Chapter 43

43

Afew minutes later, Persephone’s arm ached from holding up her cellphone light. And she was battling claustrophobia. It was really tight in here.

The passage had narrowed even further and she couldn’t be sure because her sense of direction was a bit turned around, but she felt like the floor was sloping down. Like they were headed to a basement or lower floor.

“Are you sure you don’t need to be back onstage?” Persephone called quietly to Aphrodite. Aphrodite plunged ahead confidently, almost like she was enjoying this.

“Don’t worry,” Aphrodite waved a hand. “They’ll think I’m back in the VIP room with a customer. If we happen to get caught, I’ll tell them you wanted a lap dance and we got carried away.”

“Yeah, snooping around in dark creepy basements always turns me on,” Persephone joked feebly.

“You’d be surprised what people like.” Aphrodite stopped in her tracks as the narrow passageway broke out into a larger room. Persephone huddled close to her.

“What now?” Persephone’s voice wavered a little. The place was spooky, with a low ceiling that was barely six feet tall. At five feet eight inches, Persephone felt like stooping. Dust and cobwebs hung from the beams. Real cheery place. Persephone shivered.

“Over there.” Aphrodite pointed out a small door. They crept forward together, huddling in the small pool of light. Persephone’s eyes kept skittering all around the room. Her phone better not run out of battery, that was all she was saying. She didn’t dare check, though. Eurydice could be only a room away and she couldn’t let her fears stop her now. Just please, gods, no rats. Please no rats.

They made it across the room but the door was stuck. Aphrodite took the cellphone and Persephone pushed at it. The thought of being stuck down here in the old air gave her a burst of strength, and she forced it open with her shoulder, staggering forward when it opened suddenly.

The room was tiny. Little more than a closet.

And it was empty.

“Damn,” Aphrodite cursed softly. “I really hoped we would find her.”

“But look, is that a bed?” Persephone pushed through the door and stepped into the small room, nose twitching at the stale air. Aphrodite followed and pointed the cell phone flashlight at the floor. They both looked at the pallet and ratty blanket stuffed inside the tiny space.

“Do you think…” Aphrodite began but then trailed off as Persephone knelt down and pushed her hand up between the wall and the pallet.

Holy shit, was that a?—

Persephone came away holding a cellphone in a bright pink case. “It’s Eurydice’s. I’ll bet anything. They kept her down there, I’m sure of it.” But Eurydice herself was long gone. Still, this was one more clue.

When Aphrodite said, “Let’s get out of here,” Persephone was only too happy to agree.

They were back in the dark passageway when Persephone caught Aphrodite’s hand. “Wait, slow down.”

Persephone held the pink phone between them and tried turning it on. It was dead. Persephone cursed and took her purse back from Aphrodite, sliding the new phone in there.

“Do you think—” Aphrodite started, her voice grim.

Persephone shook her head and cut her off before she could voice it out loud. “I don’t think Ajax would harm her, yet.” Other than a needle in her arm. “He still needs her as leverage over her fiancé.” She said it for Aphrodite as much as for herself.

Aphrodite nodded and threaded her fingers with Persephone’s again. “Come on.”

They started back through the tight space, holding hands. It seemed like it took forever. But gods, all Persephone could see was that tiny closet and the pathetic pallet on the ground. Eurydice must’ve been so scared. And if they locked her in there without light? A shiver went through Persephone that shook her down to her bones. She clutched tighter onto her phone.

But no, Ajax still needed Eurydice. They could still save her. How much had they missed her by? A day? Hours?

When they reached the secret door to the VIP room, Aphrodite’s fingers gave her a squeeze before pulling a latch and pushing the door open slowly.

They both waited a beat, listening. For a moment there was nothing but silence. Persephone’s shoulders sagged in relief. She might just get away with this after all.

Then someone inside moaned and both Aphrodite and Persephone froze, hearing the sounds of two people kissing and panting. Aphrodite looked at Persephone and Persephone made a face.

Someone was having a good time in the VIP room.

“Come on,” Aphrodite mouthed, and Persephone shook her head. Since they were stuck anyway, Persephone picked a few more spider webs out of Aphrodite’s hair. Aphrodite held still and after a minute Persephone had gotten them all. Persephone felt like a nervous wreck but Aphrodite looked completely composed, barely a hair out of place.

