My Life From Hell

by Tellulah Darling

  Annoyance flared hot and hard inside me. “Is this because I wouldn’t sleep with you? Why would I want to with all your passive-aggressive games?”

  Kai went poker-faced. “At least I wasn’t manipulating you.”

  “Please. That’s your middle name.” I remembered a fraction of a second too late that Kyrillos had never manipulated Persephone. Kai had messed with Sophie. And right now, Sophie failed to exist.

  He inclined his head. “If that’s how you feel, then perhaps this is our cue to end all our partnerships.”

  I grabbed his wrist. “No. What? This is our chance. We have to help humanity.”

  Kai’s face broke into a very cold smile. Almost snake-like. I’d sprung his trap. “That confirms you’re working secretly with Prometheus.” He brushed my hand off, his knuckles grazing my skin. “Because we both know you don’t give a damn about humanity.”

  “That’s not true!”

  “I wonder,” he murmured.

  My eyes closed against this onslaught of emotion—the feel of his lips humming against my skin; the seductiveness of his misguided words. I was losing myself. My brain couldn’t process everything that Persephone and I felt toward Kai. Anger, attraction, revenge, desire.

  My eye twitched. If only I could smack myself upside the head and reboot. Or end this enchantment, get out of here, and start dealing with the regular teen variety of angst and hormone fueled attraction.

  “Were we really going to rule together? Or did you have a very different agenda?” Kai asked. He lifted his face to bore into me with his eyes.

  Harder to say whose jaw was tighter at this point. His, given the way it looked, or mine, given the way it felt.

  He cocked his head to the side. “Why did you get my father to throw a party? A masked ball. Why would you want to avoid being seen as we head into the equinox?”

  I pushed against his arms, sending him back a couple of steps. “Are you kidding me? I was defending you, idiot. Trying to get your horrible father to treat you properly. Which, of course, he twisted into this stupid idea of a—”

  “Stop lying to me.”

  I jumped at the fury in his voice, shrinking back at the flat blackness in his eyes. I kept a careful watch on him as I spoke. “I’m not lying!”

  “I want the truth. You owe me that much.”

  “Truth: I love you. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

  He searched my face carefully. “Who are you?”

  That was the jackpot question, wasn’t it?

  My mind boggled. I realized we were having the same conversation we’d had after Kai’s kiss released my Persephone self last Halloween.

  Ironic.

  And unfortunate that he couldn’t do the same thing for my Sophie self here and now.

  I brushed my palm across his cheek. “You know who I am. Better than anyone.”

  He leaned into my touch. We stayed like that, connected, skin to skin, for only a moment. I let my hand drop as I felt him pull away. “Are you going to imprison me, too?” I dreaded his answer.

  Kai bowed his head. “I can’t hurt you.” He raised his eyes to look at me and I saw that truth reflected in them. And the pain of it. “But I want you gone. After we do the ritual, take down Zeus and Hades,” he waved a hand between us, “this ends.”

  Good luck with that. “Like you could stay away from me.”

  His eyes narrowed. “I don’t trust you anymore, Persephone. If I didn’t know how badly you wanted to knock Zeus down, you’d be in cuffs until I could drag you to the ritual site.”

  “Which you’d need me to lead you to. Seeing as you don’t know it.”

  Kai bristled. “Add that to everything else you’re not sharing these days.”

  I was going to shoot my mouth off again, but I remembered that it didn’t matter. This was an enchantment. Kai and I could return to our regularly scheduled issues once this was over. I raised my hands, as if in surrender. “Fine. We play nice ‘til the equinox, then go our separate ways.”

  “I expect you to keep up appearances until then.”

  “And if I don’t?”

  “We find out how much you’d miss Prometheus.”

  “Right,” I scoffed. ”You can’t kill a Titan without anyone noticing. Or consequences.”

  Can’t I? Kai’s look dared me.

  I crossed my arms, and held his stare.

  Kai smiled, thinly.

  What was it with everyone trying to separate Theo and me? I glared at Kai but he simply stared back, totally unflappable. “Fine. You do your part, I’ll do mine. We done?” I may have sounded flippant at the supposed end of my big love affair, but it wasn’t real, so whatever.

