Wrath of Hades (22 page)

When she opened them, the grittiness was gone. The two shades were now stone statues.

Raven twisted and threw her weight backwards and then forwards.

The stone statues rocked.

Raven repeated the
movement.

The stone statues toppled over and crashed to the floor.

Raven went down with them.

Hades whirled around. “What is going on?” His eyes widened.

Raven climbed to her feet.

“What did you do?”

“I warned you.” Raven felt a surge of energy building inside her. She swung her hands in a sweeping motion at Hades.

The energy blast hit him, sending Hades flying into his precious collection of souls. The glas
s orbs flew in every direction, shattering as soon as they hit the ground. Hades struggled to get to his feet. His efforts sent the rest of the orbs crashing down around him. His angry screams filled the room.

Raven ran over to Claire and unbuckled the straps as fast as she could.

“NO!” roared Hades. “My souls. My carefully collected souls!” Vapor-like clouds of all colors surrounded him, drifting and twisting.

“We have to get out of here now,” Raven said to Claire.

Claire nodded and slid off the table. As soon as her feet hit the ground, her legs buckled and she crumpled to the ground. “Leave me. You have to get out of here,” she whispered.

Raven saw fresh blood seeping through a make-shift bandage around her left thigh.

Claire followed Raven’s eyes to her leg. “He stabbed me with one of Eros’ arrows.”

The muscles in Raven’s jaws twitched. “Are there any arrows left?”

Claire shook her head. “I don’t know.”

“I will kill you!” screamed Hades.

Raven glanced over at Hades. The souls released from the orbs were swirling around Hades. The only thing she could see of him was his legs.

“I’ll kill you for this!” he screamed again.

“Arrows. Think! Where are they?” Raven fought the urge to shake the girl.

“I don’t—”

“Raven, over there. Behind you.”

Raven glanced at Persephone, who motioned with her chin toward the wall behind the girls. Raven turned and looked. Leaning against the far wall was a quiver full of arrows.

“Hurry!” yelled Persephone.

The souls swirling around Hades were beginning to thin out.

Raven ran over to the quiver of arrows. She yanked out one of the arrows before she swung the quiver over her shoulder. She glanced back at Claire’s bloody leg. An idea came to her mind. It was a sick idea, but one Hades deserved for everything he had done to her, to Claire, and to Persephone.

“I’m going to enjoy strangling you!” Hades pushed his way out of the thinning souls.

“Not if I have anything to say about it.” Raven ran over to Persephone, with the arrow raised up.

Persephone’s eyes widened. “What are you doing?” she screamed.

Raven brought her arm down with force. The arrow drove deep into the side of the shade holding Persephone captive.  She yanked it out. Blood dripped from the tip.

“Behind you!” screamed Persephone.

Raven spun around and swung her arm at the same time.

Hades came to a dead stop. He groaned. “What did you do?” he asked in a voice filled with surprise.

“Just a little payback. Find someone else to pick on, Uncle Hades.” Raven let go of the arrow. She took her necklace out of his hand and pushed Hades away from her.

He crumpled to the ground. His hands wrapped around the arrow sticking out of his stomach. Slowly the arrow vanished, but Hades didn't move from where he had fallen, too stunned to get up.

“Raven, what did you do?” asked Persephone.

“If it works on him like it did on Ethan, he won’t be bothering you or me anytime soon. He’ll be a little busy with his new obsession.” She looked from Persephone to the shade then
back to Persephone.

“Serves him right,” said Persephone. “Take Claire and get out of here.”

“What about you?” Raven asked as she pried Persephone loose from the shades.

“I’m forever tied to thi
s place because I foolishly ate some of the food that grows here, making me a part of this world even though I wasn’t born to it.” She sighed. “Go. I’ll do what I can to help you, every chance I get.”

Raven nodded. She went back to Claire and pulled the girl to her feet.

“I knew you would come,” said Claire in a very soft voice.

Raven rolled her eyes. “Don’t push me, I might leave you here.”

