I wanted to step away from him. I truly did. The fact that he could reach into my mind and my heart and see what I was feeling was alarming and dangerous. But it was difficult to move. His voice was tying me to him like a ribbon of steel and it grew stronger by the second. Gathering my most inner reserves of strength, I gritted my teeth and yanked away. Whirling, I faced him from three feet away. For good measure, I took one more step backward. He smiled. He was well aware of the effect that he had on me.
“Why are you here, Hades?” I asked tiredly. I really wasn’t in the mood for this. He looked surprised and I had to give him credit for appearing genuine.
“I’m here because I’m concerned for you, of course,” he answered. “If you continue on your current path, things will grow very dangerous for you, very quickly.”
“And you care because…?” I knew I was being sarcastic and unfriendly. But I was dealing with the god of the underworld. He always had an ulterior motive and I wasn’t in the mood to try and figure out what it was this time.
“Honestly? I care because it’s in my best interest to ensure that you win.”
And that honestly surprised me.
“What do you mean?” I asked suspiciously. “Are you still under the assumption that if I win, Brennan and I will cause an apocalypse and all the mortal souls will come knocking on your door? That might have been the case, but no longer. I’m sure you are aware of the new developments. You’ve probably been lurking around here and saw for yourself.”
Again, he looked genuinely surprised. “What new developments?”
“You honestly don’t know? I find that hard to believe.”
“Believe it,” Hades answered patiently, his gleaming teeth white in the night. “Please fill me in.”
I took a few minutes and explained my mother’s visions to Hades and included the part where Brennan thought he should offer himself to Zeus in exchange for my life and that of the entire mortal world. When I was finished, Hades looked flabbergasted.
“Apollo’s son would sacrifice himself in such a way?” he asked in surprise. “He doesn’t take after his father, that is for certain. Apollo doesn’t have the depth for an act such as that.”
“I think you are formed more by who raised you than by your genes,” I said absently. “Clearly, it is so in Brennan’s case. His mortal parents are good people.”
“I know,” Hades replied. “His mother dwells in the Underworld now. She passed on years ago. I know her personally. She has pure energy.”
“You know his mother?” I exclaimed. “You should tell Brennan. He would be happy to hear any news of her.”
“I care not, Empusa,” Hades said quietly. “You mistake me for having a soft-heart. You know that is not true. Brennan will see her for himself in the near future, I am certain, one way or another.”
“No. Not if I have anything to say about it,” I answered angrily. “Brennan owes the mortal world nothing. If I can help it, he will not sacrifice himself. It likely will not appease Zeus anyway. He will find entertainment in it, then he will demolish the mortal world anyway. He will certainly carry out this foolish game.”
“It is true that my brother has grown hardened throughout the years,” Hades acknowledged. “In fairness, it is hard not to become that way. Time turns us calloused, I fear.”
“Are you defending your brother?” I asked. “Because that is not like you.”
“No. I’m not defending him. I would never do that. I am simply pointing out something that you already know. A thousand years ago, you would have been railing against Zeus and the unfairness with which he handles the mortal world. You would have been anguished over the fates of the poor mortals. But here you are. Not one tear shed, except over your precious mortal. Time turns us calloused.”
“Time is nothing!” I snapped. “Zeus will not touch one precious hair on my mortal’s head.”
“What would you give to make sure of that?” Hades asked solemnly. “What would you do for him, Empusa? What would you give?”
I backed up one more step and studied Hades’ face. He was very serious, his dark eyes fixed on me.
“What are you asking me to give?” I asked stiltedly. “I think that is the question here.”
“You’ve always been an astute child,” Hades observed. “So smart, so impetuous. How will your impetuous nature serve me now, I wonder?”
In a flash, he blurred into motion and was standing behind me once again. With one slender, graceful hand, he grasped the back of my hair and bent my head back. Lowering his face, he ran his nose along the length of my neck inhaling me like a hungry man who hadn’t eaten in a thousand years. His chest was rock hard beneath my hand and as I gathered my wits, I pushed against it.
“Get. Away. From. Me!” I managed to rasp. Wrenching away, I stood with heaving breath, facing him once again. “What the hell was that?”
“My apologies,” Hades said quietly. “You just seem so fragile. And I have a weakness for beautiful, vulnerable women…I have a penchant for trying to save them, I suppose. Please accept my apology.”
He was completely unbothered, not a hair out of place. I, on the other hand, felt like I had come undone. My breathing was ragged, my hair was disheveled, and my heart was racing. I didn’t want to acknowledge the fact that Hades had a weird pull on me. I loved Brennan. My heart knew that. But my body- it was under Hades’ spell and I hated that.
“Please control yourself,” I told him irately.
“I would tell you the same,” he said with a grin, “But we both know how well that works.”
“Only around you,” I snapped. “I never have control issues otherwise. Now tell me, what were saying before you so rudely accosted me?”
He templed his fingers and stared thoughtfully at me around them. “I was asking you what you would be willing to do to save Apollo’s son?”
I returned his gaze unflinchingly. “I would do anything.”
