by Bella Klaus
Unease settled over my shoulders like a shroud. Even if I wanted to spend more time with Hades, I needed to leave Hell.
He smoothed back my hair, meeting my eyes with a sad smile. “The road to Hell isn’t paved with good intentions. It’s paved with hope.”
My stomach twisted. What did he want me to say? That I’d enjoyed spending time with him so much that I could overlook the demons, the assassins, the supernatural unrest? He was right. Hell was a giant prison and I wasn’t about to swap a lifetime of incarceration with Mother to sign up for a life sentence with Hades.
I cleared my throat. “Can we just focus on the ball?”
The chariot drifted through the portal’s black center and into a void filled with diamonds instead of stars. Their silver sheen reflected off his eyes, his dark hair, and brought out the highlights of his cheekbones.
“At a moment like this, I could say something seductive.” His deep voice resonated through my skull, making every bone in my body quiver with delicious anticipation. “Pretty words about your beguiling innocence, your mysterious soul, and the way you electrify my heart.”
“Aren’t you saying them already?” I asked out loud.
He shook his head, his eyes dancing. “Seduction is for fleeting relationships. What I want from you is an eternity.”
Every hair on the back of my neck stood on end, and my sense of self-preservation went on red alert. “How am I supposed to respond to something like that?”
The diamonds floating around us closed in, forming a solid enclosure that mirrored our reflections like a broken kaleidoscope. Hades was too busy staring at me to care that our surroundings were turning psychedelic, but my pulse hammered at my throat at double speed.
I tapped his arm. “Is this supposed to happen?”
“Ignore the security angels. They’re just making sure we’re not gatecrashers.”
“But they’re gemstones,” I whispered.
“Angels come in many shapes and sizes.” He gave me a reassuring pat on the hip. “Some of them are hideous enough to shatter a human’s sanity.”
The diamonds receded, and we ended up at our destination, which wasn’t a single fig tree as I had initially thought. It was made up of thousands of trunks bending and twisting around a stone temple, looking like they were trying to collapse it under their weight. Our chariot drifted through an archway into a darkened vestibule that smelled of dead leaves.
I placed a hand on Hades’ chest. “Where was the ball held last century?”
“The Field of Reeds,” he replied. “They prepared an elaborate cubbyhole in a cave behind one of the waterfalls.”
“Which afterlife—”
“Welcome King Hades and spouse,” boomed a deep voice.
Golden light filled the vestibule, making me squint to adjust my vision to the glare. An angel wearing gold armor floated down on fluffy white wings. His complexion was as fair as mine, but with prettier features and glowing blue eyes.
“Azriel,” Hades drawled. “I would say it’s a pleasure to see you again, but it isn’t.”
The angel’s feathers ruffled, and his lips tightened with annoyance. He raised a hand, stopping our chariot in mid-air. “Who is your guest?”
I inhaled a sharp breath. “Didn’t the diamond angels examine my credentials?” I asked into our bond. “What if they sent this angel to eject me?”
“Relax.” He patted my hip. “This wanker is just the admin boy.”
“He looks more like a warrior to me.”
Hades turned to the angel and snorted. “You’re the scribe. You tell me.”
With a sniff, Azriel produced a roll of parchment. “Queen Hades of the Fifth Faction of Hell. Daughter of Demeter and Zeus.” He narrowed his eyes. “There is no other assigned name.”
My throat dried. This was exactly what Madame Lorraine had said, apart from the part about me being the queen.
Hades raised his wrist to huff at an imaginary watch. “Have you quite finished boring us with your pedantic questions? Some of us have souls to punish.”
Azriel tossed his hair. “I’m not surprised Queen Hades took two thousand years to be seen in public at your side. You are insufferable.”
“Thank you for your razor-sharp insight,” Hades said in a voice of acid. “Did you read that in one of your scrolls or have you spent the past century sharpening your wit?”
