A Taste of Greek (Out of Olympus #3)

by Folsom, Tina

  “Okay more than a little. But that might actually come in handy. With the ferry service on strike, there’s no way for Zeus to cross Styx if he made his way to the underworld. He’d be waiting just like everybody else. We’d be safe from him.”

  “We?” Penny asked.

  “Of course we. I can’t send you down to the underworld alone. I thought you knew your mythology. What they say about Hades and his appetite for women is true. If I sent you down there on your own, he’d drag you into his bed in no time.”

  Shock coursed through her. “But I would never—”

  “Doesn’t matter. You’re no match for his powers. And I’m not going to give him an opportunity to try them out on you.”

  Penny heard the sharp edge in Hermes’ voice and locked eyes with him. Hermes’ eyes blazed at her. Was that jealousy she saw glinting in them? She had to be mistaken.

  “If Hades lays one hand on you, may the Gods help him, because I’m going to have his hide.”

  “You’d better get ready right now,” Eros suggested.

  Hermes turned to Triton. “Where’s my other sandal?”

  “Upstairs in the apartment. I’ll get it for you.”

  Within a second, the second sandal suddenly lay on the kitchen island.

  “Thanks.” Hermes released her hands, slipped out of his shoes and put his sandals on. “I’m ready. Let’s go.”

  “But, I’ve got to pack. And Grams, I’ll have to tell her,” Penny protested.

  “No time for that. I’ll get you everything you need once we’re down there. As for your grandmother, Sophia will make sure her nurse will take care of her.”

  Penny shot a pleading look to Sophia.

  Sophia smiled back at her. “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure she’s taken care of.”

  “And work? What am I going to tell them?” Penny asked, turning back to Hermes.

  He shrugged. “That you’re on a field trip?” He smiled. “We’ll figure it out later. Besides, there’s really no saying how long it will be until this blows over.” Hermes took her hand into his.

  “Okay then,” she said reluctantly. “How are we gonna get there?”

  Hermes chuckled. “We’re teleporting.”

  Confused, Penny wrinkled her forehead. “But didn’t Sophia just say you can’t teleport into the underworld?”

  “That’s true, but we’re only teleporting to the entrance. Now hold on to me.” He pulled her into his arms.

  Warmth seeped into her body, but before she could enjoy the sensation, everything around her went dark.

  31

  The foreign sensations flooding her body were overwhelming her. All Penny could do was hold on to the only thing that seemed to be solid and strong during the flight through darkness: Hermes. Her arms clamped tightly around his back as she tried to ignore the feeling of weightlessness which, while not unpleasant, made her feel out of control. And she’d never liked the feeling of not being in control of her body, her feelings, or herself.

  “Open your eyes, Penny.” Hermes’ soothing voice drifted to her ears.

  Only now did she realize that she’d closed her eyes, and quickly opened them, adjusting them to her new surroundings. She sniffed. The scent of oil was strong and unpleasant.

  “Where are we?”

  She looked past Hermes’ shoulders and spotted a commercial-sized boiler.

  He released her and motioned to the wall behind her. “The entrance to Hades lies behind this wall.”

  “This is the entrance to Hades’ Underworld?” she asked doubtfully.

  “One of them. There are many others, located not just in casinos like this one, but also inside McDonalds, Disney World, and not to forget Congress: there’s a major entrance in the Capitol building.”

  Her mouth gaped open as she tried to digest the information. She looked at the wall and searched for a door or an opening, but there was none. “But how are we going to get the underworld from here? I don’t see a door.”

  He grinned. “We’ll walk through it. Come.”

  Penny clasped his outstretched hand, but couldn’t hide her doubtful look. “You sure about that?”

  “I’ve done it a million times.”

  He led her closer and took one step forward. His foot disappeared in the wall as if it were a mere optical illusion.

  “Now you,” he instructed, pulling on her hand.

  Hesitantly, she stepped forward, dipping her foot into the wall. There was no resistance. Her foot disappeared just as Hermes’ had, even though she could still feel it. To make sure, she pulled it back out, and her foot was still intact.

