Solstice

by P. J. Hoover

  Melina shakes her head. “It seems Apate has earned her name as goddess of deceit. Whoever opened the box should have burned in Tartarus, but Apate crossed even your mother, allowing that one person would be able to open the box.”

  “The person whose identity was stored inside,” I say.

  Melina nods. “That’s right. You. And instead of an existence in Tartarus, which would have simplified my life beyond belief, now here you are once again trying to steal my true love.”

  “Not Shayne,” I say. Inwardly, I laugh. If we’re talking about stealing true loves, maybe she should talk to Chloe instead.

  “Of course not Shayne,” Melina says. “What a bore. Though I’m sure he, like every other man, would do just about anything to have me. Anything. You do know how men are, don’t you, Piper?”

  I’m flooded with relief when she denies wanting Shayne. “How are men?” I ask.

  “They’re selfish. And greedy. And all they care about is the conquest. Take your precious Shayne for example. Do you really think all he’s been doing for the last eighteen years is pining away for you?”

  I bite my lip. Actually this is exactly what I thought. Exactly what Shayne led me to believe.

  She must see my answer in my eyes. “Don’t fool yourself, Piper. Shayne is just like every other man. He doesn’t care about you.”

  “You’re wrong,” I say. “You’re just angry because Reese wants me.”

  Scorn fills in her eyes. “Reese doesn’t want you. And Shayne doesn’t want you. You’re nothing, Piper. You’re a fallen goddess. You aren’t worthy of someone like Reese’s attention. And if you ever think for a minute that Shayne will be true to you, you’re wrong. No one will ever be true to you. You don’t deserve anything.”

  She may be the goddess of beauty, but every word coming out of Melina’s mouth is filled with ugliness. But her words dig deep and burrow inside me. “Why are you acting like this?” I say. In my past life, I remember talking to Aphrodite on occasion, and though maybe we weren’t the best of friends, she never even came close to exhibiting the contempt she’s showing now. “I never did anything to you.”

  Melina’s perfect lips press into a perfect smile. And then she leans closer to me and whispers in my ear. “Yes, you did, Piper. You didn’t die.”

  I’ve had enough. I stand up so I can get off at the next stop. How can she possibly call herself the goddess of love? She knows nothing of love. Only jealousy and hatred, both of which seem to be directed at me.

  “Oh, guess what I heard, Piper?” she calls out to me.

  I take the bait and turn. “What?”

  “Your friend from school, Randy Conner…”

  “What about him?” I ask, and I get a sick feeling in my stomach. Because as soon as I ask the question, I see the answer. I see into the Underworld and into Tartarus. And there is Randy, standing on the banks of the river of fire. He’s been moved from Asphodel and put in Tartarus. Guilt for his father’s death covers him in a layer of red. As I watch, he steps through the wall of fire which makes up the boundary. He screams in a cry so heart rending, my own nerves feel like they are on fire. And then he’s gone.

  Melina smile. “Yeah. I thought you’d want to know about one more life you’ve screwed up.”

  I turn away from her and get off the bus.

  I need to save Randy Conner. If I never do anything else of worth with my new miserable life, I plan to save him from the torture of Tartarus. I’ll go back to the Underworld. I’ll talk to Shayne and sort things out. He can clear up everything. This mess with Randy Conner. The untruth of his infidelity and Chloe’s betrayal. I’m about to call out for him but stop myself as an image of Chloe wrapped in his embrace forms in my mind. I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to force it away. It’s not true. It just can’t be true. But the image persists, and I remain silent.

  I look at the clouds and start to walk toward them. And like they’re responding to me, they move closer with each step I take. Closer to me and closer to Austin. I head up the rocky cliff that overlooks the Colorado River, and I watch them. Dare them to come any nearer. Almost in response, lightning streaks through the clouds parallel to the horizon.

  It’s late afternoon, and there are a few college kids hanging around under a canopy, listening to music. They look over at me, and one of them waves. I wave back, remembering my visit to the Drag with Chloe to get our tattoos. To think I planned on being one of those kids. On leading a normal life. The Fates had been against me from the start.

