Alex stood up. “Do you—”
“Know someone that could help you?” Lachesis finished. “Yes, we do.”
For a moment, Alex dared to hope. “Will you tell me where this person is?”
“In Hades,” she replied. “Past the fields of asphodel is a place known as Elysium. He wanders that land, happy and blissful, and goes by the name Odysseus.”
“Odysseus?” echoed Alex. “How will I know him? Or find him?”
“That is something you will figure out on your own,” said Atropos. “Be warned: you will pay a heavy price for an answer from him.”
“There’s always a price,” Alex said with a sigh. He popped his knuckles and took in a deep breath, trying to mentally prepare himself for whatever this unknown leg of his journey might entail. Given his adventure thus far, it couldn’t be anything good. “Is there anything else I should know?”
“There is much you should know,” Lachesis said with a wink.
“But no more will we tell,” Atropos tacked on.
“Thank you, then,” said Alex. He gave a friendly wave to all three and headed for the door.
“One last thing,” Lachesis said, stopping him in his place. She motioned to a box that held all sorts of balls and scraps of yarn. “Take the brown one,” she said.
Alex looked at the ball she mentioned, but did not immediately take it. “Thanks, but I don’t crochet.”
“Think of it as a souvenir,” she said.
“Who knows what you will weave,” Atropos interjected.
“Better to have and not need than need and not have, yes?” Lachesis then said.
“I suppose,” Alex said, taking the ball from the box. Though he still had no idea what he would want it for, or why they pushed it so, he figured being impolite to the Fates was probably not a very good idea. He then said his goodbyes again and quickly left the room. As he made his way down the hall and back outside, he heard Atropos call out to him one last time. “If you see Euryale,” she said, “tell her we said hello.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
He doesn’t look happy to see you,” Jessica said as she slipped behind Alex in the chariot. “You go unlock the gates.”
Alex nodded, his eyes never leaving Cerberus. The three-headed dog was not only fixated on Alex, but was salivating like a pack of rabid bulldogs who had no intention of letting Alex pass.
“Shouldn’t you be watching out for dead escapees?” asked Alex, wishing the dog had been snoring like the last time he was here. When Cerberus didn’t budge, Alex steeled himself before slowly making his way to the gates. Hopefully, Apollo’s words were still true and the hideous pooch would let him pass.
Cerberus barked and lunged. With his heads low, ears back, and mane slithering, he growled.
“Whoa! Whoa!” Alex said, freezing in place and putting his hands up. “I’m not dead. Not dead!”
Cerberus’s heads continued barking and two even nipped at each other. But at least he didn’t attack, and for that Alex was grateful. A few terror-laden moments later, Cerberus sat on his haunches and whined.
“Think he wants something?” Jessica asked.
“I’m hoping it’s not a pair of human chew toys,” he replied. He kept his hands up and inched forward, his muscles taught and ready to propel him away from a trio of mandible death.
Two steps into his advance, Cerberus came at him with a flurry of barks.
“Christ!” yelled Alex, scrambling back into his chariot. “Don’t you have dead people to chase?”
Cerberus tilted his left head while the other two panted, salivated, and then yawned.
Jessica nudged Alex with her elbow. “Bribe him.”
“Say again?” he asked, but when he followed her gaze to his bag he had on the chariot’s floor, he understood. “That is some good jerky. Think it’ll be enough?”
“Only one way to find out.”
Alex grabbed the bag and before he was upright, Cerberus shot across the cavern floor. The canine raised on his hind legs and dropped his fore legs over the side of the chariot. Jessica leaped back with a yell as one head slobbered everywhere and the other two sniffed the bag.
“You can have some if you’re nice,” Alex said, trying to sound in control while reaching in the bag and taking out some jerky. “Now sit.”
Cerberus did, and Alex rewarded him by tossing three pieces at him, one for each head. Those three pieces vanished in a snap of teeth and a spray of drool. An instant later, the hellhound was back on the chariot’s side, barking for more.