  “Oh my god! That’s amazing,” she said, looking at Hermes. “But doesn’t that mean anybody can just get in there?”

  He shook his head. “Only if you’re a dead soul or accompanied by a god will you be able to get through the wall. For all others, it remains solid.”

  Curious now, she took another step forward, and a moment later, she and Hermes had cleared the wall and stood on the other side of it. What she saw made her jolt backwards. But Hermes held her hand firmly and didn’t let her escape.

  “I thought you said I wouldn’t burn!” She pointed toward the burning river in front of her.

  “It’s just PR! Hades is all for blood and gore. He thinks it has curb appeal having a burning river at the entrance. It’s not real,” Hermes assured her.

  “Could have fooled me,” she said dryly, still not moving any closer toward it. “That thing is hot. I can feel the heat from here.

  Hermes chuckled and pointed toward the fire. “Heating vents blowing hot air in our direction so that the illusion appears real.”

  Penny shook her head, still not believing where she was. “This is all so unreal.”

  He tugged at her hand and pulled her toward the fiery river. “Reality is relative.” With an encouraging smile, he led her to the fire, then simply stepped inside the same way he’d walked into the wall, pulling her with him.

  No flames licked at her body; no heat scorched her skin. By the time her brain realized those facts, they had already reached the other side.

  “The River Styx,” Hermes announced, and waved his hand toward the raging waterway.

  As far as the eye could see, people stood in long lines along the riverbank. Tens if not hundreds of thousands of them. They looked miserable and confused. Splashing sounds in the water drew her eyes to it. She blinked several times to make sure she wasn’t imagining things, but she saw correctly: faces, twisted in misery, struggled to keep above the surface of the water.

  “Oh my god,” Penny muttered as fear slammed into her.

  “Ah, yeah, the ones in the water are the impatient ones. They couldn’t wait for their turn on the ferry,” Hermes explained and pointed at the long line.

  “But they’re drowning. Look!” She pointed to the souls losing their battle against the raging river.

  “Nobody can die in the underworld, though the ones who drown in the river will become slave laborers.”

  She gasped. “To do what?”

  Hermes pointed toward the beginning of the long line where a ferry was docked. “They’ll be manning the oars of the galley for eternity, ferrying the other souls across.”

  She squinted and could now see the openings on the lower deck of the ship from which long oars protruded. At the same time she noticed the vendors on this side of the river, selling ice cream, churros, and other snacks.

  “How are they paying for the snacks, or for the ferry for that matter? Mythology says there’s a fee to cross.”

  Hermes smiled. “That’s right. We take Visa and MasterCard.”

  “But those are dead souls. They can’t take credit cards with them. And even if they could, their loved ones have probably already cancelled their accounts.”

  He nodded at her astute thinking. “Yes and no. There’s a grace period. Until their mortal body is actually buried or cremated, they may use any of the funds they possessed while alive. They’ll receive
a virtual credit card when they arrive here, but it vanishes the moment their body is buried or cremated. So time is of the essence.”

  “What happens if they don’t cross in time?”

  “They’re stuck on this side of the river.”

  She looked around. “Doesn’t look too bad. There’s food.” She craned her neck. “Is that a bar?”

  “Yes, but remember they’ll have no more money to spend. On the other side of Styx, all their needs are taken care of—for free.”

  “Oh no, what will happen to those who run out of money and can’t cross?”

  “They’ll join the slave laborers on the ferry . . . ”

  “. . . manning the oars for eternity,” she completed his sentence, understanding dawning.

  Hermes took her hand. “Now let’s visit Hades.”

  Hermes drew her back into his arms, and a second later she lost the ground under her feet and felt herself lifted high up in the air. It was different from when he’d teleported them earlier. There was less movement, and she felt more stable, despite the knowledge that they were hovering several feet above the ground. She kept her eyes open, not wanting to miss anything. Hell, she was flying! Or rather, Hermes was flying, and she was holding onto him for dear life.