  He gave me a final “who are you and what have you done with my girlfriend?” look, and shrugged. “We’re done.” He may have seemed indifferent, but his voice was cold. As was his last look at me as he walked away.

  Idiot.

  I slowly paced along the shore of the lake, not really seeing anything. It was all so muddled. I wanted out of this rabbit hole where I felt sorry for Hades. Where I’d found out that all Demeter had was her woman-scorned bit. Where Kai wasn’t my Kai, and Prometheus didn’t really know me, and I’d lost them both.

  I wasn’t upset. Not even angry. More incredulous that I’d managed to screw things up so badly. I had a billion more mistakes to undo before I could get the truth of this matter out in the open.

  The clock was ticking.

  I rubbed my hands roughly over my face and straightened up. Get yourself together. There was only one thing I could do now.

  And it had nothing to do with Oizys tackling me and punching me with a hard right to the gut.

  Sixteen

  “What have you done?” Oizys demanded, her fists up and ready.

  One hand clutching my side, I elbowed her off of me.

  She rolled herself to her feet, and I scrambled to mine. I wasn’t about to let her tower over me. “You want to get mad?” I swept my arm out. “Get in line. But if you want to do something useful, then help me break Prometheus out.”

  Oizys stilled, taking me in slowly.

  I shook my head and started walking. I’d had enough.

  “There’s something off about you, Springtime,” she said.

  I almost laughed. How right she was. On so many levels.

  Oizys caught up to me, puzzled at my amusement. “You don’t have your usual energy.”

  “My happy goddess delight?”

  She shook her head. “The darkness that is usually deep within you.”

  That was disturbing. I stepped back. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  Oizys watched me intently. “It’s tempered by a fire now,” she said.

  The vision …

  My body went cold. I clasped my trembling hands behind my back and kept moving.

  Oizys saw my shock and nodded. “Misery and pain. I see this in you. Or I did. Something fundamental has changed.”

  She could try and puzzle it out all she wanted. No way would this denizen of Hades guess who I really was. Kiki’s enchantment was good for that much.

  “Are you going to help me break him out or not?” I needed Aletheia to come reveal the truth, and it would make life a lot easier if Oizys played on my team.

  She gave a sharp nod. “Only because I want to crack your secrets.”

  Fine by me.

  My stomach rumbled. I realized I hadn’t eaten since morning, and judging by the fading light, it was heading into evening. I was starved. “Let’s eat, and then we can go back to my …” I was going to say “room” but no way was I going back there. I shared with Kai. My brain tripped over that thought, and I trailed off. “We’ll eat,” I said, finally.

  We continued back to the palace in the deepening gloom. I was happy to feel the last rays of warmth on my face, even as a chill nipped at my ankles. The air was rich with the scent of dry grass and scorched earth.

  There was a rustle of wind. Enough to bring the faint
est echo from Tartarus. I shivered and stepped up the pace, marveling at the silver trees around the deep, black, silent Pool of Lethe. We crossed the garden to enter the palace through the front, and I let one finger trail over the cool relief of the ornately carved iron front doors depicting scenes of gods in battle.

  Once again, the throne room was packed. Oizys and I raised a lot of eyebrows and heard a lot of whispers at the sight of us together. “We shouldn’t be seen together,” I said. I didn’t want anyone getting suspicious about a newfound alliance between us.

  “Works for me.” She veered sharply out of the room, headed for the large alcove adjoining it. Inside, there was a heaping buffet of dinner choices.

  Atkins dieters would be in roasted protein ecstasy. I went to the opposite end of the buffet, filling my plate with the most recognizable foods. I pretended to focus on my dinner, eating at my own empty table. I kept one eye on Oizys at all times.

  She kept to herself a lot. That surprised me. If she was going to win Miss Congeniality anywhere, I would’ve thought it would be here in the Underworld. But she avoided the other deities, and they her.

  I felt a pang of sympathy. Being a misfit here had to suck.

