My Lord Hades Page 15

  The last door opened into a large, walled courtyard. She stood in the doorway and watched the two combatants glide from one step into another with instinctive grace. It was like a dance, beautiful and deadly.

  Hades moved to the right. Then left. He spun away from the deadly arc of the blade,

  deflecting the blow. Sparks skittered along the long blade.

  The other man dropped to his knee, slashing at Hades legs with the short blade. Hades leapt back and stopped in a crouch. He met the slashing blow aimed for his unprotected head.

  From there it disintegrated into a series of thrusts, twists, deflects, foot work, and crossed blades. She watched and worried as the two men seemed dead set on hacking each other to

  pieces. Hades swung down toward legs and his opponent pirouette, thrusting the short blade at his face.

  Hades is a warrior and killer, Persephone recalled Athena’s words at the party. Everything he touches dies.

  The difference between them was never so apparent. His world was one she could never

  touch, never understand. The scars on his body screamed of the violence he’d witnessed and the violence he’d brought down upon the heads of his enemies. This was another part of the man she knew and it was a part she didn’t know if she could accept.

  Hades arm nearly buckled under the weight of his larger opponent. She clamped at hand over her mouth, muffling the gasp as the blade come within a hairsbreadth of his face. Exhausted and bloody, Hades movements turned aggressive and reckless, as if he no longer cared if the giant hurt him. It was as if he were punishing himself.

  “He is,” Thanatos murmured from beside her. “Every afternoon since he came here, he

  allows Campe to beat him into an exhausted, bloody mess.”

  “Why, Thanatos?”

  He shrugged and finally looked at her. “Maybe he has something to atone for?”

  She looked back at the scene that changed from beautiful to brutal. The muscles of Hades’

  bare back bunched and stretched as he shoved his opponent away, only to fall under the next blow.

  HIS ABUSED muscles screamed in agony at the beating he was taking, but he fought

  onward. Kicking Campe’s feet out from under him, he struggled to his feet, swinging his sword.

  Campe met his blow. The muscles of Hades arm spasmed, jerking with exhaustion. Sweat

  blurred his vision, stinging his eyes, dripping down his face in a steady flow. Minor cuts and scratches burned, but he refused to use magic to aid him.

  Until he could find a better outlet for his Phelegthon passions that didn’t involve sex, he needed this. He needed the anger and hatred and violence. He needed to forget. His promise to Persephone pushed him onward.

  He broke away, stumbling. They circled. Testing the other. Dodging, parrying. Campe almost took his head with a grin.

  The point of Campe’s sword rested against his neck. He frowned. The swing didn’t have

  enough strength to sever his head and Campe had never hesitated to hurt him before. In fact the creature had a penchant for causing him great pain, and Hades accepted it as the price he’d pay to keep his sanity long enough to see Persephone truly free.

  Persephone. His heart and his soul. His Phlegethon blood craved a blending of body, soul, and magic. It whispered that Persephone was his. That if he went to her now, she would accept him. He knew without a doubt that she was his mate. The only thing keeping him from acting on his thoughts was his promise to Persephone. She would have to make the first move.

  “I think that is enough for the day.” Thanatos stomped out onto the sands and waved his hand at the immobile Campe. He disappeared. “As for you, I suggest cleaning yourself up for dinner tonight. You gave your beautiful bride quite a scare with this demonstration.”

  Hades groaned, dropping his head into his hands. Damn it!

  Chapter 17

  DINNER WAS an informal affair, where the inhabitants of the Underworld were all invited,

  although that first night Penelope and Zana were the only ones. They settled a bowl of thick stew in front of Persephone and started chatting about their day. Persephone listened, swirling her spoon liquid and poking a strange lumps that she’d never tasted before.

  “Aren’t you hunger, my lady?” Zana asked.

  “No.” The grumble of her stomach betrayed her.

  Penelope smiled, the spoon filled with creamy broth and veggies hesitating at her mouth.