“Fine, fine,” said Alex, giving in and reminding himself he had another pouch tucked away. “Take it.”
Jerky flew, and Cerberus snapped this way and that. Soon the bag was empty, but Cerberus and his demanding ways remained.
“That’s all I have,” said Alex, throwing up his hands. “Now let us through so we can find Odysseus.”
Cerberus sniffed the air. One head glanced over his shoulder, but the other two looked more interested in the chariot than anything else. Before Alex could react, a trio of black, wet noses pressed into Alex’s side and between his legs.
“Oh no,” he said, hiding the remnants of his jerky supply behind his back. “Not on your life. Help me get to Odysseus first.”
Cerberus lunged forward, and Alex tried to get away. But instead of getting anywhere, the hellhound jumped onto his back and sent him sprawling to the floor.
“Get off me, damn it!” Alex cried, trying to hold on to his bag and protect the spicy strips of jerky inside. “These are mine!”
A massive paw landed on the back of his neck and pressed his head into the ground. Alex wiggled out from under the pin, but he still couldn’t get free of the nitrate-crazed dog. Cerberus dropped his full weight on Alex’s shoulders, biting and clawing for the bag he clutched in his hands. Alex curled into a fetal position with the bag pressed against his chest. Cerberus jabbed two of his noses into Alex’s armpits and barked repeatedly.
At first, the sensation of stinking, furry heads poking his ribs was more annoying than funny, but eventually those heads hit a few nerves the right way and Alex burst into laughter.
In that moment of hysterical release, Alex shot his hands out and the bag went flying. Cerberus jumped and snatched his prize mid-air. Once he landed, the dog tore the bag apart with all three heads in a wanton display of jerky violence. When it was over, Cerberus yawned, stretched, and sat, wagging his serpentine tail and licking all his chops.
“I can’t believe you let me get mauled like that,” Alex said, picking himself up off the ground.
Camera in hand and face beaming, Jessica shrugged unapologetically. “This might be my best set of shots yet. Your face was priceless.”
“I’m glad my suffering gave you such pleasure.”
Jessica stuck her tongue out. “You’ve had worse.”
“Maybe, but now he probably won’t help us since he’s had his fill.”
To Alex’s surprise, Cerberus ran to the gates and pawed at them with a trio of whines. Alex opened them up and drove his chariot through, and Cerberus bolted ahead.
“Do you think he should leave the gates like that?” Jessica asked.
“No idea, but you can try and wrestle him back here if you want,” Alex replied. “I’m going with the idea that the slayer of jerky knows what he’s doing.”
They followed Cerberus out into the asphodel fields and along the banks of a river Alex wasn’t familiar with. Shades mingled with one another, and they reminded Alex of the shades he had seen when he met Kharon. These spirits were different, though. They didn’t look miserable, but at the same time they weren’t overflowing with eternal, heavenly bliss. They simply were.
Cerberus raced upstream, and Alex and Jessica soon left the shades far behind. On they went until Cerberus broke from the river and shot off on a tangent. The musty air and fuzzy look that accompanied the asphodel fields gave way to the smell of salt and soon a ro
cky beach. Cerberus ran only a short while more before halting at the tip of a small peninsula. He looked toward an island on the horizon and barked.
Alex stopped the chariot next to Cerberus and squinted. Try as he might, he couldn’t make out any details across the water. “Odysseus is there?” asked Alex. “That’s Elysium?”
Cerberus spun around, wagging his tail.
Alex scratched the hellhound behind all three sets of ears. “Thank you,” he said, still looking at the isle. “Once this is done, I’ll bring you some more jerky. I promise.”
Cerberus barked one last time before licking Alex’s hand and running off. Alex wiped the slobber off on his chiton and snapped the reins.
As his ponies flew across the waters, Alex said, “What do you know about this Odysseus fellow? Do you think he can help?”
“He’s clever, strong, and the very epitome of a hero,” Jessica replied. “If he can’t help you, I’m not sure who else could.”
