Painted Blind (32 page)

Thomas trembled very slightly, and my heart ached for him. He had protected me, and now he would be punished.

I fell to my knees at Persephone’s feet. “Please don’t punish him. It isn’t his fault. I didn’t mean to anger you.”

She laughed and tugged on my shoulders. “Angry? I’m delighted. You are welcome in my house anytime.” She instructed an attendant to fetch the wooden box. As he placed it into her hands, I noticed the golden lock was missing. She opened the box and offered it to me. “Aphrodite’s reward.”

Inside the box was a vial of clear liquid. Atop the cork was a rose carved from frosted glass. “What is it?”

“Ambrosia. Drink and be immortal.”

I took the box and thanked her, but closed the lid. “I didn’t ask to be immortal. I just want to see Eros again. I’ll take the box and this vial to him, and I’ll let him choose my fate.”

“That’s a lot of faith to put in a man,” Persephone said flatly. She dispersed the guard, except for Thomas, and bade me to sit with her awhile.

The only other chair in the room was the king’s throne. “Yes, sit there,” she commanded. “He never uses it anyway.” Thomas stood beside her, and she brought his hand to her cheek and felt of his warmth. “I want to give you a gift,” she declared. “What will you have?”

“I’d like Thomas to give me safe passage to the portal.”

“That’s all? I’ll only let him go as far as the river Styx, but your request is granted. Tell me about your journey.”

I told her how we flew by jet to Nepal and stayed in the city. I wasn’t sure how familiar she was with the modern mortal world, so I tried to explain as best I could. Thomas was absolutely captivated. The world had changed a great deal since he tilled the earth as a child.

“I’m very surprised that Aphrodite sent Titus to accompany you,” the queen said.

“She didn’t. Titus abandoned his post. He grew tired of Theron’s jealousy and his punishments.”

Persephone nodded. “Would you like to trade?”

Confused, I clarified, “Thomas for Titus?” Knowing I couldn’t lie to her, I had to speak carefully so I didn’t offend her. “Titus has been with me a single week. I’ve only begun to explore his talents. And he’s committed no crime.”

Persephone gazed up at Thomas, who rubbed her shoulders “The innocent ones stay warm the longest. It took Thomas a full two ages before he went cold.”

If I understood her correctly, she just admitted Thomas was innocent of the crime for which he was sent here. If she knew he was innocent, why wouldn’t she set him free? Of course, the answer stood right there in front of me. Thomas was her favorite. Knowing he was undeserving of his fate probably made her like him more.

If an innocent man had been punished for the murder, what happened to the killer? I looked up at the soft light in Thomas’s eyes. I should have known the first moment I saw him that he was innocent. The man who killed Titus’s father had always been free. He’d nearly killed Titus, and he’d nearly killed me.

To Persephone I said, “You probably wouldn’t enjoy Titus all that much. I’m led to believe he’s not Aphrodite’s best student. If you want the real prize, it’s Theron you’re after.”

This piqued her interest. “Oh? What dealings have you had with Theron?”

“I’ve met him after each task. He’s volatile, to be sure, but…” I repeated Titus’s words exactly, so that it wasn’t a lie. “…when he wants to be, he’s as gentle as a summer breeze. At least, that’s what I’m told.”

She made me recount all my dealings with Theron from our first meeting at the Fortress. I worried she would find me insincere, so I was as honest as possible. I explained how I was sick from the dust when I went to get the second task, and that Theron had a small feast waiting for me. I told her that he offered me the white fruit if I accepted his bed, and that when I refused, he beat me so severely I could barely call for help.

She made me recount the story a second time and repeat to her every word exchanged between us. I was embarrassed to tell her that I called Theron a “boy toy,” especially with Thomas standing right there. Surprisingly, he wasn’t angry. He just shook his head and muttered, “Suicide.”

“So, let me make sure I understand you,” Persephone said. “He offered you the sacred fruit with the condition that you allow him to consummate the bargain?” When I nodded, she asked, “Do you have any idea what you’ve just told me?”

I shrugged. “He wanted what most guys want.”

“I see.” She turned to Thomas. “Our guest has been through quite an ordeal, and it looks as if she’s hardly slept. I think you should escort her back now.” She asked what was in my satchel.

“An Olympian coin and food for the mutt,” I replied. I carefully stowed Aphrodite’s box in the satchel, too.

“Go, then.” She squeezed my hand in a friendly way. “I look forward to hearing the news of your wedding.”

