The Underworld (The Atlas Series Book 3)

by Becca C. Smith

  Passing through the small forest, the duo entered a landscape of gray desert that appeared to go on for miles and miles. The terrain was rough, cracked clay with sporadic tumbleweeds rolling by like in a Spaghetti Western. One of the Underworld rivers wound down the middle, gently lapping its murky waters against the thin shore.

  Kala broke the silence. “Which river is that?”

  “Lethe. The one that makes you forget,” Asmodeus answered.

  It was almost tempting for Kala; to jump into the water and forget everything. It might not make her happier, but it would at least destroy the pain she felt for Jack and what her life had become.

  “We’ll use the Lethe as our guide,” Asmodeus said. “It eventually spills out to the Fields of Elysium.” Asmodeus walked to its edge and began moving north.

  Kala quickly followed and peered down at the river’s surface as they traveled toward their destination.

  Her breath caught in her throat.

  Kala could see images in the reflection of the waters.

  She knew instantly what they were.

  Kala was seeing her next Atlas mission.

  Chapter Eleven

  Kala stopped in her tracks to watch the vision. She didn’t want to. She wanted to ignore it and keep heading to the Fields of Elysium. But even dead, Kala’s soldier instincts were there. Her crazy mind wanted to grab Jack, snap him out of whatever stupor Asmodeus seemed to think he’d be in, and then Jack could help her on her new mission. It would be like it was supposed to be. Jack had trained to be the Atlas his whole life. He could teach her a few things. The prophecy was wrong. Jack and Kala could exist together: both of them being dead, then coming back to life… That could be a loophole.

  The absurdity of Kala’s logic tried to creep its way into her brain, but she swatted it away. One step at a time.

  “Why are we stopping?” Asmodeus said, finally noticing that Kala hadn’t moved.

  She nodded toward the flowing surface of the river Lethe. “I see my next mission in the reflection of the water.”

  “Please tell me you have to kill Talan?” Asmodeus appeared hopeful.

  Kala didn’t bother responding. It was important now to focus all her attention on the vision. Difficult to see at times from the movement of the current, she concentrated and the images became clearer.

  A large room. Maybe in a basement or warehouse. It was hard to tell. In the center were two of Turner’s brain machines: chairs with wires seemingly growing out of the ceiling, draping down and connecting to a computer and monitors.

  The room was far from empty. Vision/Kala was there with Turner, Cronus, Hades, Gaia and Talan. Seeing her mother made Kala realize that Gaia’s return would not be a secret for too long. Kala’s battle with Cronus in the cave – and the possible war between her children and grandchildren – must have forced Gaia to come forward and reveal herself.

  That was the weirdest part about these visions. Witnessing what was to come made Kala try to figure out what events would lead the players to their final destination.

  Hades and Cronus began to back away from Vision/Kala, their eyes full of terror.

  Please don’t tell me I have to consume them both, Kala repeated in her head. Having to integrate with Atlas was hard enough, but to add King Titan and the Death God? No thanks.

  Gaia nodded to Vision/Kala and Talan. “Now.”

  Hades and Cronus screamed as Vision/Kala, Talan and Gaia threw their hands toward the pair and white fire charged out of their fingertips.

  Hades and Cronus were consumed by the bright flames, writhing and uselessly trying to break free. Vision/Kala, Gaia and Talan used the fire to control the gods, making them each sit down in one of Turner’s brain machines.

  Turner ran onto the scene and quickly attached the wires and leads to Hades and Cronus’s heads, the white flames not hurting him at all.

  “It’s done!” Turner exclaimed.

  Vision/Kala, Gaia and Talan stopped the onslaught of fire.

  With another slight nod of Gaia’s head, Vision/Kala walked over to the two gods and touched their wrists and ankles. A purple glow formed around the areas where she touched, locking them into place.

  Kala shuddered in horror when she saw the blank stares in Hades and Cronus’s eyes. They were trapped. Not only physically, but mentally as well.

  Before Kala could truly comprehend what she had seen, the vision began to repeat itself.

  Asmodeus stood next to her, waiting patiently for Kala to finish her viewing party.

