Hades (Contemporary Mythos Book 1)

by Carly Spade

  “I’m already dead, darling. Makes no difference to me.”

  Darling wasn’t his word to call me. I growled under my breath and pulled back the hammer, holding the hilt with both hands.

  “Stephanie.” Hades’ shades of voices passed over me like liquid silk.

  I gazed over my shoulder at the beautiful image of him standing in his true form. Embers, smoke, and singed feathers floated around him.

  “Killing him will do nothing but damper the light inside you. He’s not worth it.” The chains rattled as he tensed his arms.

  “Now I see why it was so easy to get you into those chains, mate. Threaten to kill your dearly beloved, and bring the god of the Underworld to his knees. Literally. It’s embarrassing.” Rupert shook his head.

  I was dearly beloved. My chest tightened, and I released the hammer, lowering the weapon but not letting go.

  Hades growled, vibrating the paintings hanging on the walls. “Keep. Talking. I dare you.”

  The chains. Break them.

  A distant whisper fluttered over my ear. Using only my eyes, I looked around. No one and nothing else were in the room. Where did it come from?

  The chains.

  I ran over to Hades, clamping my hands around the chain. He looked down at me with a quirked brow.

  “What in Tartarus are you doing, Stephanie?”

  “Something crazy.” I kept his gaze as I yanked the chain with ease.

  Blue sparks flew as each link broke. It turned into dust and fell to the ground in a pile.

  I blew out a breath, staring at my palms. There was no rationalizing this one.

  “What? How? They’re cursed. It’s not possible,” Rupert stammered, backing away toward the window.

  Hades’ wings flapped once, and he stood toe-to-toe with Rupert. Hades puffed his chest and clenched and unclenched his fists. Rupert’s entire body shook as he looked up at his fate.

  “You have no idea the torturous eternity you’ve condemned yourself to,” he said, his wings starting to wrap around Rupert. “And your time expired hours ago.”

  I looked away, shoving my face into my palms.

  A hand touched my shoulder, sending me writhing back on my heels.

  “It’s only me,” Hades cooed.

  I blinked up at him, in awe at the sight of his hair floating around him and the brightness of burning embers at the arch of his wings. “Where’s Rupert?”

  “The Underworld. I’ll deal with him soon enough.” The staggered whispers of his voice were deep. Masculine. Commanding.

  “What are you going to do with him?”

  “You don’t want to know, Stephanie.” His gaze turned sinister.

  I gulped. “Do people try that with Thanatos often? Try to bargain with him for their lives?”

  “Everyone wants to go to an afterlife in paradise, but no one wants to die.” He said, shaking his head.

  Rupert most certainly wasn’t going to the Fields.

  I stood up, groaning from the pain shooting down my arm.

  He turned my shoulder. “The bullet only grazed you.”

  I stared up at the menacing, yet angelic form of the real Hades. If he would’ve appeared in front of me this way only weeks ago, I may have passed out…again. His appearance was intimidating, but he still had an ethereal quality to him, a gentleness that gripped my very soul.

  “I can help you with this, I need to—” he started, but was cut off by a gust of wind.

  A figure loomed in the corner, blocking the moonlight from illuminating the room. Hades turned around and moved me to stand behind him, his wings wrapping around me like a cocoon. His nails were black, thick, and pointed.

  “Thanatos. You’ve made quite the mess,” Hades said.

  I leaned around him, attempting to see into the darkness. Thanatos himself was the night. His tattered black cloak draped to the ground, and he floated forward on a bed of fog. All he was missing was a scythe, and he’d be the grim reaper himself.

  “I will not go back. Too long have I been feared when it is you who guides my hand. I am nothing but a pawn.” A hand slipped from his sleeve, pointing at Hades. I half expected it to be skeletal, but it was a pale, human hand.

  “I may be your King, Thanatos, but Zeus is king over us all. He gave you your reign. You uphold it.”

  “We, who are all descendants of Titans, reduced to following an arrogant man with a lust for power. You are almost as bad as he is, Hades.” It was pure macabre the way he stood motionless, fog wafting around him.

