Hades (The God Chronicles #3) (14 page)

“She’s still alive?” I asked in
surprise.

“Still cursed,” he confirmed, nodding. “I don’t
regret my actions though. After I came through, she became much
more shut in and didn’t bother anyone. It was as if she was
dead.”

“How sad,” I said softly. “To never be able to
rest.”

“She crossed a goddess,” he said shrugging. “It
was her own fault.”

I nodded, trying to imagine having to live
through all that time the way she had. Another question needed to
be asked, though, so I dragged my thoughts away from
her.

“Do you know where the helmet is now?” I asked
curiously.

“No,” he said, inquisitiveness of his own
shining in his eyes. “Why?”

“Just wondering,” I said, letting a little
venom sneak into my voice. “It seems odd that something held so
dear to my husband could just vanish.”

“I imagine he’s the one who made it vanish,”
Perseus said. “It wasn’t easy to convince him to let me use it in
the first place. There’s no way I would have kept it any longer
than allowed.”

“I understand,” I said, feeling a little
defeated. My one lead had fallen flat.

“Surely he would tell his wife where it was.
Why don’t you just ask?”

“Right,” I laughed. “And I’m sure you’re well
aware of the type of relationship we have.”

He bowed his head in respect again, a small
smile tugging at his lips.

“I meant no disrespect,” he said.

“None taken,” I said, rising from my seat.
“Thank you for your help.”

“I’m sorry I wasn’t able to tell you
more.”

“Enjoy yourself,” I said, stepping
away.

More loud laughter responded and I walked away
without another word, trying to think on where else I could look
and who else I could talk to. I didn’t want to draw too much
attention to my search, especially since it would bring up more
questions about my intentions and possibly reveal my true
identity.

I made my way back to the dock, ignoring the
guards who had returned to their posts, and I sat back in the tiny
boat waiting for me. The return trip was spent pondering where
Hades could have hidden his treasure. Perseus had been spot
on—Hades must know where it was. All that stood in my way was
finding out more about him.

If I were Hades, where would I hide the
helmet?
I asked myself, over and over again.

Tartarus seemed a good place, with high
security. But would he have put one of his greatest weapons so
close to his worst enemies? It was true they were always watched,
but they were still escaping somehow. If that was where he’d hidden
it, Erebos wouldn’t be needing my help to find it.

Unless he didn’t know it was there.

I sighed in frustration, feeling like I was
banging my head against a brick wall. Figuring this out was like a
puzzle, one that was missing several key pieces. It was a maze of
possibilities and dead ends.

At that thought, my brain stopped cold, a
sudden idea having burst into the light. The maze . . .

If I were going to hide something from the
world, I would put it in a place no one could navigate, somewhere
that was always changing and dark, somewhere that made everyone
uncomfortable.

I would hide it in the maze of tunnels outside
of the prison I kept all of my enemies in. It made perfect sense!
Not just the maze, but the fact that the maze lead to anywhere in
the world. All he would have needed to do was go through one of the
doors and leave the helmet on the other side.

As I thought more and more about the idea,
becoming increasingly excited about it, my spirits suddenly fell.
If he had indeed hidden the helmet there, it could be anywhere on
the planet, assuming there weren’t other places the doors lead to.
I didn’t even know how many secret openings were in there, let
alone where they would take me and if I’d be able to find my way
back. It seemed an impossible task to go in and find what I
needed.

I reached the other shore and climbed out of
the boat, patting Hero as he came over to greet me. A sense of
despair hung over my head as I tried to think of a way I could
explore the tunnels efficiently.

Nothing really came to mind.

The ride back to the palace was much slower
than the ride out, my mind lost in a million thoughts it seemed.
Only when we entered into the mass of souls outside did I speed up,
not liking the way they made me feel. It was difficult to think
that one day I was going to end up as one of them. It seemed
unlikely I would become famous for anything and I was pretty sure I
wasn’t bad enough to end up in a lake of fire, though this mission
might do that for me.

As I neared the castle, I suddenly didn’t want
to be there any more, feeling like I needed to just get out and run
as fast as I could. Spurring the horse onward, we entered into a
full gallop, running through the passageway under the castle and
out onto the beach next to the River Styx.

The wind whipped through my hair, carrying away
my frustrations with it as I closed my eyes and breathed deep. If
only there was sunlight here to shine down on me and make me feel
like my old self again. Releasing the reins, I held my arms out to
each side like I was flying, letting my head tip back as I soared
through the space.

Suddenly, Hero jerked, rearing back and crying
out in fear. My eyes flew open as I grasped at his hair, trying to
keep from being unsaddled and thrown. As soon as I did, though, I
saw what had spooked him.

My own scream joined in with the frightened
animal.

Chapter
Thirteen

His face, the terror that had lived in my
nightmares, looked just as it had that night. Seeing it made my
skin crawl with the memory of his hands groping me, his unwanted
lips touching me against my will. The urge to wrap my arms around
myself, to hide my body from his staring eyes, was
overwhelming.

The gaping hole where he’d been stabbed through
still looked fresh, blood oozing out of it slowly. Crimson clung to
his lips as well, just as horrifying as when he’d spit it all over
me. Fingers clenched tightly into fists, his eyes still carrying
the look of a man who’d had too much to drink, my would be rapist
stared at me, unmoving.

My brain couldn’t move fast enough to think of
what to do next, caught in the act of replaying everything that had
happened to me that night, as well as imagining what could have
happened. It was all I could do to hold on to Hero as he pawed the
ground and continued to jerk around nervously.

