My Life From Hell (34 page)

Some of the guests had obviously gotten a jump start on their drunken festivities. Their costumes were already slightly askew. Masks were already tilted, eyes were too glittering, voices too loud, and too slurred. The buzz of conversation was loud, but from where I sat, just tolerable.

Hades held center court, dressed, just as I’d suspected, as Zeus, in a cream linen suit and matching fedora, that strained against his bloated frame. At first I wasn’t sure how this made a mockery of his brother, until I realized that the suit wasn’t some costume Hades had made for the occasion. It was Zeus’ actual suit and fedora. His favorite outfit. Hades had stolen it somehow, and was wearing it with great pride and swagger. He just had to touch his brother’s things, didn’t he?

He plucked a goblet of wine from a passing minion’s tray and slugged some back. Wine sloshed onto his lapel. I could just imagine his glee when he returned it dirty, ripped, and stained—to my anal retentive, metrosexual father.

An Infernorator glided over to Hades, Oizys in his wake.The minion presented her to his master and floated away.

I watched, curious, as Hades leaned in close to speak to her.

She stiffened, but Hades didn’t notice, or didn’t care. With a pat to her shoulder, he turned from her to get more wine.

I couldn’t imagine what was going on, but whatever he’d said kept her close at his side.

And glowering. Her eyes sliced through the room. She looked ready to kill.

Maybe I was projecting that part, since her mask covered much of her face. But I didn’t think so. I had a sinking feeling that her death rays were intended for me. I’d gotten her into whatever Hades was up to.

Well, I couldn’t worry about it now. Everything, for better or worse, was in motion.

I watched them for a few more minutes, but nothing changed.

Nor did Kai appear.

Which begged the question of where he was.

I didn’t see Festos either. I hoped he was off convincing Aletheia to show up. Gotta hand it to him, his chandelier was one of the most spectacular things I’d ever seen. The light hung high overhead, its candle holders and metal twists spanning a good ten feet.

It reminded me of dancing fountains, like they have in Vegas. Or rather, hundreds of tiny dancing fountains, all held in their own individual candle cups. They were made of lava and fire, and they syncopated in a gorgeous ballet of reds, oranges, and blues. Hundreds of teardrop crystals reflected all the color and heat into endless prisms of light.

It was mesmerizing.

I couldn’t believe that nobody found it as entrancing as I did, but everyone else seemed too engrossed in being as loud and obnoxious in their Olympian impressions as possible.

Except for Oizys. Even from half a football field away, I could see how still she was. Looking for me. For a second, I thought she’d found me. Her gaze seemed to hold on my area of the room.

I pressed myself farther behind the marble leaves and into the shadowy corner. I held my breath. I don’t know what would have happened if she’d had even one more second to glower my way, but a sudden blare of trumpets made everyone turn toward Hades.

“Friends and honored guests,” Hades boomed out, his voice reaching even this far corner, “Welcome to my ball.” His words were drowned in a cacophony of catcalls, whistles, and stomping feet.

He held up a hand for silence. “On this eve of the spring equinox, we celebrate the union of light and dark. And what better way to start the evening’s entertainment than a first dance between the Prince of the Underworld and a Princess of Olympus?” He shot Oizys a sly look, as if the dance was just the first of many “entertainments” he had planned for Persephone tonight.

Oh, crap!
My stomach lurched.

A darkly sensual waltz played. The crowd parted and there was Kai. He stepped into the circle, clad in all-black, save for a glittering red mask. So much for avoiding him at all costs

Oizys stood there, chin jutted out, tense.

It was like a car crash that only she and I knew was happening. Our entire charade was about to be blown.

I had to get out of here before Kai could find me. I dropped out of the tree. The sound of the crowd “ooohing” with delight at the obvious tension between “Persephone” and Kai, worked in my favor. Everyone was focused on them.

I skittered around the edge of the room until I was in line with the throne itself, sparing a glance for the dancing couple. One look at their body language—Oizys unnaturally rigid, and Kai holding her in an iron grip and wearing that stupid poker face of his—and I knew the jig was up.

I shoved my way through the throng, and over to the base of the throne. It wasn’t 2AM yet, but I figured the best place for me to hide was in the room underneath it where I was to meet Fee. Of course, this meant hanging about in the place where Persephone had been murdered seventeen years ago. And now that I had all her memories in glorious living color, it was going to be quite the trip down memory lane.

I put my hand to a specific stone near the back of the base and pushed. The heavy obsidian swung open and I slipped through. It whispered shut behind me.

The room was as impressive as ever. As black as the outside of the base had been, the inside of the room radiated a warm gold. Because it
was
gold.

Other than the door I’d used to get in, and a hallway that sloped under the room, there were no other entrances or exits. There was, however, a giant pile of cushions to lounge on. Or hide under. I flopped down onto them, ready to scurry underneath at a second’s notice.

So. Here I am again.

I tried to keep my mind blank but it was hard. My eyes kept dragging up to the black iron chandelier that hung on the ceiling. It wasn’t remarkable in any way. Not fancy or dancing with lava jets. Just a plain lighting fixture. It was only noteworthy because it was the last thing Persephone had seen as her life drained away.

The night Demeter had come after Persephone, the throne room outside had been deserted. Even though I knew that it overflowed with partygoers tonight, I still felt very alone here. And very vulnerable.

