Dark Goddess (16 page)

Disappointment slammed into me the moment I saw the man.  It wasn’t
him
.

Dark obsidian eyes stared back at me, framed by dark curls while a cruel smile twisted his lips.

“Ixion,” I whispered, pain and agony slicing through my heart.

A chilling laugh tumbled out his mouth, echoing ominously through the cavernous room.  “You’ll never get him back.  He’s gone forever.”

I woke up in my bed at my house with a gasp that turned into a sob, pain knotting my chest.  I clenched my eyes shut against it, willing it to disappear. 

It didn’t.

“Bad dream?” A familiar voice whispered beside me through the darkness.

My eyes snapped open to find Zeke lying on the bed next to me on top of the covers.  “What are you doing?” I hissed, scooting away.

“Reese asked me to watch over you for a while.”  His blue eyes were unnaturally bright in the dark room, staring at me with a mixture of concern and longing.

I swallowed hard.  “Reese isn’t my keeper.  And neither are you.”

I rolled over on my side to face away from him.  The nightmare still lingered like a bitter taste in my mouth.  Before I could stop them, tears slid down my cheeks and a sob slipped out.

“Hey, don’t cry.”  Zeke’s hand found my shoulder, squeezing gently.

I shook his hand off.  “G-Go a-away.”

Instead of listening, Zeke rolled closer until his warm breath blew on the back of my neck.  “I’m just trying to comfort you.”

“I don’t want to be comforted Zeke.”  I sniffled.  “I want Hayden back.”  I missed everything about him.  His sinfully dark hair, those gray eyes that ignite with flames, that crooked smile, and that rakish attitude.  I even missed his overprotectiveness and even his temper. 

“I know.”  His fingers rubbed my upper back in gentle, circular motions.

I didn’t shove him off this time.  Maybe I did want to be comforted—just a little.

“This is Hades we’re talking about.”  He spoke softly yet a determined edge lingered.  “No one in this entire world is more stubborn or persistent than him.  He’s not prisoner material.  And he has you waiting for him.  He’ll break every rule to get back to you.”

His words deepened the ache within me, but also gave me hope.  “You think so?”

“Yes.  Hayden would end the world for you.”  His fingers stilled on my back.  “So would I,” he whispered.

“Zeke,” I groaned.  He had to ruin it, didn’t he?  I started to get up, but he gripped my shoulder.

“Sorry, sorry.  Bad habit.  Don’t get upset—well, more upset than you already are.” 

I sighed and relaxed back into the bed.  “I don’t need you saying things like that.”

“I know.  It just slipped out.”

A few sarcastic remarks passed through my mind I refrained from saying out loud. 

Zeke resumed rubbing my back.  “I do want Hayden to come back.  You have to believe me.”

I sensed that he was telling the truth in his own way, but he usually had ulterior motives.  Regardless I let him stay next to me as I drifted back to sleep.

During my free period I ambled toward my locker to retrieve my biology book.  I hadn’t exactly done my homework.  Meredith offered to do it for me, but I’d rather read about the endocrine system than think nonstop about Hayden.

I sighed and twisted the combination on the lock.  With a click it released and I opened the door.  When I reached up my silver and ruby ring that used to be Hayden’s caught my attention, forcing a thick lump to rise in my throat and I could actually feel the tears welling up this time.

“Hartley.”  I flinched at the sound of Will’s voice so close.

I shifted to find him right next to me.  “What?”

Worry shimmered in his baby blues.  “I’ve been calling your name for the past minute.  You were just standing there staring.”

“Oh.”  When he seemed upset by my response I continued.  “Sorry?”

A fury of curses came out of Will’s mouth that would have made even Laurie blush.  He backed me up against my locker.  “What the hell is going on with you Hartley?”  He pointed a finger at my face, halting the lame crap I was about to spew.  “And don’t give me that bull you’re fine or you’re going to be fine.”

I blinked, watching the anger and worry flush his cheeks.  He was breathing hard as if he’d run a marathon.  “I…”  I had no idea what to say.  He’d see through my lies and I couldn’t tell him the truth. 

“Come on Hart.  Tell me.  Please.”

I scratched my head, searching for the words I knew didn’t exist.  “Will, I… I mean I…”  I took a shuddering breath.  And then another, suddenly realizing why it was hard to breathe—and it wasn’t the pain of losing Hayden.  It was the Underworld yanking on my invisible chain.

I snatched my phone out of my locker and texted Reese instead of Hermes.  I had a feeling Hermes might appear in the hallway and then Will would really demand answers.

Will yanked my phone away to look at the message of 911 I’d just sent.  His eyes narrowed.  “What is this about?  Are you trying to get Reese to stop me from asking you questions?”

I shook my head unable to talk through the strangling pain in my chest.

“Damn it Hartley!”  Will smacked the locker next to my head, a resonating clank echoing down the hall.  “Tell me.”

