Inescapably Hellbound

by Cassandra Lawson

  For weeks, I’d had spies listening to the little witch’s conversations when she went out to lunch at work. They couldn’t get close on the days Hades was with her, but when she was alone or with her friends, my spies could easily go undetected in the busy deli she frequented. The two weeks she planned to spend in the human realm suited my needs perfectly. I wanted no attention brought to Olympus.

  “Can you believe she said that?” Aphrodite whined.

  I had no clue what she’d said because I’d tuned out Aphrodite’s childish rant. Like Psyche, Aphrodite was a shallow bitch who thought everyone loved her because of her looks.

  “Who cares?” I asked. “Stay away from Lucifer. He doesn’t want you. Why not focus your energies on a man who doesn’t despise you?”

  She looked thoughtful. “Another man will make Lucifer jealous. That’s a brilliant idea. I’ll seduce an angel!” she announced with a clap of her hands. “That will show Lucifer that I don’t need him.”

  It was a struggle to hold back my laughter. While it had been a long time since my fall from Heaven, I still remembered how white-winged angels felt about the fallen. It didn’t matter how attractive she was, they wouldn’t touch her with their worst enemy’s dick.

  “That’s a good idea,” I praised. “Lucifer hates the white-winged crowd. Who did you have in mind?”

  She shrugged. “Anyone but Azrael. He’s disgusting. I’d never touch him.”

  “You should get ready now,” I encouraged her.

  When she looked at me, her smile was genuine, throwing me off a little. “Thank you for listening to me. I know you don’t like me very much.” Had she stopped there, I might have believed she’d changed in some small way, but she wasn’t done talking. “It’s because you’re jealous of my beauty. You pretend your wisdom makes you somehow superior to me, but we both know beautiful people hold the real power. It must be hard always being in my shadow.”

  On those words, the bitch pranced off to her temple.

  Hera laughed from only a few feet away.

  “I take it you heard all of that?” I asked.

  She nodded. “We were right to avoid asking for her help. I’ll admit that when you first suggested going to Psyche, I thought we’d have the same problems, but she is definitely easier to control than Aphrodite.”

  “She’s less crazy,” I muttered. Working with one crazy fallen angel was irritating enough. “What are you wearing?”

  “Armor,” Hera replied as she gestured to what looked like a chainmail bikini.

  “Are you fucking kidding me?” I demanded. “That’s not armor. It’s fetish-wear.”

  “Fetish-wear?” Hera asked in confusion. “This is chainmail. I also look great in this outfit. There’s no reason to go to war looking shabby.”

  Hera glared at Zeus as he waddled by in the form of an obese platypus. The platypus stopped to check Hera out before heading in her direction. She flashed him a coy smile and sauntered off to her temple with the platypus behind her.

  I shook my head in disgust as I walked off. I should have found someone smarter to work with me. How could Hera possibly want to attract the attention of a man who believed he could seduce women in the form of a fat platypus? Not even another platypus would find him attractive.

  “What’s wrong, sister?” Ares asked as he approached me with a smirk.

  Ares would have been a better ally than Hera, but he’d been against the original plan, even when we’d had Zeus’s support.

  “I hate seeing our father acting like an ass while Hera chases after him.” My answer was the truth—just not all of the truth.

  “Liar,” Ares accused. “Why have you been spending so much time with my mother? Don’t think I haven’t noticed you two are plotting something. You both hate each other, yet you’re suddenly best friends. Not only that, someone has been encouraging her jealousy. I think it’s you.”

  I moved closer, until I stood toe to toe with him. “From God of War to playing detective. Oh, how the mighty have fallen.”

  Not giving him a chance to reply, I walked off. Fucking Ares! He’d better not get in the way of my plans. He might have been the god of war at one time, but I wasn’t afraid to take him down.

