Hades (The God Chronicles #3) (23 page)

I ran down the tunnels, knowing that any door
would free me, but afraid to just guess and take one. Then, in a
moment of clarity and mercy, I caught sight of a rock with an x
scratched into it.

I ran through the door, breaking into the woods
behind my house, and fell to the ground, a shattered
mess.

Chapter Twenty
One

I laid there in the dirt until the sun had
passed across the sky, my tears muddying up the ground underneath
me. And then, there were no tears left to cry, only the numbness as
I stared up at the emerging stars. Everything seemed lost and
broken. What else did I have to go back for? Laying here in my
underwear seemed as good an option as any.

As darkness wrapped around me, I was suddenly
angry. So extremely angry that I felt like ripping heads off of
anyone who ever even looked at me the wrong way.

I got up off the ground and made my way to the
house, weaving through the trees with a purpose.

No one got to throw me around like I’d been
today. No one got to call me a liar and get away without at least a
black eye.

My anger only grew as I caught sight of the
dark house, abandoned by everyone the way I’d abandoned my family.
Erebos was right, this was my fault. What he wasn’t counting on was
me coming to fix it.

I went in the back door, flipping on light
switches as I passed by each room, going upstairs to my own.
Everything looked untouched from when I’d left, almost like it was
frozen in time, even though at least three months had passed since
I left. The cold outside was an indicator of that, if
anything.

I changed out of my bra and panties, wincing at
the now ruined memories of the night before. Going back would prove
I was serious to Hades, though. What we had together wasn’t going
to fall apart because I didn’t try to save it.

I put on my own clothes, loving the short
shorts and button up shirt more than ever. My boots felt like home
as well, my heart happy to finally be looking completely like
myself again.

With a dutiful sigh, I walked into the bathroom
to examine the burn on my face. It looked just as nasty as it felt.
There wasn’t any time to go to the hospital and have it treated
like was so obviously needed, though, so I began searching through
the drawers for something I could put on it in the meantime. I
ended up with a numbing spray and salve that would help fight of
any infection and quickly applied both, wincing as I did my best to
doctor it up.

Once I was certain I’d done all I could for my
face, I went into Daddy’s room and opened the gun case, pulling out
my favorite shotgun and a pistol, as well as an ammo belt and a
sling, both with holsters for the pistol. The weapons wouldn’t do
anything against immortals, but I felt better knowing I had some
type of protection for myself.

It may not kill them, but at least they’d know
I meant business.

I shut the lights off as I moved through the
house this time, making an extra trip to the back of the house to
turn off those ones as well. There was a possibility I would never
see this place again, but I didn’t think about it as I walked to
the front door in the dark, stepping outside onto the porch I’d
spent my childhood playing on.

There was a small light coming from the barn,
which was where I needed to be, so I loaded one shot into the
pistol and quietly hurried to the door, trying to hear who might be
in there. All I could hear were the horses moving around in their
stalls, a sound I’d become accustomed to from all my time spent
with them.

Opening the door, I slipped inside, placing the
pistol at my waist and the shotgun on my back. My horse neighed in
greeting and I smiled softly, trying to quiet her with my hand
gestures.

“Who’s in there?” a voice demanded from
outside.

I swore softly and ran into the stall with my
noisy ride, crouching down behind her and pulling the pistol out
again.

The barn door opened and Rick came in slowly, a
gun of his own cocked and ready to fire.

A sigh of relief escaped me and I stood slowly,
holding my hands and the gun up in the air.

“It’s me, Rick,” I said, calling attention to
my location.

“Hurricane?” he asked in surprise, lowering his
firearm. “What are you doing here?”

“I just need a ride,” I said shortly, putting
my pistol away again.

“You’ve been gone for months,” he said in
surprise. “Your daddy killed himself.”

“I know,” I said softly.

“The sheriff has a warrant for your
arrest.”

“I figured as much,” I said, nodding. “You
should know I didn’t do it, though.”

“Hurricane, I can’t just let you go,” he said
slowly, seeming like his thoughts were trying to catch up with what
was happening in front of him. “After your dad died, the ranch shut
down. I had to get a job somewhere else to make ends meet. I’m only
out here to see if you’ll come back home, which you
have.”

He raised his gun again, pointing it square at
me.

“Whoa, hang on, Rick,” I said, slowly walking
out of the stall, hands still raised. “What are you
doing?”

“I’m working with the sheriff, Hurricane,” he
said sadly. “And I need the reward money for turning you in. I’m
sorry.”

“Rick,” I said sternly, hoping I could talk him
out of it. “I can’t go with you. There’s somewhere else I have to
be, somewhere important. I can’t tell you where exactly, but trust
me.”

“I don’t think you did it, if it’s any
consolation,” he said miserably, walking towards me, barrel still
aimed right at my chest.

I felt a wave of panic as he came towards me,
my thoughts scrambling to find some way out quick. It was when he
reached for the radio on his hip that I saw my chance.

I ripped my pistol from its holster and fired
the one shot in it at Rick’s hand, knocking the gun from it. Two
well-placed steps forward got me close enough to punch him once in
the nose and once in the stomach before he fell over. Kicking the
radio from him as I ran back to the stall, I jumped up on my
horse’s bare back and spurred her into action, bolting for the open
side door he’d come in through.

We cleared the exit, Rick’s voice yelling at me
as I steered her around the house and into the woods. I knew he’d
be calling for help right away, but they wouldn’t find me, not
unless they knew about secret doors to other worlds.