  “You have to try some lamb stew. It’s Thanatos’ favorite dish.” Persephone shook her head and Penelope’s face fell. “I know it’s not what your use to on Mount Olympus—”

  “No,” Persephone protested, horrified to realize she had hurt this kind goddess’ feelings. “I would love to try your stew only…I don’t want to be trapped in the Underworld forever.”

  The two women exchanged looks that held a load of meaning. “She speaks of the law,

  Penelope,” Zana murmured.

  “Hades won’t allow the food of the dead upon his table. Not since Zeus…” Penelope gasped, eyes wide in horror, and she stared at Persephone.

  “Tricked him?” a man said. Persephone started and whirled around to face a youthful, spiky haired god. At least, she assumed he was a god. Unlike most of the gods she’d met in this place, his complexion wasn’t pale but evenly tanned a honey-gold. “I think the words you were looking for, my dearest Penelope, are, not since Zeus tricked him.”

  Persephone couldn’t help it. “Did he really use trickery to bind Hades to the Underworld?”

  Zana nodded. “Some.”

  “Zana and I had hopes of escaping this place, and maybe returning to our homes,” Penelope said.

  “He condemned us all,” Zana murmured.

  She’d heard the whispers, but until this moment she hadn’t believed them to be true.

  “We were at the party,” Penelope said. “The only time in 3,000 years we’ve left this place.”

  What could she say to that? Sorry seemed inappropriate. Asking how they got here felt

  wrong. Questioning them about the party would be hurtful.

  The man sauntered into the room “Allow me to introduce myself.” He bowed gallantly

  before her, mirth dancing in his blue-purple eyes. “I’m Thanatos.”

  “Death?”

  “More or less.” He grinned, flashing a good set of white teeth and kissing her hand. He took a seat at Penelope’s side and dished out a large helping of food. “How does it taste, Persephone?”

  Dipping her spoon into the stew, she hesitantly placed it in her mouth. What she tasted was nothing like the food her mother prepared. It was absolutely divine. And it was so very familiar.

  “Wonderful as always, Penelope and Zana,” Thanatos said, shoveling spoonful after spoonful of the stew into his mouth. Persephone could only nod in agreement.

  After that first night Persephone joined Penelope and Zana for every meal. Every couple of days Thanatos and Hades showed up, but rarely did Hades stay long. He ate and talked easily with the others, although before he left, he always asked her, “Is everything to your

  satisfaction?”

  At which she always replied, “As much as it can be.”

  Persephone found herself enjoying the time she spent with the others. A strange kinship with Penelope and Zana formed. Both had been taken from their homes and brought here to serve

  Abaddon, the Titan ruler of the Underworld before their beloved Iron Queen. And Thanatos, well she wasn’t sure where he fit in her life, only that there was a familiarity with him she couldn’t explain. It was as if she’d known him always.

  ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

  “YOUR LADY wife is leaving,” Thanatos said from his place at the window.

  Hades looked up from the book he was studying. “I know.”

  “Where do you think she’s going?”

  Hades shrugged and wrote down a few more names on the clay tablet before closing the

  book. He dragged an
other toward him.

  “Aren’t you worried she’ll disappear?”

  Hades didn’t want to talk about Persephone with Thanatos. “No. She can’t get into too much trouble either.”

  “Are you sure? Most the dissidents of the Underworld would do anything for a beautiful lady.

  If she asks they might just try putting you back in Tartarus,” Thanatos joked.

  Hades sighed and looked up at the only friend he had ever known. He had no doubts that they would try if she asked them too. The denizens of the Underworld might be considered the dregs of proper society, but among them could be found some of the noblest people. They wouldn’t hesitate to defend Persephone against him.

  What they wouldn’t realize was that the wrong he had done her was out of the need to protect her from the danger Rhea had warned him was coming for her. But it didn’t excuse his actions.