Persephone looked down at her own cobweb-streaked dress and grimaced. She swiped at them and held still as Aphrodite checked her wig.

After they were both set aright, Aphrodite mouthed, “Ready?”

Not hardly, but she still let Aphrodite tug her into the room and close the door behind them. They were behind the curtain and the champagne room lovers hadn’t yet noticed them. Granted, they were otherwise engaged, the man moaning a little.

“You like that, baby?” a woman’s voice purred. “Takes the edge right off.”

Aphrodite peeped out from behind the curtain.

Persephone pulled on her shoulder. “No,” she mouthed, but Aphrodite shook her off and stepped into the room. What was she doing? Did she not get how dangerous this all was?

Persephone peered out after her. A dancer was moving over a male client, wearing nothing but a thong, as she giggled and let his hands roam all over her curvy body.

Aphrodite strode confidently past them to the champagne bucket on its stand. She popped open a bottle and started pouring glasses.

“Oh, Aphrodite, I didn’t hear you come in,” the other dancer said, glancing up. “He was looking for you.”

“I’ll take over.” Aphrodite nodded and the other dancer immediately vacated her spot.

“Come join us, baby.” The man sounded woozy, reaching for the retreating dancer.

Wait, Persephone recognize that voice.

Hermes?

She yanked the curtain aside more abruptly to get a better look. And yep, it was Hermes. He was lounging on the plush loveseat, his hair messy and his shirt half unbuttoned. His belt was gone.

“I’m coming,” Aphrodite said sweetly, pouring champagne.

Persephone came out from the curtain and put her hands on her hips, frowning down at Hermes. He looked totally wasted.

“Persephone?” His eyes blinked lazily. “Where’d you come from?”

Persephone rolled her eyes, accepting a glass of champagne from Aphrodite and taking a gulp to steady her nerves. She was officially ready for this night to be over.

Aphrodite’s wide eyes over the glass said it all.

Reaching in her purse, Persephone pulled out the pink cellphone. “It’s definitely dead,” she said, still pressing buttons.

“It’s a clue.” Aphrodite came over with wet wipes, and started cleaning up Persephone’s dress better. In the light of the room, the dust smudges were still apparent.

Hermes hiccupped on the couch.

Persephone ignored him and tried to piece together what had happened. “So her cellphone died but she figured Orpheus would know about this place and would look for her here. So she leaves it behind. But that means she was alert enough to leave it.”

Persephone paced a few steps and stopped and spun back to Aphrodite. “And there must be a message on it, or something. Otherwise why would she leave it behind?”

“You guys wanna play?” Hermes interrupted. They both looked down at him. Gods, his eyes were glazed and his pupils were huge. What the hell had he taken?

Aphrodite shifted her gaze back to Persephone. “What are you going to do now?”

“Get him out of here.” Persephone frowned at her drunken friend. “Regroup. See if I can get anything off this phone.”

“What do you want me to do?”

Persephone started to answer, when she heard a raised voice in the corridor. A very angry voice.

Persephone’s eyes shot to Aphrodite’s. They both recognized it.

Ajax. It sounded like Ajax.

Aphrodite darted to the door. Persephone ran to Hermes.

“Come on, we have to go,” Persephone hissed, pulling at his arms.

“Don’t wanna.” He grinned up at her, catching her hands playfully. Persephone squawked in surprise as he pulled her down on top of him.

“Persephone, you always smell so nice.” He nuzzled her neck until she pushed herself away. “You’re my dream girl.”

Behind them, Aphrodite was standing at the door. It opened and Aphrodite shoved her body into the crack, posing provocatively in her sexy red dress.

“Looking for some fun?” she purred.

“Get out here; they want you on stage again.”

Persephone stiffened. Definitely Ajax’s voice.

“Sounds great, big boy.” Aphrodite arched her back and slid her arm up the door frame so she was blocking the room from Ajax’s view. “I’ll just help these two finish up, then?—”

Aphrodite’s body jerked forward and she let out a soft cry. Someone had manhandled her into the hall.

Persephone jerked her face away from the door to hide it. She hurriedly slipped her purse off her shoulder and stuffed it behind a cushion.

“I said now,” Ajax was growling. Aphrodite didn’t reply. Persephone could hear the door swing open.

Whirling back to Hermes, Persephone straddled him. She tugged down her shirt until her bra covered breasts popped out. Hermes’s face fell forward into her chest and she let her hair fall across her cheeks.

