Hades (The God Chronicles #3) (11 page)

“So, why the sudden interest in everything
today?” Hades asked as we sailed quietly across the wide river, the
shore shrinking behind us before the other side became
visible.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, when did you suddenly decide you
wanted to take part in my business?”

He sounded annoyed, which didn’t surprise me.
He’d been running this place by himself while his wife did nothing.
I would question an unprecedented interest as well.

“I just got to thinking . . .” I said slowly,
trying to pick my words carefully. “How much do we really know
about each other? I mean, we’re not your typical married couple,
correct?”

He stared at me like I was stupid for a minute,
before sighing and nodding his head, eyes rolling
slightly.

“Your point?” he asked, folding his arms over
his chest.

“I think we should start over,” I said, trying
to hide the nervous tremor in my voice.

“Start over?”

“You know, act like we’ve never met before. We
could learn who the other really is. It would be good for
us.”

“So, you want me to forget all of the nasty,
horrible things you’ve done to me over the years and act like we’re
best friends?” he asked, laughing sharply.

“You’ve done plenty of horrid things to me,” I
snapped, determined to get him to agree. “This would be a way to
get by them and see if we . . .”

“Work?” he finished when I fell silent. “You
suddenly want to see if we can make our marriage work? Aren’t you
off sleeping with anyone you can get your hands on when you’re not
here?”

“I’m not a slut,” I said defensively, glaring
at him. “And I’m serious about this. I want to . . . I want to get
to know you. It’s been long enough, I’m tired of sitting around
here every winter doing nothing.”

“We didn’t do nothing that one winter,” he said
slyly, reaching out and rubbing his hand over my knee, a seductive
smile pulling at his lips.

“Stop it,” I said, brushing his hand away. “I’m
being serious. I want it to be as if we’d never met
before.”

“Fine,” he sighed, throwing his hands up in the
air. “We’ll play your stupid game. It’s not like you won’t pick
another one to torture me with if I don’t go along with
it.”

I couldn’t stop my own sigh of relief, my
nerves that had somehow remained calm during the entire talk
suddenly feeling like I’d ran them through a cheese grater. It
occurred to me that I’d never developed a backup plan for if he
refused. Who knew how I would have explained all my actions of the
day?

We fell silent again, Hades looking out over
the water with a frown on his face. Looking over to see what had
caught his attention, I was surprised to see several islands had
suddenly appeared in front of us, sitting on what looked to be the
edge of a huge waterfall. The closer we got, the more amazed I
became.

They were tropical islands, looking like
somewhere people would spend thousands of dollars to vacation. As
we came nearer, I could hear dance music playing and laughter.
Finally, as we came up to one of the docks extending off the closer
islands, I could see people dancing and feasting on the other side
of the tree line. It looked like a costume party, everyone dressed
in what must have been the fashions of their lifetimes.

This was certainly different from the masses of
zombie like people we’d just passed through.

“You’d think they’d find something decent to
listen to,” Hades grumbled, climbing up onto the dock.

I followed after him, still taking in the
surroundings in awe. Each island was connected to the other by
elegant wooden bridges, bright, colorful flowers adorning the hand
rails. While there was no sun to shine down on us, everything was
bright as day, as if it were glowing with its own
happiness.

“So, this is where the rich and famous come?” I
asked, turning my attention back to my pretend husband.

“Famous, yes. Rich, no,” he laughed
humorlessly. “The two don’t always intermix. One of the islands is
inhabited solely by nuns and priests that have been named saints.
They’re always praying or doing something religious, even though
this is obviously not the heaven they spent their whole lives
preaching about. I don’t generally go over there. Even I can only
take being told I’m going to be thrown into a river of fire so
much.”

He smiled at me over his shoulder and I was
surprised to see that it appeared genuine. There was no fire in his
eyes, no mocking in his gaze. Maybe getting to know him wasn’t
going to be so bad after all.

“What are we here to check then?” I asked as we
finally came up on the beach. “It looks like everyone is just
having a good time.”

“The guards will check in on their assigned
islands and make sure everyone has everything they want and need.
We will be going to the furthest island and checking on the far
perimeter.”

“Who’s on the far island?”

“The infamous.”

“What do you mean?”

“Bad people, he said grimly. “It’s a loophole
in the way things are organized. Those who are famous and
influential die with the knowledge of how to get to the islands.
Sometimes, people who did truly horrible things in their lifetime
are made famous for it. Because of that, they have the knowledge of
how to get here.”

“You mean like . . . Murderers?
Thieves?”

“Exactly,” he said, nodding. “Technically
speaking, they belong in Tartarus because of what they did, but
things don’t exactly work that way. If they ever act up here, it
gives me good reason to move them. However, I can’t leave everyone
else unprotected, so they have their own guarded island. It’s on
the very edge of the falls, which are also heavily guarded. Once a
week, we come out to make sure everything is still in order and no
one has broken through the line. It’s amazing how many people don’t
want to stay here, even if they have everything they could ever
want. Everything except life, that is.”

“Is this the spot of concern you were talking
about earlier?”

He shook his head, sighing as I brought it
up.

“No. That will come later.”

We made our way across several islands, parties
galore going on around us as we did. Every type of food I could
imagine passed around the tables, different types of music playing
on their respective islands. I felt a little like I was stuck in a
bar during happy hour.