“You wouldn’t do that.”

Raven shook her head. Instead of saying anything she led Claire to the nearest shadows.

Envisioning her kitchen, Raven swept her free arm in an arch, opening a shadow doorway, and led Claire through it. As soon as they stepped into Raven’s kitchen, Raven turned and closed the doorway.

“Thank you,” said Claire as she slid to the floor in a dead faint.

Chapter
20

A roar shook the room.

And the house of cards tumbled to the floor.

Leaving only a key in the middle of the table.

                            --Raven Weir’s journal

Raven looked down at Claire and shook her head in frustration. “This is not what I needed you to do right now.” She sighed. “At least you didn’t do it while we were still in Hades.” Raven bent down and shook the pale girl, but didn’t get a reaction. “You had better not be dying.”

Raven stood up and looked around. Other than the two of them, the kitchen was empty. “If anyone’s here, I need some help!” She waited and was about to call again when she heard her name.

“Raven, is that you?” asked Professor Snyder as he walked into the kitchen. He finished cleaning his eye glasses and put them back on. “Oh my! Is that—”

“Call Sam Westing and get someone to help me with Claire. Her leg’s hurt and I don’t think she’s eaten anything since she was kidnapped by Hades.”

“Smart girl. You can’t trust anything Hades serves at his table. That’s why Persephone is stuck there.” Professor Snyder left the kitchen.

Raven bent back down. “Come on Claire. You’ve got to wake up,” she said as she patted the girl’s cheek.

“Claire!” Ethan skidded into the kitchen.

Several Hell H
ounds, including Chad, followed closely behind him.

“You’ve got to be careful with her or you’ll make her leg start bleeding again,” said Raven.

“Claire, I’m here.” Ethan shoved Raven out of the way. He gathered Claire up into his arms and carried her out of the kitchen.

“Go after him and make sure he lets someone look at her leg.” Raven felt the hot tears forming in her eyes. She blinked several times, determined not to give into them.

“Raven?” Chad walked over to her. “Are you okay?” Concern filled his voice and was etched across his face.

“I’m fine.
Just tired. Really tired.” She looked up at Chad. For just an instant she thought she saw a flicker of something else in his eyes. She sighed. “Did we…Did we lose anyone?” she asked, pushing the other thoughts concerning Chad into the back of her mind. She just didn’t want to deal with them right now.

Chad looked a little disappointed. “We didn’t lose anyone. A couple of the guys did get hurt pretty bad, but after a few days, they’ll be as good as new, but if Cerberus and the others hadn’t of showed up when they did, it would have been a different story.”

Raven rubbed her face. “As much as I don’t want to, I need to talk to him.”

“Actually, he’s outside. Waiting for you to return,” said Chad.

“Backyard?”

“Yeah.
You want me to go with you?”

Raven gave him a weak smile. “I’ve got to do this on my own. Go make sure Claire gets the medical attention she needs and that Sam Westing is on his way.” She patted his arm and went out the back door.

The cold night air caused Raven to shiver. She wished she had on a thicker jacket instead of the thin sweater-like thing she was wearing. Raven lifted her left hand and looked at the silver disc cradled in her palm. “Why me?”

“That’s a question I’ve often asked myself.” Cerberus walked up the steps leading to the deck Raven was standing on. “The only answer I’ve ever been able to come up with is because no one else can do what we have to do to make things right.”

“But how do we know if we’re doing the right thing?” asked Raven as she slipped the necklace over her head. She looked one more time at the disc and let it drop.

“You could have left Claire in Hades and Ethan would never have known,” said Cerberus.

“But I would have known.” Raven shook her head. “I couldn’t leave her there.”

“So you did what was the right thing, even if it meant taking Ethan away from you.” He walked over to Raven and picked up her right hand and looked at the silver ring on her finger. “He gave this to you before he went to judgment?”

Raven nodded.

Cerberus put his other hand over hers. “I’m sorry. Is there anything that can be done to fix what has happened to Ethan?”

