by S. E. Babin
Melana snorted. "Only because you are soul bound to another."
Hades shrugged. "Perhaps."
Melana gathered her wings around her. "Do not allow this book out of your possession. Worlds will fall if you do."
With a nod, Hades dismissed the angel.
Time sped forward into a dizzying whirl. Again, I stood in the library, this time with both Hades and Persephone.
"You are a horrible man, Hades. You keep me here, prisoner, with no one to speak to and nothing to amuse myself."
Hades' look was stricken. "Persephone," he pleaded. "You wanted this."
"I want this no longer," she said. "My mother wants me to stay married to you for reasons I cannot define, but I want out. I no longer want to be Queen of this domain."
"Don't do this," he whispered.
My heart ached for him. If this was Atropos' way of showing me he was evil, it wasn't working.
Persephone's fingers trailed over the books on one of his shelves until she pulled out the Shakespeare tome. A cruel smile slashed her mouth. "I think I'll take this with me on my travels."
A flurry of emotions flashed across his face - rage, denial, murderous intent until it finally settled back onto the one that wouldn't give his game away. Blank disinterest. But while Persephone might have missed the red haze that swirled in his eyes for a second, I hadn't. I swallowed hard.
"Farewell, Hades," Persephone said and flashed out of his lair, the book tucked underneath his arm.
His roar of rage swallowed the library.
Time flashed forward again, but this time I landed in Hades' bedchamber.
He sat with bare feet on the edge of his bed, his head in his hands.
God sat in the chair opposite him studying his son. "Welp, I think you're going to have to kill her."
Hades choked with both amusement and despair. "I will not kill my wife, Father."
"Why? You going to wait for her to kill you first?"
He peeked from between his fingers. "She does not know what she has."
"She will," God said. "Trust me on this. It might not be anytime soon, but she's immortal. Eventually, she will figure out what she has."
"It is cloaked from her senses."
"But you didn't cloak it from anyone else's did you?" God remarked and smiled as his son flashed pale.
"I cannot retrieve it," Hades admitted. "Though the book is cloaked, it still leaks power. It can be found with someone determined enough. I cannot walk upon the Earth for long without dire consequences."
God nodded. "It is best that way. We can only handle so many signs of the Apocalypse before humans start to question things."
Hades gave his father a sour look. "Thanks for that by the way. You don't want to fix that for me so I can get it back?"
God offered him an appraising look. "No, I don't think that I do. But I do have another plan."
Hades sat up straighter. "And that is?"
God smiled. "You should have a visitor very, very soon. Someone who is prone to get into trouble for the good of her fellow man."
I paled as his words penetrated my soul.
Oh, Hades.
Time dipped again and I watched as me and my clueless friends almost killed ourselves to gain entrance into the Underworld. I watched as I grew to care about Hades, watched as we learned his secret and watched again as he convinced me to rescue his wife under the pretense of caring.
I also watched as he said he would renege on his deal if it meant it would keep me alive.
So which was real and which was fake? Obviously God had meddled in my Fate and sent me to Hades knowing I would accept his offer.
I stood in front of Atropos again, humbled.
"Do you still wish for our assistance?" she asked me, a satisfied smile curving her lips.
While tears burned my eyes, I still nodded. I wasn't sure of a lot of things, but I was sure that Hades cared about me. I could sense it. I knew it. And, yes, I did know that he was the Morningstar so feared in Christian mythology, but he wasn't that same person anymore. But I also knew in my heart that this was no longer about Hades. This was about me and this was about the rest of our futures. His, Arties, Hermes and everyone I'd begun to care about.
Surprise flickered across Atropos' face but she hid it quickly. "You are a fool," she murmured.
"This may be true, but this is bigger than Hades or me now. All of us stand to suffer."
A crack of thunder reverberated through the room. Lachesis and Clotho now stood in front of me. Grief and fear shattered Clotho's face and she stared at me. I could read the message on her face. I shouldn't have come.