  Her fear slowly dissipated and another feeling took root instead: excitement. She was actually in Hades’ Underworld! She was in a place no living soul had ever seen. As a professor of Greek mythology, she could appreciate this despite the odd circumstances that had brought her here. She could finally see the very things close-up that she’d only read about in books. She saw things others in her field only dreamed of.

  Penny let her eyes roam while Hermes landed them safely on the other side of the riverbank. In the distance, she spotted a large, dark medieval castle. She pointed to it. “Is that Hades’ palace?”

  “Quite garish, isn’t it?”

  “Though it’s kind of how I would have imagined it. You know, dark, evil-looking—”

  “Don’t let Hades hear that,” he interrupted as he led her onto the footpath toward the castle. “He doesn’t see himself as evil. And he isn’t really. But he has to keep up appearances.”

  She glanced at him from the side. “Appearances?”

  “Yes. For the sake of keeping peace on earth, he has to let everybody believe that the underworld is a horrible place to be. He occasionally sends one of his minions to the mortal world to spread untruths about the underworld, making sure the mortals believe it’s an awful place to be. Because if word got out that it’s not all bad down here, where’s the deterrent for people not to commit terrible crimes?”

  “Oh!” Then she remembered something. “But what about Persephone? He kidnapped her and forces her to live down here half the year.”

  “Ah, yeah, that!” Hermes rubbed his neck. “Better not mention anything about that to Hades.”

  “Why?”

  “Because it’s really not the way the mortals think it happened. Persephone was the one who fell in love with Hades and tricked him into marrying her. He’s constantly trying to get her to leave, and she does—for a short time—but then she sneaks back here and seduces him so he lets her stay. Guess the sex is pretty hot. But Hades isn’t a one-woman man. Never was, never will be. That’s why he didn’t want to marry Persephone in the first place.”

  Disbelief rolled through her. “You can’t be serious. The mythology books have it all wrong?”

  Hermes nodded. “Yep.” Then he winked. “Wouldn’t that be something new and exciting to write about?”

  She felt herself blush, because she’d just thought the exact same thing. “You know I could never write about it. Nobody would believe it.”

  “You’ll never know if you don’t try.”

  “Are you seriously encouraging me to write about this?”

  He smiled at her, his eyes twinkling. “I’d rather you’d write about Hades than about my sandals.”

  She looked away quickly, pangs of guilt resurfacing. “I’m sorry about what I did. I didn’t mean to cause all this—”

  His palm on her forearm stopped her. “We’ll talk about it later.”

  Before she could nod, they reached a massive door of iron and wood, and Hermes hit the knocker against it to alert the occupants of the castle to their presence.

  A footman dressed in a black robe with red lining opened the door almost instantaneously. “Hermes? We weren’t expecting you.”

  “I know, Felix. Can you tell Hades I need to see him?”

  Felix raised an eyebrow. “He’s not in a good mood.”

  “It’s important.”

  Felix gave a long-suffering sigh then turned and motioned them to follow him along the dark corridor until it opened up into a large atrium. Penny looked up. Above her, she saw the moon and the stars.

  “Wait here,” Felix instructed and disappeared through one of the doors.

  Hermes nudged her, pointing up at the glass roof of the atrium. “Another illusion. We’re underground, so what you see isn’t really the moon. Pretty realistic though, don’t you think?”

  “Is there anything that’s real down here?”

  “Yes. I’m real!” a male voice came from behind her.

  She shrieked and swiveled on her heels. Her mouth dropped open. Before her stood a man she could only assume was Hades, though he looked nothing like she’d imagined him. There was nothing ugly or evil about him, at least not in his physical appearance. He was tall and handsome with dark brown, wavy hair, blue eyes, and a chiseled chin. He wore a silk robe over tight black leather pants, exposing his ripped chest, which was dusted with dark hair. This was Hades, the lord of the underworld?

  “Oh my, she looks yummy,” Hades said, grinning at Hermes, before he made another step toward her.

