Soul Bound (13 page)

Race rolls his eyes. “I know it’s hard, but do try to focus, Prim.”

Prim scowls at him. “ANYWAY,” he continues. “Like I said, Hades is a bit more reasonable. Don’t get me wrong—he’s got an ego the size of a towering inferno. But usually his little wifey is able to knock him down a peg or two.”

“You mean Persephone?” I asked, scrambling to remember what I learned in school.

Prim nods approvingly. “Maybe you did earn that D-minus after all.”

“Nah, she just saw that Percy Jackson movie,” Race butts in.

“So what are you saying?” I ask, rising to my feet, trying not to get too excited, even as hope surges through me.

“That it’s not completely undocumented for a petitioner to head down to Hades and request an audience with his majesty. Talk him into freeing one of the souls he’s got imprisoned,” Prim replies. “In fact, several folks have swung by over the years. Hercules, Odysseus, one of the real housewives of Orange County…”

“So you think he’d let Sunny out if I asked him? Bring her back to life?” I can scarcely believe my ears. Now my stomach’s churning with anticipation.

“I’m not saying he will or he won’t. Or that it would be an easy journey to get there in the first place. But if you can figure out a way to somehow arrive alive and convince the guy that your sister’s death was an unjust one, well, you may have a fighting chance. Of course, you have to do it within a certain amount time—before she faces her final judgment and is sentenced to her eternal punishment or reward. After that, she’s trapped there forever.”

“Oh my God.” I can’t even breathe. “This is great. This is so great!”

“It may not work,” Race cuts in. “And if it doesn’t, you could get stuck there forever yourself.”

“I don’t care.” I square my shoulders. “I would go to the
ends of the earth and back if it meant a chance to save my sister’s life.”

“Well, that’s very admirable,” Prim says with a small snort. “But luckily for the rest of us, who evidently wear far more ill-fitting shoes, the entrance isn’t as far as all that.”

“No?”

He shakes his head. “No. Just take the One up to Port Authority and jump on NJ Transit 137. You’ll be at the Seaside Heights shuttle in a couple hours.”

I do a double take. “So wait. You’re telling me the entrance to hell is at the Jersey Shore?”

“Are you really that surprised?”

I laugh. I actually laugh. If you had told me ten minutes ago I’d ever laugh again in my life, I probably would have… well, laughed… at the idea of it even. But now hope is fluttering in my chest. Could I still have a chance to make this right? Could I get my sister back—alive?

Could we actually have a happily ever after, after all?

I have to find Jareth. Now.

“
H
e’s still holed up in the same tent,” Cinder informs me as she and I walk through the remains of the refugee camp the next morning. It took me way too long to find this place a second time. I should have dropped bread crumbs or something on my way out. The camp looks nearly vacant—with most of the surviving supplies packed up and ready to move. The vampires who are well enough to walk around are busy pulling down tents and clearing debris, while those still too wounded to move lie around the fire, moaning softly. I wonder how they plan to make their big pilgrimage to the next safe spot with so many still down and out.

“He won’t drink, he won’t sleep. He just lies there, staring up at the ceiling. It’s starting to get on the camp’s nerves,” she confesses. “After all, there are many vampires here who still blame
him for the massacre. I try to tell them it wasn’t his fault, but…” She trails off with a shrug. “It’s hard to convince anyone of that, when he, himself, believes it to be true.”

“I understand,” I assure her. “So you’re leaving? Do you know where you’ll go?”

She shakes her head. “There’s supposedly another safe house deep in the wilds of Mexico. But how we’ll manage to get there with so many injured… I don’t know.” She sighs, the weight of the world on her thin shoulders. “If only Drake hadn’t died in the attack. He always knew what to do.”

“Well, maybe this will help a little.” A reach into my heavy sack and pull out the first bag of blood. Cinder’s eyes widen.

“Is it human?”

I nod. “One hundred percent rock star groupie.” Race had been more than willing to part with some of his supply when I told him about the group’s predicament. After all, he never has much of a problem getting fans to part with their bodily fluids. I hand her the sack. “I think there’s ten bags in there—all I could carry. But if you can send someone up to the surface tonight after dark, you can get the rest from his bodyguards.” I hand her a piece of paper with the meet-up address.