  Prying her eyes away, she shook her head, not knowing what to say.

  “What do you have to do?” he asked, curiosity etched all over his face.

  Considering his wishy-washy allegiances, Kala wasn’t sure how much she wanted to share with Asmodeus. And what she saw…

  “I have to process it before I talk about it, okay?”

  Asmodeus cocked his head to one side, confused. “I’m here in Dead-world to save you and you still don’t trust me?”

  Kala knew she had to throw him a bone, if only to stop him from hounding her. “Let’s just say, as messed up as it is, it’ll end the war between Titans and Olympians.” Kala wasn’t exactly sure that was a true statement, but what else could it have meant? The leader of the Titans and the god of death were locked into Turner’s machines. Trapped. And if what Kala had previously been shown of the future was correct, then Turner would live forever – which meant he could keep them prisoner forever. Would any of the other Titan’s retaliate? From accessing Atlas’s memories, she didn’t think so.

  Kala tried to shake the memory of Hades and Cronus’s empty eyes from her brain. As much as she hated Cronus, she felt horrible at what she’d have to do to him. It didn’t feel right. But what Atlas mission did?

  The look on Asmodeus’s face was a mixture of curiosity and amusement. “You really aren’t going to tell me, are you?”

  After a moment, Kala shook her head. “It was only a few days ago you tricked me into thinking you were dead, then tracked me down so you could steal Zeus. So, sorry, you haven’t reached BFF status yet.”

  Asmodeus nodded, conceding her point. “Fair enough. But I fully intend to reach ‘BFF status’. Maybe even something more than that?”

  “Keep dreaming. You’re lucky I even left the BFF category open to you.” Her easy banter with Asmodeus was comforting at the moment.

  Kala still wasn’t sure what locking Hades and Cronus into Turner’s brain machines would accomplish, but she was tired of trying to figure out everything before it even happened. It was more exhausting than actually performing the duty itself.

  Priority one: “Can we just get to the Elysium Fields?”

  “I’m not the one taking breaks,” Asmodeus answered playfully. “Come on. Let’s get you to your human.”

  Steering clear of the riverbank this time, Kala walked next to Asmodeus, letting him stand near the water. Seeing her vision on repeat wasn’t exactly appealing to her at the moment.

  A sudden thought struck her and she quickly glanced at her wrist.

  No GPS watch.

  If her clothes hadn’t transferred to the Underworld, why would her gear?

  The only question it begged was: how was she going to know how much time had passed? Kala didn’t think there were any clocks, or sundials, or anything else to show passing time in this gray world, and without them she’d have no idea if she’d make the four-day countdown. The world could end and Kala wouldn’t know. Cronus had to know this. He’d probably try and keep her here in the world of the dead until time ran out. Maybe he knew about her mission, too? Maybe some other prophecy told him he’d be imprisoned? Kala just didn’t know.

  Gathering reinforcements was her best option. The easiest way out would be to unite the Olympians trapped down here and get them to help her escape. She knew everyone in the living world thought that her only plan was to go after the Olympians, but Kala wanted to be selfish for once and find Jack first.

  Shrugging,
Kala took a deep breath of determination. Four days. She had four days. After rescuing Jack, she’d go after the Olympians. Just thinking the thought made her feel surprisingly relieved. Kala hated being deceptive, especially to people she cared about. Zeus could join her in the Underworld for all she cared – but what aboutTalan? Owen? Derek? She wanted to keep her promise: free the Olympians and let them fight their way out. Yes, they would be weak from the Grigori blades, but hopefully a few hours would bring them back to semi-fighting strength. Kala would just have to take down Rhea and steal the dagger. She had no idea how difficult that would be. Jack could help though. He used to be her commanding officer and he was always better at strategy than she was. Yes. Jack first, Operation Olympian-Rescue later.

  A woman appeared in front of them. The landscape was so bleak, to have a beautiful lady suddenly materialize twenty feet away was jarring. With eyes of ice blue, her hair was long and black, falling down her shoulders in loose waves. Kala found it hard not to stare at the stunning contrast. Even the woman’s skin was a perfect cinnamon brown, completely flawless with full naturally red lips. In juxtaposition with their gray surroundings, the lady was like a star in the darkness. Though Asmodeus was the only other creature in color, even he didn’t come close to her striking figure.