  One of the guys smiles, and motions me over. “Come join us. We’ve got plenty to share.”

  I look to the bottle of liquor he’s holding, and honestly, a part of me is tempted. To grab hold of something normal from this world and hang onto it.

  “We don’t bite,” the girl calls. “And anyway, Dylan here needs a date.” She points to the boy on her right who gives me an inviting grin. Then she leans over and kisses the other guy full on the mouth until all three of them roll back laughing. Oh my god, they lead such normal lives, even amid the Global Heating Crisis. They don’t have to worry about any of the craziness filling my world.

  I shake my head, and they wave as I walk away. Behind me, I know the clouds follow. The wind starts to pick up, and darkness extends its fingers until it surrounds me on three sides. Lightning fills the sky again, but there’s not a rain drop in sight. The storm coming is pure electricity. It’s been brewing since my most recent trip to the Underworld, and any minute, it’s going to strike.

  Once I’m out of the college kids’ sight, I sink down to the hard-packed dirt and rocks. I have to save Randy, but I can’t bring myself to call for Shayne. I don’t want his help. I still hear the music and laughter in the background as I scoot toward the edge of the cliff and look down. The water is so far receded that rocks and sand nearly reach the middle from both sides, leaving a thin ribbon of stagnant brown wetness in between. It’s the only way I’ve known the river. Slow. Dead. Empty.

  If I go away, will everything change? Will autumn return and winter come? Will the Global Heating Crisis really end?

  “You’re Persephone.”

  I whip around at Chloe’s voice, and see her standing there. She must’ve followed me on the shuttle. But it’s not the taunting, horrible Chloe from the auditorium come to tell me she’s sleeping with my boyfriend. It’s the withdrawn Chloe. The one who’s almost died. And neither of them is the one I really want to see. I want my old Chloe back. I want Shayne back.

  I turn to the overlook, away from her, and watch the sky. “Yeah. So what?”

  I feel her sit down next to me, leaving space in between us.

  “You didn’t tell me.”

  I shake my head, not knowing if she’s looking at me. “You never gave me the chance.”

  We sit there not speaking for a while. I’m not going to start up a conversation with her, and she seems to be trying to figure out what to say. If she even has anything to say. Lightning strikes again, straight down to the earth this time. It hits the bridge crossing the river with a crack so loud, the whole ground shakes.

  “Why did you save me?”

  I turn, and Chloe’s looking at me. Her eyes contain a sorrow I never used to see. The Chloe I got a tattoo with never showed sadness. She was all fun. And adventure. She is not this Chloe.

  I saved you because I love you, I want to say. But it won’t come to my mouth. “I didn’t save you. Shayne did.”

  But Chloe shakes her head. “No. It was you. I remember.”

  I turn back to the cliff, picking up a rock and tossing it over. It clatters on the rocky outcrop, skipping vertically until it stops. Far below, what little water is left ripples in the wind.

  “What’s going to happen to me when I die?” She sounds like a child asking a random curiosity about the world.

  I laugh, still keeping my eyes away from her. “You won’t die, Chloe. You can be Queen of the Underworld.”

  I hear Chloe suck in. “Are you kidding? That’s
you.”

  I whip my head around to face her. “That was me, Chloe, until you slept with Shayne.”

  Chloe shrinks under my words, and for a second, I can’t believe this Chloe and the Chloe from the auditorium are the same person.

  “I don’t think it was really Shayne.” She puts her head in her hands. “I just don’t know what happened.”

  I avert my eyes and pick up another rock. “I’m not going back to the Underworld.”

  “You have to, Piper.”

  “Really? I’m not sure I read that rule.”

  “The Underworld needs you.”

  I snort. “Please. What do you know about what the Underworld needs?”

  Chloe grabs my arm. “But I need you there, Piper. For when I die.”

  I yank my arm away and toss the rock over the cliff. “You’re not going to die.”

  But she nods. “Yeah. I am. Fate told me so. And I’m scared.”

