I also realize that I’m not in a normal part of the prisons. These cells are made with black stone woven with orange veins. Only the most dangerous criminals are kept in this place, bespelled against all escape. Literally, the only way for any of these prisoners to escape is to be let out with a key.
This is the last place I should’ve let myself melt down.
And then I look back at the prisoner who had spoken to me, and I instantly knew who it is. Hades keeps many innocent people in this dark place. Many people he keeps as tools, not because they are dangerous, but because he wants to use them. Like my Hecate. But this creature? He deserves to be here.
“Ceuthonymus.” The word comes out no louder than a whisper.
There are few things I fear anymore, but Ceuthonymus is among those things. It was said that he enjoyed melting the flesh from living beings. That he was the source of fire injuries and painful burns. He was known as something akin to a serial killer when he was allowed to walk free. In his wake, whole villages screamed and died slow and painful deaths.
“It is I,” he tells me, steam rolling from his lips. “And I have the ability to see into one's heart.”
I use the wall to rise to my feet and my knees shake. “We are done speaking.”
I’m heading as far and as fast from him as I can when his voice stops me. “I can help you get free.”
I freeze. It’s a trick. It has to be a trick.
“If you know the stories of me, gargoyle, then you know my word means everything. If you wish, if you free me, I will cause such chaos, such destruction, that you and your lover may escape. I promise you this. Neither you, nor her, will be harmed, and I promise that I will provide the necessary distraction.”
I’m breathing hard. “You’re evil and dangerous. If I release you, they might not be able to imprison you again.”
He smiles and more smoke drifts from his lips. “Perhaps. But you must admit, you’ve failed to escape time and time again. If you unlock my cage, I will wait for your signal to escape, and you and your lover will be free. Can you honestly say it wouldn’t be worth any price to save her?”
If I release this evil on the world, I’ll regret it for the rest of my life. But...more than I would regret watching my love die and my child be taken by a monster?
Slowly, I turn back around. “Let’s talk.”
11
Hecate
I finally manage to stop the sobs that wrack my body. Angrily, I punch the bed. This is all my hormones' fault. I’m not a crier, but suddenly I’m overwhelmed. Andros’s hope that his brother was going to rescue us was all he had left besides me, and now that hope has been crushed by my spell. So now, he’s lost his hope and his brother all in one moment.
I pray this isn’t the thing to finally break him.
But also, an illogical part of my brain is angry that we tried to contact Orion instead of my daughter. Speaking to her, knowing that she is alright, it would have soothed my soul in a way I can’t even imagine. Instead, by contacting Orion, we’d both lost something powerful.
Yet, I’d agreed to it because I wasn’t sure we’d be able to talk to my daughter. One of the reasons Hades hadn’t been able to find her all these years is because I’d put a spell on her to keep her hidden. A spell I’m not even sure I can get through. So, I’d let Andros contact Orion, and we’d let this chance slip through our fingers by one wrong decision.
Picking up my pillow, I wipe my tears away.
“Hecate.”
I jump and turn toward the bars of my cage. Andros is there, and there’s something wild in his eyes. “Get dressed. We’re leaving.”
“Leaving?” I laugh. If it was that easy to leave, we’d have been gone a long time ago.
He unlocks my cage and comes in. His arms wrap around me, holding me tightly. When he draws back, it’s like the mirror he’s used to deflect his suffering for all these years has fallen away, and he looks at me with all the love in his heart.
“When we get out of here, I’m going to marry you, and we’re going to have a happy family.”
I smile at him, shaking my head. He’s crazy, but I say, “That sounds perfect.”
He springs back from me, and the grin that fills his face makes him seem years younger. “Get dressed. Fast. I have a plan.”
A plan? “Are you serious?”
He nods. “Hurry up.”
Then he leaves, closing the door behind him, but not locking it.
I don’t know if I believe him, but I go and get the only piece of clothing I have that isn’t a gown to sleep in. It’s the blue dress with the dipping neckline that Hades’s women had put onto me. I pull it on quickly, then the stockings, then the comfy boots. In the bottom of the chest is a cloak I’ve used on my walks. I pull it onto my shoulders and draw the top over my head. My heart races as I stare at the unlocked door.
Surely none of this is real. Surely we won’t actually escape.
Andros returns a few minutes later to promise me it will happen soon and kiss me again, his face surprisingly happy. He leaves the door unlocked, but closed, again, and comes to stand beside me. His hand curls around mine, and his gaze connects with my own.
“We’re going to escape. But remember, you can’t look back at me once we reach the tunnels on the other side of the Underworld, or my soul will be trapped down here forever.”
I nod, but I’m confused. “Andros, we’ve tried this before. What’s different this time? Hades and his guards are just going to catch us and drag us back.”
He looks away from me. “Forgive me for what I’ve done.”
“What have you done?” My heart starts to race.
A roar rips down the hallway as if in answer. I try to race forward to see, but Andros grips my hand tightly, keeping me beside him. I hear the sounds of metal ripping and then smashing. A prisoner runs past my room, screaming in joy. Another horrible ripping of metal, then another, and another. More and more prisoners run past us.
