The Underworld (The Atlas Series Book 3) (7 page)

Ashliel obviously sensed the awkwardness. “Asmodeus is a good choice. He should know the Underworld well.”

Kala smirked at Zeus. “Looks like you’re useless again.”

Zeus smirked back. “Apparently, you don’t need Hephaestus to find this location for you.”

Hephaestus shrugged. “Oh, I already found it.”

That brought every eye in the room to the Olympian.

“Where is it?” Kala spoke first.

Hephaestus and Zeus shared a look, then Hephaestus focused solely on Kala. “Help us with Cronus.”

Back to the ultimatum.

But Kala didn’t want to wait around for Turner or Asmodeus to find Hades. If Hephaestus knew where the grotto was located now, then she had to know. “I said I’d help. What else do you want?”

The tension could be cut with a blade it was so thick.

Penny eyed both her father and Zeus and actually stood up for Kala. Shocker. “The Atlas mission is what matters above all else. If Kala agreed to help, then she will. She’s given you no reason not to trust her.”

After a moment, Zeus nodded, then motioned to his son. “Tell her.”

Hephaestus didn’t need to use a mouse or keyboard, he simply touched the monitor and a view of the satellite feed popped up on the screen. A simple tap and the camera zoomed down to earth. Instead of moving toward a landmass, however, it plummeted into the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Deeper, deeper, deeper… Kala didn’t think many humans had seen this part of the ocean. It was almost pitch black the further down the view went. When the camera only picked up black, Hephaestus switched it into infra-red mode. Large rock formations appeared all around. The sea life swam ahead, not knowing that a group of gods, angels and humans were watching.

The screen went black for a few seconds as the view passed through rock at the bottom of the ocean floor.

And there it was.

The cave.

With Hades lying on the floor, sleeping.

Turner chuckled slightly. “The Hadal Zone. Someone has a sense of humor.”

Only Kala knew that Turner was referring to the deepest, darkest part of the ocean named, the Hadal Zone.
Hadal
referring to the “mythical” god, Hades. Leave it to Cronus to be on the nose.

“What is this
Hadal Zone
?” Antel spoke up. Her pallor grew healthier each minute that passed and she wanted to be a part of the plan.

“Only a handful of people have ever gone that deep. It’s named after Hades,” Turner answered. “I have the equipment to get you there. I’m just not sure how to puncture through rock without letting all the water in.”

“Can’t I just teleport?” Kala felt like she should at least try. “Now that we know where it is, why don’t I just jump in?”

Rotoph inspected the cave on screen, shaking his head. “Cronus has a spell surrounding the outside that won’t let you. I can see it through the infrared. I might be able to break it, but not from here. We have to be right above it, which means I’m going with you.”

Owen and Talan’s leeriness of Rotoph’s suggestion was obvious to anyone who had eyes. Talan stepped in at that point. “I’m going too. The closer I can be to you, Kala, the better chance I have at following you to the Underworld.”

Ashliel glanced at Zeus. “You think Oceanus guards the location?”

Zeus nodded to Ashliel. “I wouldn’t doubt it,” then turned to the others. “Oceanus won’t let anyone near that location. You need me
and
Poseidon to open it. Rotoph might be able to break the teleportation-blocking spell, but we’re the ones you need to break through the protection barriers Cronus has put up to hide Hades.”

“Forgive my lack of mythological lore, but Oceanus is a Titan, I assume?” Turner asked.

Zeus responded, “Yes. And one of the most vicious. He was responsible for taking down my brother, Poseidon. He sided with the Olympians in the first war, but he was the first to attack us in the second.” He eyed Turner pointedly. “I have something for your wife that belongs to Poseidon.” He handed Turner a small charm made from coral.

Turner took it gently, then replied, “I could have a car pick her up now, but I feel
your
mode of transportation is faster.”

Talan took a step closer to Turner. “I’ll get her.”