  Penny’s breath hitched, but before she could say anything in response, Hermes shoved her behind him, cutting off Hades’ approach.

  32

  “Hades, I’m sorry to bother you,” Hermes pressed out between clenched teeth.

  He’d seen that look in Hades’ eyes before. And Hermes didn’t like it one bit, because that look told him that his uncle would make a play for Penny the moment Hermes turned his back.

  “Oh, no bother,” Hades replied, glancing past him, looking at Penny. “I’m assuming you brought me a gift to make up for the disagreement we had last time?” His uncle licked his lips.

  “I’m afraid I didn’t bring any gifts.” He pulled Penny to his side. “I’m here to ask you for a favor. Penny and I need your help.”

  Hades arched an eyebrow. “Penny? You mean this delectable mortal is the woman who stole your sandals?” He whistled then dropped his gaze to Hermes’ feet. “Which I see you’ve gotten back. So, why would you need my help then?”

  “I’m afraid Zeus is a tiny bit ticked off and can’t control his temper.”

  Hades chuckled. “Ah, yeah, my dear brother does have an issue with anger. Wants to do your little mortal some harm, does he?”

  “I’m afraid he tried to kill her. I had no choice but to bring her down here where Zeus can’t touch her.”

  “And now you expect me to help you against my brother’s wishes?” Hades asked. “Isn’t that funny? First you insult me by delivering that ridiculous contract Zeus drew up, then you refuse to help out with the ferry service, and now you want to drive the wedge between me and my brother even deeper?”

  His uncle was right, of course, Hermes was asking for a lot. But maybe he could negotiate with him. After all, Hades still needed help with the ferry service.

  “I’m prepared to pay you for sheltering Penny here.”

  “Pay?” Hades ran his eyes over Penny in a way that made Hermes clench his fists and want to punch Hades’ face.

  “Yes, pay. I’m willing to help out with the ferry service.”

  “For how long?”

  Hermes swallowed. “For as long as necessary.” Besides, he had to stay down here with Penny anyway. No way would he leave her alone
with Hades. At least this way, Hades wouldn’t smell a rat and realize why he wanted to stay in the underworld—not really to help out with the ferry service, but to protect Penny from Hades’ libido.

  “Interesting,” Hades mused. “Let me get this straight: Penny stole your sandals. You got them back. Zeus wants revenge. And where in all that do you come in, my dear nephew? How come you don’t want to take revenge on her? After all, those were your sandals she stole. And knowing my brother, he’s royally pissed with you right now. I’m sure he’ll want to punish you too. Yet you don’t want to punish Penny. Instead, you’re protecting her by bringing her down here. How far are you willing to go?”

  “What do you mean?” Hermes said, his defensiveness rising.

  “How long do you intend to hide her down here? Forever?”

  “Well, forever is a long time . . . ” Hermes said.

  “Zeus isn’t going to let this go. Keeping her here is only a temporary solution. You’ll need something permanent.”

  Hermes knew this himself, but he hadn’t been able to come up with a permanent solution yet. Hell, he was just putting out fires as they happened. He hadn’t had a chance to make any plans yet. “I’ll figure it out.”

  Hades grinned. “You know there’s one solution that comes to mind instantly.”

  Hermes furrowed his forehead, not following his uncle’s thought process. “Which is?”

  “Zeus wouldn’t dare harm her if she were married to a god.”

  Next to him, Penny gasped. “Married?”

  Hades nodded. “Yes, marry Hermes and you’ll be home free. It’s the only permanent solution to get Zeus off your backs.”

  Hermes recognized panic when he saw it. And Penny’s face had panic written all over it. It hit him like a punch in the gut. Did she find the thought of marrying him so utterly unpalatable?

  “But there must be another solution. I can’t just marry you!” she protested. With a pleading look, her eyes darted to Hades, then back to him. “Please!”

  Hermes felt his jaw tighten. “Are you telling me that I’m not good enough for you?”

  Penny’s gaze shot to him, surprise evident in them. “That’s not what I meant. I can’t marry you. Don’t you see that?”