  I stand up, walking a few steps away. The wind’s blowing hard enough now my hair is flying in every single direction possible. I pull it back with one fist. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “I need you there to help me. I can’t handle eternity in Tartarus.”

  “You don’t have to worry about Tartarus. Randy Conner’s taking care of that for you. He managed to get all the blame.”

  Chloe looks at me and blinks her eyes a few times. “He did?” She shakes her head. “But that’s not right. Not fair.”

  I scowl at her, thinking of Shayne. “So why don’t you ask the Lord of the Underworld about it?” How can I save Randy Conner now? I can’t even save myself.

  “It should be me. Not Randy.” Chloe stands up now, and fear creeps onto her face.

  So what? Let her be scared. “Why don’t you offer yourself up in his place then if you think it’s so unfair?”

  She shakes her head, and her bandana slips off center. “I told the terrorists I wouldn’t join. Said I didn’t want any part of blowing up a dome. But they used me anyway, and the next thing I knew, Randy’s dad was really dead.”

  “Randy asked you to kill him.”

  “I didn’t mean to do anything. I swear.” Chloe presses her hands against her face. “But Randy shouldn’t get the blame.”

  I shrug. “No, he shouldn’t. Maybe if you go explain things, everything will be all right.”

  Chloe looks up then, taking her hands away. “Yeah, maybe. But I’m scared.”

  I nod. “You should be.” I know I’m not comforting her, but I don’t care.

  Chloe bites her lip, and my eyes meet hers. “I’m so sorry for everything, Piper.”

  A gust of wind blows, and she turns away from me, looking out toward the barren water. Before I realize what she’s going to do, she puts her hands up into the wind and jumps.

  Chapter 42

  Sacrifice

  Chloe falls, and I run to the edge, but she’s already gone. I’m too slow. My stomach tightens into a knot so hard and full of disbelief, I can’t stand it. I lunge out on the cliff, but stop myself, unable to go beyond the rim.

  Chloe will die.

  I heard the words before and tried to stop them, but it was useless. Chloe is dead, and there is nothing I can do about it. Maybe there was never anything I could really do about it except postpone it.

  “No! No! No!” I’m staring over the side, but I can’t bring myself to actually look for her body. She’s dead. She’s gone. And though she’s killed herself, I feel like I’ve pushed her. “Please come back. Don’t leave me.” I want the old Chloe here with me now. I want us to be friends, before my knowledge of phoenixes or the Underworld or Persephone ever came back to me. “Please, Chloe.”

  Lightning cracks, and this time it strikes a building across on the other shore. In seconds, the building catches fire, and smoke fills the air.

  Off to the side, I hear the college kids coming toward me. Did they hear me screaming? Did I scream? I can’t face them or anyone. Before they can reach me, I run the other way.

  Chloe cannot be dead.

  Chloe will die.

  It was her fate, and she knew it. But what is my fate? To be a curse to everyone I know?

  I will not have it.

  I direct all my thoughts to the Underworld. Not to travel there, but to command there. I was once the Queen of the Underworld. I should have power. And I want that power back if only for this one decision.

  I see the Underworld before me. I rule it.

  “Randy and Chloe will be moved to the Elysian Fields,” I command. I have no idea if I even vocalize it. But I know I will make it happen with my sheer will. I may not be able to count on Shayne to do it for me, so I will do it myself.

  The ground underneath me seems to quake at my words. I think for a second it will split and swallow me whole. Maybe I will have to take their places in Tartarus. Maybe this act will ensure Chloe and Shayne being together. But whatever the cost, I accept it.

  “Now,” I say. “Put them in Elysium.”

  The ground trembles one more time, and I feel it happen. I feel their souls move from the fires of Tartarus to paradise. My best friend may be dead, but now she’s in her rightful place in paradise. It’s where she should have been last week. I shudder from the power I’ve exerted. I’ve done it. Chloe and Randy are going to be okay. They’ll have paradise forever.