When we were out the gates of the city, I asked Thomas what happened the night of the murder, and I wasn’t surprised by the story he told. He had stolen into the palace, desperate to see Aphrodite. She neglected him for months, and he didn’t know why. He went to the palace unarmed hoping to sneak into the upper rooms and catch her alone, but the palace guards were alerted of an intruder before he cleared the main level. He fled down a dark set of stairs. It led into a forge, where Thomas found a man pounding steel into a breastplate.

Beyond the forge were cave passages. Thomas fled into these, but by then two of the guards were after him. When they caught him, he expected to be killed, but the tall blond guard stabbed the older man, then dragged Thomas back into the forge, where the rest of the palace guards were waiting. They all knelt around the unconscious blacksmith, who had been stabbed in the back three times.

“I caught him,” Theron said. “Here is the murderer.”

The trial before Zeus boiled down to Theron’s word against a mortal, and Thomas was declared guilty.

“Is there any way you could be freed from this place?” I asked.      

“Not unless Zeus himself ordered my release.” Thomas kicked at the dirt sadly. “You know what I would wish for if I could leave?”

“Revenge on Theron?”

Thomas shook his head. “I would return to my homeland, grow old and die when it was my time. Death isn’t so bad, you know.” His eyes roamed across the scenes of suffering around us. “It can’t be worse than this.”

We reached the burning platforms, and the foul stench wrenched my empty belly. Thomas offered me his sash, and I held it over my nose until we reached the giant dog, Cerberus. Once past him, Thomas stopped me. He took the coin from the satchel and placed it carefully under my tongue. His fingers lingered on my lips, and he leaned forward and kissed my cheek. “Thank you,” he whispered, “for bringing me back to life.”

“I won’t forget you, Thomas.”

I paid the boatman Charon with the coin from my lips. As he ferried me across the river Styx, Thomas stood on the bank and watched me go. I raised my hand and waved good-bye.

As we docked on the other side of the river, an icy hand reached far out of the water. The fingers were narrow and bony with overly long, broken nails. When I tried to step onto the dock, the hand grasped my foot. The fingernails cut into my skin.

I jerked my foot away, but the damage was done.

I looked down at the person in the water, who showed his red-marked hand to the others. They all began to shout in a frenzy. “Red-blood! Red-blood!”

The sentries turned abruptly, whips in hand.

“RUN!” Thomas screamed from the other shore. “
RUN!”

Chapter 29

Both black-clothed sentries started toward me. I jumped from the dock and ran for the giant staircase, where I took the stairs two at a time.

One sentry pushed the other out of the way and took the lead in the chase. He was faster than me and gained ground with every turn of the stairs.

I pulled the satchel over one shoulder and used my hands to push me up the steps faster, but I was pulled to my knees. The sentry caught my feet and tried to pull me down to the shore.

I kicked furiously, freed my feet and left my sandals in his hands. Barefoot, I could move faster. My feet gripped the warm stone. I pulled up the cumbersome dress so I could take longer strides.

Would the portal still be open when I reached it?

Both sentries clamoring at my heels, I reached the platform, where cold wind signaled the opening to the frozen mortal world. All that lay between me and freedom were the enormous monsters who stood guard at the portal. I slowed to a walk and started toward the portal, ignoring the guards as I did on the way in. Behind me rose a shout. “Don’t let the girl escape. She’s a red-blood!”

Now alert, the sentries stepped together so they barred the exit. Each held a long, spear-tipped staff.

Panting up the stairs behind me was the river sentry. Once he got his hands on me, I would be doomed. Spears were the better option. I moved toward the portal just as the river guard reached the landing. “Grab her,” he commanded.

One of the monsters stepped from the doorway and swung at me with an enormous paw of a hand. I dove between his legs and slid into the snow.

Now past the portal, my eyes saw only the stone of the cave’s wall. My skin immediately stung from the cold. I was barefoot in a sleeveless dress, and it was storming beyond the cave. If Titus wasn’t nearby, I would freeze to death in minutes.

While I couldn’t see the sentries anymore, I could still hear their voices. “Let us pass!” they demanded. “No one will know we left the boundaries of the kingdom. Look! She’s right there. We’ll grab her and bring her back.”

A second voice added, “We’ll share her with you. When we’ve taken what we want from her, we’ll dump her body in the Styx.”

Storm or no storm, I got up and ran. Their heavy footsteps followed. As soon as I stepped from the mouth of the cave, I was blind. It was snowing so hard I couldn’t see the tent at the end of the dale. I couldn’t even see the forbidding stone wall around the valley. I stumbled and fell. My body rolled off the slope, and I sprawled into the snow disoriented.

“There she is! Hurry and grab her!”

I pulled myself up and staggered forward. The ice under my feet felt like knives shredding my skin. Where was Titus? If I reached the tent, could he save me from the sentries?