She could hear Ajax’s heavy breathing as he stood in the door watching them. Hermes moaned suddenly and Persephone, afraid he’d call out her name, drew his head back and smashed her lips against his.

Hermes’s eyes popped wide open. Persephone stared back into his, trying to communicate her panic to him.

“Make sure you get the money, sweetheart, before you go all the way,” Ajax muttered from the door before closing it.

Persephone heard the knob click and she sagged, then scrambled back.

Hermes was breathing heavily. “Uhh, Cor?—”

She leaped forward, plastering both her hands over his mouth. “Just shut up for a minute,” she whispered harshly and listened for sounds of Ajax bursting back in.

When nothing happened, she relaxed the pressure on Hermes’s face, but kept her hands against his mouth. His bushy eyebrows were raised in surprise, his eyes shifting wildly.

“I’ll explain everything later,” she whispered. “Right now we have to get out of here.”

“Ok.” Hermes’s words were muffled under her hands. She snatched them away and wiped them off on her skirt.

Ok, think, think. Ajax was outside; he wouldn’t expect them to be done anytime soon. Not if he thought she was one of his girls. She could wait a while but he might come back any minute to check on them.

Someone banged into their door as they moved down the hall and she jumped.

“We’re going out a different way,” she said, grabbing her purse and pulling Hermes to his feet. He stumbled forward and it was enough for her to drag him behind the curtain.

She opened the door and took a left, moving forward in the dark, the opposite direction she and Aphrodite had gone earlier. Aphrodite said this way led to an exit and they just had to find it.

Persephone didn’t care about the dark this time. Ajax was far more terrifying than some stupid rats. If he caught her, she’d be at his mercy, on his turf, and neither Hades nor any of his men even knew where she was.

“What the hell?” Hermes mumbled at her back.

“Keep moving,” she whispered hurriedly. She finally turned on her phone’s flashlight again. The long narrow hallway stretched out in front of them, and there were a couple of doors ahead. She headed toward the one at the very end. They’d go out the back way and hope no one was watching that exit. If they were, she didn’t know what she’d do.

They came to a doorway and Persephone listened at the heavy wood. She didn’t hear anything. Ok, this had to be the back exit.

She turned the doorknob and pushed the door open.

“Hey! Who’s there?”

Oh shit! Not an exit, not an exit!

Persephone nearly climbed onto Hermes’s back, she pushed him back so forcefully down the narrow passage.

“Go, go, go,” she hissed. Hermes lost his footing and bounced a little off the brick wall. Persephone almost got tangled up in him, but somehow, they managed to move forward.

“Hey, you can’t be in here!” The lights hit on her back as the door behind them opened before adrenaline kicked in and gave her some speed and Hermes some focus back. They surged forward, running into the darkness of the hall, Persephone continuously pushing Hermes forward.

“Where are we going?” Hermes asked, sounding more sober as they turned a corner.

“Just keep moving,” Persephone bit out frantically. “The door should be up here.”

Tiny lights from around the crack of a door up ahead gave her hope. The hall had widened enough for her to move past Hermes, and she nearly clawed at the next door handle they saw.

It had to be this one. It was really stuck, though, like it was rarely used. She backed up and charged it wildly, only barely hearing Hermes protest feebly behind her, “Wait. I think that’s the?—”

The door burst open and Persephone staggered forward, out from behind a curtain and right onto The Orchid stage.

Aphrodite had slipped off the dress and was in the gold bikini, gyrating with her ass towards the audience. Her head flew up and she stared at Persephone in shock.

Whirling back the way she’d come, Persephone only managed to slam her body into Hermes. He toppled over and she went down under him.

“Well, if it isn’t the birthday boy, back for more,” she heard Aphrodite adlib. Persephone pressed her face into Hermes’s shoulder to hide it and think of what to do.

“And it looks like he got lucky,” Aphrodite announced.

A few appreciative whoops rose up from the crowd. Persephone wrapped her arms around Hermes and desperately hooked a bare leg around his waist.

Hermes looked completely dazed. “Persephone, what the hell is going on?”

“Just go with it,” Persephone pleaded. “We need to get out of here.”

“So then what happened?” Athena demanded. She sat at her computer desk, sorting through chargers that would match Eurydice’s phone.