“I won’t know for sure until I talk to Eros.”

“Eros is responsible?” growled Cerberus.

“It was one of his arrows, but he wasn’t the one responsible. Hades was.”

“Hades will pay.”

Raven snorted. “Is revenge all you Hell Hounds think about?”

Cerberus stared at her. Slowly his lips turned up into a smile. “If someone hurts our loved ones, we make him or her pay. And Hades will pay.”

“Don’t worry about Hades.” Raven pulled her hand out of Cerberus’s and stepped over to the railing. She stared at the woods.

“And why not?”

“Let’s just say Hades has a whole new obsession. We won’t have to worry about him for a little bit. And as for the zombies, I caused him to destroy his special collection of souls he used to create them.” Raven took a deep breath and slowly let it out. “How is Heather doing?”

“She has some mending to do, but she’s strong.” Cerberus stared at Raven.
“Heather’s right. You are exactly what Ethan needs.”

“Not anymore.” Raven turned to face
Cerberus. “I’m sorry about Jay. It’s not something I wanted to do, but I couldn’t let him kill Ethan or the others.”

Cerberus walked over to the railing and crossed his arms.

The two stood there in silence for long time.

“I knew Jay
hated Ethan, I just didn’t want to acknowledge the truth about him. You only did what I could not do. You protected the pack when I could not.”

“Is the great Cerberus admitting he was wrong?” Poseidon stepped out of the shadows.

Cerberus grabbed Raven and pulled her behind him as he growled at Poseidon. “What are you doing here?”

“I came to check on my daughter.”

Raven stepped around Cerberus. “You don’t have to protect me from him.”

Cerberus looked at Raven. “You really are the daughter of Poseidon?”

Raven sighed. “Yeah, I am, though I’m still adjusting to that fact too.”

The muscles in the huge Hell H
ound’s face twitched. “If he hurts you—”

“I’m more concerned about you hurting her,” said Poseidon.

Cerberus growled.

“Enough! I’ve had enough fights tonight.” Raven raised her voice in sheer frustration at the over-protective attitudes of the two men. “Cerberus, why don’t you go and check on Ethan and the others? And make sure Ethan’s letting someone take care of Claire’s leg.”

“What about him?”

“I’ll be fine with Poseidon,” she tried reassuring him.

Cerberus snarled at Poseidon. “If you need any help, just yell and I’ll be here in seconds.”

Raven nodded. She watched Cerberus go into the house.

“You do realize, you now have a huge watchdog.”

Raven went down the stairs. “I doubt that.”

“Cerberus doesn’t offer his protection to very many. In fact there is only one other woman he’s ever given it to, until now. Not bad, daughter.” Poseidon smiled, but it didn’t last long. “Are you okay?”

“No, I’m not okay. I’ve had all this
guardian stuff dumped on me. I actually had a boyfriend—a really cute boyfriend only to have him taken away from me. I’ve been stabbed in the heart. I’ve had my soul shoved back into my body. I’ve had to fight zombies—zombies of all things. My powers are iffy at best. I’ve had a tree shoved through my stomach, and now I’m caught in a fight between you, Hades and Zeus. Do I look like I’m all right?”

“And
yet, you have survived and adapted in each situation.”

“But I shouldn’t have t
o survive and adapt. I’m a teenager. I should be hanging out with friends, going to football and basketball games, going on dates. I should be doing all the things normal teenagers do.” Raven stomped her foot.

“You are not a typical human teenager. You are my daughter—the daughter of a god. And yes, on this planet, that is what I’m viewed as. But you aren’t a god. You’re not even a demi-god. You, Raven Weir, daughter of Poseidon and Medusa, are something much more. You never were a normal human and never will be.” Poseidon stepped over to Raven and lifted her chin. “I’m proud of you. You possess all the qualities of a born
leader, and your strongest quality is you care about the people around you. Don’t ever lose that quality.”

“But what about—”

“Don’t think about the things that haven’t happened yet. Just let them unfold as they come, otherwise you will drive yourself crazy.” Poseidon looked up at the house. “Listen to your Oracle. She is here to help you.”