I burrowed deeper under the pillows. My eyes scanned left and right, all my senses on high alert for any approaching visitors. My entire body was tense. My heart pounded so hard and fast that I felt like it was going to burst free of my rib cage like in the movie
Alien
. I stayed that way for what seemed like eons.

“She wouldn’t come.”

I screamed. So much for hyper-vigilant. Festos had appeared and startled the hell out of me. He was dressed in gray slacks and a slightly lighter gray sweater. It was perfectly nice but not at all what he normally wore. “Servants’ garb,” he muttered at my stare.

I had barely recovered from the shock of his appearance when I realized what he had said. I jumped to my feet, scattering cushions. “No! She has to come!” I jabbed my finger at him. “Go back and convince her.”

Festos frowned. “You’re obviously distressed, which is the only reason why I’m not going to hurt you for touching me.”

I rubbed my hand over my face. If Aletheia didn’t show up, then my only choice to break this enchantment was waiting for Demeter to show up and try to kill me. What if she didn’t show? Or if she did, but it didn’t give us enough time to put everything in place for the ritual?

“I need to break this enchantment.” I was utterly frantic. “Fine, let’s free Prometheus and then he can try to get Aletheia here. He created her. Maybe she has to listen to his commands.”

“If she listens half as well as you do, you’re in for quite the wait.” That was Kai.

Great. Before I could bolt, he’d grabbed Festos and I by one arm each.

“Hands off the goods,” Festos hissed; sounding fed up, he tried to transport out.

Except Kai was still holding on to us.

The air rippled, a wave of pain sliced through my temples, and none of us went anywhere.

“Now what have you done?” Festos glowered at Kai. Then caught sight of me and looked suddenly confused.

Kai’s grip had slackened, so I stepped back warily.

He’d gone pale with shock.

I glanced around the room trying to figure out the problem. When I turned back to Kai, I found him totally focused on me.

And angrier than I’d ever seen him. With everything that had happened, that was a pretty impressive and worrisome feat.

Now what?

Twenty

“Walking. Suicide. Mission.” Kai sounded caught between relief and fury. “I swear I’m locking you up so you can’t get yourself into more trouble. You’ve outdone yourself on this one, Goddess.”

Goddess?
Did he mean …? I snuck a look a Festos, who stared at me so hard he seemed to be trying to see through me.

My heart raced. In hope, not fear, which was a pleasant change. I glanced down at myself. I was still Persephone and Kai was still not my Kai so I wanted—no needed—to be sure I understood him correctly. Understood that exasperated tone of voice correctly. “You know it’s me?
Me
, me?”

Kai pressed his forehead to mine and put his arm around me. “Yeah. I know.”

I wanted to weep. My entire body sagged. If Kai hadn’t been holding me, I would have collapsed. Knowing that Kai and Festos were now firmly back on Team Sophie? Well, it made this entire situation so much more bearable. An incredible tension left my body. My shoulders felt like they dropped a good couple inches down from my ears, finally relaxing.

My mind whirred. The enchantment hadn’t actually broken. The fact that I was still in Persephone form, and that all of Hades was not on my tail, was proof. But it had been pierced, which was good enough for now. I stepped away from my boyfriend and started down the corridor that led away from the throne room. We could talk en route to Prometheus.

“Spill,” Festos said, keeping pace alongside of me, his cane thumping off of the green stone with every step.

“Wait. Where are you going?” Kai took hold of my hand and tried to pull me to a stop but I tugged him along, determined to keep moving.

“We need to go get some nectar.”

“What for?” Kai asked. He refused to let go of my hand, and the look on his face made me think he might never, which filled me with a happy glowiness.

I explained the plan and he laughed. “Soph, I’m Prince of Hades. I think I can get them to let Prometheus out.”

I mewled and he looked at me, concerned. “What? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” I sighed happily, pushing open a door that led us out into the night. “You called me Sophie.”

“Which I know you are.” Festos rubbed his temples, “Visual aid to the contrary. Explain already.”

I poked Kai. “You going to save some time and transport us into Tartarus?”

Kai shook his head. “Can’t. In and out of the Underworld? If you have that privilege? Sure. But not within Hades. It’s forbidden. Big painful consequences.” He smiled dryly. “Paranoia. My father doesn’t like people sneaking up on him.”

Now wasn’t the time to get alert Hades and set him on our heels. Not yet. Not until I knew the enchantment was definitively broken and I could leave the Underworld. Guess we were walking. Briskly, because I didn’t want Prometheus there a second longer.

Compared to all the noise of the party, the grounds were still and quiet. The air felt cool and refreshing after the stifling heat inside. The night was overcast, but there was enough light to pick out our route to Tartarus.

“Do you both remember everything that’s happened down here?” I asked.

The guys nodded.

“Fee, what happened between you leaving your place, and getting sucked in to all this?” Theo, Kai, and I had been together when Kiki threw down the magic. But Festos hadn’t been there.

He scratched his head, looking thoughtful. “I was pretty mad when I left. I just wanted to get out. Walk around. That’s what I did.” He laughed a little. “I was commiserating with the Fremont Troll.”

Kai looked confused. “Seattle has trolls? Trolls exist?”

I smiled. “It’s a massive statue under a bridge. There’s a roll holding an actual VW bug in his hand.”