There was a finality in his voice; a tone that meant there was no arguing the matter.
“How soon?” I asked, tucking a strand of loose hair behind my ear. I knew Hermes was anxious for us to leave with him, but Darce had done his best in delaying the move for a few days. We all knew it wouldn’t last long. Eventually, we would—I would—have to go with Hermes. I would have to go to Mount Olympus to face the Gods—Zeus—and my mother.
“I suppose his Lord will tell us soon. . .” Morpheus said with a shrug. “I would make sure your bags are packed. I suspect we could be departing as early as this next morning.”
The morning? Tomorrow? Would we really leave so soon? I had hoped for at least a few more days. The mere idea of leaving this place behind caused my stomach to twist into knots. I nervously chewed my lip as I gazed out over the waters. My thoughts drifted to my mother and all the things I wanted to ask her. All the questions that I needed answers to. Why had she kept the truth from me? Why had she made it impossible for Persephone and Hades to be reunited? Why had she made my entire life out to be a lie? Why now? Why did Dad. . .have to die?
Tears stung my eyes as I thought about him. My fun-loving dad who had never known the truth about who my mother truly was. My dad, who had brought us to Greece for the summer. . .
And then everything changed.
Morpheus sighed softly. “Everything will be alright.”
“Easy for you to say,” I said, turning my tear-filled gaze away. “You know what you’re getting yourself into.”
“Which is why everything will be alright. Neither his Lord, nor I, will leave you alone with them.”
I let his words settle in my mind before I swallowed my breath and continued.
“Are they all really so bad?”
“Some more than others,” Morpheus murmured. “Some are tolerable. Some have good intentions. And some are quick, and clever and will do anything to twist and manipulate you into thinking Darce is the enemy.”
“But he’s not. . .” I replied, shaking my head. “I know he’s not the enemy.”
“No, he’s not. But they’ll make you believe something entirely different if you let them. You’re human. To them, you’re easily manipulated.”
A shiver ran down my spine as I lifted my hands to my arms again. Human. I was human. It was as if the mere fact of my mortality was the answer to everything.
“Is it possible to become like. . .you? Like Darce?”
Morpheus straightened his shoulders as the echo of my name suddenly surrounded us. Off in the distance, I could hear Darce calling for me. I turned my attention back to the water—back to the small boat heading our way. As Darce drew closer, I could make out the figure of Thanatos beside him, and the golden-haired God: Hermes.
My stomach twisted at the thought of being torn away from Darce. Being led to believe that he was the enemy. We hadn’t started off on the right foot in the beginning; we bickered more than anything. But things changed. I changed.
“Speak of the devil, as they say,” Morpheus murmured and gave a slight bow in my direction. “I’ll take my leave, then.”
“You don’t hav—” I began, but paused as he turned to go, disappearing into the darkness of the corridor. My cheeks warmed from my frustration. The sting of his departure sat in my chest for a long time after.
Chapter 2
“Good day, Mil’ady,” Hermes said as Darce gave a final push towards the dock. I was careful not to ruin the dress as I leaned forward and grabbed the edge of the boat. Thanatos acted quickly, tying the boat into place by a large plank of wood. I gave a small nod towards Hermes before my eyes drifted slowly back to Darce.
His dark eyes were cool as they gazed at me and I could have sworn I saw a glint of delight. Of course he was amused by my outfit. I shouldn’t have expected anything less than Darce’s poignant humor. I waited for him as he took a step from the boat, and onto the dock. It was hard not to admire him as he approached and suddenly I heard Arae in my head. Darce definitely had no problems dressing himself. He wore a cream kaftan, surrounded by black, grey and silver shawls around his shoulders, and down the length of his torso, all tied together around his waist with a rope belt. He looked majestic, and yet, so seemingly modern compared to the others around him. It was different from the black tunics with silver threading I so often saw him and the men of his court wearing.
“You look. . .” He began as he reached his hand out to me. I peered at his hand as I felt my heart pound uncontrollably in my chest.