“Wonderful, but do you think he could ever relate to being away from his wife?”
* * *
Euryale sat on her bed and watched the sunrise through the gaps in the iron bars that made her window. It wasn’t the most beautiful sight she’d seen—her small island home always gave such wonderful views at both dawn and dusk— but given she was being held captive atop a mountain and inside a tower, she could not deny the grand view she had.
“Here she is,” said a voice, rough and harsh.
Euryale turned as Aphrodite strode through the door with Ares following a step behind. As always, the goddess looked gorgeous, as if she had a personal entourage tending to her hair, keeping it ever shining, bouncy, and mat-free. As much as Euryale longed for her freedom and to be at Alex’s side, seeing the goddess also made her acutely aware of how much she longed for curling locks once more instead of the venomous snakes she bore.
“Good morning, sweet Euryale,” said Aphrodite while she toyed with the scepter from Hades. “I hope all is well.”
“You can stop the act,” she said, crossing her arms and leaning against the wall. “You know things are not well.”
“I could make things better,” Aphrodite said. She beckoned Euryale over with a wave. “Take my hand. Let me make things right.”
“I already said I will never give up Alex. Let me go or let me be.”
Pity filled Aphrodite’s eyes. “For your own sake, I wish you’d reconsider.”
“My Alex will come for me,” Euryale replied, her voice as strong as the stone around her.
Aphrodite withdrew her hand and paced like a tiger inside a cage. “Are you so sure?” she asked. “Twice now he’s been beaten by Ares and sent home licking his wounds and his pride. Even now he questions his love for you.”
“You lie,” Euryale replied while her serpents hissed in agreement. “He loves me. This I know more than anything.”
Aphrodite stopped and faced the gorgon. “Euryale, my fight is not with you,” she said. “I apologize for the distress I’ve caused you, but I can’t have Athena meddling in my affairs or giving false hopes to lonely souls. You deserve a lover that won’t turn tail when danger rears. All I’m doing is demonstrating this for all to see and to put Athena in her place.”
Euryale looked away and bit down on her lip. She tried to ignore the goddess’s words, but Aphrodite’s voice could never fully be tuned out, not by anyone. Knowing this, the gorgon kindled her inner fire, one that burned with anger and hate, and used it to drive away her fears of being abandoned. “Alex is not wrong for me,” she said as her brow dropped and her muscles tensed. “He will come for me.”
“I hate to tell you this, Euryale, but he’s gone,” Aphrodite said, as if she were breaking dreadful news to a recent widow. “Right now, he’s scouring Hades, desperate to convince himself he loves you. And what will become of that? We both know it will be nothing.”
“Leave me be—”
“I cannot,” said Aphrodite. Her head dropped forward. Her shoulders slouched and her bottom lip quivered. “It pains me to think you’d refuse my help when bliss is but a single statement away. A mere utterance that you long for another, a true love.”
“Never.”
A large, clay basin with water appeared in Aphrodite’s hand and she placed it on the floor near Euryale’s cell. She chanted softly while keeping a hand over the water’s surface. Ripples formed in the center while colors swirled throughout. An image of Euryale’s island home formed in the reflection, and the goddess stood. “Do you know who he’s with?”
“It doesn’t matter,” the gorgon replied, though in her heart, she didn’t believe a word she said.
“You don’t care who he shared an intimate meal with and who he confessed his love for?”
Euryale tried not to look, but her self-control failed her. She glanced at the basin out of the corner of her eyes, and when she saw Alex with Jessica, she couldn’t stop herself from staring as the woman hung from Alex’s neck and wine flowed between them. “No,” the gorgon said, her heart pounding in her chest. “You’re trying to trick me.”
“Even you don’t believe that,” Aphrodite answered.
“No. No. No.” With each word the gorgon spoke, her eyes darkened. Razor claws grew from her hands, and her skin hardened. She grabbed the sides of her head and growled. “Stop this.”