  “Rhea,” Kala said before thinking. The Atlas part of her brain recognized the Titan immediately.

  Rhea smiled, though there was no lightness to it. Her demeanor was defensive, as if she expected an instant attack. “I’m not sure what to call you, so I’ll call you thing.” Then she turned to Asmodeus. “You’re not welcome here, traitor.” Waving her hand, Asmodeus’s body flew up into the sky as if he were being sucked into a giant vacuum cleaner.

  In less than a second, he was gone.

  Kala froze.

  If Rhea could dispose of Asmodeus that quickly, what could she do to her? Kala was dead after all and she wasn’t sure how much, if any, of her power she could tap into in this state.

  Turning back to Kala, Rhea’s smile became cruel. “Well, thing, you’ve come to try and take my children from me?”

  Kala chose her words wisely. “I was thinking about it.” Or not.

  “You must think me heartless keeping my children here bereft of their powers. I cut them with the Grigori blade every hour of every day for the last two thousand years. Believe me, thing, I am more tortured than they are. But I do what must be done to protect them. And I won’t let you destroy everything I’ve worked for!” Rhea hissed in anger.

  Thinking about Rhea cutting her kids with the dagger every hour for two thousand years sounded like the worse kind of hell Kala could imagine. Not because Rhea had to hurt her children, but because of the repetitive behavior. It meant Rhea had had to keep track of time for that long. It reminded Kala of her own predicament, and that as long as she was cursed with the Atlas missions, she would have to keep track of every minute for all eternity! Unless Zeus was right about the prophecy and some girl in three hundred years would free her. But even three hundred years… it made Kala’s head spin.

  “You’ve been down here two thousand years slicing up your kids and you think that’s a good thing?” Every time Kala tried to say something that could possibly calm Rhea’s anger, something else entirely would come out of her mouth. “And you can call me Kala.”

  It occurred to Kala that she was talking to her half-sister and Cronus’s main squeeze. From her Atlas memories, she knew that Cronus and Rhea were parents to six of the Olympians; Zeus pretty much fathered the rest of them with Hera and Demeter. The incest was astounding. Since Rhea referred to her children, it was officially confirmed that only Hestia, Poseidon, Hera and Demeter were in the Underworld.

  Which led to the question: “Where are Athena, Ares, Hebe, Persephone and Dionysus?” It never hurt to ask.

  Rhea tilted her head to the side in reflection. “I don’t care where Zeus’s offspring are. They mean nothing to me. I only agreed to keep my children safe. Cronus wouldn’t give me Zeus. And Hades was sleeping soundly until you woke him up, thing.”

  Rhea wasn’t going to let go of calling Kala thing, so Kala gave up on trying.

  One good thing about Titans and Olympians though, they sure loved to talk. Kala came from a top-secret military background where torturing humans for information was actually a difficult task. Most soldiers didn’t crack. But these supernatural beings? Once confronted, they spilled their secrets with no fear of the consequences. Maybe it was because they were gods? Or, maybe it was because they had no social skills. But either way, Kala was going to take advantage.

  “Waking up Hades was my Atlas mission, so yeah, couldn’t be helped. But he seems fine. Killed me, if it makes you feel any better,” Kala said, stalling. She analyzed the terrain out of the corners of her eyes so Rhea wouldn’t notice. Not much around to use as weapons, so she’d have to rely on her physical skills and possibly any of her Atlas strength or Gaia mojo. She just hoped death didn’t mute those powers.

  Rhea, like her husband, did seem to perk up at the expense of Kala’s misfortune. “It does a little.” Her stance tightened once again though. “But I still don’t know why he killed you. Hades wanted you here for a reason. He hates his brothers and sisters, so I can’t imagine he’d want you to save them, but that doesn’t mean his motives won’t conflict with my plans. He’s here in the Underworld somewhere and my spies can’t find him.”

