Nether: Hidden Book Five

by Colleen Vanderlinden

  The other sin I saw explained all of the blood.

  And it explained how, exactly, Hyperion had known so much about my deeds. I could see it there, an instant of knowing, of seeing and feeling what she'd felt. Hyperion had found her. Approached her. Tried to reason with her. And when she'd refused to help him, he'd gone away and come back later, doing what Hyperion does, apparently.

  He took what he wanted, through force. He caught her by surprise and tortured an already-broken being until he got what he wanted and left her bleeding after she finally gave in. The sneak attack had been the key. He never would have been able to defeat her fairly. It enraged me.

  I wondered why the imps hadn't protected her.

  "Nether, where are the imps?" I asked her.

  She shook her head. "I didn't want them. I told them to go to the demon's loft and stay there."

  "Nether, they could have helped you," I said.

  "They were yours. Mine by rights, but yours in their hearts. I hated them."

  We sat in silence, the night quiet around us except for the distant sounds of traffic. The sky was overcast above us, a full moon trying to shine through the clouds. Nearby, I could see my Netherhounds watching, patrolling.

  "Freedom is a nightmare," Nether finally said in her flat voice, and it made my heart ache.

  "Not always," I said softly. "I'm sorry he did that to you, Nether. He's a monster."

  She nodded, eyes still glassy, staring. "I tried not to tell him. You are mine."

  "Yours to kill, right?" I asked with a tiny smile.

  "Maybe not. Just mine, my Prison," she said. "I have been in your soul. I've told you before that you are as black and broken as I am."

  "I remember."

  "You are a warrior. You never stop. It confuses me."

  "I don't know how to stop, I think," I said, and she nodded.

  "That is true. That is part of why he was so determined to destroy you in as many ways as he could. Hyperion knew that if you were still able to fight, you would always be in his way."

  "He's strong," I said. "He killed my father."

  "The Lord of the Dead is gone?"

  I nodded.

  "But not entirely. Lady of the Dead," she said.

  I hesitated. "I don't want it."

  She was watching me, still rocking, still afraid and full of rage. "We rarely get to choose our fate, my Prison," she answered.

  "But we can choose how to handle it," I said.

  "I never was very good at that part."

  "I can't defeat him on my own. You should have seen it, Nether. Every immortal on my team was attacking him, and he did this crazy explosive blast, then killed my father and walked way."

  "You need me," she said, and I sensed something from her. Relief? Happiness? It was hard to tell, mixed in with all of her rage and confusion.

  "I need you," I agreed. "I won't force you. I won't take what isn't mine. But you keep telling me freedom is a nightmare." I stopped. I couldn't believe what I was saying, what I was offering her. I also knew it was the only way to avenge my father and keep my family, my world, safe from Hyperion.

  "You would be my Prison again," she said softly.

  "Or your sanctuary, depending on how you look at it," I answered.

  "You know what I am. You know how I am. There is no good in me, my Prison. I would betray you."

  I shrugged. "You might. But, as you say, I'm yours. Would you really betray something you've claimed?"

  "I would eventually want my freedom. I would forget what a nightmare it is to be free. I would forget the noise and the oppressive sense of space around me. I would forget it all and rage against you for my freedom."

  "And if that happened, would you want me to free you again? Or would you want me to fight to keep you contained?"

  She was silent for a moment. Then she said quietly, "I am lost here, my Prison. I don't know how to exist. Once upon a time, I knew. I knew what it was to be free, to love, to know the ecstasy that comes with letting myself feel. It's been too long, and I don't know how to be anything other than a prison. A power source. And I'm tired. So tired. All I want to do is sleep, my Prison."

  "I know," I answered. Oh, I could definitely relate.

  "You will hurt him," she said.

  "Badly," I answered.

  She watched me for a few moments, and I was afraid to hear her response, either way. Whether she said yes or no, in some ways I was completely screwed.

  Like I said. I'd do whatever it takes.