I tried to tell her I had no choice, but there were only tears.
Lachesis was resigned. She sighed as she studied me. "You are a fool." She repeated the words Atropos had just said to me.
"You are brave," Clotho whispered and stepped over to embrace me. "And also foolish," she whispered in my ear.
"Thanks for the vote of confidence," I whispered back.
"Ask of us what you will. In this matter our help is limited. We cannot interfere in the spiral of fate, and anything you ask we must confer on first." Lachesis snapped her fingers and brought us all into the room of the Well of Knowing. I gasped in surprise. No one that I knew of had ever stepped into this room and lived. I swallowed down my fear, squared my shoulder and told the sisters my plan.
When I finished, they all shook their heads. Atropos spoke first. "I know of no other immortal who uses human tricks to win their battles. Brute force is usually the way with them."
Lachesis spoke next. "Your methods are...unorthodox, sure, but your track record cannot be denied."
"Your capacity for emotion has widened greatly during your time among the humans. This has led to other immortals being gifted with compassion and hope." She offered me a sad smile. "We must consult the Well."
Atropos snapped her fingers and I was propelled out of the room and back into my hotel in Franklin.
I hit the floor with a hard thud and lay there dazed.
"Abby!" Hermes' shout rang through the room.
I waggled my fingers to let him know I was okay.
Artie's warm hands swept my hair away and felt the back of my neck and down my spine. "Thank the gods," she murmured.
I gasped air into my lungs and was able to sit up after a few moments. "I figured they blasted you back here."
"Yeah," she said with a frown. "And none too gently either."
Hermes chuckled. "I had to peel her off the ceiling."
I gave her a questioning look but she waved it off. "Guess I deserved that."
"Atropos came out all terrifying waving her power around," I told them.
"Are they going to help?" Hermes asked as he helped me up.
"No idea. They're consulting the Well."
I sat down on the edge of the bed. "Atropos sent me images of Hades." I buried my head in my hands. "He knew we were coming to the Underworld when we did and not because he felt us enter. God set the whole thing up."
Hermes' eye twitched. For him, that was like flipping a table.
"The entire thing? But we weren't even there because of him. We went there for a different reason."
I nodded. "And Hades saw his opportunity to bring me to his side."
Artie's hand caressed her bow absentmindedly. "I can kill him if you like."
I groaned and flopped back against the mattress. "Thanks for the offer but I don't think any of us could kill him even if we wanted to." I paused. "Except for Morgana Le Fay."
"If she figures out the spell," Hermes pointed out.
"Only a matter of time," I said.
Artie lay down beside me. We seriously needed to get out of this hotel room and find a bigger place. "So when do you think you'll find out?" she asked.
"From the Fates?"
She nodded.
"No idea. Hopefully sooner rather than later. No telling what will happen if Morgana's staff gets to full capacity."
&nb
sp; "Calamity!" Hermes exclaimed, laughed and then sighed. "And here I thought ruling Olympus was bad."
"I was never this worried about Zeus," I said, realizing I spoke the truth. Never had I thought he'd destroy the world. Half the time I figured he'd just sleep his way through it and eventually be murdered by his wife.
She came pretty close to doing it over Christmas.
"He seems to be content to hold Olympus' power," Hermes mused. "He looks upon Earth as bonus entertainment."
"Lucky them," I muttered. "There may not be an Earth soon if we don't get it in gear."
"We're stuck, though," Artie reminded us.
"Yeah." I pushed myself up from the bed. "Let's go find a place to live while we're stuck here."
I held my hand out to Hermes. "You in?"
He took my hand in his own and gave me a long look. Finally, he nodded. A rueful smile crossed his face. "Never did I think I'd get caught up with something like this again."
I shoulder bumped him. "Aww, admit it. You miss the threat of certain death hanging over everyone's heads."
He rolled his eyes. "Come on, dork. Let's go find an apartment."
