Unhinged

by Chani Lynn Feener

  “Go now,” he said. “I’ll see you tomorrow night.”

  She frowned. “Wait? What? I can go? But our deal—”

  “Was for six months out of the next year,” he cut her off. “I never said they needed to be consecutive.”

  What? The confusion on her face must have been obvious, because he chuckled.

  “During the days you can go on as you usually do, be with your friends, your family. But at nights,” he flashed her a grin that would make the Cheshire cat envious, “you’re mine.”

  She wanted to argue his wording. Wanted to demand to know exactly what he meant by that and what she’d actually gotten herself into. But she must have taken too long, because he gave her only a second before he waved his hand to the side.

  And the darkness consumed her once more.

  * * *

  Spencer woke to the smell of bacon and the chill morning air wafting in through her open window. A window she didn’t recall leaving open. In fact, she didn’t even remember getting into bed last night.

  The events of her trip to the Underworld came flooding back, and she lay there still as a stone, as if by pretending she were still asleep she could somehow hide.

  It had been stupid going there, requesting a favor of the Ruler of the Dead. Yet it had also worked. She and Micah now had a shot. They had a chance of getting back their life together. It had been scary and ominous and totally insane, but in the end it had paid off. She hoped.

  There was still the issue of having to complete her end of the bargain. Six months’ time, the rest of her nights for a year, down there and then Micah would be brought back from the dead.

  She just had to keep thinking about the end goal, ignore the fact that she’d literally just made a pact with the Devil. Again the question popped to mind. Was he the same as the Devil? The Greeks didn’t really have one of those, per se. He’d certainly looked devilish enough.

  Yeah, devilishly handsome. She flinched at the stray thought, breaking the spell. Forced to acknowledge that she was fully awake now, she sighed and slowly sat up. When she blinked open her eyes she met his gaze.

  “I was wondering how long you were going to fake being asleep,” Micah told her sullenly. He was perched at the foot of her bed, further away than he’d usually be. “I was worried sick about you, daisy.”

  “I’m sorry.” She crawled over to him, settling down at his side. “I did it though, Micah! I spoke with Hades!”

  His eyes widened, and he shifted closer. “What? What happened? Are you ok?”

  “It’ll all be alright.” She told him everything, and he sat there listening intently the whole time, nodding his head at certain instants and frowning at others. In the end, once she was done however, he was staring her down like she’d suddenly sprouted a second head.

  “Really what did you think was going to happen, Micah?” she demanded to know when he refused to speak. She knew all of his looks by heart, and judgmental had almost never been aimed at her before.

  “This was your plan,” he reminded her. “I didn’t really get a lot of time to think about anything. I’m still trying to wrap my head around the part where Hades—”

  “Hadrian,” she corrected.

  “Whatever. Where he didn’t just kill you for barging in on him like that. Not what I’d expect from the Lord of the Dead, you know? And then for him to agree with helping…There’s got to be something more to this, some fine print he forgot to mention. What if all you really just did was sign your soul over to him?”

  “If it comes to that ,we’ll deal with it,” she said, and realized she meant it. “This is our chance! Our one shot of getting you back to the living. Isn’t that what you want?”

  “Of course,” he scoffed, but glanced away. “Just not at the expense of you. I want you safe, Spence.”

  “I’ll be safe.”

  “You don’t know that.”

  “He needs me alive for the entire year,” she said. “We at least have that long.”

  “To come up with another plan.”

  “Sure.” She shrugged, but even as she did she knew she was lying. There was no other way, this was it. Sooner or later he’d figure that out for himself; but until then, she’d hold it together for the both of them.

  She took a moment to study his face, his smooth pale skin and the bits of wheat colored stubble that prickled his chin. His nose was long and aristocratic, his blond brows thick and swooped downwards on the sides. He was boyish in a way, his features soft and golden.

  Nothing like Hadrian’s dark grace. Even one of the god’s wicked expressions would appear strange on Micah.