“Be nice,” I warned softly, preparing for his teasing. Darce chuckled as he raised a brow and took a step closer towards me.
“You look quite regal, my Lady,” he replied softly, a tease in his tone as he lifted my hand. “Like a Queen.”
A Queen. His Queen. Queen of the Underworld. The mere thought of the intimidating title sent a shiver down my spine. I still wasn’t sure how I felt about it. I wasn’t sure how I felt about becoming or being the Queen of the Underworld. I didn’t know a thing about ruling… I hadn’t even graduated from college yet.
Darce let go of my hand and instead pulled me close, pressing his lips gently against my forehead. He lingered for a breath and then turned to glance over his shoulder. My eyes darted from Thanatos to Hermes, both of whom were watching us. Thanatos tried to appear distracted, while Hermes grinned shamelessly from ear to ear.
“Is everything alright?” I asked, doing my best to keep my focus on Darce. “Arae mentioned that you were at Asphodel Fields.”
“We just had a few loose ends we needed to attend to before his Lord leaves,” Thanatos replied. “As much as I attend to the Underworld when his Lordship is gone, I still require him for certain… situations.”
Thanatos grinned wickedly, peering at Hermes before he gestured towards the entrance of our home.
I still didn’t understand exactly what it was that he and Thanatos did in the different parts of the Underworld. I hadn’t asked too much about the different lands or the tasks they attended to. I knew as souls came to the Underworld, they needed to be led to the afterlife. Whatever that was. I wondered about my father… if he was happy. If Darce had attended to his soul the way I had hoped.
Dad. . .
I sucked in a breath and tried to collect myself, but my eyes stung with unshed tears I wouldn’t cry—couldn’t cry. I felt Darce’s hand slide along my spine; the warmth of his fingers tingling my skin. He was getting very good at sensing when I was upset. A touch from him was the same as telling me that everything was okay.
“I shall go attend to my other duties, my Lord,” Thanatos murmured. Darce gave him a nod.
“Wait. Leave?” I asked, looking between the three of them confused. “So we are leaving soon?”
“We should leave before nightfall,” Hermes interjected before either Thanatos or Darce could respond. “Zeus is not at all the patient sort. He won’t want to be kept waiting much longer. You know how he—”
“Yes,” Darce replied sharply. His words were short; his tone curt and unimpressed.
“I know my brother.”
I reached for Darce’s hand, pulling his attention away from Hermes. “So that’s it then? Today? Will I have enough time to pack my toothbrush?”
A smile pulled at the corner of his lips and he whispered low enough for my ears only. “You’ll have time for that, and more.”
My skin tingled as he began tugging me away from the two other Gods. I glanced back for only a second, catching the grimace Thanatos shared with Hermes. His lips moved imperceptibly, as if sharing his displeasure. I wished I could have heard him. Ever since Hermes had appeared in the Underworld, everyone had been on edge and distempered. The usual banter I had experienced when Minthe was still around, was all but gone now. None of the teasing and playing, only silence. Even Arae, I noticed, had none of her usual biting candor. At breakfast, she had nearly downed an entire pitcher of wine, and if it had not been for Thanatos cutting in, she might have had the rest. Or more.
“Here I thought she was intolerable with Minthe,” Thanatos had mumbled when the wine had been stolen and Arae had stormed out. When we left the dining room behind, I couldn’t help but feel like I should have taken Arae another pitcher for the one she had lost.
“Darce,” I tried, stopping in the long, golden hallway. “Are we really leaving tonight?”
He released his grasp on my hand and replied with a silent nod. His dark eyes were filled with what I thought was regret. “I know. The timing is not ideal.”
“It didn’t feel real before.” I admitted. “But now that it’s here, I don’t know if I’m ready.”
Several days had passed since Hermes had first appeared in the Underworld. Darce had negotiated for more time; time that I needed to prepare to meet Zeus, to see my mother again. Time that he needed to make arrangements with Thanatos. He had asked for so much already. Even still—it hadn’t felt like enough. With a sigh, Darce shook his head.