  “This is his domain. Just because you’ve been hanging here for a couple millennia doesn’t mean you own the place.” But Kala filed away what Rhea said. His own mother didn’t know why Hades had sent Kala here. If it wasn’t to help free his brothers and sisters, then why would Hades want Kala in the Underworld? It gave her a small chill down her spine. Motives for the god of death didn’t seem like they’d end well.

  Nodding to the sky, Kala inquired, “So, is Asmodeus okay?” She tried to distract Rhea so she could move closer to the goddess.

  Kala’s biggest and best weapon was the river Lethe flowing beside her. If she could just throw the goddess in, Rhea would lose all her memories. Kala could possibly convince Rhea to be an ally. She’d have to get closer to the Titan first. She’d try reasoning first, and if that didn’t work, Kala would provoke a fight. She was good at both, but she hoped her words would win in the end; she didn’t have much confidence in her fighting skills at the moment.

  “What do you care of the Demon King? He cares nothing for you or anyone else. Asmodeus only looks out for himself,” Rhea spat.

  Didn’t like Asmodeus. Good to know. And not surprising, Kala didn’t like him half the time, either. But one thing she did know: as self-obsessed as Asmodeus was, she couldn’t deny the fact that she cared about him on some level. He was like the friend that gets on your nerves, but somehow grows on you eventually. If Asmodeus hurt, Kala wanted to know about it. “That may be true, but I still want to know.”

  Rhea shrugged dismissively and grunted, “He’s fine. I simply revoked his invitation to the Underworld.”

  Kala slowly took small steps forward while she talked, so as not to alarm Rhea. “Look, can I be honest with you?”

  Rhea watched Kala carefully, her face appeared confused as if Kala wasn’t what she expected. Finally she nodded, “Speak, thing.”

  “We’re probably on the same page here. I had to perform my Atlas mission or the world would end. So, I’m stuck here. Zeus is the one who wants me to free his siblings. I could care less. I told him I’d try, but I honestly don’t feel like going through the trouble.” Kala tried to be as convincing as possible. At this point she had every intention of freeing the Olympians just to piss off Rhea and Cronus, but she wanted Rhea to let her guard down long enough for Kala to push her in the river. “I just want one favor. I want to bring back Jack Norbin. He’s in the Fields of Elysium. I had to kill him for my first Atlas mission, but now that we’re both dead, I think we can exist together in the outside world without it ending and all.” A part of Kala wanted to see what the Titan
would say. Maybe as Hades’s mother she could free Jack and send him back to earth.

  Rhea actually looked sad for Kala. “No. He’s the potential and you’re the Fated One. You’re still a thing to me, but you are the one from the prophecy, even I cannot deny that. Your lover has to stay in Elysium for all eternity: he won’t be allowed to reincarnate, not with you alive. It would tear the world to shreds. Not even Cronus wants that.” Rhea sighed, “No Atlas mission will have as vicious consequences as your first. If you don’t complete your next mission, the world will crumble, but it won’t end, unlike your first mission, which was a part of the prophecy. If you hadn’t killed your lover, the very earth itself would have torn itself apart and there would be nothing left for anyone. Not even the gods.”

  In Kala’s stupor at hearing Rhea’s words, she hadn’t even noticed that the goddess had closed the distance between them. The Titan was inches away.

  Rhea continued, “You’re a dangerous woman, Kala Hicks. I can’t have you destroying everything because you miss your boyfriend.”

  Before Kala could reach out to throw Rhea into the river, Rhea’s hands were already clasped around her arms.

  In that moment, Kala realized that Rhea had the same idea as her.

  Feeling the air beneath her, Kala was surprised that she felt a sudden relief.

  It would all be over soon.

  And Kala could be at peace.

  With a resounding splash, the water flowed over Kala’s body and all her memories washed away with it.

  DAY TWO

  Chapter Twelve

  The woman woke up on the shores of the river Lethe, dry and tired. For a moment, she felt a surge of panic when she couldn’t remember her name, but it passed when she realized she didn’t care very much. In fact, she couldn’t remember anything. She didn’t even know where she was, except that the water flowing next to her was dangerous. She didn’t know why, she just knew it was true.