Frozen for a moment, I can hear the guard’s boots slowly scraping against the dirty floor as he turns toward me. I can feel his agitation like static through the air, stress and worry mixing with it.

  “What did you say?”

  Sighing, I repeat, “I call upon Anteros. I demand a Trial of Love.”

  There is a long pause as the guard stares at me.

  “Do you understand the consequences of invoking such a thing?” the guard snarls, storming closer as if to intimidate me.

  “Obviously,” I scoff. “He is my brother after all.”

  The guard hesitates, clearly unsure how to handle this.

  I am sure that in all his years spent serving Hades, he has never had to deal with something like this.

  “To hell with you, Eros,” the guard spits, finally turning to leave. I cannot help but smile at the reluctance in his steps as he goes to relay my request.

  I cannot almost imagine Hades’ expression when he learns what I have asked for. Hopefully, this will be just what we need to outsmart him at his own game.

  Of course, Anteros will be none too thrilled to be summoned away from his wife, especially to such a place as this.

  Alone in the cell, the weight of what I have just done begins to grow heavy as I consider everything it may entail. I know it is dangerous to involve my brother. Perhaps even foolish, but I cannot think of any other way to help the mortal.

  She cannot be allowed to remain here. Not when it is clear that something even more sinister is at play.

  I am not about to let Hades get away with using her as some pawn in his fight for power. Or as just another plaything to be tossed aside once he has satisfied himself with her.

  This thought in particular has me pacing my cell, though it is not easy given the chains.

  This is my only choice.

  Anteros and Hades be damned. I do not want to do this, but what other way is there?

  This may be the only way we can rescue the mortal alive.

  These thoughts keep spinning in my head as I pace, waiting. After what feels like several thousand eternities, I finally hear the sound of returning footsteps.

  My own pacing stops as I make out the all-too-familiar steps of my brother’s gait. Already his annoyance clear in his muttered curses as he is led to my cell.

  I flinch at the squeal of the door before the dungeon hallway fills with guards and then my brother. Fury swirls around him as he lets out a sharp exhale and stops before me.

  Obviously, he is less than thrilled to have been summoned away from his honeymoon to deal with me.

  “What is it now, Eros?”

  “I have summoned you, dear brother,” I say with a smile. “To carry out a Trial of Love.”

  “You jest,” he says, stepping closer to the bars that separate us. “You hate love.”

  “I do not hate it,” I answer carefully. “I simply have never understood it, until now. I have summoned you, because I believe a Trial of Love is the only way to save the fate of someone I know. Someone I care deeply for.”

  He shifts closer, doubt heavy in his presence. “What kind of game are you playing at, Eros?”

  “It is not about me.”

  My brother lets out a humorless laugh at this, his disbelief now only outweighed by his annoyance. I wait, hoping that his curiosity will get the better of him if I do not react ... and if his curiosity fails, I hope his sense of duty will not.

  “Not about you?” he asks. “What in the Underworld are you talking about? I have never known anything to not be about you. I was not aware you were even conscious of anyone outside yourself.”

  Clearly, he is not convinced. I am more than a little irked by this, but I cannot say that I am surprised. He is not entirely wrong about my previous disregard for most everyone and everything.

  But I cannot allow him to waste any more of what little time we have.

  “It does not matter much your opinions here, dearest brother. I will continue to stand here, demanding that you carry out a Trial of Love, until you do exactly that.”

  “You are being serious?”

  “Yes.”

  “I must remind you, Eros,” my brother says, his tone suddenly very solemn, “of the consequences of calling for such a trial.”

  “I am well aware.”

  “If you do this and you are wrong, it will only result in slow torment and eventual death.”

  I let out a pained groan of frustration.

  “Yes. I am aware, and I understand. Now, can we hurry up and move this along? I am sure we both have things we would like to get back to.”

  “Fine,” my brother says through gritted teeth, “and who is it, exactly, that is to be put on trial?”

  “A mortal,” I reply.

  “And this mortal’s name?”

  “Her name is Hazel.”

  25

  Hazel

  Deimos is silent at my side as he guides me through the palace.

  Trailing behind us are several of Hades’ stone guards, as if making sure no one gets in our way to stop me from being taken to the king.

  “Where is she? Where is the mortal?!” My heart leaps at the sound of Cerberus’ voice ringing out as it echoes distantly through the halls behind me.

  Deimos’ nostrils flare at this, his grip only tightening on me as he quickens our pace. I peek up at him, feeling the tension that rolls off him in heavy waves. I glance back, but my heart sinks as I am unable to spot Cerberus past the stone guards as we hurry through the halls.

  “Pick up your feet,” Deimos hisses as we reach a wing of the palace that I don’t believe I’ve seen before. It seems darker than the rest, even the air feels heavier here.

  We finally come to a stop in front of a towering set of ornate black doors. I don’t need to feel the way Deimos straightens beside me to know what must lie beyond those doors.

  He opens his mouth as if to say something, but then he closes it. Stepping forward to push open the doors, Deimos all but throws me inside the room beyond.