The angel’s nostrils flared and pink splotches appeared on his cheeks. He jerked his head to the side, looking like he didn’t want us to see him cry, and waved a hand to move our chariot to the other side of the vestibule.
I exhaled a long breath. We might have passed two sets of gatekeepers, but it was far too early to feel relieved.
“What’s next?” I asked out loud.
“Hopefully, we’ll make a fashionably late entrance, and we’ll have a chance to catch up with some old colleagues.”
Some of the tension around my shoulders loosened as the chariot lowered itself to a glowing doorway. When it landed a foot off the ground, Hades stepped out first before offering me his hand and helping me off.
I stood on uneven ground made up of roots crossing over each other like snakes. My gaze darted toward the entrance, and my stomach roiled. What if I wasn’t capable of collecting the magic?
Hades placed both hands on my shoulders and stared down at me, his brow furrowed. “You can eat or drink or smoke anything in this room,” he said into the bond. “It won’t bind you to Heaven, Hell, or the Human World.”
I gulped. “You said that’s how we get the power?”
He nodded. “As soon as you place your fingers on something, it’s imbued with magic. Whatever you touch, you must eat.”
“And if I give it to you?” I asked.
His features morphed into a wide grin. “I was just coming to that. After each person consumes their allotted power, the food loses its exquisite taste. Everyone will stop picking food for themselves, but you must continue selecting items.”
I inhaled a deep breath. The concept seemed simple enough, even though it made more sense for each person to receive their power in the form of a coin or something they could carry away in their pocket. Maybe that was the point. Each monarch needed that magic to run their Faction of Hell. The last thing they wanted was for someone else to steal what they had earned.
“Will you help me eat them?” I asked.
“Exactly.” The hand on my shoulder slid up my neck to cup the side of my face. “Keep feeding me until I pass out.”
My mouth dropped open. “Then what happens?”
Inside, eighteen-foot-tall golden statues sat crossed-legged on lotus flowers adorned with floating lights. At the base of each effigy was a Roman-style couch upholstered in red velvet.
On our left, Lucifer lounged on his side, clad in armor similar to Azriel’s, only his was slightly tarnished. A young woman wearing a hooded white robe lowered a tray of drinks in front of him. He shooed her away and raised a hand at us both.
Hades waved back, and I gave him a polite nod.
Three of the seating areas were empty, and the others were occupied by monarchs who plucked canapés from trays held by servers in a similar white uniform to the woman with the drinks.
“Are those angels serving the food?” I whispered.
“Reapers.” Hades wrapped an arm around my waist and guided me toward one of the empty couches. “Low-level foot soldiers who help ferry the dead.”
“Hades!” boomed a voice from the direction of the entrance.
A wooden boat floated toward the door, propelled by a pair of oars that moved on their own. Its passengers were a dark-skinned couple, dressed like ancient Egyptians. The man jumped down and landed at the doorway in a crouch.
“Osiris.” Hades paused to stare at the straightening man.
He was as tall and well-built as Hades, but with his entire torso covered in bandages that wrapped around every contour of his muscular frame. His headdress was a lengthy white crown with ostrich
feathers at each side, and he wore a gold collar that matched the shepherd’s staff he held in his right hand along with another long weapon I didn’t recognize.
Osiris turned to me and grinned. “I knew you would find her.”
Hades inclined his head and smiled. “Just as Isis found you.”
The woman I assumed was his wife floated down to us on the wings of a falcon, her long black braids swaying in the breeze. She wore a golden bikini with matching gold and lapis-lazuli bracelets along with a crown of gilded feathers.
I gulped, feeling like I had dressed for a battle and not a ball.
“You must be Persephone.” Her ebony eyes shone with affection.
“Pleased to meet you.” I resisted the urge to curtsey and reminded myself that I was also a goddess and a queen.
“Isis and Osiris are joint monarchs of the First Faction,” Hades said for my benefit.
We continued forward.
Isis tilted her head to the side. “How are you finding life in the Fifth?”
“There’s always something to do,” I replied, trying to keep my voice from shaking.