  I let Oizys leave first, then snuck out after her. All right. I wasn’t all that secretive because the only ones who seemed to care where I was going were a couple of intimidating looking Infernorators who puffed up their flames at me.

  Two Pyrosim were child’s play for me. And I knew that beyond making Persephone’s life miserable by forcing her to stay in the Underworld, Hades didn’t allow any actual harm to come to her here—because Kyrillos had insisted on that. Of course, if anyone could end up breaking that rule, it would be me. Since I wasn’t about to test my luck, I ignored the minions completely.

  A few minutes later, I spied Oizys in an empty corridor. She sped up at the sound of my approach.

  I sped up, too, until I had come flush alongside her. I slung my arm around her shoulder.

  She didn’t go into full rigor-mortis-stiffening at my touch, but it was close. “How do you feel about a roommate, Goth Girl?” No way was I going back to that stupid shared bedroom. I hoped Kai would freeze, all alone under the covers.

  Oizys shrugged my arm off, shot me a disdainful look, and picked up her pace. “What happened to not being seen together?”

  “Nothing. But we’re alone now.” I waggled my eyebrows at her for good measure.

  She stared at me, like she couldn’t figure me out but would love to try. Preferably using pointy instruments that would cut my head open. “No. No roommates.”

  I let her think that she’d had the final word. Didn’t argue at all when she made her way toward her room. I let myself zone out to the sounds of far off voices and the random hum of activity in the palace. And I followed her.

  Oizys put up with me dogging her heels until we reached her bedroom door, in a wing far from my own, though it looked much the same.

  She hovered on the threshold. “Much as I wish otherwise, we can’t do that thing …” She gave me a pointed stare. “… tonight. It’s too dangerous to go traipsing around now. We’ll reconvene in the morning.”

  I nodded. “Sure.”

  As she turned, I hip checked her, and she stumbled into her room. Quickly, I stepped in and shut the door. All sound from outside the room was cut off. The room itself smelled surprisingly floral. Girly.

  I surveyed her digs. “Love your use of monochrome.” Everything was the same dense shade of black. I ran a finger along one wall. “Although I hear accent colors do wonders. Consider a little blood red, or rat’s eye pink. Classic choices in the goth palette.”

  Oizys folded her arms. “Get out.”

  “Nope. If you and I are going to plot, I’m betting this is the safest place to do it. You’re a natural born citizen of the Underworld. I’m just a landed immigrant with dodgy papers. Probably a lot more breathing room on your side of the palace.”

  Oizys sank onto her bed and tugged off a combat boot. “Points for stringing together a logical argument. But no. I don’t room with anyone. Especially not goddesses of spring.”

  “It’s not a communicable disease. Trust me. You’re not going to get suddenly flowery and smiley.” I sure hadn’t and I was the Goddess of Spring. I leaned back against her door, my palms pressed to the wood. “I’ll be honest.”

  She paused, boot in hand, and looked up at me, visibly pained. “Must you?”

  “I can’t go back to the room that I share with Kyrillos. Which means I’ll have to wander the halls, stealing naps where I can, and being entirely inefficient in springing Prometheus.”

  Oizys pulled off her other boot and waggled her toes as if delighting in the cool air. “Good. Then you won’t get in my way. You’ve done enough damage.”

  “Oh no,” I scowled. “You’re the sidekick on this little mission.”

  “I don’t think so.” She fixed me with her best Spirit of Misery and Woe glower, and rose to her full height. It was an impressively quelling look, but once a girl had death squads trying to whack her ass on a regular basis, evil stares failed to pack a punch.

  “Partners then.” I settled myself onto a daybed in one corner. Instead of the usual wrought-iron rosettes, curlicues, and colored glass that often made up the sides and back of these things, this one looked like a massive iron spiderweb. Complete with evil metal spider awaiting its prey.

  I bounced up and down on the mattress to get a rise out of Oizys. “It’s a little macabre but it’ll do in a pinch.”

  Her lips flattened so thin, they were practically nonexistent.