“Zeus isn’t the sort to show much patience. If we stay any longer, Zeus will call for us, and it won’t be as pleasant as sending Hermes the first time. I won’t chance that,” he explained.
“Technically, he only really called on me,” I muttered.
“Us,” Darce corrected, tucking a strand of my hair behind my ear. “Where you go, I go.”
There were more than a thousand words written in the crease line between his brows; words he chose not to say aloud. Reading his face was like reading the lines on my palms. He would not chance losing me again—losing Persephone again. Centuries of his love for us, in each of our lives, was worth more to him than anything. Going alone was never an option.
“You should get changed. I’m sure Arae will come looking for the dress,” he said as he gestured to the soft blue fabric around me.
“Yeah, probably.” I nodded slowly, releasing a soft breath.
“We’ll eat before we depart for Athens.”
“Athens?” I asked, slightly confused. “I thought…”
“We’re going to the human realm tonight. We’ll stay in Athens, and then leave for Mount Olympus in the morning.”
“Why—”
“We cannot shift from the Underworld to Mount Olympus. It doesn’t work like that here, remember?”
“But you said. . .” I drew out softly as I took a step closer to him. “I recall a time when you and I. . .” We had shifted from one end of his palace, to my room. To my room where he and I. . .
My cheeks warmed at the memory.
In the whirl of the dreams Morpheus had given me, and the night in Darce’s arms, that I discovered the truth about myself. About Persephone and all the other past lives. I had found Darce with Minthe—the woman who so desperately wanted not only Darce for herself, but the Underworld. The crown. She was the reason we were in this mess. After she had left the Underworld, she ran back to my mother, to Zeus, and any God or Goddess that would listen to her. Now, Zeus wanted me at Mount Olympus. My mother wanted me to return to her. Minthe would more than likely want another chance. . .another opportunity to seduce Darce; to take him away from me.
The night Minthe’s plan unraveled, Darce and I. . .we had. . .and he had moved us from one room to another in the blink of an eye. It was the same magic he had used when we had last been in Athens, escaping the runaway spirits. My cheeks flushed at the memory of that night; the memory of the first time Darce had made love to me.
“That was different,” Darce whispered with a smile. “This is my domain, remember?”
As he peered at me, I could have sworn I saw a hint of a glint of amusement in his eye. His hand gently tilted my chin, as his thumb brushed over my bottom lip. I stared up at him, parting my lips just slightly. He watched me closely as I slid a hand up over the curve of his chest.
“I remember.” I said, feeling lightheaded.
“I would take you back to my room,” Darce murmured huskily. “If we had the time.” I knew he would. I knew he’d take me back to his room, close the door and pull me into the warmth of his arms. I’d allow myself to get lost in the feel of him; the softness of his lips, and I’d become nothing but molten lava there.
I still wasn’t used to his attention. To the way he looked at me and spoke to me. I still couldn’t wrap my mind around the fact that Darce—Hades, God of the Underworld was real. Not only was he real, but in love with me. Me. Summer Mavros. A rising sophomore in college.
I hadn’t ever known anyone like him in my entire life, and to suddenly have him there. . .it was too simple to call it different.
He wanted me. He. . .loved me.
I sucked in a breath as he leaned forward and pressed a gentle, tender kiss against my temple.
“I saw Morpheus earlier,” I whispered. Darce leaned away just enough for me to see the arch of his brow. “He said that I should be careful,” I continued. “That they’ll try to make me think differently of you.”
I felt his body become rigid and tense beside me; his hands sliding down to my waist. As he took another step back, I saw his jaw tightened.
“Is that true?” I asked. “Will they?”
Darce sighed and shrugged slightly. “They might.”
“My mother, you mean? She’ll try. . .”
“Not just her,” he replied, shaking his head. “There will be others. Friends of Demeter. Friends who believe in her innocence in all of this. Your innocence.”
“I’m hardly an innocent party in all of this. I’m. . .” I bit down on my lip, holding back my frustration. “I made my decision. Then and now.”