Osiris threw his head back with a rusty laugh. “What is it the Europeans say? No rest for the wicked?”
“Hades.” The queen’s sharp voice made me flinch. “I meant to send a messenger to warn you, but emissaries from the Third are suggesting that Hell doesn’t need a special Faction for magical beings.”
“Let me guess,” Hades said, feigning boredom. “Samael thinks each supernatural soul should go to one of the geographic Hells?”
Isis folded her wings. “We refused, and we expect others to do the same.”
Osiris harrumphed. “It’s bad enough sending demons after escaped human spirits. I sure as shit don’t want to deal with souls that can fight back with magic.”
The soulkin’s glowing tapestry of souls rose from the depths of my mind, and I suppressed the urge to tremble.
“That cockless wonder is only good for stirring up trouble,” said Isis.
“I told his emissary to advise his master to go fuck a goat.”
Hades huffed a laugh. “It’s more like the other way around.”
Isis and Osiris excused themselves and took their places at a couch on the left, while we sat beside a woman wearing a crown made of a spine. She was blonde on one side, with green eyes and a peaches-and-cream complexion. The other side was withered, with charcoal hair streaked with white, and an empty eye socket.
“Who is that?” I whispered into the bond.
“Hel,” Hades replied. “Try not to react either way to her appearance. She’s a little sensitive.”
“Did you just say she was called H-E-L-L?” I asked.
“Hel with one L.” Hades lowered himself onto the couch and pulled me onto his lap. “Norse goddess. Have you heard of Loki?”
My mind conjured up the scene from an Avengers movie of Loki wedging a spear into the floor, spinning around its handle and kicking Thor in the chest. “Yes?”
“She’s his only daughter.”
“Who are you talking about?” the woman beside us asked out loud.
I turned to meet the milky white eye from her withered side and tried not to shudder.
“Queen Hel,” Hades said, making his voice light. “Meet my wife, Persephone.”
Hel’s gaze wandered down my outfit and settled on the diamond-studded skull on my belt. Only one side of her face smiled, and it bared shrunken black gums and overlong teeth.
“Welcome,” she said in a voice as dry as parchment.
I forced my features into a smile. “Thank you.”
A male reaper appeared in front of us with a tray of stuffed vine leaves, while his female colleague brought olives and squares of feta cheese.
My lips tightened. The first chance in my life to enjoy an unlimited feast, and it turned out to be boring.
Hades waved it away. “We want to eat twenty-first century human fare, not the same old recycled dishes. Bring us one of everything from the High Street.”
The reaper stepped back, his face going slack. “Your Majesty?”
“This is the Devil’s Ball.” Hades put the words in air quotes. “During which each Monarch of Hell gets to imbibe their power in whichever form they desire. Tell Azriel to authorize a delivery of fast food.”
“Yes, sir.” The reaper scurried across the circle of golden statues and out through the door.
Turning around on his lap, I met Hades’ eyes with a smile. “Why did you send him away?”
“I can’t imagine Demeter allowing you to eat anything she hasn’t personally grown or made you cultivate.” He trailed his fingertips down my arm, sending pleasant tingles across my skin.
My breath caught. I lost track of everything in the room, concentrating only on him. I whispered, “That’s true.”
Hades brought my hand to his lips and pressed soft kisses on one knuckle and then another. Magic sparked with each press of his lips and traveled down my hand, up my arm, and settled into my heart like tiny fireworks.
Not seeing him these past few days had been difficult, especially with that erotic memory of him and Persephone playing out in my mind. Blood roared between my ears, heating my skin and stoking the fires of my arousal. I couldn’t believe how my body reacted to something as innocent as a kiss.
His kisses traveled up the back of my hand before he moved his mouth to the side of my neck. “After centuries of Demeter’s uncompromising regime and having her control every morsel that passed your lips, I expect you want to try something new.”