  Hades wrapped his wings around me tighter, pieces of ash fluttering against my eyelashes. “We both have our roles. I’ve never marveled in the cards I’ve been dealt, but we do what we must because it’s our responsibility.”

  “Says the man with near the power of Zeus.” Thanatos snarled.

  “Says the man who can never remain on the surface. I’m not going to discuss whose existence is more pitiful over the others. You are a god! Act like one!” The embers on the top of his wings glowed brighter.

  The sound of a sword blade sliding against stone reverberated in my chest. “I will not go back. Even if it means killing you in the process, my lord.”

  His wings shifted, spreading wide, but his hand still held me behind him. “Don’t be foolish. You know you can’t win.”

  “Has anyone ever tried?”

  Thanatos launched forward. The ground beneath me disappeared, replaced by a hole glowing orange and billowing smoke. I started to fall, but Hades wrapped one arm around me, suspending us in the air with his wings. As soon as Thanatos floated through the hole, it sealed up, and my throat tightened. Dark water flowed below us. The surrounding torches reflected flames on the surface, illuminating the wailing ghosts who swam within it.

  The animated fog Hades used to show me the Underworld in the spa paled compared to its real appearance.

  Thanatos raised a large sword above his head, its blade the length of his body. He propelled forward. Hades growled, diving us toward the water. I pinched my eyes shut, and my back collided with wood.

  I expected to feel cold and wet in the river, but instead, I was nestled within a boat, floating on its own toward a cave entrance. Thanatos and Hades fought in the air. Thanatos swung his sword while Hades used his smoke power as a guiding force against him.

  A pair of ghostly hands gripped onto the edge of the boat, a gangly head following. The only hair it had was a few strands sprouting from the top of its head, darkened cavities in its skull where eyes used to be. When it wailed, holes formed in its cheek, showing teeth. I gasped, scooting back to the other side of the boat. Would it have been disrespectful to stomp its hands away with my feet? As it pulled itself out of the water, I didn’t care and stomped my feet at it until it fell away, re-joining the other lost souls.

  The river Styx. I was in the Underworld. Panic tugged at my insides, but there wasn’t time for it. I needed to focus.

  As the cave entrance grew closer and closer, panic tugged at my spine. According to Hades’ explanation, the river was about to end in his throne room. Above me, Thanatos reached for Hades’ wings, but only managed to grab bits of feather and embers. Hades grabbed him, plunging him into the water. The souls crawled over Thanatos, crying in agony, but he shrugged them away, floating back into the air.

  Darkness flooded over the boat as it made its way through the tunnel. I gripped onto the edge of the vessel. Just ahead, an enormous throne stood, made of burnt bone. Pillars surrounded the throne with a moat of fire. Sconces hung from the ceilings by chains, blue flames flickering within them.

  The boat stopped when it beached itself on a sanded shoreline, black sand. I hoisted myself onto the bank, gripping my arm. I backed away from the water, watching as the souls climbed into the abandoned boat, crying when they found no one inside. All these poor people stuck in limbo with no direction on where to spend their eternal lives.

  I walked toward the throne, a chill traveling down my back, trying to imagine what Hades look
ed like seated on it. All imposing and merciless when he needed to be. Hades came crashing through the cave entrance, his arm clipping the edge of a stone pillar. Rocks flew into the surrounding walls and plunged into the water. I pressed my back against the side of his throne.

  “We could do this until the end of time, Hades. Why can you not simply let me be?” Thanatos roared. The sound of his sword slicing echoed through the cavern.

  “I need someone on the surface. I can’t do both,” Hades snarled. “And you call Zeus selfish.”

  “Very well. You leave me no choice but to persuade you.”

  Thanatos appeared in front of me. Red fog eked over my hands, working its way up to my face. When I looked up, the hood of his cloak draped over his head, and his face was nothing but a hollow shadow.

  Hades made a shrill whistle. A canine growl followed by several snapping jaws sounded. Three pairs of glowing red eyes emerged from a darkened corner of the throne room. A massive creature with three heads loomed over Thanatos, drool dripping down its jaws. Cerberus.

  Hades pointed at his guard dog. “Watch her.”