“Anything?” Hades raised one dark eyebrow.
I shuddered at the thought of what “anything” might mean to him. But I answered clearly. “Anything.”
I had visions of becoming an enslaved bride to Hades, of living in the same house with he and his wife. So his next words truly surprised me.
“So you will help me with Brennan, then?”
“Help you do what with Brennan?” I asked. “I will never allow you to harm him.”
“I don’t want to harm him,” Hades answered, impatience showing for the first time. “I just want to restrain him so that he cannot turn himself over to Zeus. If he can’t get to Olympus, he can’t surrender.”
“You’re not taking him to the Underworld,” I snapped as soon as I understood what he was saying. “No way. I don’t trust you enough.”
“And well you shouldn’t,” Hades nodded. “I don’t blame you. I wouldn’t trust me, either. I will restrain him here, with your help. We can keep him in the sacred circle, if you’d like. I would just need your permission to breach the circle. Your mother has enchanted it to keep everyone at bay. But with your permission, we can keep Brennan here. He won’t have the ability to turn himself over to Zeus. He won’t die.”
Those three words were really all that mattered. He won’t die.
Even though I had been running from Hades for eons, even though I didn’t trust him at all, I found myself considering the unthinkable. I was nodding before I’d even thought it through, because Brennan’s life was all that mattered.
“You grant me permission?” Hades asked.
“Yes,” I said quietly. “But you cannot hurt him.” But I looked up and found that Hades was gone. I had no idea if he had heard that last part of my statement or not. Shaking my head, I rushed to find him. I knew right where to begin looking.
All I had to do was find Brennan.
It wasn’t hard.
I made my way to the sacred clearing with inhuman velocity. I could smell them both before I even broke through the ring of trees. As I burst through, I f
ound Brennan and Hades circling each other, each watching the other with wary suspicion.
“I’m fairly sure you are breaking a rule by being in this ring,” Brennan called out. He was crouched low and balanced evenly on the balls of each foot, prepared to spring in either direction. I found myself admiring his skill. He’d never had to fight for his life before- and he thought that was what he was doing now.
“That would be true,” Hades acknowledged from a similar position, “Except that Empusa granted me permission.”
Brennan didn’t break concentration. “I don’t believe you,” he said firmly.
“You should,” Hades answered, a slight smile curving his lips. “She told me that I could be here. She wants me to imprison you.”
I could see the rage building on Brennan’s face and before I could even say a word, he did.
“You lie!” he snarled as he uncoiled and sprung toward the god of the underworld. Hades grinned and leaped and they collided in midair above the altar. Grappling, they fell to the stone beneath them and rolled, each trying to best the other and come out on top. I bit my lip. I wanted to interfere, to protect Brennan from harm, but this is what I had wanted. I had wanted Hades to restrain Brennan. If he didn’t, Brennan would die. He would die because of his own stubbornness and sense of right.
I bit my lip harder as Hades slammed his elbow into Brennan’s face. Blood exploded from Brennan’s nose, splattering Hades’ crisp white shirt. I cried out.
“You cannot harm him!” I snapped. I blurred into motion and stood at their side. They both froze while Brennan stood with his mouth agape.
“It can’t be true,” he murmured, his eyes flooded with confusion. “You wouldn’t…”
“I had no choice,” I answered pleadingly. “You have to believe me Brennan. I don’t trust Hades. I want nothing to do with him. But he’s the only person in this entire universe who has as much reason as I do to keep you from surrendering to Zeus.”
Brennan returned my gaze in alarm. “Because Hades wants the mortal world to end! You can’t help him accomplish that, Empusa. Has your life hardened you so much that you don’t care what happens to anyone else?”
“I care what happens to you,” I answered softly, trying to swallow my pain at the look on Brennan’s face. He was appalled at my lack of humanity. It was the first time I’d seen that look on his face. I didn’t like it. “That’s all that matters.”
“It’s not all that matters,” Brennan answered. He looked away from me to Hades, but Hades had straightened from his defensive crouch and was watching us with interest. He would much rather watch us implode than engage in personal physical violence. He smiled slightly at my thought and shrugged.
“It’s true. I’m a lover, not a fighter.”
I glared at him. “You were doing just fine a moment ago when you broke Brennan’s nose.”
“I didn’t say that I couldn’t fight,” he clarified. “I just prefer not to. You wanted me to do this, Empusa. You cannot blame me for my methods.”
“I want you do this, yes. But I do not want you to harm Brennan. Keep him here in the clearing. I’ll try to finish this game by myself.”
“Oh, yes… the game,” Hades said. “I may have forgotten to mention one small thing. I am here, in part, as a challenge to your little game. But let us finish this small detail first, shall we?”
With his words, he pointed at Brennan and Brennan flew backward onto the stone altar with such force that his head slammed hard against it. He shook his head once, but then closed his eyes and didn’t reopen them. He was limp against the altar.
I cried out again and dashed to his side, picking up his hand. His pulse still beat, although blood trickled from his nose.