Persephone shook her head, causing the faded black sweatshirt she’d borrowed from Athena to slide off one pale shoulder. “Then Aphrodite got the lights to go down and got us off stage. We left out the front.” She flopped backwards on Athena’s couch, still unable to believe they’d all gotten out in one piece.

Athena shook her head. “A night at a strip club and you don’t take me. I thought we were friends!”

“Keep it down,” Hermes groaned.

Persephone glanced at him where he lay on the couch, an ice pack held to his head. On the taxi ride to Athena’s, he’d admitted to taking some pills from the first dancer they’d found him with—something to help with the pain of his rump. Mixed with champagne, they’d messed him up and then given him a big ol’ headache.

Persephone felt little sympathy.

“So, you still have no idea where this Eurydice girl is?” Athena had found a charger and was now working on one of her many computers. She had a whole wall of her tiny loft dedicated to electronics.

“No, and I’m out of leads besides the phone. Well, except for Ajax. But I can’t just follow him around.”

“Think maybe it’s time to get your husband involved?” Hermes asked.

She closed her eyes and tried to envision it. What would Hades say if she took it all to him? What would he do?

He’d definitely put Persephone on lockdown for defying him and going places without his bodyguards.

But would he do anything to help Eurydice? That was the question. There was still a chance he had a part in the kidnapping. Persephone didn’t want to believe it, but she hadn’t wanted to believe things of Hades in the past and they’d turned out to be true.

Persephone shook her head. She couldn’t risk putting her belief in Hades again and not just because she didn’t think her heart could bear another disappointment. If he locked her away again, then who was there to help Eurydice? She’d be just another disappeared girl in a city that didn’t care. “No, I’m not taking this to him. I need to figure it out myself.” She yanked on her braids, unravelling them roughly.

She noticed Hermes and Athena were both staring at her.

But then Hermes was nodding. “She’s right,” he said. “Hades has other things to take care of right now.”

“Right, he’s busy,” Persephone agreed, filing away Hermes’s insight for later. What did he know about Hades’s late nights and the business that kept him away all hours lately?

“How do we even know Eurydice had her phone with her when she was supposedly abducted?” Hermes asked Persephone.

“She’s a twenty something year old woman. We sleep with our phones.”

“Especially when they’re on vibrate,” Athena muttered, clicking her mouse.

Hermes perked up.

Persephone cleared her throat. “Anything on the cellphone yet?”

“Well, it’s charging. I’ll work on it tonight and as soon as I hack it, I’ll let you know.” Athena’s fingers flew over her keyboard.

“I’m staying here.” Hermes sagged back onto the cushions. “Let me know if I can help any more. Especially if your friend Aphrodite is involved.”

Athena and Persephone both rolled their eyes.

“Well, my ride’s here.” Persephone stood the moment after her ride service app pinged. “I gotta go. Let me know as soon as you get anything.”

Charon had sounded grouchy over the phone earlier when she told him she was staying late at the shelter to help Hecate take inventory. Persephone had been surprised at how easily the lie rolled off her tongue. She was getting better at it.

“You’re not really going to try to tail Ajax, are you?” Athena asked, pulling out a drawer and rummaging in it.

“Let me sleep on it.”

Persephone might be determined, but she liked to think she wasn’t stupid. Today’s activities aside. But tailing Ajax? That might tread into TSTL territory. Persephone was still unconsciously playing with her hair, letting it pouf out in a corn silk cloud.

“Wait,” Athena held out a hand. “Give me your phone.”

Persephone’s brow wrinkled as Athena clipped a black case over her device. “What is that?”

“It’s called a Wasp. It’s a stun gun that looks like a cellphone case. New prototype. The next one will be smaller, but this works pretty well.” Athena grimaced as she fitted her hand around the bulky thing. “Here, watch.”

She showed Persephone how to uncover the two tiny metal teeth that delivered the shock, then slid a button to activate the stun gun. It was all but invisible against the casing of the phone.

“Holy crap, Athena, are you sure?”

“Absolutely. It’s still in beta testing, so you’d be doing me a favor if you use it and let me know how it works.”

Feeling bad ass, Persephone took her phone and pressed the case’s “on” button. A buzzing sound filled the apartment.

“Six hundred and fifty volts. It’ll knock a grown man on his ass.” Athena grinned at the thought. “Come here, Hermes, let’s try it out.”

“Pass,” he called from the couch. “I’ve been beaten enough by beautiful women tonight.”