  "You are the only Prison worthy of me, Lady of the Dead," she said. Then she held out her hands, and I held mine out, and she settled her small, cold hands in my palms. "Give me my rest, my Prison," she said.

  I bit my lip, trying to fight back tears. I was getting what I wanted. I was getting Nether contained, and getting a power boost so I could kick Hyperion's ass.

  I also knew I was setting myself up for a lifelong struggle to keep her contained. Because she would forget.

  I would have to stay strong. I would have to be a worthy prison.

  "You're sure?" I asked softly, and she nodded and closed her eyes. I studied her for a moment, determined to remember this broken being, with her white hair and black eyes, so that when she did rail against me, I wouldn't hate her. She'd felt enough hatred in her lifetime.

  I blinked back tears. "Nether, as the goddess of death, the ultimate judge of souls and their punishment," I began, saying words similar to those I'd heard my father use many, many times, power beginning to swirl like a hurricane around us, "I sentence you to eternity served in a prison created entirely of the Nether, a being created entirely of the Nether." I paused, taking a breath as tears rolled down my cheeks. "It will be so," I finished.

  I felt my power snap, and the embodiment of Nether started to dissolve, transforming before my eyes to a black mist. When it came toward me, I stayed still and absorbed every bit of it.

  I felt Nether settle herself into that empty place in my soul, the one she'd inhabited before.

  "Thank you, my Prison," she whispered in my mind.

  And she slept.

  I sat there for a moment, letting her feel my gratitude. I hoped it came across. Then I stood up, and the dogs came to me.

  And, from the shadows, my imps.

  "Mistress," Dahael and Bash said, each thumping a fist to their chest, dropping to a knee. Tears were streaming down Dahael's face, and Bash was blinking hard.

  "My friends," I said, putting a fist to my chest as well, and bowing my head to them. Then I pulled Dahael into a hug, and she hugged me back with a small, crackly laugh.

  "Missed you, Mistress," she said, patting my shoulder.

  "I missed you, too. Life was weird without you guys around."

  "We are useful," Bash said.

  "You're part of my crazy, bizarre family. I missed you."

  I felt a bit of embarrassed happiness from the imps as I looked over the small group with their toothy grins and wrinkled faces. And, standing to the right of them, my Netherhounds, who had been my companions before anyone else.

  "Well. Shall we hunt? I have a father to avenge."

  The imps smiled their sharp little grins, and the Netherhounds howled, and that was all the affirmation I needed. I rose into the air, knowing my imps and hounds would catch up with me.

  As I flew, I noticed a shape to my left, and felt Eunomia's presence.

  "Devil girl," she said in greeting.

  "E," I said.

  She took my hand. "I only wish there was a soul I could have the honor of escorting to your mother, my lady," she said, and I squeezed her hand. "But seeing him die will be satisfying, and I will bear witness."

  We flew, E's bat-like wings and my feathered wings propelling us through the freezing night air quickly. I was focused. We circled over the city, making our circles smaller, working our way in.

  "He's near," I said after a couple of hours. The sky was starting to get lighter in the East. E nodded and followed me in as I sta
rted soaring down to the Earth's surface. The familiar landscape of the city centered me, and I realized where I was.

  The fucking jerk.

  The Packard plant.

  "He really needs to die a painful death, Mollis," E said as we landed just outside the part of the factory where the gateway had once existed.

  The part where Nain had died.

  "He will," I said.

  E and I stalked into the dark factory, the scent of decay and urine greeting us. It was nearly pitch black inside. I could make out the vague shapes of concrete pillars. Further down, exactly where I knew the bastard would be, I could see the flickers of a fire. I nodded my head in that direction, and E followed me. I drew my flamesword.

  It was bigger now. That did not surprise me in the least.

  "Size matters," E murmured.

  "Always," I agreed, and she let out a short laugh. I was really glad she had come with me. "I do the fighting," I told her.

  "Of course."

  My imps and my hounds had found us, and they travelled in the shadows of the factory, watching.