  Maybe he should just allow the change to take him. A feral daemon would be imprisoned in

  Tartarus. Or he should just save everyone the trouble and condemn himself to a cell. He was sure his old one was still vacant.

  “Do you think they’ll put me back in Tartarus? I could use the rest,” he joked.

  “That wasn’t funny,” Thantos growled.

  “No? Oh well, I won’t quit my job as the glorified steward of the Underworld.”

  Thanatos glared at him. “You’d let them take the Underworld from you without a fight,

  wouldn’t you?”

  Hades shrugged. “What do you want me to do, Thanatos? I claimed Persephone over your

  Iron Queen. I have no real claim to the throne Zeus gave me. When your Queen returns do you really think she’ll want me here anymore than the rest of you do?”

  Thanatos eyes narrowed. “Why did you choose Persephone, Hades?”

  “She needed me.”

  He placed his hands on the table and leaned forward. “You don’t want to be here, so why

  stay?”

  “Why, indeed?” Hades placed his head in his hands. “I’m so tired of fighting, Thanatos. I fight to protect the ones I love. I fight to survive. I fight to carve a place for myself in this world.

  I fight to keep what is mine. And at every turn someone threatens to take it from me. I don’t have it in me anymore.”

  “Hades, you are the son of Eris and Horkus, not a weakling god—”

  “But that’s the point, Thanatos.” He looked up, weary beyond belief. “I’m both a god and a daemon. I am a four-thousand-year-old Phlegethon without his mate. How many others do you know that have lived so long and remained sane?”

  Thanatos shook his head, his shocked revealed in his eyes. He sat in the only other chair at the table. “Without your mate, you’ll…”

  Hades nodded. “It’s happening already. It started the day Zeus released me. And it worsens every day. If I’m not joined with my mate soon, Persephone might as well be a widow.”

  Chapter 18

  PERSEPHONE CLOSED the door of the palace and breathed in the stale air of the

  Underworld, shuddering. Everywhere she looked she saw a barren, desolate world of dirt and glittering stones. No flowers, no trees, no life.

  And there was something very wrong about that, although she was unable to pinpoint how

  she knew there was so much more to this world. The Underworld had no sun, no moon, and no stars. A bright light streamed from a place far above her head, lending to the charade of sunlight.

  The Underworld was enormous. The ceiling rose high above her head and long, thin stones hung from the ceiling like sharp teeth. The cavern seemed to go on and on in all directions, no beginning or end.

  Hades’ palace stood in the middle of it all. A monument to the death, suffering, and misery of its god.

  She chose a direction and began to walk. She half expected Hades to appear and drag her

  back, but he never did. The glittering white path split before her. On the left side was a grayish building surrounded by columns and on the right side a river. She headed for the building.

  As the building loomed before her, she could just make out the words etched into the stone.

  Hall of Judgment. Beneath that were the names Minos, Rhadamanthys, and Aegina. The Hall of Judgment didn’t sound very interesting.

  “My Queen, may I help you?”

  She turned to Thanatos. If she asked him for the way out of the Underworld, would he point the way for her? She doubted it. For all his kindness, he was still Hades man.

  “You looked a little lost. Is there somewhere you would like to go?” he asked, worry plain in his eyes.

  She wasn’t sure what to tell him or where she wanted to go. After all this was all a test in what she was allowed to do here? And when someone stop her?

  “You can go or do anything you wish. There’s a lot to see. But why do you think anyone

  would stop you?”

  She blinked. Was he reading her mind?

  “Yes,” he answered with an easy shrug.

  Her jaw dropped. He had to be joking! No god could read minds.

  “No. I assure you, I’m not joking,” he said. “When I took my duties as Death, Khaos also

  gifted me with the ability to read minds. Every daemon in creation has gifts to aid their duties.”

  “Khaos? Daemons?”

  “Khaos is neither male nor female. It’s everywhere and nowhere all at once. Daemons were

  the first to be created, gods the last. Zeus is the great-great-great-great-grandson of Chaos. That makes Zeus’ power less potent. The closer one is to the source of creation, the better their powers.”