  Why was she comparing them? Realizing what she was doing, she shook her head. She liked the lighter look. Micah was fun, and drama free. He was an all around good guy who stuck up for the people he cared about and those who needed it the most. He’d never bullied a single kid in school, had yelled at the ones who had whenever he saw it happen.

  He knew everything about her, front to back, all the little details of her life. He knew her better than anyone. She never had to worry about getting into a fight with him they couldn’t resolve over hot chocolate. Didn’t have to tell him when something was wrong, because all it took was once glance at her face for him to know.

  Micah St. James was her other half. Her soul mate.

  Even if she couldn’t get the image of cocky cobalt blue eyes off her mind.

  Chapter 7:

  For the first time in a long time, Spencer was actually happy with being at school. Not only because mythology and folklore was suddenly such an interest to her, but also because now she needed it again.

  Micah was coming back at the end of year, which meant she needed to have good enough grades to get into college. Hadrian hadn’t mentioned anything last night about supplying him with fake school papers so that he didn’t have to repeat their senior year, but she’d deal with that later.

  Nothing was going to destroy her momentary buzz. She was getting her boyfriend back, her life back. Surely a little geometry homework and a bio lab couldn’t signify the end of the world.

  Mr. Kemmer stood at the head of the class, arms crossed over his wide chest, as he surveyed the room. His eyes scanned the rows of students, searching one out no doubt. When he found someone to his liking, he leaned back against his desk.

  “Jeremy,” he called on the redheaded boy in the middle row, “assuming that Hades really did kidnap Persephone and force her to stay with him against her will, what can you tell us about his character?”

  “Um…” Jeremy cleared his throat. “The dude sucks?”

  Laughter abounded, but was swiftly stilted by a subtle lifting of Mr. Kemmer’s hand in the air. “Other than that? Dig deeper. What do you think the Greeks might have been trying to warn people about with this story? About Hades, specifically?”

  “That he was a god,” Becca answered for him, “and gods could take whatever they wanted. Even if it was another god.”

  “Good. And?” Mr. Kemmer prompted.

  “Everyone else was powerless against them?” Jeremy guessed, for some reason trying to get back into the conversation. Probably had a low grade.

  “Ok, let’s go back to focusing on Hades specifically,” the teacher said. His eyes landed on someone in the back corner seat across the room, and he jutted his chin out. “New guy, lay it on us?”

  Spencer had a split second to wonder over how she’d missed there being a new student before she heard it.

  His voice. His very real, very familiar voice.

  “The gods were thought of back then as beings who appreciated beauty above all else. Take for example the story of Hephaestus, the God of the Ford, who was caste out by his own mother for being ugly. Persephone is said to be very beautiful. Hades, a god who was forced to live in the Underworld, where everything is dark and bleak, probably coveted such beauty. He was probably trying to add something beautiful to what was otherwise a dark kingdom. He was probably starved for it.

&nb
sp; “I know I would be,” Hadrian’s eyes went straight to hers, the barest hint of a smile curving the left corner of his mouth, “if I were him.”

  This was not happening. She gaped at him, and then blinked a couple times just to be sure. No, that was really him, the God of the Underworld, chilling in her first period. What the hell was going on?

  She hadn’t seen him come in. Had she really been that distracted with her own thoughts? How had she not sensed him here? Now that she was aware of his presence, she could literally feel a heaviness to the air. When she glanced back at the teacher to see if he’d noticed anything strange—like a magically appearing new student—she felt Hadrian’s eyes stay on her.

  “Very interesting,” Mr. Kemmer praised, only causing her mouth to drop open wider. “So you think that Hades took Persephone because he thought she was beautiful?”

  “Yes,” Hadrian agreed. “But not just because of outward beauty. There must have been thousands of beautiful woman, many likely more so than Persephone even. Being the God of the Underworld, he could have taken his pick. There had to have been more to it, more to her, for him to choose her out of all the rest.”

