Hades (13 page)

8

No Exit

“I’M not discussing anything with you until I get my

memories back,” I said through gritted teeth. “They weren’t

yours to take and there are things I need to remember.”

“I didn’t take away your memories, Beth,” Jake scoffed.

“Though it’s flattering you think I’m powerful enough to do

so. I may have buried them temporarily but dig deep and

you’l find them. Personal y, I’d let it go, make a fresh start.”

“Wil you show me how? I can’t do it by myself.”

“Give me one good reason why I should.” Jake rocked

back in his chair and pouted. “I’m sure you’l only twist

things to make me look bad.”

“I’m serious, enough with the games!”

“Bethany, has it occurred to you that maybe I’m doing this

for your own good? Maybe you’re better off this way.”

“Jake, please,” I said softly. “I’m not the same person

“Jake, please,” I said softly. “I’m not the same person

anymore. I don’t recognize myself. What’s the point of

having me here if I don’t even know who I am?”

Jake gave an exaggerated sigh as if my request were a

huge imposition.

“Oh, very wel .” In a single fluid movement he crossed the

room to where I was standing. “Let me see what I can do.”

Jake pressed two cool fingers lightly against my right

temple. And that was it. The repressed memories

cascaded like an avalanche. I had to reach out and steady

myself by holding on to the edge of the table. I stil

remembered my peaceful life at Byron, but now the missing

pieces of the puzzle were back. I remembered the core and

center from which everything else stemmed. I saw the night

of the Hal oween party, only this time I wasn’t alone.

Someone with dazzling blue eyes, honeystreaked hair, and

a smile so disarming it made me weak at the knees was by

my side. Remembering Xavier’s face caused an

indescribable rush of happiness to surge through me.

But it was short lived. Seconds later another memory

savagely blotted out the first. I saw Xavier’s crumpled figure

lying on the dusty road while a motorbike sped away into

the darkness. The memory made me so heartsick I wished I

could give it back and force it out of my mind. My whole

body now ached with the pain of our separation and the

sight of his lifeless form. I couldn’t live with the knowledge

that he might be gone. If I knew that Xavier was alive and

wel , I could even bear my exile to this God-forsaken

wasteland. Without him, I wouldn’t be able to muster the wil

to survive. I realized at that moment that, wise or foolhardy,

to survive. I realized at that moment that, wise or foolhardy,

al of my happiness came from one single source. If that

source was cut off, I wouldn’t be able to function; I wouldn’t

want to.

“Xavier,” I breathed. I felt as if al the air had been sucked

out of the room. Why was it so stifling in here? The image

couldn’t be dislodged. “Please tel me he’s al right.”

Jake rol ed his eyes. “Typical. I should have known your

thoughts would go straight to him.”

I was choking back tears. “Wasn’t it enough to abduct

me? How dare you hurt him! You’re a vicious, heartless

coward.” Rage suddenly replaced my distress. My hands

curled into fists and began beating at Jake’s chest. He

didn’t try to stop me but simply waited for the anger to

subside.

“Feel better now?” he asked. I didn’t feel better, but I did

feel a tiny sense of release. “Let’s dispense with the

melodrama,” he said. “Pretty boy isn’t dead—just a little

worse for wear.”

“What?” My head jerked up.

“The impact didn’t kil him,” Jake said. “It just knocked

him out.”

The relief I felt was resuscitating. I sent a silent prayer to

whatever higher power had spared him. Xavier was alive!

He was breathing and walking the earth, perhaps just a little

more bruised than when I last saw him.

“I suppose things are better this way,” Jake said with a

wry smile. “His death might have started things off on the

wrong foot between us.”

“Do you promise never to hurt him?” I asked testily.

“Do you promise never to hurt him?” I asked testily.

“
Never
is a long time. Let just say he’s safe for now.”

I didn’t like the implication behind the words
for now
, but

decided not to push my luck.

“And Ivy and Gabriel are safe?”

“They’re a formidable force together,” he said. “Anyway,

they were never part of the plan. I was only interested in

getting you here and now that’s done. Although for a while I

wasn’t sure I’d be able to pul it off. It’s no easy feat for a

demon to drag an angel into hel , you know. I’m not sure it’s

ever been done before.” Jake looked pleased with his

achievement.

“It sure looked easy to me.”

“Wel ,” Jake said, smiling indulgently. “I didn’t think I’d be

able to rise again after your holier-than-thou brother sent

me back down here. But then those sil y little friends of

yours started summoning spirits right there in Venus Cove!

I couldn’t believe my luck.”

Jake’s eyes smoldered like coals. “It wasn’t a very

powerful incantation that girl recited. It only awoke some

restless spirits, but they were more than happy to trade

places.”

“They weren’t trying to summon demons,” I said

defensively. “Seances are only supposed to conjure

spirits.” I couldn’t shake the feeling of responsibility. I had

chosen to turn a blind eye when I should have done more to

stop them, including smashing the board into tiny pieces

and throwing it out the window.

“It’s more of a lucky strike real y,” Jake said. “Who knows

what you’l pul out of the ground.” I glowered at him darkly.

“Don’t look at me like that, it’s not entirely my fault. I couldn’t

have brought you here if you hadn’t accepted my invitation.”

“What invitation?” I said sarcastical y. “I don’t remember

you asking if I wanted a pit stop in Hel .”

“I offered you a ride and you accepted,” Jake said

smugly.