Fire whipped out around me, latching onto my
attacker and pulling him to the ground. The smell of burning flesh
began to pick at my nose, slapping me out of my fog
slightly.

In a daze, I looked behind me to see Hades,
holding a fire whip in each hand and advancing towards
us.

“It’s okay,” he said to me reassuringly, not
bothering to hide the surprise in his eyes at my reaction. “It’s
just a Lost One. He’ll be gone soon.”

I nodded numbly, my attention turning back to
the man burning on the ground in front of me. Ever so slowly, he
began to fade away, fear filling his own eyes as he watched Hades
advance. Finally, the last wisps of him disappeared, wafting back
through the rock wall and into the maze on the other
side.

“There, see?” Hades said, reaching out and
grabbing Hero’s reins, steadying him for me.

I still couldn’t move, my hands locked in the
mane in desperation. The man’s appearance had been so unexpected
and frightening, every part of me seemed locked in time.

“Hey,” Hades said softly, placing a hand on my
knee.

I jerked away, still lost in memories, but his
touch was enough to drag me back to the present. Sucking in a huge,
shaking breath, I nodded at him, just now noticing the unshed tears
in my eyes.

“A Lost One?” I asked, trying to pull the
attention away from myself.

“Yes,” he said, carefully touching my knee
again. “People who were murdered, or died too young. The restless
dead, forever cursed to remember what happened to them, but nothing
else about the lives they lived. Normally, they keep to the maze
since they aren’t allowed here. Every now and then we have some who
slip in and get stuck on the bank, though.”

I closed my eyes, trying to be completely
steady and hating I’d been so effected by the sight of a mere
person.

“Persephone?”

I opened my eyes and looked down at Hades. His
face showed genuine concern and confusion, along with a desire to
help.

“It’s gone, really. He won’t come back
in.”

“Thank you,” I said with a cracked
voice.

“Did you know him?”

I looked away, to the wall that separated the
Underworld from everything else, my heart beating a million miles a
minute.

“Yes,” I said softly.

“A friend?”

“No.”

I pushed my heels into Hero’s sides gently,
pulling on his hair until he turned around and started back towards
the palace. Hades graciously released the reins and I let them
dangle, still not able to release my grasp.

To his credit, Hades remained silent the entire
trip back, walking by my side, matching our slow pace. There were a
few times he seemed like he would say something, but he never did.
I was grateful for that.

Upon reaching the stable, I found my legs were
still a little shaky from the encounter. Still not having left my
side, Hades reached up and grabbed me by the waist, softly, helping
me down onto the ground. Once there, he hesitated for a second,
looking at me uncertainly, before pulling me into a somewhat
awkward hug.

Normally, I wouldn’t have had any idea what to
do, how to react to such an action from anyone, let alone him. But
in that moment, it was exactly what I needed. I didn’t even have to
think about it before I found myself hugging him back.

His arms tightened around me, fingers twisting
into my hair as he held me close, just letting me get whatever it
was I needed from him.

“Did he hurt you?” he finally asked quietly,
his free hand rubbing my back slowly.

I shook my head, my face still buried in his
chest, hands clutching him to me tightly.

“Did he try?”

I paused before nodding, scared to relive the
entire episode again.

“Then he got what he deserved,” he said
nastily.

I pulled away slightly, shocked at his
tone.

“I’m sorry,” he said, the fire in his eyes
growing and flashing some. “That there are some men who actually
think they can do that makes me sick. It makes me extra sick
knowing how much of a fear that is for you.”

“You know I’m afraid of that?” I asked timidly,
touched by his obvious outrage.

“Well, yeah. I knew as soon as you lied and
told everyone I’d raped you in the beginning. You wouldn’t have
picked that if you didn’t think it was one of the most horrible
things I could have done to you. That’s why I was so mad you’d made
the story up. I would never touch a woman against her
will.”

All I could do was stare at him as I drank in
the revelation. He wasn’t a rapist, just a victim of gossip. In
that moment, I felt the first strong surge of hatred for
Persephone. I couldn’t even imagine what type of woman would lie
about such a thing, no matter her reason. She’d painted him a
monstrous villain for all time and he hadn’t even done the thing
she accused him of.

“Tell you what,” he said, finally releasing me
and stepping back. “Why don’t we have dinner in the game room
tonight? We can watch a movie or something, get your mind off it.
Or we can eat wherever you want, go ahead and choose.”

“Really?” I asked, more shock filling me at his
kind nature.

“Yeah,” he said with a shrug. “You shouldn’t
have to sit around and think about it by yourself all
night.”

“Thank you,” I said, a small smile finally
appearing on my face. “I think the game room sounds
wonderful.”

“We can go right now,” he said, offering his
arm to me instead of automatically taking my hand. “I’ll tell the
kitchen to bring us down a little something.”

“Sounds great,” I said, wrapping my arm around
his. “Thank you.”

“I’m not a complete monster, you know,” he
joked, guiding me out of the stall and shutting the gate behind
us.

“Could have fooled me,” I laughed back weakly,
my head still spinning from everything that had
happened.

“So, what did you name the horse?” he asked as
we left the room, making our way to our final
destination.

“Hero. I figured if he could wait all that time
for me to finally notice him, he must be my own sort of
champion.”

“It’s a fitting name,” he agreed. “I’ve always
thought he was a good animal. Sometimes they don’t take so good to
being brought down here. It’s hard for something that’s been
growing its whole life to arrive here and suddenly stop. Animals
have spirits too, so they handle the change differently on a case
to case basis. Hero, though, didn’t even blink an eye, almost like
he’d just been waiting to arrive.”