  “Like an inner beauty?”

  “Perhaps,” the smirk he gave said otherwise. “There was definitely something special about her, something that set her apart from all the other women in the entire world and the Underworld. Something he felt he himself was lacking. Something he wanted.”

  “And wasn’t afraid to take.” Mr. Kemmer nodded as if they were on the same page, but Spencer knew better. “The gods were notorious for being selfish and not caring about others. It makes sense that Hades would have seen something in Persephone, taken some interest is some trait other than mere physical beauty, and then stolen her to explore who she was.”

  “No,” he disagreed immediately, and this time when his eyes fell to hers the grin was fully in place. “He stole her to explore his curiosity.”

  The air caught in her lungs.

  * * *

  Spencer stabbed at the lumpy scoop of mashed potatoes on her tray, completely oblivious to the conversations taking place around her.

  The second the bell had chimed, Hadrian had been out the door in what she could only describe as a sprint. It was as if Hell itself was on his heels and he couldn’t wait to get away from her.

  Her next three classes he’d been absent, which meant she at least wasn’t being completely stalked by him. She hadn’t been able to pay any attention, so lost in her worries over why he could be here. She couldn’t think of a single reason that was good.

  She’d met up with Sydney and Quinn for lunch at their usual table outside, and the two were in a heated debate over boys. Spencer wasn’t really following the conversation, but she’d caught the names Cory Monteith and Chord Overstreet right before she’d sat and successfully zoned out.

  Lunch was half over by the time they realized what she was doing and Syd elbowed her hard in the ribs.

  “Jeez! What the—” she stopped herself from saying the word hell. It seemed a little too weird now. “That really hurt!”

  “You’ve hardly eaten anything and you haven’t been paying any attention to us,” Syd whined with a dramatic roll of her eyes. “What’s going on with you, Spence? You seemed so much more…yourself, this morning!”

  “Gotta agree with her there,” Quinn said. “Something happen between then and now? It was nice getting a glimpse of the old you.”

  “I’m sorry, guys.” Spencer gave them an easy smile. “Just one of those days, you know?”

  “It’s ok to tell us the truth,” Sydney surprised her by saying. “We’re your best friends and we love you. We aren’t going to judge. It makes perfect sense for you not to be ready to move on yet.”

  “Yeah,” Quinn reached across the table and covered one of her hands with her own, “we just want you to be open with us about it. Don’t keep cutting us out, Spence.”

  It’d been such a long time since the three of them had had anything even remotely resembling a serious conversation that she’d completely forgotten how good it felt. That reassurance that they were there for her and that they understood her…it did a great deal with helping ease some of the tension.

  She was lost without Micah in her everyday life, but that didn’t mean that she couldn’t rely on her friends. Besides, she wouldn’t be without him for long—twelve months was nothing in comparison to the lifetime she’d thought she was going to have to go through.

  She didn’t have to feel guilty about spending time with them and not sharing the secret. They’d have him back soon too.

  “I love you guys,” she told them.

  “Am I interrupting something?”

  And just like that, the happy bubble that had been forming burst into a million raining drops of decimated rainbow. She didn’t want to look, almost didn’t, but the gasp that came from Sydney forced her to.

  Hadrian stood next to their table, a stocked blue tray in both hands. He towered over them; his shadow stretching ominously across the tabletop almost like it was trying to touch her. He’d opted for all black today, with a pea coat and a popped collar. His blue eyes were dark as night, and they glinted predatorily in the sunlight. If possible, he appeared even more intimidating here than he had last night.

  Or, maybe she’d just run out of bravado.

  “Cat got your tongue, Spencer?” he asked, his silky voice sliding over her. “I seem to have that affect on you.”

  “You know him?” Syd not so subtly hissed next to her, then immediately thrust her hand out towards him. “You have to excuse, Spence. She’s rude. Likes to keep all the hot people to herself. I’m Sydney.”

