Daughter of the Earth and Sky (24 page)

My head was yanked up by my hair then my sheet was pulled over my head like a hood. A deep voice chuckled, and my blood went cold. I knew that voice.

I flailed, trying to buck him off me, but he pulled the sheets tighter, shoving my face into the pillow. I couldn’t breathe. He straddled me, knees pinning my covers to me like a cocoon. My hands groped at the sheet, trying to pull it off my head so I could breathe, but Thanatos yanked them back.

“What the hell did you do to my Reapers?”

I screamed into the pillow as my shoulders threatened to come out of joint. Thanatos pinned my arms behind my back. I’d teleport, but his grip on my hand insured I would only bring him with me. A shield was useless if he was already touching me. I forced myself to calm down, even though my lungs felt like they were about to burst. I couldn’t die, and he couldn’t have any serious intentions of hurting me or Cassandra would have seen this coming.

“They’re my Reapers now.” My voice was smug, if muffled. The sheets tightened, digging into my throat, and I forced myself to stay calm. “They swore fealty.”

“That can’t work on them. You can’t charm the dead.” He pressed against me, crushing me against the mattress.

I shifted my shoulders in an awkward attempt at a shrug. Pain shot through me, and I gritted my teeth. “I can charm you. It must have trickled down to them.”

“So what? You’re taking over soul collecting now?”

“No, you are. Your Reapers won’t be gathering souls anymore.”

Thanatos laughed. “That would be chaos! Souls would be left in their dead bodies for weeks. You wouldn’t put the souls through that. You
care
too much.”

I tried to shake my head, but couldn’t manage in the tight space. I felt dizzy, breathing in my own air. Pain ricocheted though my body. Why was I in so much pain? “Either way, I win. If you can’t keep up with the souls, Hades will know something’s up.”

“And if I can?”

I fully believed he could. My promise wouldn’t have allowed me to do this much if I didn’t. Just like I knew he wasn’t going to slip and get Cassandra’s attention. However angry he got, he’d keep his mind focused. “You’ll be too busy to cause trouble. I never promised to make life easy for you.”

He shifted, body pressing mine into the bed. “I’m supposed to bring you to Zeus.”

I struggled to maintain consciousness. “You wouldn’t dare. Cassandra will see.”

“Cassandra’s busy.”

So why was I still here? I swallowed hard. “Doesn’t matter. You won’t risk Zeus finding out you’ve lost control of your army. If he has me, what possible use could he have for you?”

Thanatos’ grip tightened, and I knew I’d hit a mark. He pulled me back by my hair and slammed my head into the metal bedpost. I yelped, and stars flooded my vision. “Exactly. I won’t take you to Zeus, and if I leave you here, Hades is going to wonder why you felt the need to charm all the Reapers.”

I smiled. “Checkmate.”

“Not quite.” Triumph surged through Thanatos’ voice. “I just need a way to get rid of you. You made it so easy.”

I struggled to understand him. Thanatos gave a dark laugh. “You don’t realize what you’ve done, do you?”

Static filled the room. I frowned as a voice broke through the radio on my dresser. “And an unnamed source said they saw a blonde, green-eyed, teenage girl leaving her room.”

“Hang on,” the co-anchor interrupted. “Like the jailbait Orpheus was seen leaving with from Terrapin tonight?”

“Hey, yeah. One of our fans just posted her picture on our Facebook page. Looks like it’s already linked to a couple tabloids.”

“Weigh in listeners. We have a miraculous healing and a mysterious girl. Could this be the Persephone that Orpheus keeps raving about?”

“Oh shit,” I whispered.

The co-anchor laughed. “Yeah, sure. I figure she’s just a mistress.”

“Or both!” The anchor chuckled. “Post your opinion at—”

The sound cut off abruptly. My heart pounded in my chest. They had a picture! It was only a matter of time before they found where I lived. Or the shop, Demeter’s Garden. Couldn’t my mom have picked a less obvious name?

Last year Orpheus had told the world about me, and I’d nearly died. I didn’t want to wait to see what would happen if people had an image to focus their energies. They wouldn’t just be worshiping the
idea
of me. They’d be worshiping me.

“You’re going to let me die.” I realized. Typically gods only died from lack of worship, not too much. But I hadn’t come into my powers yet. My body wasn’t ready to handle powers. If Hades didn’t channel the excess powers away, I could unravel. Die.