  I stumble, but manage to catch myself before I can crash to the floor. Spinning around, I race toward the doors, but I’m too slow as they slam in my face.

  And a key turns in the lock, trapping me alone inside the room.

  Alone but for Hades, somewhere deeper in the depths of darkness.

  The vines that were covering my mouth turn to dust, and I have to pinch my nose to keep from sneezing in surprise. Slowly, I turn to face the room, doing my best to make as little sound as possible as I press my back against the doors.

  My eyes take a long moment to adjust to the dark, but even as they do, I can still barely make anything out. Vague silhouettes seem to rise all around me, taking on new shapes in my imagination with each blink of my eyes.

  Swallowing, I turn back to the doors. It takes me a moment to feel out the handle, but no matter how I pull at them, they refuse to budge.

  “Who goes there?” comes a deep rolling voice, cutting through the night air.

  My heart leaps into my throat, my body tense as I turn back to face the room. Chills dance over my skin, a cold sweat breaking out across my forehead and chest. Taking a quiet breath in, I force myself to hold my head high as I stare into the unending void before me.

  Blood pounds in my ears as my eyes, trail over the room. I can just barely make out the soft rustling of fabric moving about the room, but I cannot tell where it is coming from.

  Then, the shadows take shape, and a massive form appears just before me. I flatten myself against the door as the spicy musk of Hades’ scent washes around me, prickling at the back of my throat and nose. Slowly lifting my eyes, I peer up at him through my lashes as he looms up above me like the true nightmare that he is.

  “Ah, if it is not the mortal herself.”

  His deep voice sends chills dripping down my spine as he reaches out a hand to caress my face. It takes everything in me not to grimace at his touch.

  His fingers run over my cheeks before they stop at my chin, pinching it he tilts my face up until I have no choice but to look him in the eye. Bright sapphire flames burst to life around his head and shoulders, before smoldering into a soft blue glow that illuminates the rest of his skin with the same eerie hue.

  “What are you doing here?”

  I swallow past the lump quickly forming in my throat, and he takes my moment of silence to lean down, his free hand coming to cage me in as it rests on the door behind me. The entire lower half of his body presses against mine, pinning me to the door as his gaze drops to my lips.

  It’s only as he starts to bend to press his lips to mine in a kiss that I finally find my voice.

  “I was with Persephone, your wife,” I tell him. “I-I just told her about us.”

  A hiss slips through his lips at this, but it’s enough to have him stepping back from me.

  “I told you not to mention her in my presence,” he snarls at me. “I thought I made myself very clear about this.”

  His eyes blaze with an infernal fury, and I can feel the heat of his power radiating off him like a furnace.

  For a moment, I fear that he might strike me down where I stand. But instead, he turns and disappears into the darkness, though I can now make out his angry steps as he storms about the room.

  A soft blue glow outlines his broad frame, and I can just make out the shape of him as he paces back and forth. He stops at a table and I have to squint to make him out as he pours himself a glass of wine.

  His eyes snap up, cold dread filling me as he easily meets my gaze.

  Downing the goblet of wine, he snaps his fingers and several candles flicker to life, casting blue light around the room. It’s only now that I realize he’s only wearing a pair of black silk pants, his powerful chest exposed by the flickering of the candles.

  He is beautiful and terrifying in the way only a god can be, strength chiseling every line of his body in sharp angles.

  He stays where he is, watching me from across the room. There is something uncertain in the way he looks at me that gives me a small rush of courage, and I take a tentative step away from the door and further into the room.

  I can only hope that the mention of his wife is enough to have turned him off of wanting me. That he won’t try anything else with her name hanging between us.

  I’m not sure I understand his reaction to me mentioning her, but if it keeps him away from me, then I’m not willing to question it.

  “Persephone has been teaching us how to seduce you,” I say, my voice shaky as I once again disobey his orders, “but you should know that I have no desire to do so.”

  He neither reacts nor says anything in response to this.

  Instead, Hades simply pours himself another glass of wine. Emboldened, I search for the right words to explain my behavior here and at the ball. Telling him the same thing I told Persephone not that long ago.

  He tenses as I talk, but makes no attempt to stop me from speaking. As I finish, silence once again fills the room.

  Hades doesn’t meet my gaze this time as he pours another glass of wine … then yet another, each downed in a single mouthful.

  I take another step forward, knowing that I’m treading on thin ice. He turns so that his back is to me as I wait for some response to what I’ve just told him. His lack of a reaction gives me the courage to move even closer so that all that stands between us is the table.

  “She loves you, even if you do no—"

  He whirls on me at this, reaching across the table to grab my bruised wrist, his crystal goblet shattering at his feet. A cry of pain escapes me as his hand tightens around me, his gaze burning with terrifying intensity.

  Twisting my arm, he drags me forward over the table, knocking the decanter to the floor with a crash. A cry of pain slips from my lips as I struggle to alleviate the pain from his grip, but it only grows worse with each movement.

  Pulling me closer to him, he towers over me where I lie on the table.