“Oh, thank you, Rayne!” she cries, throwing her scrawny arms around me in a huge hug. “Even a few drops of human blood can make all the difference to our wounded. And this is so much more than that! I can’t even begin to tell you what this will mean to us. We’ll be able to leave quicker and get somewhere safe. Maybe even make it all the way down to Mexico.” She pulls away from the hug, eyes shining with blood tears.
“Your kindness means the world to me. I only hope I can repay it someday.”

“You already have, by keeping Jareth safe,” I assure her.

She releases me and gestures to the closed-up tent in front of us. “Here he is,” she says. “I hope you’re able to talk to him.”

Me too, I think. I thank her, then pull the worn flap aside, crawling into the darkened tent. “Jareth?” I call out, blinking to get my eyes to adjust to the darkness. The place smells rancid. No wonder it’s setting the other vampires on edge.

I hear a loud sigh from the far side of the tent. “I thought I told you to go away.”

“Well, I thought you knew by now I’m not one to follow orders.”

At first there’s silence. Then, “What do you want?”

“I want you to come with me.”

“There is no place on Earth I want to go right now.”

“Well, that’s no problem actually, considering this particular place is not
on
Earth.”

Another deep sigh. “Rayne, please stop talking in riddles and tell me what the hell you’re scheming now? I’m really not in the mood.”

I frown, annoyed at his stubbornness. Reminds me too much of my own. “I’ve met up with some people,” I tell him. “And I think we’ve figured out a possible way to bring Sunny back to life.”

In the darkness I see his silhouette shift. Good. He’s interested, despite his best intentions. “That’s impossible,” he says,
though I can hear a shred of hope, laced with despair, in his voice. He wants me to tell him he’s wrong. Which is exactly what I came here to do.

So I start my story, telling him about meeting up with Race and Prim. About the entrance to Hades at the Jersey Shore. About bargaining for my sister’s soul. “There are no guarantees, of course,” I finish. “But if there’s even the slightest chance I could convince Hades…”

“You make it sound very simple,” Jareth says slowly. “But Hades is a god, Rayne. You can’t just smile and wink and vampire scent the guy and expect him to send your sister on her merry way. The man in fiercely protective of each and every soul he’s acquired. And even if you can somehow convince him of your good intentions, he’s going to want something pretty big in return for such a favor.”

I wave him off. “Don’t you think I know that?” I ask. “It doesn’t matter what he wants. Because whatever it is, I’ll give it to him.” I look at him pleadingly. “Don’t you understand, Jareth? I have a real chance at rescuing my sister here. I’m going to make the most of it—no matter what it takes.” I pause for a moment, trying to gather up my nerves. “I would think of all people,
you
would understand.”

Jareth winces, my words hitting home. “And so why did you come to me? You obviously have already made up your mind. And I know you never ask for permission…”

“Because I want you to come with me!” I cry. “This is going to be the toughest thing I’ve ever had to face. And I don’t want
to face it alone.” I stop, my voice quavering as I push down the sobs that threaten to burst from my throat. “Please come with me. Please help me. I need you. Sunny needs you.”

Jareth is silent again and for a moment I think he’s going to refuse me. But at last he nods his head. “Very well,” he says in a dull, resigned voice. “I will come with you. I suppose it’s the least I can do, seeing as my bad judgment is responsible for this mess.” He pauses, then adds, “But, Rayne, you must understand, this changes nothing between us. My coming with you does not mean we’re getting back together. I stand by my initial vow—to remain alone from this day forward. I’ll help you find your sister, but whether we succeed or fail, when we are finished with this quest, I will be gone.”

Everything inside of me aches at the pain in his voice—the anguish he’s trying so desperately to hide. Tears well up in my eyes and I’m grateful, suddenly, for the darkness.

“I understand,” I manage to spit out. “I just want your help with Sunny. That’s all.” The lie burns at the back of my throat but I know it’s for the best. It will take time for him to come around. And all I can do is be patient and not force him to accept what he’s not ready to admit.

Because, in the end, he can pretend to be cold and unyielding and cruel all he wants. I know the real Jareth. I know how much he hurts.

Because I hurt that much, too.