  Chapter 87

  Hades

  Looking at the demon chained to the wall of the interrogation room, I realized I wasn’t going to be able to make my lunch date with Persephone if he didn’t confess soon. I walked closer, ignoring the rancid smell of his sweat and blood. He was already a mess, and I hadn’t even touched him yet. The guard he’d tried stabbing had done a number on him before I’d yanked the demon out of the detention area. While I understood the guard’s anger, I needed answers on where the demon had gotten his weapon.

  “We can do this one of two ways,” I growled. “Either you can tell me who gave you that weapon now, or you can tell me when you can no longer handle the pain.”

  The demon’s laugh was strained. “I’m not telling you anything.”

  “You’ll tell me,” I assured him. “If I have to stay here to coax the information out of you, I’m going to miss a very important lunch date. That is going to make me angry. Can you guess who’s going to pay for making me miss that date?”

  The demon’s gray skin paled. It seemed he was about to answer me when he shook his head. “It’ll be even worse for me if I tell you.”

  “I wouldn’t bet on that,” I told him before stepping outside the room to message Persephone.

  Hades: I’m tied up at work, and I don’t think I’ll be done in time to make it for lunch.

  Persephone: It’s okay. Well, not really. I miss you. Maybe we can have dinner after I get off work? I’d offer to cook, but my grocery order still hasn’t arrived. We could eat out or order take out and hang out at my place.

  Hades: I wish I could say yes, but I’m working tonight. How about lunch tomorrow?

  Persephone: It’s a date.

  Hades: Are you doing okay?

  Persephone: I’m fine. You don’t need to worry about me. I’ve honestly been so busy with paperwork and trying to find someone to take over my lease, I haven’t had much time to think about anything else.

  Hades: Keeping busy is good. It’s part of the reason I took on extra shifts.

  Persephone: I need to go. I’m in the middle of unloading a box of feathers. I had no idea there were so many types of birds.

  Hades: Feathers?

  Persephone: For one of the prop rooms. My job is interesting. Love you.

  Hades: Love you too.

  Tucking my phone back into my pocket, I returned to the interrogation room to deal with the demon who’d made me cancel my lunch plans with the woman I loved. His afternoon was going to suck worse than mine.

  Chapter 88

  Persephone

  I was trying to remain positive, but it wasn’t easy. I’d been looking forward to having lunch with Hades. Though I understood why he’d had to cancel, I still missed him. I was also horny, and my vibrator wasn’t doing a good job of keeping me sated. I needed Hades. Only one more day until I could see him. I wondered how long I’d be able to resist the temptation to rip his clothes off.

  I’d changed into leggings and a sweatshirt, preparing for a night of takeout and television. When I heard the knock at my front door, I went to answer it.

  “Who is it?” I asked through the door. My security screen was broken, so I couldn’t see out onto my front step. While I lived in a secure building, it was better to be safe than sorry.

  “I’ve got your food order.” I immediately recognized the voice of my regular food delivery guy, proving I’d ordered far too much takeout since I’d moved to the witch community.

  He greeted me with a smile when I opened the door. “I haven’t seen you in a while. Did you go on vacation?”

  “Not exactly,” I replied. “I’ve been in Hell.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that,” he replied. “Hopefully, it gets better for you soon.”

  He hurried off be
fore I could clarify what I meant. I’d just set my food on the table when there was another knock on the door. It was a busy night.

  “Yes?” I called out once I reached the door.

  “I’m from building maintenance,” the man on the other side of the door replied. “A notice was left on your door earlier today to let you know I need to check some of the heating vents.”

  I’d seen the notice on my door and that of a few of my neighbors when I’d arrived home, so I let the warlock in. He was dressed in black overalls and a baseball cap. His dull brown eyes looked almost lifeless. I was tempted to ask him to leave before I caught myself. There was definitely something disturbing about him, but I’d seen him handling maintenance issues around the building since I’d moved in. We’d never spoken, and this was the first time I’d been close enough to see his disturbing eyes. Shaking off my worries, I forced a smile. “Do you need anything from me? If not, I’m going to eat my dinner while you work.”