  He flashed her a grin that screamed, so I’m hot, huh?, then placed his tray down and took Syd’s hand. He eased onto the bench next to Quinn, placing him diagonal from Spencer.

  “I’ve managed to gather that myself,” Hadrian said. “She actually walked into my home unannounced.”

  “What?”

  “Yup. Very rude.” He tisked her, then turned his attentions towards the girl at his side. “And you might be?”

  “Quinn,” she nodded in greeting. Though she was much more composed than Sydney, it was obvious that she’d fallen under his spell just like the blonde. The look she was giving him was clearly attraction.

  “I’m Hadrian.”

  “Hadrian,” Sydney let it roll off of her tongue like the word was foreign or something. “So you’re new here, right? Where did you come from?”

  He glanced at Spencer. “Down south.”

  She glared back.

  “Really?” Syd pursed her lips, moving to rest her chin on her clasped hands. “You don’t have a Southern accent.”

  His response was to shrug, eyes still locked onto Spencer’s.

  She needed to get out of there; however she couldn’t leave them alone with him. She tried to discretely check her cell for the time. There was still a good fifteen minutes before lunch period was over.

  “Got somewhere better to be?” Hadrian asked, drawing her attention away from her phone. He had a single brow lifted in a cocky way, as if he deserved to have her focus entirely on him.

  “What are you doing here?” She’d been wondering that all day and she didn’t want to risk him bolting again the second the bell rang. She just had to hope that he’d keep his comments discreet.

  “Isn’t it obvious?” he propped his elbows onto the edge of the table. His food had been left untouched since the moment he’d sat down, not surprising. He’d been around so long hotdogs had probably lost their appeal. Especially ones that smelled four days old.

  He wouldn’t hurt her in front of all of these witnesses right? Then again, even if he didn’t, if she pissed him off, he could always hurt her later on when she was down in the Underworld. Alone.

  “There’s that cat again,” he goaded.

  And that, was that.

  “I wouldn’t be asking if I knew the answer,” she didn’t like the tone he
r voice had taken, but ignored it. “And if I get a little…confused sometimes it’s only because you purposefully make me uneasy.”

  “Rawr,” Syd piped in. “Down girl.”

  “I came to see you,” Hadrian spoke as if the blonde hadn’t. “I was—”

  “Curious?” she snapped and instantly regretted it. She didn’t want him to know how unnerving he’d been in class this morning.

  He laughed. “Around,” he corrected, though it was clear that wasn’t what he’d been going to say at all. “When you mentioned how much you enjoyed going to school here, I decided this was the perfect place for me to transfer.”

  She’d never mentioned anything of the sort. Before she could comment, however, Sydney beat her to the punch.

  “Why did you leave your old school?” she asked, batting her eyelashes in a way that sort of made Spence want to puke.

  Syd had always been overly flirtatious. It used to be one of the things she loved about her. Now, however, it seemed more annoying than anything else. All she wanted to do was find out why he was here, and then find out how to get rid of him.

  “Death in the family,” he lied. Or, maybe he didn’t. She wasn’t so sure about anything anymore.

  “That sucks, I’m sorry. Anyone you were close with?”

  “So is this what you do?” he leaned forward, once again neglecting to acknowledge that Syd had even spoken. “Sit around gabbing with your friends about how much life has changed?” He grunted. “Your world is dreary.”

  “What do you care what I talk about with my friends?” Spencer grated.

  “I never said I cared,” his eyes narrowed into thin slits. “I was just observing.”

  “Yeah?” She stood in a flourish, swinging her backpack onto her left shoulder and snatching up her tray in the process. “Observe this.”

  Before she could give herself time to think better of it, she turned and stomped off a whole five minutes before the bell was supposed to ring. She dumped her lunch, tray and all, in the garbage bin right outside the door and then yanked it open and entered the building.