A dark figure appeared before me. It had to be him. I ran harder, only to reach the figure and realize it was a jagged stone pillar. Beyond it, the mountain fell away into oblivion. I had run the wrong way. I wasn’t anywhere near the tent. I was on the outer perimeter, and in this weather, Titus couldn’t see me. Worse, the demons were veiled.

“She’s on the fence,” the sentry said. They moved closer.

I rummaged through the satchel for Aphrodite’s box. I couldn’t dodge an enemy that I couldn’t see. Ambrosia would give me immortal eyes.

The voice that spoke next was just an arm’s reach away. “Come away from the fence, girl. You don’t want to freeze out here. We’ll take you inside where it’s nice and warm.”

Footsteps crunched closer, but the falling snow was too thick for me to distinguish them.

“That’s not solid ground under your feet. It’s an ice shelf. Come back to us, and we’ll save you,” the sentry said.

I could no longer feel my feet or my nose. If it was ambrosia I held in my hands, it would heal my body. It would show me the immortals hunting me. It would possibly save me long enough to find my way to the tent and my boots and my coat.

“Grab her now!”

I put the vial to my lips and drank.

Icy hands grabbed me around the waist and pulled me off my feet, but the sentry didn’t appear in my sight. He threw me over his invisible shoulder.

Something was terribly wrong. My lungs constricted, and my muscles flailed into a spasm. I choked. No air came when I tried to breathe.

The ground moaned beneath the guard and me. He took another step toward the cave, and the ice shook. With a thunderous snap, the shelf gave way. The sentry roared, but it was too late. We fell through the air. Far below and coming too fast was the floor of the crevasse. Mercifully, the poison pulled me into unconsciousness before we landed.

Eros shouted my name. I wasn’t dreaming, just floating somewhere in darkness, unable to surface, unable to sink. He shook my shoulders, then poured sweet liquid into my mouth. “Wake up! You can’t do this to me now!” More liquid ran over my lips. He gave me another hard shake. “Psyche, open your eyes!” His voice was frantic. “Please,” he begged, “come back to me.”

I willed my eyes to open, just to please him. All I managed was a flutter that gave me a glimpse of his worried face. I murmured his name as he lifted me into his arms, and I slumped against him, weak and mostly lifeless, as he hefted me onto a wet, furry back that I knew was Pixis. “Get us off this mountain,” he said. The horse’s strides rocked us as we gained momentum and launched into the air.

I found myself in Theron’s house, but I didn’t know how I’d gotten there. Men were crowded in the foyer and the living room, all murmuring and stealing hungry looks at me. The Hades sentries were there, some with whips in their hands, others wore masks like they did at the gates of the city. Theron paraded me through the throng, his iron grip bruising my arm. When I tried to pull away, he squeezed tighter. He forced me upstairs, and suddenly we were standing on a cliff. Theron dragged me to the edge and made me look down. Eros lay below, his limbs contorted, his body lifeless. Through my mind echoed demonic laughter.

“NO!” The sound of my own voice woke me. I thrashed against ropes that held me bound, only to realize they were sheets and a blanket.

“Finally,” Eros murmured. “You’ve been out for hours.”

My heart pounded. The ceiling fan spun slowly above and the fragrance of exotic flowers floated through the open window. It was night, and the lights were off, but a soft glow came from the adjoining bathroom. We were at the cottage in Hawaii.

I blinked at the ceiling. “What happened?”

“You drank poison.”

“I saw you.” Even in my grogginess, I remembered that glimpse of violet eyes.

“You think so?” He reached over and took my hand, then held it up so I could see my fingers intertwined with his. The ring was back on his finger, and it shimmered in the dim light.

I closed my eyes, unwilling to turn my head and look at his face. “The sentry? I fell…”

“The fall killed him instantly, which is why you’re still alive. Your body is fine.” That irresistible chuckle escaped him. “I poured enough ambrosia down you to cure cancer.”

I bolted up. “You didn’t! It will make me…”

“More beautiful. I didn’t think it possible, but it did.” He tugged on my hand. “Psyche, aren’t you going to look?”

I couldn’t explain my reluctance. I had seen him before, but now I didn’t want anything between us to change. I understood that what I felt for him on sight might be caused by the dust, and I only wanted what was real.

Slowly I turned to face him, and he smiled. Every ounce of worry melted. Warm affection and indescribable love shivered through me. I grew dizzy. I forgot to breathe when he smiled.

“It was torture not touching you while you slept. You are such a temptation.”

“It’s just the dust,” I countered. “It made you sick, too.”

“Didn’t Aeas tell you? I’m immune to the dust, just like my mother. The first time I came to your school, I spilled it on myself. I fell in love with you, and I convinced myself the dust did it. But all along it was just you.”