  Cerberus slid in front of me, his claws scraping across the stone floor. In the fog scape Hades showed me, Cerberus was as big as my forearm. In reality, he was as tall as a skyscraper. There was something oddly comforting about having such a large creature defending you. It didn’t keep my knees from shaking at the sight of him, however.

  “You think your pet can stop me?” Thanatos asked, the fog under his feet carrying him backward.

  Hades glared, still suspended in the air. His flapping wings sounded like a flickering flame. “His bite is far worse than my bark. Do you want to continue with this charade?”

  “Like all the other gods, here you are underestimating me,” Thanatos growled. He slammed the blade of his sword into a nearby pillar, sending rocks into one of Cerberus’ heads.

  The other two heads snapped at Thanatos, but Cerberus kept his ground in front of me as his master ordered. The head the rocks pummeled blinked one of its eyes, and snarled, claws digging into the ground.

  Hades flew down like Superman and collided into Thanatos’s chest. The impact sent both gods in a violent tumble of fog and smoke.

  Cerberus’ feet twitched. Hades threw punch after punch at Thanatos’ face before being tossed away, slamming into the side of his throne. Cerberus slid forward but stopped again.

  I gulped, reaching a hand out to touch the fur on the canine’s leg. The nearest head dipped down, eyeing my fingers. It sniffed me and let out a huff, sending my hair flying backward. Suppose I should’ve been glad there wasn’t snot to accompany it. “I think it makes more sense for you to help him defeat Thanatos rather than be stuck in this corner by me, wouldn’t you say?”

  His head shook before he snorted and nudged me with his forehead. I stumbled, my heart racing. Cerberus charged forward, capturing Thanatos in one of his massive jaws, tossing him back and forth like a rag doll.

  Thanatos cackled. “Does this ignorant canine think it can snap me like a twig?”

  “He’s distracting you,” Hades boomed, his eyes bursting with white, wings glowing a furious orange. He threw his hands forward, arms shaking, as a blue swirl eked from Thanatos’ chest.

  My stomach growled. The kind of hunger pains that make you feel nauseated. How could I be thinking about food at a time like this? It was so excruciating it made me grip my stomach in agony.

  “What have you done?” Thanatos cried.

  The blue swirls wrapped around Hades’ forearms. “I’ve removed your essence. What gives you your power. If you leave the Underworld without it, you will become nothing but mist in the air.”

  Thanatos growled, trying to reach for him, but Cerberus kept his hold. “You’re as cruel as they say, Hades.”

  A pain formed in my chest hearing Hades be called cruel. It had been almost distracting enough until my stomach twisted harder.

  “You left me no choice. I’m going to ask you one final time. An opportunity to live on the surface.” Hades flew higher in the air, spreading his wings. “Will. You. Perform. Your Duties?” His voice boomed, commanding attention and respect. The bass from his menacing tone echoed in my skull.

  I sniffed the air. The smell was impossible to ignore. A small table, decorated with a scarlet ornate table cloth, sat in the corner. And resting on top, displayed on a silver platter, was a pile of Cinnamon Bun Oreos. My stomach growled like Godzilla.

  Thanatos snarled. “Yes,” he muttered.

  “Louder!” Hades demanded.

  “Yes! I will return to my duties.”

  Thanatos’ essence flowed back into him, billowing in a cascade from Hades’ arms. I eyed the delectable plate of Oreos, biting my lip.

  “Go, now,” Hades growled. “You have an extreme amount of work to catch up on.”

  Cerberus released his hold, and Thanatos floated into the air with his shoulders hunched forward.

  “You are one to talk, Lord of the Underworld,” Thanatos said, pointing at the overflowing river of souls before vanishing.

  I reached out for the plate of Oreos. Just one tiny nibble. So hungry. So very, very hungry. The textured surface of the delicious cookie brushed my fingertip, and I picked it up. My mouth salivated as I brought it to my lips.

  A hand grasped my wrist, stopping me.

  “Stephanie, no,” Hades said, glowering down at me.

  I blinked, staring down at the Oreo inches from my lips, and dropped it. “I don’t—I don’t know what came over me. I would’ve been—”

  “Stuck here.” He frowned.

