Chapter Twenty

A chiming rang through the house.

I was in the dressing room, hanging my clothes. My entire wardrobe wouldn't fill a fifth of the room and the meager selection I'd brought with me looked even more pathetic hanging there, but I wasn't about to waste the chance at having my clothes in a dressing room like that. At the sound of the chime, Binx, who was sleeping on a padded bench beside me, looked up.

“I'll go see what that's about,” I said to him. “You stay here.”

I hurried out to the hallway, shutting the door behind me, and then raced down it until I came to the main stairs. There, the chiming was louder. I followed it across the landing and into another corridor. The men were there, racing for a door.

“Amélie, go back to your room,” Darius said.

“What's happening?” I demanded.

“Hades is summoning us,” Dominic said. “We'll tell you about it later.”

I stopped just outside the room they headed into—a huge, masculine office done in polished mahogany with a massive fireplace in one wall.

“Sorry. We can't take you with us yet,” Declan said as he shut the door in my face. The lock clicked.

I gaped at the door. “Seriously?” Then I frowned. “Yet?”

As I stood there, something shivered over me. Magic. Power. It pebbled the skin of my arms. I backed away from the door, suddenly afraid. I assumed Hades was a good guy because he made the Hounds, and they were good guys. But he was also a god. Just like Silas. Gods could be fickle. Especially when they were in a bad mood. My grandma had told me lots of stories about the Greek Gods. Most of them were cautionary tales. In other words, stories about bad shit the Gods had done because mortals pissed them off. Or otherwise got their attention.

I turned and speed-walked back to my room, then locked myself in. As if any of that would stop the King of the Underworld. I curled up on the bed, and Binx joined me, crying to get my attention. I tucked him in against my chest and thought about those old stories.

“Actually, Silas fits the bill,” I muttered.

Binx looked up at me.

“Do you know how many Greek gods raped women? A lot of them. And they never paid for their crimes. Oh, no, it was the women who paid the price. The victims. Medusa got made into a monster for the audacity of getting raped by Poseidon in Athena's temple.” I shuddered. “The Gods can be cruel.” I let out a long breath. “But they can also be good. Maybe Hades is a good guy.” I frowned. “A good guy who abducted a woman and married her. Shit. He's another rapist. And he has a lot of enemies. You don't get that many enemies by being a sweetheart.”

Binx whined.

“You're right. I don't know the truth. All I know are the myths. Maybe humans got the stories wrong. They certainly messed up Cerberus.”

I sighed and stroked Binx. Brunch was still filling my belly and with Binx nestled against me, I was lulled into a relaxed state that soon became sleep. As I drifted off, I wondered how many of the stories my grandma told me were real. And how many were real but also inaccurate? It's all about perspective.