We spent the better part of the day looking through ancient apartments with wallpaper peeling off, green bathtubs, and dirty linoleum. All of them had seen better days. I was getting frustrated until Artie shouted and pointed to an ad in a paper she'd picked up.
"Look!"
I scrambled from my side of the booth and shoved her over to read it.
Small two-bedroom cabin. Secluded. Located on 4 acres of unregulated land. Six-month lease required.
I frowned. "I hope we won't be here for six months."
"You can charge this to Hades, can't you?"
Delight sparked low in my belly. A slow grin slid on my face. "Oh. Yes. Yes, I can." I tapped the ad. "And maybe I can charge him for a whole lot more."
Artie fist pumped. "Fully furnished cabin in the woods with a state of the art kitchen?"
I nodded. "Yep. Sending me off to die is going to cost him."
Hermes frowned. "There will be a reckoning for that."
I grinned his way. "Oh yes, there will be."
He grinned back. "Let's do it."
We pulled onto a gravel road in the middle of nowhere. I was beginning to feel a little bit apprehensive about it because I hadn't seen real civilization for several miles. But, this would do the trick and would keep us out of sight of Persephone and Morgana. We were forced to rent a car to get here because we couldn't very well be seen walking out of the woods. Hermes hated driving in cars and I was secretly delighted to see him so uncomfortable. I still hadn't quite forgiven him for Halloween.
As soon as we stopped, he threw the door open and scrambled out. He only slowed when he turned and saw my knowing grin. He sighed and stretched like he was exhausted. "So cramped in there," he mused.
"Uh huh," Artie said and winked at me. "You're a terrible liar."
The cabin looked like every other cabin I'd seen. Dark reddish wood lined the entire thing, but there was a large porch wrapped around it complete with rocking chairs and hummingbird feeders hanging from the top of the eave. There was no careful landscaping here. Everything that grew was wild but well maintained. Cool weather flowers spilled over pots and herbs grew wild every few feet. I liked it right away and hoped we could work something out with the landlord without resorting to magic.
The door slammed open and a grizzled old man hobbled out carrying a shotgun.
I froze in place and stared at him wide-eyed. I put my hands up in a gesture of peace and hissed for Artie and Hermes to do the same. We stood there, omnipotent and immortal, stared down by an old man with an attitude problem.
His gray hair lay neatly combed against his head, but his beard took on a life of its own and sprouted from his face in all directions as if it was confused about which way to go. His eyes, one of them staring down the gun's scope, were a startling blue. The man wore overalls with a red and black plaid shirt and yellow work boots. This was a typical, country man who didn't take kindly to strangers on his property.
He stared us down for a few seconds before I got the nerve to speak.
"I'm Abby. We saw your ad in the paper for the cabin, and we wanted to come look at it."
His gaze narrowed. "I didn't put the address in the ad."
Oh. Oh crap. He hadn't. Think, Abby. Think!
"We asked one of the waitresses down the road, and she kindly told us where to find you," Hermes said.
I've never wanted to kiss someone quite as badly as I did him at that moment.
The man grunted and lowered the gun. "Well, what are you waiting for then? I don't have all day." He stepped back into the cabin, the screen door slamming behind him.
Artie's eyes sparkled. "I like him."
"You little violent beast," I said affectionately. "He's way too old for you."
She pinned me with a serious gaze. "Is he?" she asked.
I blinked and watched as she walked in front of me.
Hermes laughed out loud. "She's a woman who knows what she wants."
"I don't even want to think about that," I answered, truthfully. Good gracious. The guy must have been 70 if he was a day.
I followed up the steps behind my friend and held the screen open for Hermes.
I was pleasantly surprised by the interior. The old man, who we found out later was named Les, had taken good care of the place. It smelled pleasant from frequent cleaning and from a pot of something he had simmering on the stove. I poked my head into the kitchen and saw an enormous pot with some kind of meat and a reddish brown bubbling sauce.