Kala knew Roberta had had less than a day to recover from her kidnapping, but she also knew the woman was strong and she’d do anything to help. Talan was the best man for the job, too, since he had been teaching Roberta and Turner advanced science and magic when he was disguised as someone they trusted. Kala wasn’t sure how Turner felt about the matter, though, since technically Talan’s deception had been a betrayal of trust.

But Turner didn’t seem fazed when he responded to Talan’s offer, “Bring her to this room and prepare her for who’s in here.”

With a slight nod, Talan disappeared.

It would take a few minutes for Talan to explain to Roberta about the supernatural mash-up she was about to enter into.

Turner pulled Kala aside. “Harry is in charge of undersea research. He has the kind of vehicle you’ll need to get to the bottom of the ocean safely.”

Kala had had a feeling she’d be working with General Clifton again, she just didn’t think it would be this soon. “Bring him in,” she sighed in resignation.

Turner kept his focus on Kala. “Should we tell him
everything
?”

“He still thinks that all that he’s seen is technology-based,” Kala answered, shaking her head slightly. She was incredulous at Clifton’s failure to believe his own eyes. Then she continued, “I won’t hold anything back, but I’d rather not explain everything to him. Let him believe what he wants.”

Turner shrugged. “Knowing Harry he’ll try and use the information to his advantage somehow.”

Zeus, who had obviously been listening, interrupted. “Who is this
Harry
? If he’s a problem, I can eliminate him. It would be no trouble.”

Turner sighed with a slight smile as if debating the idea, then shook his head. “As tempting as that may be, I need Harry. I won’t always have gods and angels backing my plays and he has a particular set of skills that I don’t have.”

Kala couldn’t imagine what those “skills” were, and frankly, she didn’t want to. “Is General Clifton still in the Compound?”

“I’m right here.” Clifton entered on cue.

Turner quickly explained to the others, “I called him as soon as you gave the go-ahead.” He nodded to his watch.

“That was sixty seconds ago,” Kala responded.

“I’m efficient,” Turner replied.

But Kala suddenly didn’t care about Harry’s arrival – because right behind him was Derek. She ran over and he squeezed her in a giant bear hug.

Clifton said, “As promised. Not a scratch on him. I figured you’d want to use him on whatever it is you’re calling me up here for?”

Kala pulled out of the embrace and gave a slight nod to Clifton. “Thanks.”

Derek’s expression was one of surprise as he confided, “When General Clifton tracked me down I thought I’d be in for a fight. I know you said I can’t die now, but I really didn’t want to test that theory.”

“You can’t die. That’s a fact.” Antel spoke from her chair. Her pallor was looking better as her wounds healed rapidly. “Not even decapitation would take you. Your body will simply regenerate.”

Kala motioned to Antel. “That’s Antel. She’s Grigori.”

“Ah, like Talan?” Derek inquired.

“Pretty much.” Kala smiled as she watched her friend take in the room. She knew Derek already had three escape routes developing in the back of his mind, all involving taking Kala with him if need be. Always the soldier. Even though he’d been working in her elite government team with Turner for the last few years, Derek still looked like a marine with his shaved head and muscled build, his dark complexion only accentuated his flawless features of angular cheekbones, full lips and brown eyes.

Kala kept one eye on Clifton, too. He was watching the room, taking in all of the players. Whether he knew or believed in the supernatural yet, Kala had no idea. General Clifton was the kind of guy who would be very hard to convince that magic was real.

Kala glanced around and made the introductions. “That’s Zeus. That’s Hephaestus and the rest are Grigori. And you both know Penny as Dr. Rosen.”

Derek mouthed, “Zeus?” He knew all about the Olympians and Titans, but aside from Cronus snapping his neck, Derek hadn’t been properly introduced to any of them aside from Penny, and he had thought she was a neurologist.

“Yup. And we’re just waiting on Talan to return with Roberta so we can find out where Poseidon is.” Kala wanted to laugh at the absurdity of this conversation. She felt like at any moment a couple of orderlies would cart her away to the loony bin.