But I will be there for him, no matter how long it takes. No matter how hard he tries to push me away. I will never give up on him, just as I won’t give up on my sister. And someday I’ll
be able to prove to him that love is worth even the most immense amounts of pain.

Someday…

“Come on,” I say, reaching out to take his hand in mine and pull him from his dark, self-imposed dungeon. “Let’s go get my sister.”

D
uring the summer, New Jersey’s Seaside Heights is a bustling beach community, home to a boardwalk, amusement park rides, cheesy clubs, and sometimes an MTV reality show. But in the chill of winter, it’s very much a ghost town, with only a few shady locals wandering down the otherwise empty boardwalk of boarded-up shops and bars. A fittingly gloomy location, I suppose, for the entrance to Hell.

We park outside a small nondescript cottage, like hundreds of others lining the narrow streets, a few blocks away from the beach. Prim exits the limo first, pulling a long, golden key from his pocket. He’s changed from his hipster drummer duds to the more fitting “black gown of death” uniform, complete with requisite giant scythe.

“Right this way, folks,” he says in the low, menacing voice
he’s adopted since beginning the tour. “To the gates to Underworld!”

I guess it’s all part of the show, but still, I can’t help it as a small shiver trips down my back.
The gates of the Underworld.
It sounds so ominous. And the magnitude of what we’re about to do is starting to kick in big time. We’re leaving the world—the Earth as we know it—to purposely travel into the fiery pits of Hell.

Where I plan to make a deal with the devil. Literally.

I glance over at Jareth, wishing I could reach over and slip my hand into his as I so often used to do. But he’s barely acknowledged my presence since we left the underground vampire encampment and is currently staring vacantly off into the night sky, an empty shell of the boyfriend I love so much. And as much as right now I want to bury myself in his arms and find comfort in his cool, strong embrace, I know for a fact that if I reach out, if I try to make a move toward him, I’ll only end up pushing him further and further away. For now, I must content myself with the fact that he is here—at least a part of him—ready to help me save my sister. Anything beyond that will have to wait.

Prim opens the cottage door and leads us through a dusty, cobweb-draped living room, the seventies-style, flower-patterned furniture all wrapped up in plastic. Guess no one has used this particular gateway to the Underworld in quite a while. We step into a dark and silent kitchen, then through a creaky screen doorway leading out onto the cottage’s back patio. There, amongst the requisite glass-and-wicker furniture, my eyes fall upon a large
Jacuzzi in the center of the yard. Unlike everything else in the cottage, which has clearly sat unused for years, the Jacuzzi is lit up with rotating red, green, and purple lights, the steam from the hot water rising up into the night air. I glance over at Prim.

“Hot tub time machine to Hell?” I query.

He chuckles. “Something like that.”

“Classy.”

“Well, it does help people
warm
up to the idea,” Race says with a laugh. “Get it?
Warm up
?”

I roll my eyes. “Wow. You totally missed your calling as a comedian.”

He grins wickedly. “Well, let’s get to it, shall we?” he suggests, pulling down his skinny jeans and revealing a pair of Union Jack–themed boxer briefs. Then he starts wrestling with his shirt. “Party in the hot tub!” he calls as he flings the shirt aside, then plugs his nose with his fingers before cannonballing in to the tub.

I leap back to avoid getting splashed, tumbling right into Jareth, who I didn’t realize was standing so close behind me. I flail, losing my balance. He grabs me just in time—saving me from a nasty bruise on the patio floor. His strong hands, gripping my arms, send a longing chill down my spine.

I turn to give him a grateful smile. “Thanks,” I say, looking up into his eyes. I realize he hasn’t let go of me yet and it’s all I can do not to cover his tormented face with kisses and tell him everything will be okay.

He blushes, dropping his hands quickly as if I’m a hot potato, taking a step back and putting distance between us. “I
didn’t want you to fall,” he mutters, dropping his eyes to the floor.

“Well, I appreciate that,” I say, giving him a sad smile. It’s nice to know, at least, when push comes to shove, he can’t help but care. Then I turn back to the hot tub. “Well, here goes nothing,” I say, kicking off my shoes and readying to pull off my shirt. I don’t relish the idea of skinny-dipping alongside Death, my sponsor, and my ex-boyfriend, but I’m pretty sure all the swimsuit shops are closed at midnight.