’t eaten. But don’t tell me that was the only reason why he came all the way out here. Surely the lord of the dead knew all. I was his prisoner, and he had to make sure I didn’t run. Right?
“Aww,” I cooed, playing nice. “Did you have to say it like that? Now I feel guilty.”
“Mission accomplished, I suppose.” Wow. Hades using modern slang. Who’d have thought?
I squinted at him a little. “How long did you say that you’ve been the god, Hades, again? That sounded suspiciously modern.”
I already knew the answer since Mads had told me that the avatar of Hades and the actual god had merged into one being. Delay tactics one oh one…not that I was getting far with the lord of the underworld sitting close by…but hey.
He shrugged, unperturbed. “Some things are eternal, I guess. We like to express both our sides once in a while.”
Handy fact. Dually noted.
“Come here,” Hades ordered, something primal about his words. “I cooked some food.”
Well if I was about to be thrown into the pits of hell, why not enjoy my last meal?
A metal skewer zapped into his fingers, materialized from thin air, which he jabbed into the meat then removed it. I’ll be damned. What a trick. The skewer was almost full of meat with very little effort.
“Eat this,” Hades said, handing me the skewer.
Because I had been an idiot and gone all day eating only fruits, I was ravenous. The meat dripped with juices, and my mouth watered for its sustenance.
“Ouch,” I whispered, foolishly burning my mouth a few times while stripping the meat from the metal. God it was delicious, expertly singed and salted. I sighed as the nutrients hit my body. Just what I needed. If only Cupid knew how to cook l
ike that.
Sitting opposite me by the fire, the smoke curling around us both, was a god. A god equipped to dish out my worst nightmares every night for the rest of my eternal existence. Then, I remembered that I was a god too. Not quite equals—nowhere near it—but something made me feel as if maybe I could take him on. If Hades laid a finger on me, all I had to do was mess with his cord. But I only reserved that trick for extreme circumstances.
Before I realized I was thirsty, from both the trekking and the salty meat, Hades pushed a goblet of water at me.
“Thanks,” I said, sniffing it first before drinking.
When I was finally full, and I looked up to see Hades candidly watching me from the other side of the fire. His head tilted to one side, and a surprisingly gentle expression formed on his face. In a way, he reminded me of an affectionate father who was about to scold me for doing something naughty.
“So…” I said, putting my goblet down and preparing myself for what was next. “Are you going to like scream at me or strap me to a spinning wheel that never stops?”
He quirked an eyebrow at me and twisted his lips in a dark way. “Would you like me to?”
“Not now.” I didn’t explain it any more than that.
Hades sighed, nodding. “I knew I couldn’t keep you forever.”
I almost dropped the remaining meat in my hand and sat up straighter. “You did?”
“Hmm.” More tools appeared at his feet, and Hades dipped a brush into a pot then basted the meat in a glaze. “I might have done so if you were dead or if you had died down here.”
I shivered a little at the touch of coldness in his tone. What would this man even be like with the woman he genuinely loved?
Before my brain could catch up and trap the words within me, I blurted them. “I have to get back to them. They’re captive. You understand, don’t you?”
“I fulfilled my end of the bargain, Locke.” Hades tone turned dark. “You must, too.”
Sometimes bargains were meant to be broken, especially when love called for it. I bet plenty of the gods broke their agreements, which was why they all bickered with each other.
“Just let me out to save them,” I said. “Then I’ll return, I promise.”
Of course, I lied. Once I was back with my men, I had no intention of returning. Surely Athena had some knowledge on how to get me out of this deal. Maybe I could find some twisted individual to swap places with… not that Hades would want someone like that for company… but technically, it fulfilled my promise of a sacrifice to the lord of the dead.
Hades gave me a look that was both cold and amused. Tremors coursed through me. The way he stuck his hand into the flames to remove a piece of meat without it affecting him showed he could just as easily throw me in the eternal flames for attempting to break my oath.
“Would you care to strike another bargain with me, Locke?” he asked, his voice as dark and deadly as the day he’d heeded my call in the Paris catacombs. “We’ve already made one. Most people really don’t care to take on another debt with the lord of the underworld.”
Yes, that would be suicidal overconfidence. For the love of everything good, don’t you dare, Locke.
“Thanks, but no thanks,” I replied.
Right then Hades grabbed his head; the outline of his body blurred and shook as he struggled to hold his physical form.
“The voices!” he shouted. “I can’t control them. All the dead wailing at once.”
This was the sickness afflicting the gods caused by Eros’ disappearance. Hades could no longer control his powers and the loss of Eros drove him mad.
Another reason for me to leave the underworld, find my men, and figure out what the hell had happened to the god of love.
I was by Hades’ side instantly, my hands on his shoulders to hold him steady.
“You know I must leave,” I said, brushing away beads of sweat from his forehead. “I need to find Eros. If I don’t, this will kill you.”
When Hades looked at me, his eyes were strained with dismay. “I’m dead already.”