Shocked, I could only stare at him while trying not to pass out.  “I… I…  Can’t… talk…”  Without meaning to I gripped my chest and sucked in a harsh breath.

Anger melted from him, his face dropping and eyes filling with confusion and fear.  “What’s happening?”  He gripped my shoulders as he surveyed me until a knowing expression crossed his face.  “This happened before Hartley.  It’s not an allergic reaction, is it?”

He’d seen me once when the Underworld had a hold.  Zeke had carried me off then.

Before I could answer Reese arrived and forced Will back.  “I got you Hartley.”  He wrapped his arm around my shoulders.  “Let’s go.”

“Wait!”  Will stepped in front of us. 

Reese growled.  “Get out of the way before I make you.”  His voice sounded more like the god I met a few months ago, sending chills down my spine.

I shot him a stern look for threatening Will he promptly ignored.

“It’s not an allergic reaction, is it Hartley?” Will asked again.

I met his pleading blue eyes and shook my head.  I’d have to deal with the consequences of admitting that later.  I needed to get to the Underworld
now
.

He swallowed hard and stepped aside, allowing us to pass.

Reese pulled me around the corner and then disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Hayden

My feet crunched on the desiccated ground of Tartarus, kicking up ash and soot as I traveled deeper into the heart of burning purgatory.  I left the caves in search of the first inhabitants to land in hell. 

I was getting close to this particular one when a splash of color joined the crimson and ash of the world.  I walked through a wall of fire that opened up to display a tree with lush orange, yellow, and red fruit dripping low on branches, the trunk rooted in a pool of glistening water.  None of it was real.  It was all an illusion concocted for punishment. 

King Tantalus was in front of the tree, bending down to retrieve a drink of water, but the pool subsided into the ground as his cupped hand sifted through.  With a sad whimper of dissatisfaction Tantalus stood, the waters replenishing in his wake.

“Still trying that?”  I crossed my arms against my chest and surveyed his shabby appearance.  His once white tunic was shredded and gray with grime while his pants were no longer pants, but ripped and ragged around the knees.  His dishwater hair was passed his shoulders, knotted and stringy around his gaunt face.  His brown eyes were sunken in and bruised purple beneath.

Those same eyes widened in terror—the usual reaction to me—until he took note of my own disheveled appearance.  “The rumors are true,” he said with a hint of surprise lingering in his voice.  He flinched, realizing he might have just over stepped his bounds.  Full god or demigod, I was still dangerous. 

I shrugged nonplussed.  “For now.”

Tantalus nodded.  “I’m guessing there’s a reason you’re here and it isn’t for the pleasant company.”  He reached up to grab a fruit, but the branches of the tree lifted out of his reach, creaking as it went.  “And I doubt you’re here for the libations.”  He stood on his toes and unsuccessfully jumped for it.  With a defeated sigh he slumped back down and leaned against the trunk.

I motioned my finger up and down.  “Aren’t you tired of doing that?”

He shrugged.  “What else am I going to do?”

Tantalus was here for many reason one of which was butchering his son and cooking him to serve to the gods.  Disgusting little miscreant.  He reminded me of Cronos.  His punishment was to stand in front of this tree with temptation so near yet unattainable. When he reached for water it disappeared.  When he reached for food it moved just above his fingertips.

“What do you know about Ixion’s escape?” I asked.

“Nothing.  Only I wish it was me instead of that psychopath.”

My brow arched skeptically.  “You know nothing?  You haven’t heard the souls whispering or even witnessed Ixion leaving?”

Tantalus shook his head, but I could see the lies within the depths of his muddy brown eyes.

I cocked my head, surveying him.  Force wouldn’t work on Tantalus.  He wouldn’t care about getting beat to a pulp.  He might even welcome it.  It would be a reprieve from his never-ending torture of temptation. 

No.  I was Hades, the master of torture.  I’d get him where it hurt the most.

“Well then, I guess there’s nothing else for me to say.  I should go.”  The corners of my lips twitched, threatening a smile.  “Oh, but first…”  I stalked forward, bending down and cupping my hand toward the water.  My fingers delved beneath the surface, cool liquid gliding across my skin.  It wasn’t real, but it sure as hell felt real.

A gasp escaped Tantalus’s mouth as he watched me with rapt, tormented eyes. 

I brought my hand to my lips and sipped the water.  If I believed the lie enough, I could actually feel water gliding down my dry, parched throat.  I repeated the action just to make Tantalus squirm.  A desperate whimper escaped his mouth and I glanced up to see him staring at the pool with longing.

“Impossible,” he whispered.

“You’re the only one who can’t reach it.”  I dipped my hand back in and held up a cup full of glistening water.  “I could probably give you a drink…
if
I wanted to.”

“Please.  What do you want?  Anything.”  He licked his chapped, cracking lips, practically drooling over my offer.

“You know what I want.”