  “Look,” I said, relenting, “it’s only for tonight. Tomorrow, we’ll find Prometheus and break him out.” This was a total lie. Until that truth spirit showed up to break this farce of an enchantment and let us out of here, I was bunking with Oizys.

  Not that I’d tell her that.

  Oizys pulled on the cuffs of her sweater so that they slid over her hands, covering them. “It’ll cost you,” she said.

  I rolled my eyes. Of course it would. There couldn’t be the simplest transactions with these Greeks without payment due. “What?”

  “Tell me why Prometheus matters so much to you.”

  I leaned back against the daybed’s scratchy sheets—black of course, like the rest of her bedding—and considered how best to answer that.

  I felt the mattress creak as she sat down beside me. Felt her expectant stare.

  I couldn’t tell her the truth. First off, she’d never believe me. Second, no matter how much she cared about Prometheus, I wasn’t about to risk the well-being of humanity by telling her anything that could be used against us on the equinox. Or get me imprisoned now.

  So not the plan.

  Which only left one explanation. “In another time, another place, he was my best friend. And whatever we are now, I’ll always love him.” Even if we never saw each other again, Theo would always be my best friend. I would always love him, and I refused to give him up without a fight. There had to be some kind of wily loophole in the Theo agreement. Like telephones. Technically, I wouldn’t be seeing him, right? I couldn’t give him up. He was a part of me.

  I let myself get lost in mushy memories for a bit.

  “He never mentioned you.” Oizys said.

  I blinked a couple times to clear my pictures of the past, then met her eyes, the fingers of my left hand crossed behind my back. “Because he loves sharing so much, does he?” It was a long shot, but given how closemouthed Theo was, I was willing to bet that the same was true for Prometheus. Which meant he probably didn’t go around talking about his life in Olympus.

  She bought it. I could tell by the way that her jaw relaxed. “Fine. You can stay. But annoy me and I’ll throw you into the Styx, and happily watch you dissolve.”

  On that cheery note, it was bedtime.

  On Tuesday morning, I woke up the polar opposite of refreshed. Part of it may have been the fact that I was wearing yesterday’s cloth
es, since I dreaded going back to my bedroom and running into Kai. Part of it may have been my nightmares, where the world burned and I was forced to watch, held in place by one enormous spider leg.

  Mostly though, it was the equinox was in two days and I had a massive amount of stuff to accomplish: free Prometheus, break the enchantment, get through the portal safely, take down the wards, do the ritual, save the world, and not die anywhere in the process. I was somewhat daunted.

  I couldn’t let myself dwell on that, because, well, thinking led to getting overwhelmed, which led to angry feelings and the possibility of uncontrollable destruction.

  Back there in reality, I’d managed to throw Planet Earth into a seasonal limbo. I’d made plants burst into flame, and broke branches off trees from twenty-three stories up. Not to mention dealing with an internal rage that was ripping me to shreds. Literally, given the way I’d attacked my arms.

  Here, I was so busy trying to keep Persephone’s emotions at bay that mine hadn’t had a chance to suffocate me. And I planned on keeping it that way. If my off-kilteredness somehow managed to leach through and combine with all of Persephone’s issues? That sounded like a recipe for disaster. The makings of a Sophie/Persephone megabomb.

  Which was why, as much as I could, I focused all my thoughts on what I could do, what I had to do, not what I was feeling. And my immediate problem was freeing Prometheus. “We need to know what obstacles we face in the great prison break,” I told Oizys. Also, how would I buy him time to get the Spirit of Truth here without Kai mounting a manhunt—or rather, a Titan-hunt?

  “Where are the dungeons?” I asked. We’d returned to Oizys’ room after breakfast for maximum plotting privacy. She’d needed to eat as badly as I had.

  She sat at in front of her mirror, re-applying eyeliner in heavy black lines.

  I was on the floor, my back against the daybed, chin resting on my hands. I was hopeful. Neither Kai, nor Hades had crossed our paths. Yet. Out of sight, out of mind seemed like my best policy where those two were concerned. While I understood that Kai—and Kyrillos—didn’t want me hurt, who knew what consequences our newly strained relationship might have.