  “I need you to stay with me since the vents are in your bedroom,” he replied. “The last maintenance guy was accused of stealing from one of the tenants. Management wants to make sure that doesn’t happen again.”

  “That makes sense,” I replied.

  “This shouldn’t take too long,” he assured me. “I just need to change the filter and check a few things.”

  “Why are they having them checked?” I asked. “I assumed there was some sort of problem.”

  “We had an unexpected problem with one apartment, so we want to get them all checked. It’s too cold to be without heat,” he explained as he set the ladder down under the grate that opened to the filters. “I already checked the unit outside and everything looks good.”

  He continued talking as he changed the filter and banged around in the vents. I jumped when I heard a door slam. It sounded like my front door.

  I turned toward the bedroom door. “Is it just me, or did that sound like my front door?

  The warlock hurried down the ladder and put a hand on my arm to stop me. “It probably came from the apartment next door, but you should let me check it out to be on the safe side.”

  “Do you think someone broke in?” I whispered.

  He smiled and shook his head. With his eyes still looking dead, the smile was unnerving. “This is a very secure building. I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about.”

  I nodded. “I’ll stay with you. I’m not nearly as helpless as I look. If someone broke in, I can help you deal with them.”

  “You don’t need to do that,” he argued quietly. “I’ll be right back.”

  I blew out a frustrated breath and headed toward the bedroom door. I didn’t like being treated like I was helpless. I crept out of the bedroom and found the front of my apartment empty.

  “See?” he said with a smile. “Nothing to worry about.”

  “I never noticed how thin these walls are before now,” I remarked. “Do you need to look at anything else?”

  He shook his head as he grabbed his ladder and the old filter. “I’ll get out of your hair so you can eat.”

  After seeing him to the door, I returned to my dinner.

  “This is not the best rice bowl I’ve ever had,” I muttered. The sauce had a strange, bitter flavor. Thankfully, my groceries were arriving later that evening so I wouldn’t need to order more takeout.

  Looking around, I realized that I was going to miss my bright and cozy apartment. I’d been excited about getting approved to live in the witch building. “I’m so tired.” I yawned before continuing. “I need to go to bed.”

  When I turned, I nearly fell to the ground.

  “Oh,” I uttered, feeling dizzy and breathless. “What’s wrong with me?”

  I leaned against the wall for support, wondering if it was my dinner. My phone was still in the kitchen, and I was already in the living room, so I decided to leave it there.

  Using the wall for support, I slowly moved toward my bedroom. Once in my room, I collapsed onto my bed. There was a lot to get done. I had two emails to respond to from people interested in taking over my lease, and I needed to finish submitting my application for my move to the Council of Witches. Everything would have to wait. I was too exhausted to do anything.

  Chapter 89

  Hades

  I was getting ready to pick Persephone up from work when I got her text.

  Persephone: I’m not going to be able to do lunch today.

  I frowned because there was no explanation and no apology. It wasn’t like Persephone to be so terse with me.

  Hades: Is everyone okay?

  Persephone: Yes, but I’m exhausted and have a lot to get done.

  Hades: I’m sorry to hear that. How about if I stop by with some zellafruit tonight? I miss you like crazy.

  I waited for several minutes but got no response. I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. My worries were probably crazy. Being away from Persephone wasn’t easy, and there was still a part of me that found it hard to believe someone as good as her could love me.

  “Why are you frowning?” Rainer asked when he caught sight of me standing in the corridor of the detention area offices, staring at my phone.

  “I always frown,” I reminded him.

  “You did before Persephone,” he stated. “You’ve also frowned more since she’s been back at her apartment, but this is different.”

  “Please, don’t tell me you’ve started categorizing my frowns,” I muttered.

  “Don’t be a bigger asshole than usual,” he told me. “If you don’t want to talk about what’s bothering you, then tell me to fuck off like you normally do.”