Aphrodite raised an eyebrow, impressed at the gorgon’s continued resilience to her suggestions. Anyone lesser would have been a raging storm of jealousy by now. Still, Aphrodite knew even a daughter of The Old Man could not resist her forever. She only needed a little extra push to break. “I can find you someone else,” Aphrodite offered. “Or I can leave you be with a man who is in love with another.”
“I said stop!”
“Shouldn’t Alex be the one who should stop?”
“I mean it!”
“As do I,” Aphrodite said, her words horribly sweet. “His heart is with the girl who got away. He’s thought of her all his life. Honestly, Euryale, what chance do you have?”
“HE’S NOT LEAVING ME!” Euryale bellowed, and Aphrodite staggered from the blast. The gorgon, fully transformed into a monstrous hulk of muscle, claw, and scale, threw herself at the bars and tried pushing them apart.
Had her jail not been divinely created, Aphrodite was certain Euryale’s rage would have been enough to rip the bars from their foundation. As the gorgon continued her attempts to break out, Aphrodite went to a window and leaned out to inspect Euryale’s damage. When she saw the now-withered foliage that stretched for miles, she couldn’t help but whistle long and slow. “As hideous as you are, you’ve got some lungs.”
Euryale paced her cell, fiery eyes never leaving the goddess, and her only reply was a snarl that promised vengeance the moment she was loose.
“Can you hear me in there? The real you, the you who’s being cast aside for a pretty little mortal?”
Euryale slammed into the bars. Her arms shot through the spaces, but they were nowhere near long enough. All she could do was claw the air in a vain attempt to get to Aphrodite.
“How predictable,” Aphrodite said, laughing. “But it’s not me you’re mad at. Or even Alex, is it? Be honest. It’s her. It’s Jessica.”
The gorgon finally spoke, her voice commanding such power that any demon would have cowered before her. “I’ll destroy you both.”
“Don’t kill the messenger.” The goddess nudged the basin closer so the gorgon could see her husband and his lost love enjoy each other’s company. With a wave of her hand, she made sure the scene looped continuously, starting when Alex had first arrived on the island and ending a few moments before Athena spoiled the party. “Oh, one last thing before I go. I know it’s hard for you to control yourself when you get worked up like this, but for your own sake, try not to imagine what happened after.”
Aphrodite left, smiling as the gorgon howled again. She’d come back in a few days, once Euryale was so distraught that no w
ords would reach her—not even her husband’s. And when she was in that uncontrollable state, Aphrodite knew she could checkmate Athena in one, swift move, for who could ever love such a vile, rage-filled monster bent on murdering a loved one?
Chapter Twenty-Six
The isle was not what Alex had expected. Larks and warblers hopped about. Swans and geese sailed the air while herons and egrets walked the shore. Flowers dazzled the landscape with their large petals, yellow and white, blooming full and welcoming all those who might take in their fragrant aroma. Trees of every kind dotted the land, some bearing flowers of their own, others dangling a wide variety of the most delicious looking fruits Alex had ever seen a mere five feet off the ground.
“Oh, god, I’m going to be sick,” Jessica said, suddenly leaning over the chariot’s side.
“What—” was all Alex got out before his nostrils were assaulted by the potent smell of rot and decay. He forced rising bile back down his throat and looked for the source of the horrific odor. “Where is that coming from?”
Jessica covered her mouth and nose as her eyes watered. “I don’t know, but I vote we go in the opposite direction.”
Alex squinted. Far down the shore he found where it was coming from; a bloated monster of immense proportions lay rotting on its side. Had there not been a couple of people nearby, he’d have gone the other direction, but since he needed to find Odysseus, he approached them and prayed his stomach would hold long enough to get some directions.
As Alex drew near with Jessica, details of the creature could be seen. It had the head of a shark, the body of a whale, and a dozen tentacles sprouting from both, though half looked recently severed. Blood flowed and pooled from countless wounds, only to be washed away with each surge of the tide. A spear stuck out from the creature’s side, and another protruded from the top of its head. At its side argued two men, each dressed in sea-soaked loincloths.
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