  I turn my mind from the Underworld back to the world around me. I run down the embankment, heading out into the street. I don’t know where to go. I love Shayne. And I want to be with him now more than anything. But the image of Shayne and Chloe drops back in my mind. I stop and force it away and focus on the earth.

  It’s still hot as a sauna, but the wind is blowing so hard, it’s almost pushing me over. The lightning is a storm of light and sound, striking everything it can. Sirens explode in the air, and smoke is thick. I run in the direction of the Botanical Haven, because if my mom is somehow responsible for this weather, I have to make her stop. It’s killing the earth.

  My legs pound; I run forever. I’m almost there. Sirens and wind are rampant around me, and lightning is striking everything in sight. It cracks so close it feels like it’s next to me, and one of the Spanish Oaks in our yard splits in half and falls to the ground.

  Another branch falls, and it smacks onto the glass roof of the Botanical Haven. I hold my breath even though the glass is shatterproof because it hits with such force.

  The glass holds.

  The rest of the world isn’t as lucky as we are. I can only imagine how this lightning storm is wrecking downtown Austin. Wrecking the world.

  Chloe flashes through my mind, jumping over the side of the cliff. I ache at the thought of her and Shayne together, but I’ve paid the price for my mistakes.

  I run across the rocks that make up our yard and pull the door open. My mom is inside, clipping dead leaves off the plants like everything in the world is as it should be. How could she be so oblivious to the earth outside the Botanical Haven when she’s always claimed to love it? The leaves drop to the floor at her feet like the branches outside. I slam the door shut behind me to let her know I’m home. I need to confront her, and it has to start here with her killing everything around her for her own selfish needs.

  The wind beats on the glass walls and ceiling, but I try to filter it out. But another branch slams into the roof, and I jump. The glass groans under the weight but holds.

  “Why did you do it, Mom?”

  She has her scissors in her hand, hanging down at her side, her gloves still on. “What?”

  “Kill the phoenix. Why did you take me from the Underworld?”

  The smile evaporates from her face like the mist sprayed over our hot Earth. “Who told you that?”

  I shake my head. “It doesn’t matter. I know—that’s what matters.”

  Her eyes narrow, and her face turns red. “It does matter. Nobody was allowed to speak of it. Whoever told you will go to Tartarus.”

  “You’ve lied to me my
entire life.”

  “Ares told you, didn’t he?”

  “Ares didn’t tell me.”

  Her eyes are wild, moving around the room, looking for something or someone to blame. “He did. I know it.”

  I uncross my arms and take a step closer to her. “You don’t know anything. You killed a phoenix and me at the same time.”

  My mom shakes her head. “No! I would never kill you. Someone has been lying to you. I love you.”

  “Love me! You killed me, and then, when I was reborn as Piper, you hid me away from everything I ever knew.”

  “You’re wrong. It wasn’t like that at all.”

  “You never even told me who my father really was.”

  My mom’s hand flies to her mouth. “You know about that?”

  I nod. “I know everything, Mom. Everything. I know who you are. Who I am. Who I used to be.”

  “But how—?”

  “I loved Hades, and you took me away.” When I say his name, I think of Chloe and Shayne. It can’t be true. “Everything was perfect, and you ruined it all.” Tears well up inside my eyes, but I refuse to let them fall.

  “Perfect! How can you even say that? I was forced to be away from you for half the year. My precious daughter. And you never even seemed to mind.”

  “I belonged in Hell as much as I belonged here. My place was as Queen of the Underworld.”

  “Your place was here with me.” She moves back, and her eyes bulge out of her head. They aren’t focused on me. They don’t focus on anything. There’s sweat beading down her face, catching in her hair. “With your mother. Not off in some godsforsaken place damning souls for eternity. You should have been among the living. Not wandering around underground with no one to keep you company but ghosts.”

  “I had Shayne.” And I want Shayne now.

  My mom raises her eyebrows. “Yes, you had Shayne. But that’s hardly a reason to spend half the year away from your mother.”

  “Was he really that bad, Mom? Couldn’t you have just tried to get along?”