“What’s happening?” I ask, heart hammering. “The prisoners are getting free.”
“I know,” he says, his expression blank.
“But some of these people are bad, Andros. Really, really bad.”
“I know.”
The earth shakes as heavy footsteps pound toward us. The face of a monster is suddenly at our door with gleaming red eyes. He looks at Andros, smiles, and walks past us. We stay where we are as the halls fill with screaming and the sounds of metal ripping. As the sounds get further and further away, I look at Andros again.
“Do you have any idea what that thing was?”
He won’t look at me. “That thing was our ticket out of here.” Then he tugs on my hand, and we start running.
My thoughts are torn away. Horrified thoughts of what Andros did, the deal he must have made to get us out of here, float through my mind. Along the path we have to jump and climb over ripped off cell doors and the smashed bodies of skeletal guards. But the way out? It’s clear. There’s no one to stop us. No door in our path. We rush until we break free from the prisons. In the direction of the great wall, the monsters and dozens of prisoners are fighting harpies, shades, and guards. Andros tugs me away from it and to the river.
We pause at the edge, and he looks at me. “Ready?”
I nod, but my whole body shakes.
We leap into the water, and the souls whisper around us to hurry, hurry, pushing us forward to our escape. I swim with all my might, fear tugging at my soul. We’ve tried this before. Too many times before. Most of my escape attempts were made before Andros came here. Some were made with his help, while he quietly tried to help just me escape. But our relationship since then has changed, so that I never again would try to escape without him.
Only, our attempt to go together had resulted in a terrible consequence. I couldn’t let that happen again. Andros is a plaything to Hades. I’m a prize to keep on his shelf. But even the twisted god has a limit.
We reach the other side and climb out, then s
tart to run in the direction of the only escape.
“Andros!”
Ice runs through my veins at the sound of his name. But Andros stops.
“No! Keep going!” I grab onto Andros’s arm, trying to haul him forward, but he seems rooted in place. The thing is that there could be no one worth stopping for and even a few extra seconds could cost us everything.
Andros turns around, his entire body tensed. “Orion?”
I look back and a gargoyle who looks so similar to Andros it makes my heart stop is standing beside a smaller man with glowing wings...a phoenix.
“This has to be a trap,” I whisper, a shiver rolling down my spine.
“No,” Andros says with a huge smile spreading his face. “He finally came.”
Andros races back to him and the two embrace. I follow slowly after, feeling like I’m in some kind of nightmare. We have to go. We don’t have time for this. None of it makes sense.
They pull back from each other.
“I came to save you,” Orion says, staring at his brother as if he is the whole world.
“We’re escaping,” Andros tells him right back.
“We?”
Orion looks behind his brother and sees me. His eyes widen. “We’re here to get you, not some...monster.”
“She’s not a monster. She’s the woman I love.” Andros’s voice grows cold and angry. “We escape with her, or not at all. And we better decide quickly, because that distraction will only last so long.”
Orion draws himself taller. “Okay, let’s go. We know a better way out.”
“One thing first,” the other man says. He pulls a bag out of his backpack, then tosses the contents out on the ground. Gold coins rain down all over the bank, and wispy souls dive for them. If they should get a coin, they’ll finally be able to reach the other side. It’s another distraction to buy us time.
As I’m staring at the strange scene of spirits fighting, I see a strange shade climb out of the water far from us. She looks at me once, her golden eyes bright, then races toward our escape.
My heart aches. Someone is already beating us. Which means the people hunting us won’t be far behind.
And yet, the two strange men turn and head back the way we came. Not toward the exit, but to where the bank simply ends. Andros takes my hand and starts to drag me along.
“No!” I say, snapping out of my silent nightmare. “There’s no escape that way. We have to head in the other direction.”
“No, we don’t. It’s this way.” Orion’s voice holds an edge.
I’ve seen this part of the shore before and know it’s a dead end.
“We can’t,” I tell Andros, pleading with him. “We’re wasting our only chance at freedom.”
“Trust him,” Andros begs me.
“He’s a stranger to me!”
“He’s my brother. Soon you’ll learn to love him too. That’s how a Brotherhood works. We’ll share you as our mate.”
Is Andros serious? I’m just supposed to trust this strange man and plan to have him as a second husband? I don’t think so.
I stop, digging my heels into the black sand. “We’re going the other way!”
Orion spins and stalks toward me, and to my shock, throws me over his shoulder. Then we’re all running, the world spinning around me.
“Be gentle with her!” Andros shouts, but he’s running just as fast.
“Listen to me! There’s no escape this way!” Magic flares on my fingertips, and it’s strange. I don’t call the magic to this dark place unless I have to, but now my magic is unpredictable. What will it do to Orion if I remain upset? And yet, if we continue running in the opposite direction from freedom, we will all die.
“Put me down! You’re going the wrong way!” Fire erupts from my fingertips and catches his shirt on fire.