  “I told you not to speak of my wife,” he says, his voice so sharp that I wish he’d shouted instead.

  With that, he jerks me off the table, tossing me to the ground where I land amongst the shattered crystal with a shriek of agony. Hot searing pain overtakes me as blood and tears mix.

  I stare up at him, gasping for breath as I try to scramble off the glass, but my movements only make things worse. Hades reaches for me, his hand wrapping around my throat as he presses me back down against the floor.

  New shards bite into my skin as my lungs constrict, burning with their need for air. My vision darkens for a moment, the room once more cast into impossible blackness.

  Vaguely, I’m made aware of a commotion followed by the howling of a beast outside the room before Hades releases his hold on my throat. I choke as I suck in air, filling my lungs as best I can.

  Hades strides across the room. Then a thundering sound crashes through the night, making me wince, as a heavy bar is secured into place across the doors.

  I can hear the sound of claws dragging across the wood from outside, but to no avail.

  I am imprisoned here.

  Without any hope of rescue from Hades’ wrath.

  26

  Cerberus

  Panic and desperation fill me as I do my best to tear the damn doors off their hinges.

  I am consumed by my need to get to the mortal.

  Hades is meant to hold all my loyalties, without question or hesitation. Yet, all I can think about is saving her.

  Of protecting her from him.

  But no matter how much anger I throw into my attacks, the doors do not so much as budge. Then I remember the deal.

  I quickly realize that I will not be able to accomplish this on my own.

  Hades asinine deal with the Fates makes it impossible for me to step foot in his personal chambers.

  Reluctantly, I step away from the door, crushing Deimos’ leg beneath my foot in the process. Not that it matters now.

  The silence that comes from within does not sit well with me.

  Turning, I race away from Hades’ chambers as fast as my legs will carry me through the palace hallways and out into the city.

  Lifting my nose, I lock on to the scent I am searching for and tear after it.

  Death is her only hope of surviving the night.

  I am nearly gasping for air by the time I finally find the man himself just outside the city gates. As expected, dark shadows power and worry swirl about him as he strides toward me.

  “Cerberus,” Death says, his voice cold as I shift back to my human form and his eyes snap to mine.

  “The mortal,” I gasp, sucking in air. “Where have you been?”

  “I was looking for Hazel’s brother. What has happened?” he immediately demands. “Where is she?”

  I am unable to answer as my lungs strain, the shift back to my human form taking its toll on me.

  Death steps forward, a gloved hand taking a handful of my shirt as he drags me up to his height.

  Our eyes meet, and I finally see the same fire burning in him that has awoken in me. See the same desperate need to protect her above all else.

  Whatever the cost.

  “Answer the question, now!”

  Swallowing, I tell him what has happened. His grip on me tightens as he listens.

  As soon as I mention Hades’ bedchambers, he lets out a swear. Tossing me aside, he storms past me.

  “You had better hope that we are not too late,” he snarls. “Or there will be hell to pay for every last being in this damned realm.”

  I scramble to my feet and race after him.

  Little does Death know that he is not the only one who will help raze the Underworld to the ground if we are too late to save the mortal.

  Reaching Hades’ palace, two stone guards move to block our entry, but they stand no chance against Death.

  I watch in stunned silence as Death’s shadows burst out from him, covering the stone giants in darkness so cold they crack and then explode into a thousand frozen shards. We crash through the main doors just as several of Deimos’ guards round the corner, drawn by the sound of the explosion.

  Death waves a hand, his shadows rushing to fill the hall and shred through the men as he storms forward.

  “The Fates’ deal,” I shout after him, but Death doesn’t pay me any mind as he cuts his way through anyone who dares to stand in his way.

  Shit.

  Watching after him, I consider my options for a moment before splitting off in another direction. Instead of returning to Hades’ rooms, I head toward the dungeon.

  At this rate, we are going to need all the help we can get.

  27

  Hazel

  As I lay on the ground, gasping for air, rage pours from Hades in heavy waves as he paces the room yet again.

  I can feel blood seeping down my arm from the cuts the crystal has made, and my throat aches from Hades’ grip. I try to push myself up, but the pain in my ribs and the cuts on my skin make it nearly impossible as I let out a small whimper.

  Another mistake.

  His eyes flicker to me, and unable to stop himself, he bursts into blue flames. Despite the glass scattered on the ground, I do my best to scramble further away from the flames and the man as he takes a step toward me.

  He lets out a low growl of anger as he reaches for me, his fingers just grazing my arm before I’m out of his reach. Pain makes my movements slow as I climb to my feet, swaying on my legs. He moves toward me again and I dodge him as I hurry to put more space between us, nearly tripping over myself in the process.

  Again, his snarl fills the air as I do my best to keep my distance.

  My eyes dart toward the door but the claws have long since fallen quiet. I am alone in here, the door locked, and Death none the wiser to my current plight.

  I have no hope of anyone being able to get to me.

  I’ve been such a fool.

  Swallowing my dread, I reach for courage. I haven’t come this far to just give up now, or let Hades end me like this.

 

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