“No matter how you might feel, you and Persephone. . .all of them, will be perceived as the victims in all of this. You know that.”
“My mother killed all of them,” I argued, feeling myself shake from the anger rising in me. I knew he didn’t need to hear this. He knew all of this. Had lived through all of it.
“She thinks of it as having saved them from me. She saved them from the fate of a lifetime spent in the Underworld.”
“But that’s not—”
“That’s how she will make it seem, Summer. I told you. I told you the way the story has been shared for centuries. . .the truth of what really happened. It’s been lost to time. The lie is now the truth.”
He wasn’t wrong. Even with the knowledge I had tucked away in my memory, there was no undoing the web of lies my mother had made.
He sucked in a breath. “You have to trust me.”
“And Minthe?” I tried. “What will happen to her now?”
Darce tilted his back slightly, slipping a hand through his hair.
“Hermes has explained that Minthe has been invited by Zeus to stay in Mount Olympus until we arrive. Her testimony is expected. Afterwards, she will have no real importance to any of them. The only hand she carries is the one with our names on it.”
“Summer!”
The echo of my name made me jump, and I turned on my heel to see Arae walking carefully down the hallway towards the both of us. The way Arae carried herself, the way she flicked her long red hair over her shoulder and moved her hips, she reminded me of a model making her way down the catwalk. She could give Heidi Klum a run for her money.
“Summer,” she called away, her voice silky but stern. “I need the dress. It will be better folded carefully in your suitcase, rather than worn.” As she approached, I could have sworn I heard her mumble something about my chances of ruining it before ever getting to our destination.
“I’m not a child,” I chided her, rolling my eyes. “I can take care of nice things.”
Arae clicked her tongue and shook her head. “I’m not taking a chance with this. You might not be a child, but you are. . .human.”
“And that makes me clumsy?”
“Yes,” she hissed. I gave her a withering look.
“Looking ravishing as always, Arae!” Hermes voice boomed from behind us. He must have been following quietly enough that I hadn’t noticed him. I hated how persistent he was being about all of this.
Arae sucked in a breath and rolled her eyes. “You can look, Hermes. But you can’t touch.”
Hermes opened his mouth, but Arae didn’t give him the chance to respond. She casually wrapped her hands around my forearm and started leading me away.
“Come on, Summer. We have a lot to do to prep for your visit. Gods know, we certainly don’t have much time left.”
Chapter 3
There have only been a few times in my life that I’ve made myself sick because of how nervous I had been. The first time, I was seven. My mother had a large flower vase that I liked to use as a home for my barbie dolls. I would take the freshly plucked flowers from it, pour the water out into the bathroom sink, and take it to my room to play with. I had always been careful with it, too.
Until the day I dropped it.
It happened so fast. One minute, I was about to sit down on the floor with it, the next, it had slipped out of my hands, landing on the hard-wooden floors. To my horror, as I rolled it over, I found a large piece had been chipped away from the top. I panicked, and quickly ran back to the bathroom, filled it with water and placed the flowers back inside. I had hoped that by putting it back the way I had found it, it would ease any suspicions of what had happened. Afterwards, I had nestled myself into my bed and pretended to be sick. Surely, my mom wouldn’t get mad at a sick kid, right?
Wrong. As soon as my mom found out what I had done, she boxed away my barbies and put them into the attic for an entire month. That first night, I cried myself to sleep, thinking of my poor dolls, all alone in the attic, and that stupid vase and it’s chipped top.
The second time, Mr. Bails, my ninth grade English teacher called me up in front of the classroom to read out loud. I stared out into the abyss of the classroom, almost sure I was going to die in place. I hated reading out loud, let alone in front of people. I remember eyeballing my teacher, hoping—praying he’d tell me to sit back down, but amidst my silent struggle, my classmates began to laugh. A nervous sort of laugh for me. Before I could stop myself, tears began to roll down my cheeks and I bolted from the room. I didn’t stop running until I reached the bathroom. Needless to say, I hurled up my breakfast, and didn’t leave the stall until my friend came to find me a period later.
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