  I gazed down at his hand wrapped around my wrist. “But you didn’t let me.”

  “I told you before I would never let that happen again. She deserved a choice.”

  My heart hummed. I let pieces of his floating hair slide through my fingers.

  He peered down at me, caressing his cheek against my hand, and closing his eyes.

  “I really must get you back to the surface. The Underworld is no place for a mortal. It’s already starting to affect you,” he said, his chin dropping.

  “Am I really never going to see you again?”

  The tips of his pointed ears drooped. “It’s better that way.”

  My sinuses stung, and I bit the inside of my mouth to keep from crying.

  “There is one last thing I wish to do for you, however, if you are willing.”

  My throat clenched. “Oh? What is it?”

  “Your suicide murderer. Remember when I told you I could allow you to interrogate him here in Tartarus? The offer is still on the table.”

  My eyes widened. Interview a dead serial killer? This took the idea of Interview With The Vampire and put it on an entirely different playing field. “I don’t see how I could pass that up.”

  He gripped my shoulders. “I must warn you—he is a slime of a human being.”

  “I wouldn’t expect much less. Will you help me?”

  “Help you?” He quirked a brow.

  I traced a fingertip over the tip of his ear. “It’s called ‘Good Cop, Bad Cop’.”

  “I assume I’m to play the role of Bad Cop?”

  “Please? As you can imagine, I’ve never been any good at it.”

  He dipped his head. “Very well.”

  He gave one extravagant flourish with his arm, kicking up swirls of smoke. An irradiating heat slapped me in the face. We stood in the middle of a charcoaled entrance where lava flowed through the cracks. Hundreds of screams, wails, and crying poured into my ears. It was so deafening, I had to clap my hands over my ears. Hades touched my shoulder, and the world silenced.

  “I apologize. It’s been a long time since I’ve escorted a mortal in the Underworld,” he said, his tone hushed and soothing.

  “Are we—” I slipped my hands from my head. “Are we in Tartarus?”

  “Yes. It’s the only area he can roam. We have to conduct the interrogation here. Did you still want to continue?” He delicately turned me t
o face him.

  My teeth chattered, despite the increasing temperature. “I don’t have a choice. I can help so many families knowing this information. I’ll have to get over the fact that probably three feet away someone is getting tortured.”

  “I promise you won’t see or hear any of it.”

  I nodded, staring up at his stoic expression, a serene glimmer in his gaze. “Let’s get this over with.”

  He bowed his head before passing his hand over his face and body. As his hand progressed, he transformed into his mortal guise. The “Sawyer” guise. I cocked an eyebrow.

  “They get a false sense of security when I appear like this.”

  Well, this was going to be interesting.

  In another whoosh of smoke, we were in a room surrounded with sleek black walls. Low lighting pointed at a man with a ball and chain attached to each of his limbs. My heart raced. Earnest Fueller. Across from me at arms-length was the man I’d made eye contact with years ago in the interrogation room. A man I knew was guilty with every fiber of my being. Here he was in the deadly flesh. He looked the same: Balding, average size build, scruff over his chin, broad nose, and bushy caterpillar eyebrows.

  “To what do I owe the pleasure of my torture break?” He grunted, the chains rattling together.

  Hades remained in the shadows, leaning on the wall with his arms folded. “We need to ask you a few questions.”

  It was one thing to be behind the safety of a two-way mirror when looking at a person you hoped to convict. This was another matter entirely. “I only need to ask you a few questions about the murders, and then you’re free to go.”

  He snorted, spitting on the ground. “Yeah, because I’m in a hurry.”

  Hades pushed off the wall. He stood in front of him and leaned forward until their noses almost brushed. “The longer this takes, the more excruciating your torture becomes. Permanently.”

  Earnest gulped.

  So far, so good. I expected Hades to start ripping off fingernails already. “How many victims were there?” We knew of seven, but I wanted to be sure.

  “Seven. My lucky number,” he said with a smirk.

  The tip of Hades’ finger glowed orange, and he poked Earnest’s shoulder with a sizzle. Earnest yelped.