The horse was spooked some, riding in the dark,
so I slowed a bit, keeping an eye out for the hill I needed. It
wasn’t long until I found it and managed to coax her through.
Unfortunately, she appeared to be one of the horses who didn’t take
transitioning from one world to the next very well and I held on
for dear life as she bolted down the tunnels, her frightened cries
echoing off the rocks. After a few minutes, I calmed her down
enough to stop running and slid off her back, coming around to
soothe her face to face. As soon as I felt she wouldn’t be a
problem anymore, I began leading her forward, not sure where in the
tunnels we were.

Oddly enough, the voices and faces I was
familiar with seeing here were absent, the maze eerily quiet. From
the prickling hairs on my neck to the stillness of the air around
me, I knew that something bad had happened in the day I’d been
gone.

We wandered around for a few hours before I
decided to take a break and rest. My limbs were still sore from my
exodus before and the numbing spray on my face was beginning to
wear off. It was beginning to feel like I was going to be lost in
here forever.

When we started moving again, I decided to let
the horse lead, climbing up on her back and urging her forward.
Maybe she had some sense that would lead us to where we needed to
be.

Wandering on, the rocks around us began to
blend together and I felt my eyes drooping, exhaustion fighting
hard to take over. Every time I blinked, I wondered if I’d
accidentally fallen asleep without realizing it. Then, something
around us changed.

I started noticing scorch marks on the walls,
signs of a scuffle. Someone had been fighting right where we were
now and it didn’t look like it’d been very calm.

Following the marks, I pointed the horse down
the right tunnels, signs of the battle becoming more and more
apparent the further I followed them. Then, suddenly, there was a
huge hole in the wall.

I looked through the opening, my eyes not quite
accepting what they were seeing on the other side. After blinking
several times and rubbing them, I looked again, just to make sure I
was on the right track.

A battle of the gods, so fierce and intense
that it put any other war I’d ever heard of to shame, was taking
place in front of me. The wide, open field was covered in blood and
bodies, some of which were still moving around, trying to fend for
themselves. Weapons of every kind, even some that appeared to be
elements alone, flashed in the early morning light. From what I
could tell, neither side was really winning. It seemed more an
execution of universal proportions for both groups.

The Olympians were recognizable to me only
because I had been among them. There were dissenters fighting with
the horrific Titans, a sight that made me sad to see. In one part
of the field, a giant smashed down on his opponents, laughing
openly as they tried to defeat him.

One thing was clear to me—the Olympians
desperately needed something to tip the scales in their
favor.

Taking a deep breath, I kicked the sides of my
horse and she jumped out into the din, running in fear as soon as
we were through. I let her pick the path, loading my pistol quickly
and firing it off at every Titan I could see. The marks hit home,
dragging attention to me and letting the Olympians who’d been
pinned down gain the upper hand. The further into the mess we got,
the more frantic I felt at needing to find Hades and make sure he
was okay. Finally, I caught sight of him, his fire whip dancing
around him impressively, glinting off his armor. He wasn’t
unscathed though, fresh cuts on his face and a choking smoke
bearing down on him.

Grabbing the mane of the horse, I turned her in
the direction I wanted to go, throwing my pistol at the head of the
closest Titan since I’d ran out of bullets for it. My shotgun was
still ready to go, though, so I grabbed it, pointing it at the form
of Erebos in the smoke, and fired.

The buckshot hit home and I heard a shriek of
anger as cold eyes landed on me. Behind the Titan, I could see
Hades freeze up for a second at seeing me as well. Thankfully, his
surprise didn’t last long, though, and he attacked Erebos from
behind, trying to dislodge the helmet from his head.

I felt sick, knowing it was my fault this whole
battle was happening, but seeing that helmet suddenly gave me a
purpose in the whole thing. All I had to rely on was Hades keeping
the Titan busy, which he was sure to do.

I rode closer to the two of them and a wave of
terror washed over me, so strong that my horse reared up and threw
me, bolting back the way we came.

Dazed, I stood up, looking around for my target
again, so terrified that I felt sick.

“It’s the helmet,” I muttered to myself.
“Causes . . . Fear.”

I held onto that thought as tightly as I could,
urging my feet forward when I so badly wanted to turn and run. I
could see the fear in the eyes of those around me as well, and
suddenly it occurred to me why the good guys were losing. The
helmet was making it hard for them to fight to their full ability,
urging them to run and hide instead of stand their ground. The
closer I got to Erebos, the worse it got. I didn’t even know how
Hades was still fighting against him.

I inched forward, circling around the other
fights going on around me, until I was right behind the pair I
wanted. With shaking hands, I raised the shotgun once more and
fired off two shots, one into Erebos’s back and one right at the
helmet.

He cried out in pain, spinning around to face
me with murder in his eyes.

I balked, feeling the bile rising up in my
throat, but fired another shot all the same, hitting him in
chest.

He advanced closer and I fell to my knees,
almost blacking out from dread.

Another shot fired and hit its mark.

He came closer and closer, scythes raised high,
and my head wouldn’t stop spinning from the force of his stolen
power.

Another voice roared out next to me and Hades
filled my vision, fire shooting out from him and burning
Erebos.

“Run!” Hades yelled, turning to look at me,
fear filled eyes pleading with me to listen without
question.

That wasn’t all I saw, though.

Behind him, Erebos raised his scythes high, a
wicked grin on his face, death in his every movement and look.
Hades, who was still looking at me, had no idea what was about to
happen.

With my last bit of strength, I grabbed the
edges of the armor of the man I loved more than anything or anyone
in existence, and I threw him to the side, putting myself in the
place where he would have died.