“Raven stepped back away from Poseidon. “How did you know about her?”

“Sam Westing did a very good job of hiding her, but not as good a job as Medusa did with you.” He winked at Raven. “I need to go have a talk with Hades, to impress upon him the reasons why he needs to leave you alone.”

Raven snorted. “I don’t think that’s going to do much good right now. He’s got other problems to deal with.”

“I’m almost afraid to ask what you did to him.”

“Let’s just say he picked on the wrong niece. This one bites back.” Raven raised an eyebrow at Poseidon. “What is his problem with you and Zeus?” She crossed her arms.

Poseidon sighed. “He was our father’s favorite son, the one most like Cronos. When Zeus over threw Cronos, he gave Hades a choice—join us or suffer the same fate as Cronos. Obviously Hades joined us, but Zeus wanted to make sure his powers were limited, and he figure processing the dead would keep Hades occupied and under control.”

Raven snorted. “Not likely. It just made Hades even thirstier for revenge and power.”

“Stay away from him. He’s dangerous.”

“No joke. He wanted to rip out my soul. Sorry, he’s not invited to any of the Christma
s parties or any family get-togethers. His invitation has been permanently revoked.”

Poseidon laughed.
“And what about me?”

“You, I haven’t decided yet. Are there any more family secrets I need to know about before they come after me?”

“The list is long. Where do you want to begin?”

Raven groaned. “It’ll have to wait for a huge pot of coffee.”

“A large pot of coffee it is then. I believe your friends are worried about you.” He gestured at the kitchen window.

Raven turned and saw Leslie, Ari, and Bree peeking through the blinds.

“I will check on you tomorrow.”

Raven turned back to Poseidon. “Okay.”

“Get some rest.” He turned to leave, but stopped and turned back to Raven. “I still don’t think that Hell Hound is good enough for you, but if it is him you want, I hope a cure can be found.” He turned and vanished into the night.

“I didn’t think he was ever going to leave,” said
Bree as she ran out of the house, down the steps and hugged Raven. “You’re cold. Let’s go back in. Ari’s making some hot chocolate and Leslie has someone you have to meet.”

Raven nodded and followed Bree up the steps and into the kitchen.

“I’m so glad you made it back without any injuries this time,” Ari hugged Raven as soon as she walked into the house. “I’ll have some hot chocolate ready in a couple of minutes.  And yes, I know you would rather have coffee, but for now, it’s hot chocolate. Leslie’s got someone you need to talk to.”

Raven looked over at Leslie. A tall brunette was standing next to her, and just behind her, with his arms wrapped around her was a tall guy, with long almost translucent
blonde hair and the strangest crystal clear eyes Raven had ever seen. He wasn’t as broad in the shoulders as Cerberus, but he wasn’t far off. Raven shook her head. “Do they all look like they should be fashion models?”

The brunette giggled.

“Raven, this is my cousin, Angela, and her husband, Eros,” said Leslie. She went over to Raven and hugged her too. “I’m glad you’re okay.”

Eros stepped forward. “Hello, Raven Weir, Guardian of Atlantis.”

“Hello,” said Raven. She felt a little flustered. What kind of small talk do you have with the one and only Eros? “Did Leslie tell you what’s going on?”

“It seems Hades stole some of my arrows
and decided to play with them, but it looks like you found them.”

Raven frowned for a minute then remembered the quiver of arrows she had swung over her shoulder. “I forgot about them,” she said as she took the quiver off and handed them back to Eros.

“Thank you for recovering them.” Eros took the quiver and slipped it over his shoulder. “We need to talk.”

Angela stepped forward. “Ari, why don’t you turn off the hot chocolate so it doesn’t scorch, and let’s go to the living room so Eros and Raven
can have some privacy while they talk.”

The girls nodded and followed Angela out of the room, closing the kitchen door behind them.

“I’ve been watching Ethan,” Eros said after the girls were gone.