Pity rumbled through me as his misery spiked with each word. Without his long-lost love, he was just as empty as I was without the three threads connecting me, holding me together. Even with the powers of Cupid, I didn’t know if she’d ever return to him, and perhaps that wasn’t for me to know. But what I did know was that they were inextricably bound like I was to Byron, Mads and Rane. Somehow Hades and Persephone would find each other again. What remained was the question that I dared not ask him for fear it might alight hope within him. What if she did return, but only for the sake of closure? For her to appear in front of him again only to close that door would crush him. Give him hope only to shred it. I could not speak it to life. Then it would be my name he cursed. My death he craved. My eternal punishment he’d deliver.
Hades’ hands cradled the sides of my face. “Do you understand how the land of the dead works, Locke?”
“No,” I replied, reciprocating the tender act.
His eyes closed and released a sigh. In the catacombs, he’d told me he hadn’t been touched in two hundred years. No wonder his heart had frozen over.
“You, your men,” Hades said, “were intended for the underworld.”
At this, my hands shook. I gasped and let go of the lord of the dead.
“Someone must pay the price and return to the underworld in lieu of their lives.” Hades voice held a clipped warning to it. “Your life.”
“Dammit,” I cursed.
A hundred thoughts raced through my mind, visions of all four of us burning in hellfire, me especially for sleeping with three men and not having committed relationships with any of them.
“Otherwise, my realm will remain out of balance.”
“Fantastic,” I said.
Locke Casey doesn’t just give in to chance. She was going to find a way around this deal. But I drew the line at murdering someone else in my stead.
“Does it have to be me? Us?”
“Not necessarily.” Right then Hades’ cord flared a bright green; I knew for whom his heart wished to be returned in my place. She might never return to him, but he was never going to stop waiting.
Sure, I could track down Persephone, infuse a little love back into her cord, and encourage her back to the underworld. But that was coercion, equivalent to a forced marriage, and tricking the poor woman all over again. Something I refused to be a part of.
“I’ll see what I can do,” I lied with every ounce of my heart.
I don’t know what changed Hades’ mind or why he waved a hand, causing the rock to rumble and shift. The ground opened up for me. A staircase appeared at the mouth of a tunnel; it was just wide enough for me to touch either wall with my arms spread wide and tall enough that I wouldn’t bash my head on the ceiling.
“Don’t try to hide from me, Locke,” Hades warned. “I can always find you.”
My bowels turned to water; I think I peed my pants a little. I tried to cover up my fear with a joke. “Don’t suppose you could just magic me upside, could you? I’m not much of a climber.”
“I’m certain you can. You made it all the way here, didn’t you?” Was that a subtle mindfuck? Did he want me to doubt myself so I’d give up and beg him to take me back? Wasn’t happening. In this lifetime or the next. Either way, I’d get back to my men.
“Right…” My voice trailed off.
God, the prospect of climbing after such an exhausting day almost made me puke. I had enough lactic acid in my muscles to last me a lifetime. But when I reminded myself of why I came down here in the first place, to exchange my life for the lives of my lovers—which were spared for like five minutes—a fire set alight underneath my feet. I’d do whatever it took to get back to them… except dying—then I’d be back at square one with Hades and looking like a real fool.
Chance played a big part in Hades letting me go. I needed more than luck to rescue my men, find Eros, restore Olympus and get my one-way ticket out of t
he underworld.
“Take these,” Hades said as a bag materialized in his hand.
“Thank you,” I said, accepting it and examining the contents, another water canteen, meat wrapped in cloth and trail mix.
“I won’t mention our little arrangement,” I said. Hades titled his head in acknowledgement. “And I won’t tell a soul of your kindness in order to preserve your reputation.”
At that Hades chuckled, a deep and mournful laugh that hummed through my body.
“Good luck, Locke. We will be seeing each other again. I look forward to your humor.”
Fuck. There he was again with his ominous reminders drilling into my skull. Well, I’d changed the course of history once, interfering people’s lives in the process. I had no doubt that I could do it again for my own. The power of Eros flowed through me. I wasn’t entirely helpless. Somewhere inside of me existed a solution, and I wouldn’t stop until I found it.
I shouldered the bag. Then, on an unexplainable impulse, I threw my arms around Hades. The lord of the underworld tensed as if I’d surprised him. I suppose he’d seen all kinds of terrible shit humans were capable of inflicting on each other and hadn’t expected the kind gesture. Yet, beneath all that terror and death lay a heart of gold… literally, the green cord connecting him to the one being that reminded him of happiness was his core. Hades relaxed and gave me a hug in return. Before I could tarnish his reputation too terribly, he stepped back and vanished, leaving me with the bag of supplies and a long walk in front of me.
All right then. Time to get back in the game before Hades changed his mind.
Chapter 5
Mads
I told Locke not to trust him. That cold-hearted prick, Hades. He’d screwed us over just like I thought he would.
Get us out of the catacombs. Pft! What a joke.
Sure, one minute we were surrounded and trapped underground, but then Locke was taken from us in the space of a breath. The next moment, Rane, myself and the five sleeping avatars were outside of the compound and above ground. War Hammer and I thought we were scot-free, and I’m a pretty good judge of escaping tense situations. That is, until another van pulled up carrying a backup battalion to blow up the wall underground to get to the avatars. Suffice to say we were trapped once more, cuffed and forced to kneel on the cold Parisian stone. The sleeping avatars on the ground beside us were loaded into the vans and hauled away to a new location.