"It's Beef Bourguignon," he admitted with a grunt. "I learned how to make it in culinary school."
I stared at him open mouthed. "You're a chef?"
He gave me a gimlet stare. "Do I look like a chef, missy? I'm pushing eighty."
"Oh," I said, nonplussed, "I'm sor-"
His hoarse laughter broke through. "I was. Many years ago. Retired about fifteen years ago. Been living here ever since."
A nervous laugh escaped me. "Well, it smells delicious, sir."
He glared. "Name's Les, not sir."
Hermes choked on his laughter.
"Right. Les."
He glared at me again. "You whippersnappers call your elders by their first name now? No respect I tell you."
I blinked. "I -"
His laugh broke in. I frowned at him. "You're doing that on purpose."
His bright blue eyes sparkled. "Course I am. I haven't had a visitor in two years."
Artie snorted in amusement. "Maybe we can stay for dinner, Les," she said.
He eyed her with suspicion. "I reckon you could. But a pretty thing like you has more to do than humor an old man, don't you?"
Artie looked taken aback. "I reckon I don't. I'd be honored to have dinner with you if you have room for an extra person at the table."
His smile looked like the sun had broken through. Despite his age, old Les had strong white teeth and a smile so brilliant he could be a model for a toothpaste company. I shook my head in surprise. Artie was full of surprises when she wanted to be. Whether she wanted to be this old man's friend or something else was beyond me, but I wasn't going to stand in their way.
Les offered us a glass of water and motioned for us to sit down at his old scarred wooden kitchen table. He immediately got down to business.
He had farm animals on the property roaming wild and chickens toward the back of the house. I hadn't bargained for that but Hermes seemed to have no objection to taking care of them. Then he asked if we had enough money for a two-month deposit to put down.
Artie reached over and patted his hand. "If you like we can pay the entire six-month lease today."
He gave her a suspicious stare. "What about a credit score?"
I blinked and gave Hermes a freaked out look. We had no credit. I had an identity set up, but that didn't mean I had credit cards or anything of the sort. I'd never needed him.<
br />
Artie smiled at him. "You're full of crap, Les."
Les glared back at her for a moment before finally giving her another of those beautiful grins. "I suppose I am. If you have the entire sum up front and are willing to sign a lease, I'll sign this over to you today." He gave Artie an appraising look. "You'll just have to help me pack up. I'm an old man, you know."
She grinned. "Old my foot. I'll help you pack up. If you want to run out and get some boxes I bet we can have you out of here by tonight."
Les scoffed. "It will be days before I have everything done."
Artie leaned in, her violet eyes swirling with power. "I am a woman of many means, Les."
He sat back in his chair and after a moment nodded. "All right," he said as he crossed his arms. "Let's see if you can work your magic."
"Done," she said and waved her fingers in a give it to me motion. "Let's see that paperwork."
Less than an hour later we were the proud new renters of a massive cabin and several acres of land. We left Artie sitting next to Les at the kitchen table, drinking whiskey and reminiscing about The Great Depression. Les didn't seem to care that Artie looked all of 25 years old. He just cared he'd found a companion.
Interesting times make interesting friends, I supposed.
With a sweep of my hand, I trailed magic across the motel room, dropping all the work I'd poured into it and leaving it in its original dingy state. Hermes' eyebrows rose and his nose crinkled in distaste.
"Gross," he said.
"Yeah," I admitted. "I thought this would be a quick in and out so I didn't try to look for anything else."
"I like that cabin," he said unexpectedly. "The woods around it are...wild. There's magic back there."
I guess I hadn't paid too much attention to it because I was caught up in the weird dynamic between Les and Artie. I shrugged. "Yeah? It will suit our purposes."
But Hermes looked pensive. "Perhaps I can convince him to sell it to me when all of this is over?"
I stopped what I was doing and let the magic trail from my fingers. "Hermes?"
"Being a ruler is not what I expected. It is...difficult. I find I chafe from the restrictions set upon me."