  “Then why don’t you rule instead of Zeus?”

  He laughed. “Now that would be a sight. Death ruling the world of the living.” He tapped the tip of her nose. “I think not. Besides, dear child, I have no wish for it. None of us close to creation do. The desire for ruling kingdoms belongs to younger generations. Coronus was the first supreme ruler. Zeus the second. And maybe someday your generation will rule.”

  She cleared her throat, wondering if he was baiting her. She sensed no evil from him, just a mild amusement. But then, she hadn’t sensed anything evil in Hades either, and she'd ended up his prisoner in this strange, dark, morbid world.

  “You were right. It wasn’t always like this.”

  “What wasn’t?”

  “The Underworld. Once it was beautiful. Flowers bloomed. Trees grew. The hills were

  covered with green. But when our Queen was taken from us, it died.”

  She shivered despite the warmth. “What happened?”

  “Coronus. He learned the true depths of the Iron Queen’s power and came to take what was

  not his. He left here a charred husk.” They came to a branch in the path; one was the glittering white, while the other was reddish-black. Thanatos pointed to the path leading to the right. “I recommend that way.”

  “Why?”

  “Tartarus is that way. You never liked the place.”

  She fought the temptation to journey the red-black path to Tartarus just to spite him and see for herself what was so awful. But as she stared at the distance walls, she decided to heed his advice. She could handle only so much in one day.

  “Are you not interested in the man that holds you captive?”

  “No,” she said, but even to her ears she didn’t sound convincing.

  “I remember when he was a snot-nose child. He followed me around. He never did back

  down from a fight either. You’d be surprised at how mortals, and even immortals, take truth and twist it to their advantage, until the truth no longer matches events,” Thanatos said. “In time, the stories fade and disappear. Or elements of truth are modified to enhance the story. That’s the nature of passing stories down from one generation to another. Did you know that most mortals think I look like Charon?”

  “Charon?”

  “He’s the boatman. Wears a long black robe to cover the fact that he’s a walking skeleton an
d carries a scythe.”

  She pressed her free hand to her chest. “He sounds dreadful.”

  “He’s actually comical,” Thanatos laughed. “There was this one time when Cerberus stole

  Charon’s leg bone and try as we might, we couldn’t get it back. So Charon had to walk around on this piece of wood until Hades came along and wrestled that bone from Cerberus. I have never seen a man more beat up, bloody, and covered in dirt smile so widely. And that dog looked so pleased with himself. The two have been friends since. Actually, Hades is the only one that Cerberus lets pet him.”

  Persephone laughed. The thought of Hades brought low by a dog was the best joke of all.

  “People think Charon’s morbid because he brings the dead to judgment. But that skeleton

  knows how to party. And that sense of humor.” He chuckled. “Too bad people judge him so

  harshly.”

  She smiled politely and nodded. She really couldn’t think of any other way to respond to

  him. She continued to walk, arm in arm, enjoying the companionship of this strange man. His presence was calming, and she needed calming.

  Unlike Hades who was, by far, more handsome. Handsome. Dark. Strong. Her heart leapt at

  the memory of his touch. Gentle caresses that made something deep inside of her spark to life.

  Caresses that made her body burn with need. It was as if she’d been asleep for her entire life and was only now waking from her long slumber.

  She sighed. It didn’t seem to matter what her mother, her aunt, and most of the gods and

  goddess of Mount Olympus said about Hades. There was still something inside her that warned her not to judge him so harshly. He would prove everyone wrong about him.

  Thanatos cleared his throat. “Hades is a good man, my Queen. He may be Eris’ son, but he is as different from that lovely creature as virginal Athena is from whorish Aphrodite.”

  She cringed; lovely wasn’t the word she would use to describe Eris.

  “Like Charon, he’s largely misunderstood. His past has been corrupted by those who would

  sully his good name.”