“That’s the idea.”

I threw my head back, hoping to catch Thanatos off guard, but he was ready. His hand twisted in my hair, and he slammed my head into the metal bed post. I opened my mouth to scream, but the sound was whipped out of my mouth as the room swirled around me. Crap! He was teleporting.

Thanatos shoved my face in the sand that materialized beneath us. “Don’t even try to make eye contact.”

I coughed, gagging on the sand. I sputtered, spitting out what I could when I could get a breath of air. I lifted my head to gauge my surroundings and realized we were on a sandbar. Endless ocean surrounded me. I gulped and squirmed beneath him, trying to break free, but only managed to get myself further entrenched in the sand. It scraped at my skin, leaving it raw. I could hear water lapping around us.

“It’s not that I want you to die. I actually liked you. If I thought you could be convinced to swear fealty—”

I spat out sand. “Never!”

“Yeah I figured as much. So I guess it’s just a matter of waiting for you to die.”

He wouldn’t have long to wait. My head was throbbing in time to my heart. Erratic and fast. I needed to get to Hades.

I concentrated through the pain, pouring all of my energy into creating a thorny vine. It raised up, brushed against Thanatos’ leg, and crumbled to dust. He laughed and snapped my wrist. I cried out.

“Have you forgotten that I’m the god of death?” He put pressure on my arm, and pain lanced through my body, sending me into convulsions. I screamed into the sand and pulled on the power of the Reapers to lash out. His grip loosened, and I bucked him off me, rolling away, coughing up sand and gold blood into the ocean.

Gold blood? That probably wasn’t a good sign. I got to my feet, whirling to face Thanatos, but he was gone. His foot shot out from nowhere, kicking me squarely in the stomach.

I stumbled backward, coughing as Thanatos rained blows from behind his shield, invisible until he touched me.

I’m going to die.
I was strangely calm with this realization. It was probably too late for me to get to Hades. But if I was going down, I was taking Thanatos with me. The next time he lashed out, I grabbed his hand, pulling him from behind his shield. My broken wrist screamed in protest, but I didn’t let him vanish behind the shield. Just one look, just one look into his eyes, and I could charm him. Then this would be over.

“What is going on here?” A familiar voice bellowed.

I looked up in surprise. Thanatos didn’t hesitate. He broke my grip and teleported before I could blink.

Poseidon met my eyes. “Are you okay?”

“I had him! You ruined everything!” I struggled to stay on my feet, cradling my injured hand.

Poseidon raised his blonde eyebrows. “I didn’t get a good look at the other guy, but from here it looked like he was winning.”

He didn’t look like a harmless surfer anymore. He still wasn’t wearing a shirt. I couldn’t believe I’d ever found him attractive. His muscular build brought bile to my throat as I imagined him overpowering my mother. I coughed, gold spittle landing on the sand.

Poseidon’s swore. “You really are a child. That’s why Hades married you, isn’t it? You need him to channel your power. Come on, we don’t have a lot of time.” He stepped onto the beach, and I made a sharp noise.

“Stay back!”

Poseidon furrowed his brow. “I’m helping you.”

“I don’t want to owe you any favors.”

Poseidon rolled his eyes. “You’re not thinking clearly. Look, it wouldn’t be a favor. What do you think would happen if Hades or your mother found your body washed up on my shore? I’m covering my own ass here. Come with me.” He reached out his hand.

“Don’t touch me!”

“Persephone—”

“Don’t come one step closer! This might not be much land, but it’s still earth, and you are
not
welcome here. This is my realm. Get out!”

I doubled over, clutching my stomach. It hurt. I hurt so badly. Poseidon stepped closer, and the ground rose up beneath him, shoving him back into the water. “Get
back
!”

“Look,” he kept his voice patient and calm, as if he was talking to a wild animal, “I’m not going to hurt you. I’ve got a son about your age, actually, he—”

“Stay away from me,” I warned when his foot crept toward the sand.

He ran his fingers through his bleach-blond hair, just like Hades did when he was frustrated. “It isn’t your realm, you know. It’s your mother’s.”

“You don’t get to talk about my mother. I know what you did.”

Poseidon drew back like I’d struck him. “That was a long time ago—”

“You’re scum! You’re worse than scum. And I am never ever going to put her in the position of owing you
anything.
Least of all my life. Now step
back!”

He raised his hands in surrender. “Can you teleport to Hades?”