  "He will try to escape," E said under her breath.

  I glanced at the Netherhounds. "He won't manage it."

  As we approached, it was to see Hyperion sitting on what looked like the discarded seat from a car. A fire was burning in a steel barrel nearby. At the left was the place where the gateway had once existed.

  He leered at me. "This is where it happened, isn't it?" he asked.

  I didn't need to look at the spot he was gesturing to. That patch of pitted, blackened concrete was etched into my memory for the rest of my long existence.

  "Did it destroy you, Fury? Did you curl up in a ball and cry? It must have been something, that moment when you realized you'd killed your own mate. Wish I could have seen that."

  His sins were a running montage in my psyche. He had much to atone for, not the least of which was murdering my father, raping my mother, and torturing the most lost girl I'd ever known.

  I raised my sword in front of me. "It will be cleansed with your blood," I said, and I barely recognized my own voice.

  In an instant I was on him, slashing, listening to the comforting sizzle of the flames from my sword as it hissed through the air.

  I'd forgotten what it felt like to have Nether's power infusing me. As I slashed and stabbed at Hyperion, I remembered that day in my father's throne room in the original Nether, the way I threw Ares and Dionysus across it and into the wall. The way it had taken nothing more than a wave of my hand to end immortal life.

  I soared with it. Full. My arms didn't tire, my body didn't ache. My sword soon started to rend his golden armor, flaying it wide open. I didn't slow down, and soon his confidence turned to confusion.

  And then, my favorite of enemy emotions: fear.

  I fed, and I slashed, and eventually, his armor hung in tatters.

  He backed away, trying to get out of my reach.

  And then I felt his power change, as he prepared to try to rematerialize. And that's when Kurt and Courtney charged in. Each of them grabbed a hold of one of his ankles, their huge, sharp teeth puncturing the armor there.

  "No!" he shouted, trying to kick the hounds away. They just snarled, eyes glowing up at him, preventing him from taking the coward's way out yet again.

  "Ridiculous Titan. There is no escape from death," I hissed.

  That was when terror began to roll through him, and it was delicious.

  "This is for Apollo," I said, slashing at his now-exposed stomach, and he howled. My sword hissed as blood met flame. The hounds let go, but stayed close, watching ever move Hyperion made. This was their role. Hunters, trappers. Dogs that had once served my father, assisted my mother and aunts in their work. There was no escape when a Netherhound decided to trap you. Finally, I understood.

  I advanced on Hyperion again.

  "This is for my mother," I said, hefting the sword high and bringing it down, stabbing him through the chest, and he screamed.

  "For Nether," I said, and slashed across his throat and watched his blood flow over my blade and down his destroyed armor.

  I exchanged a glance with E, and she gave me a somber nod.

  "And this is for my father." I said. "In the immortal words of my husband, checkmate, motherfucker."

  Then I released it. I let Nether's insane power flow through me. I let it blast into him, and he screamed, and soon there was nothing left.

  E, the imps, my hounds, and I stood in silence for a long while.

  E walked over to me and wrapped me in her thin, strong arms, and I hugged her back.

  "I have served as a witness to Hyperion's downfall. I will report what has happened here to your mother, my friend."

  "Thank you, E."

  She gave me a tiny bow. "Go home to your family."

  I nodded and watched her leave.

  And then I flew toward home, trying to give myself enough time to calm down. Adrenaline was still flowing through me. Rage. Mine and Nether's.

  There was relief, too. It was done. I'd figure everything else out later.

  When I got home, I unlocked the door to our apartment, realizing we could finally go home to the loft now. The thought made me smile.

  I closed the door behind me and tiptoed over to Zoe's bassinet. I glanced down at myself. I guessed I wouldn't be picking her up. My black clothing was still soaked in blood, crusted over with blood older than that. Instead, I leaned over and looked at her.

  "My beautiful girl," I whispered, drinking in the sight of her soft baby cheeks, her long black eyelashes and her mass of shining curls. "I love you, my munchkin."

