Chapter 39

39

Back at the Crown, Persephone pressed the up button to the private floor on the elevator and punched in the code. The police had the horde of fans well in control outside, finally, and once Charon saw her get in the elevator, he didn’t follow. He’d gotten a call right before, so she guessed that Hades needed him more than she did.

She’d gotten used to living in the high-end hotel, in the section that was more of a palace of suites. Who owned the hotel? Who had owed Hades’s father the favor?

She shook her head. She had more important fish to fry. Like getting Eurydice’s phone number.

She had to go see Orpheus. And he now stayed in a suite one floor below where she lived. A private floor that required a key, just like her floor. The same key worked for the top floor with the pool…so maybe she’d luck out?

Persephone held her breath until the door slid open to the requested floor. Yes. Her intuition had been right. The key worked for Orpheus’s floor, too.

The door to the private floor opened and she walked in. A hallway held a series of doors that must lead to suites. Two thugs lounged on either side of the nearest doors.

Surprisingly low security, considering the night before. Something was up. Was Hades involved? He’d been so upset about the invasion into their privacy last night. He might not own the Crown but his power and influence everywhere throughout the city was undeniable.

The men stood up and came to attention as she approached. Ajax’s men. Gods, Persephone hoped their boss wasn’t anywhere nearby.

“Hey, lady, you need to leave.” One of the men held out a meaty hand to stop her from going further down the hall.

Taking a deep breath, she channeled her inner Ice Queen. She wore nice jeans and a sweater along with a string of pearls around her neck. They probably thought she was just another hotel guest. Maybe some rabid fan.

Persephone looked at them coolly, her chin notched up. “Do you recognize me?”

“Woman, you could be the queen of England, you can’t be here.”

“I’m Mrs. Ubeli. As in, Hades Ubeli’s wife.”

The two men didn’t budge.

“I’m here to see Orpheus. My husband wants me to make sure he’s comfortable.”

“No one gets in. Boss’s orders.” The larger one folded his arms across his chest.

“Just go tell him I’m here to see him.” Persephone tried to channel Hades’s authority. “If he doesn’t want to see me, I’ll leave.”

The one with his arms folded leaned forward, getting into her space. “We don’t take orders from you.”

Persephone didn’t back down, she just lifted an eyebrow as if to say, oh really? A classic Hades move.

“Wait,” the other said, looking a little nervous. “Let me check something.” He went inside the room, closing the door behind him.

The other stared hard at her. She ignored him. The types Hades associated with usually studied her like she was a threat or a piece of meat. When he finally looked away and leaned against the wall, she memorized his face, from the blunt features to the little gold ring in his ear.

Meanwhile, the other guard came back out, holding his phone like he’d just taken a call. “He wants to talk to you. Says he knows ya.”

Persephone started forward and the thug with the earring put his arm out to stop her. “Wait,” he started but she cut him off.

“Touch me and my husband will hear about it.” The two men stiffened. “You two have been nothing but perfect gentlemen so far,” she continued, with a sweeter tone. “I’ll only be a minute.”

She flashed a smile. The first guard settled back on his heels. The one with the earring looked like he wanted to kill her.

“Only a minute,” she sang as she entered the apartment. And stopped.

The room was trashed. A room service cart lay on its side at her feet. The food from the tray was all over the ground. In the suite itself, a chair lay on its side, leading her eye to the brocade curtains hanging askew on their rod.

Across from the bedroom, lovely white and gold wallpaper was stained with ribbons of red liquid, as if someone had picked up wine delivered on the cart and thrown it. The rest of the room’s décor, with Victorian chairs, was largely untouched, but it was shocking, this scene of obvious violence.

Persephone was about to call out Orpheus’s name to ask if he was all right when the guard with the little earring stuck his head in and laughed, not a nice sound. “He’s temperamental.”

Persephone swallowed, and didn’t let them see her flinch. She wouldn’t show weakness to them.

She turned and stepped carefully, hearing broken glass under her boots. The doorway to the bedroom gaped.

“Orpheus?” she finally called. “It’s Persephone. Hades Ubeli’s wife.”

A slight noise drew her to investigate. Once her eyes adjusted to the dim light, she saw Orpheus’s curly head jutting over the bedcovers.

“Orpheus, are you ok? Did something happen?”

“It was me.” The rock star’s voice came weakly. “I did it.”

“You did this?” She picked her way carefully into the room, stopping at the foot of the bed. Gods, he looked terrible. His hair was dirty. The room stank. She didn’t know when he’d last showered but it couldn’t have been recently.

He drew a raspy breath. “She left me. She didn’t love me anymore. They showed me a note she wrote. I sort of freaked out and…trashed the place.”

Persephone squinted at him. “They showed you a note? What did they say?”

“They said they went to look for her.” He stretched a hand over to the bedside table, knocking another bottle onto the floor. Persephone darted forward to help him. Grunting softly, as if the movements were painful, he handed her his phone.

Persephone turned it to see the picture. A woman lay sleeping, her face wan on the dirty pillow. Eurydice. Even Persephone understood what the needle in her arm meant.

“She’s using again. She doesn’t want me anymore.”

“This is your proof?” She held it up. “Who took this picture?”

“One of Ajax’s men.”

“Men like the assholes outside?” Persephone could feel the rage welling up inside her. An innocent woman, drawn into this net. She worked over the phone, forwarding herself the picture, then going to Eurydice’s contact information and forwarding that too.

Something had to be done. It couldn’t be a coincidence that a woman disappeared when her fiancé was threatening to break a multi-million-dollar contract.

After seeing that picture… This wasn’t Hades. Maybe he would have kidnapped Eurydice to put pressure on Orpheus, but he never would have put her in a dank hellhole or pumped her full of drugs. No, this was all Ajax.

“Orpheus, it’s been long enough. We need to go to the police. She’s in trouble.”

“I threatened and they told me to try it. They said she’ll end up in jail, or worse.” He stared up at the ceiling, eyes bloodshot. “I can’t do anything. I can’t help her.”

Drawing in a harsh breath, Persephone let the phone fall. She turned, went to the window, and drew back the curtains in a violent move.

Orpheus cried out but she felt no sympathy for him.

“Enough. Get up. If you ever loved her, get out of bed and start acting like an adult.”

“She left me?—”

“I don’t care! She’s in trouble and someone needs to find her.” Persephone took another deep breath and said firmly, “I’ve already started looking and have some leads.”

“You won’t find anything. If they took her and got her using again, she’ll never be back.”

“Then I’m going to find her and give her that option. If you could, would you help her? Get her to rehab or whatever?”

Orpheus was sitting up now. He nodded. “Of course. I love her.”

“Then get up out of bed and start acting like it. Practice or something. Your job is to play.” She drew herself up, trying to show confidence she didn’t feel. “I’ll take care of the rest.”

The two guards outside Orpheus’s room jumped when the door swung open. Persephone stalked out.

“Call the maid.” She looked them in the eye. “This place needs to be cleaned up, even if you take Orpheus to another room while they do it. And order him a decent meal.”

With that, she swept out into the hall.