But it just showed how far both she and Derek had traveled in their lives these past several days because he simply said, “Okay then.”

Clifton, on the other hand, was in complete denial of gods, angels and demons being “real.”

“Zeus, Hephaestus, Grigori? Are those their call signs? What government do they work for? Ours?” Clifton asked in general, but his eyes rested on Turner. As strange as their relationship was, they still had an unexplainable bond.

Turner didn’t hesitate. “Yes, those are their code names and they work for America. As for Roberta, she’s going to be performing a locator spell. You know Roberta has been delving more and more into Vodun and black magic? You’ve seen the results from my labs.”

Clifton nodded, but Kala couldn’t tell whether or not he was entirely on board. At any rate he didn’t argue. No doubt he was running through his options in his head.

Turner pointed to the screen playing Kala’s vision. “Lieutenant Hicks has to reach this location in the Hadal Zone.”

Clifton examined the video of Kala’s vision and went into mission-mode.

“You’ll need the XV-4250 to get to those depths. And phase-suits if Lieutenant Hicks needs to leave the ship. We’ve adjusted them for deep water pressure.” Clifton smiled at Kala. “We wouldn’t want your head exploding.”

The Titan part of her wouldn’t have that problem, but the human part would most definitely pop like a balloon. And, immortal or not, Derek was all human: she really didn’t want him feeling the sensation of a brain bomb. So, as much as she hated phase-suits, she’d have to put one on one more time.

Antel’s eyebrow raised with curiosity. “What’s a phase-suit?”

Kala explained how the suit allowed the wearer to walk through any surface: wood, cement, steel, anything.

Ashliel responded, “If Rotoph can bring down the teleportation blocking spell and Zeus can take out the protection barriers, it’ll be just rock between you and Hades. You could just teleport.”

Kala answered, “If Zeus and Rotoph fail or if they can’t break the spells in time, maybe a phase-suit can get me through to that cave whether or not Zeus and Rotoph succeed. Science may beat magic in this instance. I hope, anyway.”

Phasing wasn’t Kala’s favorite thing on the planet. She sighed heavily. “Let’s just get this over with.”

DAY TWO

Chapter Six

Kala watched the clock as it counted down.

2d 23h 22m 33s: 5:38 AM.

It was day two already and Kala was raring to go. The entourage had moved to the science lab downstairs. It had only been a day since Kala had confronted Fortski and destroyed his work, but a lot had happened in those twenty-four hours.

In the middle of the room at one of the long tables Roberta was preparing her tracking spell with Talan. She had the coral charm that Zeus had given her and was coating it in a kind of powdered mixture. Talan was helping with some of the details. In the past, he had been training her disguised as an old Voodoo priest; now that Roberta knew his true identity, Talan didn’t bother hiding who he was anymore.

Clifton appeared to be treating this situation like any other mission, despite the oddity of Roberta’s magic preparation. Kala knew Clifton had feelings for the woman, so there was probably a part of him that believed Roberta could do no wrong. Turner and Kala privately discussed at length whether or not to confide the truth about gods, angels and Demons to Clifton, but Turner didn’t think Clifton would believe it anyway. The final decision had been to let Clifton see what he sees and have him make his own conclusions.

At the moment, Clifton was privately conferring with Fortski in the corner, which didn’t settle well with Kala. But she wasn’t exactly the person that should step in to stop it. Since Turner didn’t seem to mind, she left them alone. Fortski had taken several samples of Derek’s blood after the discovery of his newfound immortality.

It was an odd sight seeing a couple of Olympian gods, a handful of Grigori, and humans all in the same room. Even at that, though, each group kept to its own kind except for Owen and Ashliel, who were talking with Zeus and Hephaestus.

Kala stayed with Derek, slightly away from everyone. Even though they were now “more than human,” it felt like they were soldiers again. Especially since Clifton wasn’t trying to kill the both of them.