Beneath me, Orion gasps, and then his skin turns to stone. The fire continues to burn his shirt, but he doesn’t seem to notice.
“Damn it!’ I shout. “Andros, listen to me!”
Andros slows a bit, and our eyes lock. “Please,” he begs. “Give him a chance. I trust him with our lives.”
“But apparently not me,” I say, the words cutting.
Hurt flashes across his face, but I don’t care. His faith in his brother will get us killed. And his lack of faith in me is painful in a way I never imagined. All the years here, no matter what we went through, Andros and I were a team. And now we aren’t.
Orion stops running.
The phoenix says, “The map says it’s right here.”
“I don’t see anything!” Andros sounds worried.
“That’s because it’s a fucking dead end!” I shout.
The gargoyle who holds me growls low, “The map said it was here. It’s here.”
“You are all assholes!” I shout, tears forming in my eyes in a helpless rage.
And then, the phoenix says, “I found it.”
I freeze. Orion slides me from his shoulder. The phoenix pushes his hand through a place that should be solid, and it passes through and disappears.
There is a way out here…
Andros looks at me. “I’m sorry.” Then to his brother, “You know once we enter the tunnels, you can’t look back at me.”
Orion hugs him one more time. “It’ll only be a short time, and then we’ll be back on the surface and have eternity together.”
Andros whispers something into his ear. Orion stiffens.
They release each other, and then Andros comes to me and holds my hands. “I’ll make everything up to you, but you have to promise me to have faith in Orion. One day, I promise, you’ll love him the way you love me.”
I doubt it, but I can feel time ticking away, so I say, “I promise.”
He kisses me. Hard. Taking my breath away. Then he kisses all over my face. “I love you with all my heart,” he whispers.
I hate that it feels like he’s saying goodbye.
“We’ll be together on the surface,” I tell him.
He gives me a sad smile. “Of course.”
We hear an explosion and more shouting and screaming.
“We have to go,” the phoenix pleads.
I take a deep breath and clench my hands. The phoenix passes first into the rock, then Orion. I look back at Andros, my heart aching as I memorize him, and then I step forward too. It’s strange. It feels like I’m leaving him behind, but I really just have to have enough faith not to look back.
And to trust a man I don’t know.
12
Andros
When I’d gone back to make the deal with the demon, I’d asked many questions. But through the course of those questions, I’d learned something I never expected. The loophole that would allow me to return to earth...it might be a one-time shot.
And I’d already had one shot.
Hecate had already guided me through the tunnels once, and then she’d been caught before coming to the surface, and we’d both been dragged back down. The demon wasn’t certain if it was that only one person could lead a soul out once, or if each soul only got one chance.
So when I made the deal with the demon, I didn’t know if just Hecate and our child would be able to escape, or if I would be able to also. But any price is worth paying to ensure my wife and baby are safe.
Even if I have to lose everyone I love.
But as I look at where Orion, the phoenix, and my mate have just disappeared behind the illusionary rock, I have no idea what will happen when I enter the tunnel too. I also know that none of them will know if I’m following them or not until they reach the surface. If they get there, and I’m not with them, then it’ll break their hearts.
It’ll kill a part of me, but it’ll also be wonderful. I have no doubt Orion and Hecate will fall in love. I have no doubt that if my brother brought a phoenix into our Brotherhood, he must be a good man. Even if I can never be there for the woman I love and our child, they will be.
And that’s more than I could’ve ever as
ked for.
The gate, wall, and shore are filled with the sounds of fighting. I look downriver and see many of the monsters and prisoners escaping toward the tunnels. My stomach flips. If I had just waited a little longer, I wouldn't have had to unleash such evil on the world.
I’ll have to live with what I did forever.
A strange tugging comes and I realize I have to enter the tunnel. I have no idea if that means I’ll be able to follow them to the surface, but I hold my breath and step into the secret passage, praying that this will all lead to our happily ever after, whatever that might be.
With my love and my brother happy on the surface.
Or me with them.
Either way, my child and wife will be free.
I just hope they can forgive me for my deception, because I’ll never regret keeping this information to myself. Even if I can’t tell them goodbye properly.
Darkness closes around me and the sounds of fighting fade away. But where I am, I have no idea.
13
Orion
Blaise’s wings light the dark space of the tunnel. But even though I imagine the trek out of the Underworld will be time consuming and difficult, I prefer it to the slide entrance that seemed to go on forever. I had truly imagined that when we came to the bottom, I might shatter into a thousand pieces, and Blaise might suffer so badly that he’d wish he was dead. It was only the fact that the bottom was tangled with roots and soft moss that we slowed before coming to a reasonable stop just on the banks of the river.
Then we’d taken a moment to hurl and pull ourselves together. We’d hidden behind a stony alcove and watched the gates of the Underworld, plotting how we’d get in and save Orion. And then all hell had broken loose, and we’d just stared in shock as monsters and sickly-looking prisoners attacked. It wasn’t until we saw Andros coming out of the water that we’d changed our plans and given thanks for fate.
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