I gritted my teeth against the wave of agony that washed over me. I went through a mental list of all the entrances of the Underworld. Not the park, Thanatos would probably be waiting there. Or maybe he was waiting at the one in my backyard. Damn it! I didn’t have time to be wrong.

Italy! Orpheus had mentioned one in Italy.

It doesn’t matter,
I realized. Why would Thanatos camp at one entrance when they all led to the same place?

“He’ll just be waiting for me in Tartarus. I’ll never make it.”

Poseidon stepped onto the beach. My gaze flew to him. “If you come any closer, I’ll let Hades think you did this to me.”

He paled and stepped back into the water. “If I don’t help you, you are going to die.”

No kidding.

“Why not skip Tartarus?”

I shook my head. “I can’t teleport between realms.”

“So make an entrance.”

Could I do that? I’d never tried before, but it was just as much my realm as it was Hades’. I pictured Hades’ chambers and poured all my energy into that image. The ground beneath my feet shuddered and split open. The Underworld yawned beneath me in an open chasm. My feet hit Underworld soil, and I teleported straight to Hades’ room.

Hades saw me and went sheet white. He dropped the book he’d been reading and bolted to me, catching me before I crumpled to the floor. He swore when he felt the power rushing through me. “Okay, okay, it’s going to be—” The lie caught in his throat. His hands shook. I latched onto his wrist, staring at him wide-eyed with fear. It was too late. I’d taken too long. I was going to die.

“No
.” His lips found mine, and he channeled the energy away from me. The images flashed through my brain as he searched for the explanation. I saw Eurydice and Orpheus, the news reporters, Joel, Thanatos—

I wasn’t in control of my thoughts. I couldn’t shield them. My mind screamed in protest, and my back arched in pain. I couldn’t gain control of my thoughts fast enough to stop the flow of information. The promise ripped through me in a flash of white-hot agony.

Hades saw everything.

Thanatos in the clearing, charmed into taking Boreas’ soul. Thanatos asking me not to tell anyone. The months of agony at hiding the truth from Hades. The Reapers tormenting me. Discovering I could charm the Reapers. Thanatos attacking me.

Hades’ fingers dug into my shoulders, anger flaring through him. Tears coursed down my cheeks. He knew, he finally knew! He’d hate me forever for hiding this from him, but he knew!

The pain was gone. Even my wrist had been mended. Hades released me, going very still.

“I’m so sorry; I tried to tell you, I—”

“Don’t apologize.” His voice was low and scary calm.

I looked into his face and blanched. His eyes were cold and flat. His face, shrouded in shadow, seemed to be made of granite. I couldn’t feel
anything
from him like I normally could after channeling.

“Come with me.”

I swallowed hard and followed him up to the throne room.

“Moirae. I need a name.”

Moirae jumped in surprise and turned to Hades. She stepped back when she saw Hades’ face. “M-Mario Smith,” she stammered.

“Where?”

She closed her eyes, and Hades nodded. “Thank you.”

Confused, I followed him to the surface. We emerged on a bustling city street. I looked around for a familiar land marker to get my bearings.

“Wh-Where are we?” I asked. “What are we doing?”

Hades didn’t answer. He stepped onto a crowded sidewalk, shoving his way through the crowd until he reached a man in a brown coat. I blinked, suddenly aware of the shield that kept the pedestrians from seeing or hearing us.

“Look over there.” Hades pointed behind me.

I turned around, searching the crowded street. “What is it?”

I heard a crack and a thud and spun around to see the man in the brown coat fall motionless to the ground, neck twisted at a strange angle.

“What did you do?”

“Persephone—” Hades reached between me and the man.

“Get away from me!” I shoved Hades away and fumbled for the man’s pulse even though I knew I’d find none. I focused my powers and tried to heal him. It wouldn’t work. Even I couldn’t bring people back from the dead.

“Persephone—”

“Someone should call 911.” I reached for my phone, but of course I didn’t have it on me. It was sitting on my nightstand, right where I’d left it an hour and a lifetime ago.

“Persephone, listen to me!”

I shook my head and struggled free from his grasp.

Hades swore. “Persephone, look!” He pointed me toward the intersection as an old Buick sailed through a red light and into a crosswalk, followed by a police car with flashing lights, but no siren. Pedestrians scattered out of the way. I stood, scanning the road. No one had been hurt.