“Do you know who I am?”
The beast’s tail slithers silently between us as he seems to ponder the question. “You do look familiar.”
“Family resemblance, maybe.” As easily as the words slide out, a rising tide of horror takes over me. I’m actually bound by blood to this creature—and countless others.
Minos cants his head, silently questioning me.
“Zeus… He’s my father.” I declare it firmly, owning it more than I ever have.
Minos erupts with a deafening laugh. The ground seems to shake through the aftershocks of it. “Turn back from whence you came, fool. Leave this escape artist to his fate and be gone.”
“I told you, I’m a son of Zeus.” I say it with more force, wondering if he really doesn’t believe me. I don’t exactly have a birth certificate on me to prove the matter.
“Born to a mortal mother, yes?”
“Yes. But the only parentage you need to worry about is the one we share. Nothing can take our passage from us when such a power has given us warrant for it.”
Minos’s expression turns cold. “And you believe your parentage gives you the right to pass without judgment?”
“Zeus is your god and your father. His blood flows in my veins the same as yours. At his touch, all gates must spring aside. I don’t know about you, but I call that divine aid.”
Minos rises from his throne, showing off the full height and breadth of his body. I’m not as daunted by his physical size as the skepticism that twists his thin lips. “Delusional mortal,” he scoffs, squaring his shoulders as if they’re about to sprout wings. “You read of things you know nothing about.”
When he puffs up more, Gio hastily shifts back by a few paces. I stand wider, holding my ground. Minos’s massive tail lifts and slams the ground between us. Without thinking, I lurch forward and shove on it with all the force in my body, clearing it from the space between us. The motion is enough to knock the lumbering beast off balance, setting him back into his throne with a rumble.
“All gates must spring aside.” My growl turns into something worse, and small lightning bolts erupt from the cracks in my fists.
Minos seethes as the pace of his breath ticks up. “Do I look anything like a gate, boy?”
“You look like someone who’s in my way. That’s close enough in my book. But if the blood of a god earns me no respect, you should know I also have the blood of a mother who rarely took no for an answer. This doesn’t need to be complicated. Step back. Let. Us. Pass.”
He pauses, finally seeming to hear me. Still, he slides his gaze to Gio. “What about the deserter?”
Gio gingerly steps to my side again. “You’re not the only one who’s determined to see me relegated to this place for the rest of eternity. Trust that this journey won’t be over for me until one of your fellow wardens sees justice is done. But unlike them, you have a choice to wield punitive power or memorable mercy right now—mercy that will earn you the gratitude of a fellow demigod, no less. Or have I been away so long that favors owed aren’t viable currency here anymore?”
Minos’s grumble, long and contemplative, sends more tremors beneath the mud at our feet. At last, he winds his tail in a tight circle, averting his stare. It feels like we’ve won, but if I’ve learned anything to this point, nothing is ever certain in this place.
Another rash of flies buzzes across the sky, prompting Gio and I into reactive motion. I’m not about to keep waiting on the capricious permission—or not—from the brooding narcissist on his towering chair.
As we hurry past the throne, there’s no ignoring the angry stroke of a sparkling whip, cracking into the dry ground right behind us. And then, “All the powers of the light be with you, Son of Zeus. And if they aren’t, then perhaps we shall meet again—and I will not forget about that favor you now owe me in such rich spades.”
After we leave Minos behind, Gio and I trudge in silence for a while. In the distance, as I half expected but seriously dreaded, is the massive whorl of the Underworld Gale. Sadly, it looks exactly like I imagined. A front of swirling air of biblical proportions, picking up every speck of dirt and ice and mud in its path. But even my inadvertent wit doesn’t pierce my exhaustion—or determination. Somehow, I’ll dig deep enough and find the stamina to get through this thing—and then every trial that awaits us beyond it.
Chapter Twelve
Kara
“Wake up.”
Hades’s dictate has me flinching and jerking awake—and at once, wondering if he’s used my subconsciousness as a new excuse to pillage my mind.
With a sharp gasp, I sit up. My fingertips dig into my scalp, on the brink of splitting it open like a summer melon, but I don’t feel ripped apart in any new ways.
The only sensation that keeps stabbing is complete surprise. Seems it’s the only blade sharp enough to cut through my shivering despair. I’m almost too frightened to believe it. Has Maximus found a passage here? To hell itself? Is that why he keeps appearing in my visions and why they keep getting more vivid?
But how?
My first thought brings on a growl I can barely suppress. If he’s gone and caused his own death, I’ll kill him all over again.
“Sweet dreams?” Hades’s voice is sugary, but there’s nothing genuine about the words. I have his full attention, but he seems edgier than before. Unsettled.
“I… I don’t know,” I admit.
If it was indeed a dream, my reunion with Maximus was beyond divine—until I realized Hades was lurking. Once Maximus disappeared, I did the only thing I could think of. Run to the safety of the bed and pray for sleep to take back over.
I shake my head slightly, challenging myself to truly believe it. Maximus was here, in my arms. I close my eyes, letting the sweet memory wash over me. His touch, his whispers of devotion, his passionate drives into my body. My heartbeat ticks up as my mind is drenched with intoxicating visions.
He was here. I know he was. Somehow I can still feel the pressure of him inside me, the echoes of our lovemaking.
For the first time in what feels like forever, I fill my lungs with as much air as they want. As they balloon, my mind is equally buoyant. Can this really be happening? Is Maximus truly that close by? Is there a chance, however small, that I’ll see my love soon, beyond a fleeting vapor or passing mist? And if so, then how soon?
Another inhalation brings sober consideration about that. I’m a hostage in the grand palace of Dis, in the center of hell. And my days here are already numbered. If soon doesn’t come before my transfer into the city’s general population—or worse, into one of the underworld’s distant districts—there’s a strong chance that Maximus will rush in to find nothing but my decimated carcass.
Yet as urgently as I implore him to hurry, I long to instantly retract the plea. Racing to find me means he’ll also find Hades—a connection my captor is already furiously aware of, if his scalding energy is any indicator. It’s tumbling off Hades like sparks out of a steel mill, to the point that I hiss in pain when he seizes me by the shoulder.
“Now get dressed,” he orders. “I have a meeting of the captains to call. Wherever I go now, you go too. I refuse to miss a moment more of those exquisite gifts of yours,” he adds with a sneer.