He nodded, rubbing his hands together in barely restrained anticipation.  “A really dark, angry soul entered Tartarus that day.  His essence is so foul, his rotting stench can be smelled a mile away.  It can’t be a coincidence he came the same day Ixion escaped.”

My brows knit.  “How could a soul help him escape?”

“I don’t know,” he hissed, never taking his eyes off my hand skimming the top of the water.  “But another soul said he saw him go up to Ixion when he was still on the wheel.  Now that’s all I know.”  His voice had risen several octaves, betraying his desperation.  He’d been in the torment for ages and he was finally going to beat it—for just a moment.

My gaze narrowed, debating whether he was telling all he knew.  It was at least a start.  I could visit him again if I suspected he might have more information.  He wasn’t going anywhere.

I stood with a palm full of water.  Tantalus reached out to clutch my hand, but I yanked it back.  “Don’t grab me,” I hissed.  I didn’t want his grubby, greedy fingers on me.  Instead I put my hand to his lips and tilted up to pour the water in his mouth.

A moan of satisfaction sang from him, curling my lips with disdain. 

When he was done, I stepped away and rubbed my palm on my tattered pants.  “That was just weird,” I grumbled.  I wondered if he realized now that he’d had a taste, he was going to become obsessed with getting another.

His torture was beginning all over.

I turned and headed back toward the wall of crimson flames.

“Oh, wait Hades, sir.  I-Is there any other information you might like or anything.  Anything for another drink of water?  Or, or perhaps some fruit.”

See.  Told you.

Hartley

A maelstrom of commotion slammed into me the moment Reese and I entered the Underworld.  With a whoosh my lungs expanded and I sucked in a lungful of air.

“Uh… this is not good.”  Reese’s deep voice resonated through the ear that was pressed against his chest.

My eyes fluttered open to see bedlam in the form of souls on the black sand shore fighting over coins.  I pulled away from Reese and watched as two men that had resided on the shore for a few weeks rolled on the sand, trying to snatch the coin from the other.

“What is going on?”  My gaze narrowed on Reese, remembering this very thing happened when the sin spirit greed was affecting the souls.

Reese shook his head and held his palms up defense.  “Don’t look at me.  I’ve been with you all week.”

I sought Charon between the brawling, finally finding his skeletal form near the edge of the river, gesturing wildly to the souls without success.  I marched over, dodging a small female running toward a forgotten coin.  “Charon, what is going on?”

He tossed his boney hands in the air with a huff.  “They won’t cooperate!”  He motioned toward his boat.  “Do you know how many have tried to steal my boat?  A few even tried to swim across.  They were lucky I pulled them out before they drowned.”

Confusion knotted my chest and furrowed my brow.  The souls never acted like this for fear of Hayden’s anger.  “What happened?  Are they possessed or something?”

Charon swatted at a skinny man who tried to get passed him.  “If only it was that simple.”  His gaze pierced me from beneath the shadows of his hood.  “It’s because there’s no one to keep them in line.”

My brows knit.  “But Ixion…”

“Ixion doesn’t care.”  He jingled his bag of coins.  “He doesn’t care if I get paid for passage.  He doesn’t care if the souls tear each other apart.  Hades was the one that kept them in line. 
He
cared.”

Sadness crept inside my heart, hardening the ice that had melted a little in the heat of the Underworld.  With Ixion as its ruler, the Underworld was going to fall into chaos. 

My gaze lingered over the misty fog crawling along Acheron River and the banks, slowly coiling around the closest pillars alit with crimson fire.  The barren courtyard stood on the right, Hayden’s tribunal handing out the awaiting souls’ final resting places.  The gleaming black palace surrounded by hypnotic crimson fire was on the left, spires twisting into the ebony sky.  Massive rot iron gates blocked the inner regions of the Underworld, Cerberus, Hayden’s three headed dog, sat guarding it.  The sky melted to navy further in, marking the start of the Asphodel Meadows.

All of what Hayden had created would be ruined.  All that he worked for would be destroyed by a careless, selfish, insane, lovesick demigod.

My jaw flexed, anger igniting a fire within my veins.  Not if I could help it.  I wasn’t going to let Hayden return to a crumbling world—and he would return. 
I will get him back
.  “I’ll handle it.  Don’t Worry Charon.”  I stood tall and squared my shoulders, flicking my hair with a proud toss of my head.  “Out of my way Reese.”

Reese’s dark eyes regarded me with a mixture of caution and fascination.  “Yes ma’am.”  He saluted me like a soldier.

I marched directly in the middle of mayhem, pulling on my dark power to ignite my eyes.  I wasn’t the god of the Underworld, but I sure as hell knew how to give orders.  “ENOUGH!” 

My voice rang out and, while it didn’t have the powerful effect Hayden’s did, it was commanding enough to catch every souls’ attention.  I met each one of their gazes with crimson fire in mine, waiting until the only sound was the rushing waters of the Acheron and the distant crackle of fire.  I shook my hair out and planted my hands on my hips.  “You should all be ashamed of yourselves.”