“You!” I spit at Hades as he joined me by Brennan’s side. “You weren’t supposed to hurt him.”
“And what was I supposed to do, little one?” he asked innocently. “Ask him nicely to sit on this altar while I tied him here with steel cords?”
What came out of my mouth was more of a growl than a reply and Hades looked properly chastised. He quickly lashed Brennan’s wrists and ankles securely to the altar. I conjured some cotton padding and tucked it beneath the cords so that it didn’t cut into Brennan’s skin. Hades rolled his eyes.
“You’ve gone soft, Empusa,” he observed.
“Only where Brennan is concerned, so you should stay alert,” I warned him.
He smiled, not exactly the reaction that I was going for but I ignored him and turned my attention back to Brennan. Dabbing at his bloody nose, I pushed his hair out of his eyes and stroked his cheek.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered into his ear. “It’s only for a little while, I promise.”
He didn’t move and didn’t open his eyes, although his heart was beating strongly.
“He’d better be alright,” I snapped at Hades.
“Or what?” Hades snapped back, losing his perpetual cool for once. “What will you do, Empusa?”
Instantly, the air in the clearing grew charged with his anger. The trees started rustling as the wind picked up from his energy. I quickly remembered who I was dealing with. Sometimes, it was easy to forget when Hades was trying to woo you. He made it difficult to remember that he had a very dangerous side in addition to his charming one. He was the god of the underworld for a reason. He had the ability to be very cold-hearted and ruthless when needed.
“I’m sorry,” I apologized, in order to defuse the situation. “I’m just worried about Brennan and about this entire situation. I didn’t mean to snap at you.”
Hades visibly relaxed as he regained his cool composure. “It’s no matter,” he told me. “No harm done.”
The wind died back down, a crisis avoided. I breathed a sigh of relief.
“Now what?” I asked him. “Brennan is secure here so he can’t travel to Olympus. What do we do next?”
Hades turned to me, his handsome face a perfect picture of innocence. That expression instantly set me on edge.
“Why, Empusa, we continue with the game, of course. And to the best of Zeus’ knowledge, that is my reason for being here.”
“You know, he could so easily check on us here,” I reminded him. “He would see Brennan lashed to the altar and he would begin to wonder why.”
Hades was already shaking his head. “You’re forgetting. Your mother, in her infinite wisdom, arranged for that clearing to be sacred for you. Unless Zeus tries very, very hard, he cannot get into it. And trust me, my brother is so immersed in playing this game, he isn’t going to put that effort in.”
Hades perched on the edge of the altar and looked around at the clearing.
“It’s a simple little place,” he observed. I followed his gaze. It was simple. It was just a plain little clearing. But there was reverence here. You could feel it in the air. You could just feel that important things happened in this circle.
“What is my next challenge?” I asked firmly, raising my chin. “You said that you are here as part of the game. What does Zeus want you to do?”
Hades looked at me over the inert form of my boyfriend. His dark gaze was smoldering and I felt an instant sense of panic.
“Remember when Brennan had to withstand a siren?” he asked softly. His words instilled an instant horror and foreboding in my chest. I couldn’t speak, so I nodded haltingly.
“You must withstand the same. I’m your siren, Empusa. Can you withstand me?”
Chapter Fourteen
“No.”
Before I could even speak, Brennan had spoken one firm word into the night. I didn’t even know that he was conscious but he was staring at me now with a gaze the color of burning embers.
“Empusa, untie me.”
His directive was firm, his tone left no room for argument. It broke my heart. I wanted nothing more than to release his bonds and stand by his side. But I knew what he would do the moment that he was free. I shook my head.
“Brennan, I love you. I’m doing this because I lo
ve you. I would not be able to bear it if you died. I couldn’t live through it.”
“So, you’re trusting Hades?” Brennan was incredulous. He lifted his head as far as he could to look at me. “You wouldn’t trust him with your life, but you will trust him with mine?”
Guilt rushed through me.
“It’s not like that,” I mumbled. “I have no choice. Please understand that.”
“I understand that you’re allowing Hades to play you. You don’t know what would happen if I stand before Zeus. He might not kill me at all. He might find that my willingness to sacrifice myself is enough. I would rather trust Zeus than Hades. You’re foolish if you do not.”
I stuck my chin out. “Then I guess I am foolish. I do not trust Zeus any more than I trust Hades. They both have their own agendas, their own motivations. I am smart enough to know that, Brennan. You need to understand that you cannot trust Zeus, either. He’s not a benevolent grandfather. He’s a god- the god of all gods, and he didn’t get to that status by being a softie.”
For his part, Hades was standing by quietly observing. He stared at us thoughtfully before interrupting in a voice as smooth as caramel.
“I understand your angst, Brennan, really I do. However, I think at this point, the best thing to do is to just move forward. We have a task to complete. Empusa, are you ready?”
I shook my head. “No. Not really. What is our challenge?”
In my periphery, I could see Brennan straining at his restraints, desperately trying to break free. But even though he had mastered controlling his immortal strength, he wasn’t able to budge them.