“Well, I spilled it on myself, and you said…”

He covered my lips with his fingers and sighed. “I was wrong. I knew you were afraid, but I hid from you, convinced that you should love me blindly. I also knew you loved me, which made your betrayal painful, but you were right. It was unfair of me to hide when you’d already offered so much of yourself to me.”

I leaned back on one elbow. “How many times did you practice that speech?”

“Hundreds. Was it good enough?” His eyes sparkled mischievously. The strange color and the intensity of his gaze fit so well with the voice and personality I loved.

“I suppose it will do.”

“Anyway…” He twirled a lock of my hair around his finger. “The effects of the dust won’t survive a bout with Firelake poison, so you’re cured.”

“Is that why I’m not attracted to you anymore?” I asked innocently.

Shock drained the color from his face. “You’re… not…”

I could only hold a serious expression for a moment, but in that instant, I saw in his eyes uncertainty and grief. I couldn’t torture him. I broke into laughter, and his mouth drew a hard line.

He rolled over and pinned me under his body. He dug his fingers into my sides and made me squirm. “You horrible, horrible girl! I’ll tickle you until you cry for mercy.”

“Mercy!” I howled.

“I want tears.” He grabbed for my foot.

I wiggled one arm free and pulled his face toward mine. “Mercy,” I whispered, my lips grazing his.

“Cheater,” he replied before he kissed me. His arms snaked around me and held me tight.

“Wait!” I pushed away. “I’m not fainting.”

“Ambrosia,” he muttered, pulling me back.

The door burst open. “I bought all the steak they had at the…Oh, she’s awake,” Aeas said.

I tried to pull away, but Eros wouldn’t let me go. He kissed me until I gave in completely, then pulled back an inch and licked his lips. “We’re busy.”

I set my palms against his chest. “Did he say steak?”

Eros rolled his eyes and relinquished his grip. “We’ll go broke trying to feed this girl. I’ll have to double the size of my herds.”

“I don’t eat mutton,” I replied as I swung my legs over the side of bed

“You’d eat it if Eudora cooked it,” Eros said. “She does wonders with mutton.”

I was positively famished. If Aeas had ten steaks downstairs, I could probably eat all of them. When we reached the kitchen, Eros gave my shoulder a shove and sent me staggering to the side. “Out of the way. The spoiled prince can broil steaks.”

Aeas’s eyebrows arched. “You called him a spoiled prince?” He turned to Eros, amused. “Want me to throw her in the dungeon?”

“You have a dungeon?” After all I’d seen in Hades, the thought made me shiver. “Please tell me you don’t actually put people into it.”

Eros set five steaks on a broiler pan and put them in the oven. “I might put you in it.”

I rummaged through the grocery bag, where I found a bunch of bananas. “Some God of Love you turned out to be.”

Eros leaned so close our cheeks touched. He whispered, “Stay with me through another storm and find out.” He smiled at the flush that ran up my neck and into my cheeks.

I avoided his eyes. “Where’s Titus?”

“Probably still in the bathtub,” Aeas replied. “That’s where he’s been all night.”

“Will you tell him I’m awake, and I’d like to see him?”

Aeas left the room, and I turned to Eros once again. “Was he waiting for me in the tent?”

“Yes, he was half-frozen this morning when I arrived. I tried to send him to Apollo, but he wouldn’t leave until I was ready to abandon hope of your return.”

“Thomas told me you were prepared to bargain for my release if I couldn’t return.”

Eros took me into his arms. “Surrendering myself to Persephone would be less torture than watching you suffer.” He kissed me until someone at the doorway coughed.

It was Titus, of course. He leaned against the door post, and when I approached, he threw an uneasy glance at Eros, then grabbed me. He hugged me hard. “You made it. I can’t believe you actually made it.” He let me go and kissed my hand.

“Such little faith in your mistress,” I said, and Titus grinned. He was still my friend, and he’d won not only my trust, but Eros’s, too. “Sounds like you tried to die on me.”

He waved my concern away with his hand. “So, you’re one of us now. We’re headed to the palace in Eros’s kingdom?”

I shook my head. “No, I need to go home.”

“Not tonight,” Eros answered. “The poison is still in your system. You have to stay awake or you’ll spend the night in relentless nightmares.”

“But my dad…”

“…received a text from you this afternoon,” Eros said. “You apologized for running away and said you’d be home tomorrow.”

Much as I missed my dad, I didn’t mind avoiding him for another night. The reunion wouldn’t be pretty. “He’s going to ground me until I die.”

Titus shook his head in disbelief. “You can’t send her home. Not looking like that.”

Instinctively, I touched my face. “What’s wrong with me?”