  I let out a frustrated breath, wondering when I had become the type to want to apologize for being rude. I’d never cared if I was an asshole before, yet I suddenly wanted to tell him I was sorry.

  “I’ve turned into a total pussy,” I grumbled.

  “Nah, you’re still a dick,” he assured me. “So, what’s going on? I didn’t expect to see you here tonight.”

  “I was supposed to see Persephone, but she canceled,” I explained. “It feels like something’s wrong.”

  “Did she give you a reason for canceling?” he asked.

  I nodded. “She said she’s tired and busy.”

  “She does have a lot going on,” he remarked. “You’re probably worrying over nothing.”

  “You’re right.”

  Everything he’d said made perfect sense. There was no reason for me to worry, but I still couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong.

  “Don’t rush over to Bliss like a crazy man,” Rainer warned me.

  “What makes you think I’m going to Bliss?” I asked.

  He stared at me until I blew out a breath and said, “Fine. I’m thinking about going over there. What if something’s wrong? What if someone stole her phone and they’re pretending to be her?”

  Rainer chuckled. “Now, you sound really crazy. If she hadn’t shown up at work, Gryph would have called me. Persephone is fine, but I know a way to make you feel better.” Rainer pulled out his phone and made a call. “Hey, Gryph, it’s Rainer. Are you at Bliss? How is Persephone?” He listened to Gryph’s reply and chuckled. “Thanks. I’ll talk to you later.”

  “Well,” I prompted.

  “Gryph said she’s a little moody, but fine,” Rainer replied.

  I nodded.

  “Just try to relax,” he told me. “Your witch loves you, and she’ll be back soon. I’m heading out, so I’ll see you later.”

  “Thanks for checking on her,” I said a little awkwardly.

  “Any time,” he assured me.

  Rainer was right. I needed to chill the fuck out and get through the day without doing anything crazy. I’d stop by Persephone’s place later to drop off some zellafruit. That would ease my mind. My phone buzzed, giving me the perfect distraction.

  Lucifer: Thor went batshit crazy again and started throwing hammers at unicorns.

  Hades: Unicorns?
/>   Lucifer: Yes. He thinks the figurines in the gift shop by the River of Fire are alive. Thankfully, he can’t find his hammer, so he’s throwing a bunch he stole from a hardware store. I need you to head over there with some guards to deal with him.

  Hades: I’m on my way there now.

  Thor might be a crazy bastard, but he was a good fighter who’d give me the distraction I needed.

  Chapter 90

  Persephone

  I’d lied to Hades, but I wasn’t ready to talk to him. I needed space to think and try to figure out what was going on with me. I wasn’t getting that space because I was working, but at least, most people were only asking me about appointments and pricing plans. The Bliss clients weren’t concerned with how I was doing. They just wanted to plan their kinky adventure.

  “I’m heading out for lunch,” I told Allie as I peeked my head into her office. “Do you need me to pick anything up while I’m out?”

  “Would you mind grabbing sandwiches for me and Julia?” she asked. “I’ll buy your lunch.”

  “Sure,” I agreed. I didn’t mind picking up lunch for them, and I’d never ask them to pay, but Allie always insisted. She handed me cash and gave me their orders. It was easy since Julia usually ordered the same thing.

  “Are you okay?” Allie asked.

  I hesitated. “Yes, I’m fine. I think I’m a little overwhelmed with everything that’s happened lately. Maybe I need a vacation.”

  “If you need to take time off, let me know,” Allie offered. “I understand there’s a lot going on with your move to the demon realm, and we can always have one of the part-time office staff take on some extra hours.”

  “Do you think I’m making a mistake? It feels like I’m rushing things.” This was the first time I’d voiced the doubts I suddenly had.

  “I suppose you have moved fast in some respects,” she replied thoughtfully. “You’ve known Hades for months, but he kept his distance for most of that time.”