  Look what you helped me protect, Nether, I thought, and felt a contentment deep in my soul. I smiled and turned around when I felt Nain's presence.

  He was standing in the doorway to our bedroom, dressed in a pair of low-slung sweatpants.

  He held his hand out to me.

  I went to him.

  And he made me feel sane again.

  After saying so many things without the need for words, Nain and I lay in our bed wrapped in each other's arms, and I told him everything. About how I had inherited Hades' mantle as ruler of the dead. About Nether, which he wasn't happy about because he knew better than anyone what it had taken for me to try to keep her under control before. I told him about Hyperion's end, and felt his anger, as well as his satisfaction at my victory.

  "I should have been there," he said.

  I shook my head. "I needed to know you and Zoe were safe. Which meant away from him. You were exactly where I needed you to be."

  He held me tighter as I told him what it was like to have Hades' ability. The nice thing about being with my mate was that I'd already seen all of his sins. He had many. So many, from the time before he reformed, and many since. There were no surprises in that regard, and for that I was grateful. It was a relief to find that there wasn't anything he'd been hiding from me.

  Honestly, I didn't think I could take any more revelations. Not from him, anyway.

  We talked about more. Mostly, we talked about what would come next. And by the time Zoe woke crying for her morning bottle, we'd come to an agreement about what our lives would look like now that we didn't have any more insane immortals to deal with.

  Nain got up with Zoe, and I ended up falling back to sleep. When I got up it was late afternoon, and I could feel the power signatures of my closest friends nearby.

  I got dressed, and it hit me again that my father wouldn't be sitting out there. He wouldn't be holding Zoe or looking at my mother with that adoring look on his face. He wouldn't be there giving Nain his pointed insults or threatening to kill Brennan just out of spite.

  I brushed my hair, remembering the night my father had sat with me when I was terrified I'd lose Shanti. How he'd helped me search through dumpsters for someone he didn't know, because she mattered to me.

  I made myself stop thinking, because I was in that weird place between sadness and rage, and I didn't k
now how to deal with it just then.

  I looked at the closed bedroom door.

  The last thing I wanted to do was go through that door and see all of my friends' sins. Their worst moments. I felt like I'd already seen too much. I understood now, at least a little, why my dad had been such a prick sometimes. Seeing the worst in every person you look at, not by choice, but because you can't not see it, is a really strange way to live.

  I took a deep breath and opened the door that led into the living room.

  Nain was there, holding Zoe on his lap, talking to Heph and Meaghan. Brennan was sitting on the couch, talking to E. Sean was playing with wooden blocks on the living room floor. To my surprise, Artemis was there as well.

  I avoided looking at Brennan, focusing instead on Artemis. I couldn't look at him. I didn't want to know what else he'd kept from me. Because there were things. I knew there were. Artemis came to me, and I tried to ignore the images that played in my mind as her sins were catalogued. She pulled me into a fierce hug, and I hugged her back.

  "You avenged him," she said, and I nodded.

  "I am sorry about your father, Mollis," she said. "He was an ass, but he was decent, too."

  I nodded again.

  And then my gaze settled on Brennan. The images began to flash across my mind.

  I was aware of Nain watching me closely, tense.

  Brennan was watching me too, nervousness rolling off of him. Guilt. Anger. Sadness.

  I shared what I was seeing with Nain. He stood up. "You two should go outside or something," he said. "Talk, kick his ass, whatever. But this shit ends now. There are no more secrets. Not anymore." Nodding, Bren stood, and Nain clapped him on the shoulder. "Go," he said, meeting my eyes.

  I gave him a small smile and nodded toward the door. Brennan followed me.

  We walked out the back door and into the yard. We'd had a small storm earlier in the day, and the grass was coated in a blanket of fresh snow. I noticed some of my imps in the trees nearby, and it made me happy. I looked up at Brennan, who was studying me closely, arms crossed over his chest.