But I hadn’t lived centuries, and I had no memory of anything before the age of three or four. Mother couldn’t have distorted time to make me think each day was a decade because I’d had Netflix my entire life.
I shook my head, wondering if he could read my innermost thoughts. “How did you know I wanted to eat junk food?”
Hades grinned. “Caria also placed all her purchases on my credit card.”
I leaned into him and placed a soft kiss on his cheek.
With a low growl he adjusted me on his lap so I was straddling his lap. The strips of fabric that made up my skirt draped to the floor, exposing my legs. He slipped his fingers over my bare thighs and toward my sex.
My pulse quickened. I placed my hands on his wrists, trying to slow his progress. “Everyone’s watching.”
“Look to your left and right,” he growled into my ear.
My gaze darted to the couch on the right, where Osiris lay at his wife’s side, peppering her neck with kisses. Isis slipped her hand beneath his kilt. On our left, Hel leaned back in her seat with a figure in white robes between her spread legs.
Heat flared across my cheeks, and the pulse between my legs throbbed.
“What did you do last century?” I asked.
“Same as Lucifer.” Hades turned around in his seat, so I could get a better look at his colleague.
I let my gaze wander around the couches, where some of the monarchs were already naked and having sex with the reapers. My eyes bulged. Now I understood why Hades had given me those lessons.
Lucifer lay on his side, plucking grapes from a large bunch and tossing them into his mouth. He looked thoroughly bored.
“You used to sit there eating while everyone else had an orgy?”
“Cognac dulled some of the tedium,” he said.
I ran my hands down his bare chest, my clit pulsing at the thought of what awaited me beneath his kilt. “Maybe we can make up for twenty centuries of having to satisfy yourself with cognac.”
Hades stiffened, his gaze frozen on a point behind my shoulder.
My brow furrowed. “What’s wrong?”
A growl reverberated in his throat.
I turned around, expecting to see a tall figure in a black robe. The only person who could anger Hades right now was Samael.
But when my gaze swept toward the entrance, I locked eyes with Mother.
Chapter Twenty-One
A boulder of
shock hit me straight in the solar plexus, and all the air escaped my lungs in a silent scream. How had Mother got here? I scrambled off Hades’ lap and stood in front of him, gaping at Mother’s grand entrance.
She wore her hair in a tall chignon, decorated with fruits and flowers and blades of wheat. Her dress was the long draped gown she had worn in the giant tapestry, and in her arms, she cradled a cornucopia, overflowing with vegetables.
“Mother,” I whispered.
“Of all the lengths you’ve gone to interfere with my marriage, this has to be the most desperate,” Hades snarled.
She raised her chin, her blue eyes shining with defiance. “You will return my daughter, or I will consecrate this place with your blood.”
Hades scoffed.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
Mother reached into the cornucopia, extracted a short sword, and threw the basket aside, sending pumpkins and potatoes and peppers rolling across the floor. “This child you see here is not his wife,” she announced to the entire room. “She belongs to me.”
Her words landed like a slap. “I’m not your property.”
Mother flinched. “He has corrupted you already.”
“Demeter,” Hades growled. “Put that weapon away before I tear out your soul.”
“Will you indeed?” a deep voice rasped.
Footsteps clip-clopped toward us, and a pale-skinned man stepped out from behind Mother. He was about my height, with a slender build and black eyes that matched his oily hair. His mouth was a gash across stretched features that reminded me of a melted waxwork.
Nausea crawled up my throat. This could only be Samael.
“Allow me to introduce my new bride,” he said with a broad grin. “Lady Demeter of Mount Olympus.”
I placed a hand over my mouth to stop myself from gagging. How could Mother marry something so disgusting?
“A textbook marriage of convenience,” Hades drawled. “I can’t see any other reason a goddess would marry a creature who couldn't even qualify for being a eunuch.”
Samael’s nostrils flared, and his face twisted into a rictus of rage. He was about to say something when Mother rushed ahead with her teeth bared. “You have defiled one daughter and I will kill you before you ruin another.”