“That doesn’t count, I was tricked—I thought you were

someone else!”

“Too bad. Rules are rules. Besides, how naive can you

be? Didn’t it strike you as a teeny bit odd that Mr.

Responsible would dive-bomb from a tree into a river? Did

you real y think he’d ditch you to play frat-boy pranks? Even

I didn’t think you’d fal for that. You of al people should have

known better, but it only took a second to break your faith in

him. You sealed your own fate by accepting that ride. It

hardly had anything to do with me at al .”

His words hit me like blows. As the realization of my own

stupidity sank in, Jake began to laugh. I’d never heard

anyone laugh in such an empty, hol ow way. He reached out

and grasped my hands in his.

“Don’t worry, Beth. I’m not going to let one little mistake

change my opinion of you.”

“Let me go home,” I pleaded. Somewhere in the

recesses of his mind I hoped there lingered a vestige of

decency that would al ow him to feel a hint of remorse, a

tinge of guilt, anything I could beg or bargain with. But I

couldn’t have been more wrong.

“You are home,” Jake said in a flat voice. He pressed my

hands to his chest. His flesh felt as mal eable as dough,

and for an awful second I thought my fingers would sink

right into the hol ow cavity where his heart should have

been.

“I’m sorry I can’t be human for you,” he drawled. “But you

have a few irregularities of your own, so I don’t think you

can sit in judgment.” He released one of my hands, al owing

his fingers to hover over my retracted wings.

“At least I have a heart, which is more than I can say for

you,” I said. “It’s no wonder you don’t feel anything.”

“That’s where you’re wrong. You make me feel things,

Beth. That’s why you have to stay. Hel ’s a whole lot brighter

with you in it.”

I wrenched my other hand free. “I don’t have to do

anything. I may be your prisoner, but you have no power

over my heart. And sooner or later, Jake, you’re going to

have to accept that.” I turned on my heel to leave.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Jake demanded.

“You can’t just wander around here unchaperoned. It’s not

safe.”

“We’l see about that.”

“I real y wish you’d reconsider.”

“Leave me alone!” I yel ed over my shoulder. “I don’t care

what you want.”

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” In the hal way I found Hanna

waiting dutiful y.

“I’m leaving this hel hole,” I announced and headed in the

direction of the revolving doors. The lobby looked

unattended so perhaps I wouldn’t be intercepted.

“Wait, miss!” Hanna cautioned, scuttling alongside me.

“The prince is right, you don’t want to go out there!”

I ignored her and flung myself through the revolving doors

and out into the middle of nowhere. Surprisingly no one

made any attempt to stop me. There was no plan in my

mind but that didn’t matter. I wanted to put as much

distance between Jake and myself as I possibly could. If

there were portals into this place, those same portals had

to lead out. I only needed to find one. But as I ran into the

smoky tunnels Hanna’s words reverberated in my head.

There is no way out
.

Beyond Hotel Ambrosia the tunnels were deep and dark,

littered with beer bottles and the burnt-out husks of old cars,

charred from the inside out. They twisted al around me and

the people that staggered past seemed caught in a daze,

completely unaware of my presence. I could tel they were

condemned souls by the hol ow looks in their eyes. If I could

find the road we’d taken to get to the hotel, maybe I could

persuade the door bitches to let me out.

The deeper I ventured into the tunnels, the more I began

to notice things, like the strange mist and the smel of

burning hair that was strong enough to make me cover my

mouth with my hand. The mist swirled around me,

marshaling me forward, and once it cleared I saw that I was

nowhere near Pride, the club through which I had first

entered. In fact, I had no idea where I was, but I sensed a

deep evil, like a chil in my blood. For one thing, strangers

surrounded me. I wasn’t sure what to cal them, but I knew

they had once been people. There was no way you could

cal them that now. They looked more like wraiths and they

walked around aimlessly, vanishing in and out of the dark

crevices. Their energy was stil present even though they

looked through vacant eyes and their hands clutched

uselessly at the air. I focused on the apparition closest to

me, trying to understand what was happening. It was a man

smartly dressed in a business suit. He had a neat haircut

and wore metal-framed glasses. After a few moments a

woman materialized in front of him along with the domestic

setting of a kitchen. The whole scene shimmered like a

mirage, but I had the feeling that for those involved it was

far more real. A heated discussion erupted between the

pair. I felt il at ease watching them as if I were intruding on

a very private moment.

“No more lies. I know everything,” the woman said.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” the man

replied in a tremulous voice.

“I know that I’m leaving you.”

“Don’t say that.”

“I’m going to stay with my sister for a while. Until things

get sorted.”

“Sorted?” The man was becoming more agitated.

“I want a divorce.” There was a resolve in her voice that

made the man crumble and he made a low, moaning

sound.

“
Shut up
.”

“I’ve had enough of you treating me like dirt. I’m going to

be happy without you.”

“You’re not going anywhere.” His body language was

threatening, but she didn’t read the signs.

“Get out of my way.”

When she tried to push past him, he seized a carving

knife from the set on the counter. Even though it wasn’t real,

the knife’s blade gleamed and looked solid. He lunged

forward and slammed his wife back against the counter. I

didn’t see the knife come up, but the next minute it was

lodged firmly under her rib cage. Instead of remorse, the

sight of blood unleashed a frenzy. He stabbed repeatedly,

ignoring her shrieks until the opening he had made was a