Finally, we came to the last bridge, leading
out to an island further away than any of the others had been. I
could see some boats anchored on the edge of the falls, as well as
what looked like lookout towers stationed in a few places. As we
made our way out to check on things, I felt a nervous ball of
energy forming in my stomach. I could only imagine the people who
would be here, faces I’d seen on the news or in my history
books.

“Wait here,” Hades said, stopping me on the
beach. I did as he ordered, a wave of relief washing over me at not
having to go in. There were guards stationed through the trees,
several of which Hades stopped to talk to. After a few minutes, he
disappeared into the shrubs.

Not knowing exactly what to do, I took to
looking around again, still amazed that all of this was down here.
A short time later, Hades returned, stopping to say a few words to
one more guard before joining me again.

“Let’s go,” he said briskly, stepping onto the
bridge and pulling out a tablet he began typing something
into.

I followed after him silently, wondering just
how technological everything here was. For some reason, I’d
expected to find it as it’d been in ancient times. It made sense
that they would have upgraded, though. Why ignore things that would
make your job easier in the long run?

We made our way back to the boats where it
appeared all the other guards were already waiting. Our own tiny
vessel had been switched out with a much bigger ship though,
several of the armed men waiting on it. Hades and I boarded and I
saw another round table, much like the one in the war room from
before. As we all took a seat, we moved back out into the water
again, sailing to where we’d come from.

“Let me have it,” Hades said, leaning back in
his chair and motioning to one of the men.

They shared the states of each island with each
other the entire ride back, exchanging ideas on how to fix little
things and better the conditions on the islands. I was surprised to
hear how considerate they were of everyone, including the criminals
that were housed there. It was also a shock to hear them working
together as a team, instead of Hades just giving orders to
everyone. I hadn’t thought he was the type of person to take advice
from another.

When we reached the shore once more, everyone
mounted up again and we went on our way. The trip was much longer
this time. We passed through a dense forest with more people
wandering aimlessly through, seemingly lost in their own minds. It
gave me chills to think about, knowing this was to be the fate of
most of mankind.

After the forest, we entered into a rocky
terrain, the heat increasing around us to stifling levels. I didn’t
even know how Hades managed to wear his black jacket without
melting. Eventually, we started heading uphill, the incline one of
the steepest I’d ever ridden.

Suddenly, large stone gates appeared in front
of us, the rock twisting together in elegant designs that locked
together in several places. The group came to a halt at their foot,
adding to their majesty as I realized just how big they were,
stretching up almost too far for me to see the top.

Grating together, the stone began to pull
apart, the earth shuddering under us as the doors opened slowly,
releasing an even more intense wave of heat and the sound of
wailing. My horse pawed the ground nervously, pulling back in fear.
Calming him the best I could, I watched Hades drive forward to meet
with a guard who’d come from the other side of the gate.

They exchanged a few words before a motion for
us to follow was given. With fear in my own heart and sweat on my
face, we entered into the prison of the Underworld.

The gates closed behind us as we looked over
the edge of the peak we’d ridden up on the outside. The heat was
suddenly explained as the river of fire I’d seen by the castle
wrapped through the valley beneath us, burning up everything in its
path. I could also see people down there, little specks in the
smoke engulfing them, crying out in pain and regret.

Everyone started moving down a small, narrow
path that wound down into the canyon and extended past where I
could see. I desperately wanted to go back outside, the atmosphere
and cries of those around me too much to handle all at once. I’d
never known it until then, but I had no desire to see hellfire, in
this life or the next. Not knowing how to get back to the castle,
though, and not wanting to face whatever Hades would have to say to
me if I left, I reluctantly followed after them, whispering
encouraging words to my horse along the way.

We rode through the smoke slowly, having to go
one at a time down the path because of its size. Hades’s chariot
barely fit, the outside wheel seeming like it would topple over the
edge at any second. Eventually, the cries of the condemned fell
behind us and we were left only with the choking smoke and heat
from the river.

After a very long, quiet ride, another pair of
large gates rose up in front of us, but that wasn’t what held my
attention. It was the guards that stopped my breath and made me
freeze in the saddle.

They were monsters, there wasn’t any other way
to describe it. While they looked like men for the most part,
heavily armored and carrying multiple weapons, they each had more
arms than I could count, reaching out every which way in a
spider-like fashion. As we came closer, the gates began to open and
I felt my mouth gaping. Inside was not only more of the strange
men, but giants. Real life giants.

The enormous size of the gates quickly made
sense to me as I looked at them, their height too much for me to
wrap my head around. They looked fierce, their bodies well-muscled
and war worn, scars shining out from their attire.

Again, Hades and a few of his guards rode up to
the gates and a conversation ensued. Instead of going in like I
thought we would though, he simply turned around and started
leading the way back out as the gates closed behind him.

“We’re not going in?” I asked as he passed
me.

“We never do,” he said. “The Hundred Handers
and giants can handle the Titans easily. They’ve guarded the prison
for centuries. Going inside to check for myself would be insulting
to them and, frankly, I don’t want to deal with that. Zeus is the
only one they don’t mind coming in, since he put them up to the
task in the first place.”

“Zeus, right,” I said, suddenly remembering
that he had siblings. All of this history was making my head
spin.

“Where are we going now then?” I asked, turning
my horse around to follow him with the guards.

“The River Styx,” he said, whipping the reins
on his horses and speeding up considerably.