84

84

If Trust Won’t Work, Try Bribery

When you have everything to lose, you start coming up with the shit that will get you smited.

That’s what we’re doing tonight. Any minute now, in fact.

Fates, please be on our side and let this work.

We have to be very careful in how we do this to avoid the “no interfering” rule for Hades. So, at my request, Hades is bringing…guests…to his home. Charon about fell on his ass when Hades told him. How they can come and go from the Underworld without a mark similar to the one Hades gave me, I don’t know, and I don’t ask. But as far as anyone else is concerned, this is a “hooray I’m better, let’s catch up on what I missed” party for all the champions.

Given the size of Hades’ home down here, you’d think entertaining was common. “Mansion” doesn’t really cover it. “Castle” is closer. I’ve been encouraged to walk a lot by the ghost doctors attending me in committee, and so I’ve explored.

At this point, I’m pretty sure I’ve only covered about fifty percent of the grounds, and I’ve cataloged at least thirteen bedroom suites, two dining rooms—one formal and one informal under a skylight. There’s a sauna, a massage room, the library where he first brought me after Boone’s death that puts the fairy-tale Beast’s to shame, three separate indoor living spaces, and at least three more outdoor—one up on the roof, where I am now, one by the pool, and one in a garden that stole my breath. Two kitchens inside—one for Hades’ personal use and a massive one for the staff who serve here—and one kitchen outside. Indoor pool and gym, outdoor pond, but also an outdoor pool that is more like a series of pools incorporated into the lush landscaping that swirls and eddies from unique feature to feature, with bridges, grottos, and even one with cabanas on islands surrounded by water.

Suck it, Olympus.

That’s what Hades’ home in the Underworld screams.

The other champions are in for a surprise when they get here. I almost smile as I picture their reactions. The opulence and luxury are both in your face and understated. Just like his penthouse, it’s eclectic. A mix of elements from all around the world.

But what’s different is the lived-in feel. The rooms and decor aren’t untouchable, uncomfortable, or showy. Every space here is…cozy. I want to tuck myself into each nook and cranny and just enjoy—read, take a nap, watch TV, plan a heist.

Hades is there with me in every one of those fantasies. I can’t quite seem to get that to stop.

I’m waiting in the rooftop living area. From here, I have a three-hundred-and-sixty-degree view of the mountain the home is built into and the lands beyond with their ethereal hills, fields, and rivers covered by a cave ceiling so high, it might as well be sky. There is a sort of daytime and nighttime here, mimicking the Overworld, but the colors are more vibrant. Especially at night.

I sigh as I drink in the view for perhaps the last time.

Tomorrow, we go back to Olympus for the eleventh Labor. Hades bought us the time. The Daemones helped, coming back down to inspect me and agree that the final challenges should wait for all the champions still living to participate.

Hades hasn’t told me any more about the three Labors I missed, despite me bothering him nonstop—a bad sign that I won’t like what I hear, but it doesn’t matter. I’ll find out tonight regardless.

A breeze ruffles my hair and caresses my skin.

There’s a breeze in the Underworld. I’d pictured a roasting wind to go with the burning fields, but not here in Erebos, the Land of Shadows. Here, the breeze is cool and perfect.

I’m wearing a sundress, of all things, in a cheerful yellow. I have no idea how Hades knew I’d always wanted one. Pledges wear utilitarian clothes or clothes to blend into the environment where we have a job, but we don’t get to keep those. And I never got to that level anyway.

I stare out over the vistas and sigh again because I think I could stay here forever and never miss any other place. But maybe that has something to do with the god who calls this home.

I feel Hades before I hear or see him move up next to me at the rail. Not from his emotions. I haven’t felt those again in the extra days he wrangled for me to rest and recover.

But there’s this tension now.

Like a thin wire has been strung between him and me, and if we get too close…sparks travel that wire and we both risk getting scorched. So we’ve been moving around each other carefully.

We don’t touch.

We don’t glance or stare.

We don’t share a room alone for longer than a few minutes.

We don’t breach the invisible walls of personal space, like glass bubbles around us.

We don’t imply. Or tease. Or tempt.

And thanks to all of those unspoken “thou shalt not” rules…I fucking smolder with unrealized need.

“You’re still determined to go through with this?” he asks.

All of our discussions since I stopped sleeping all the time have focused on strategy. How to win the Crucible.

“Yes.” For Boone. For me. For Hades, too.

“Lyra!” Meike’s cry has us turning to find her, Zai, Trinica, and Amir coming up the stairs that lead to the rooftop.

I don’t have to look, because I already feel that Hades has disappeared. He’s not supposed to be here with the champions. Any of them. Not for what I have in mind.

With hurried steps, Meike runs to me and pulls me into a hug. “Thank the gods,” she says. “We thought…” She grimaces as she pulls back.

“Thank Hades, because he’s the reason I’m still alive.”

She glances around as if she’ll find him here.

By now, Zai has joined us, also giving me a hug. “We didn’t know what happened to you.”

“I’ll fill you in.”

Trinica hangs back, watching warily, Amir at her side. It’s not like I’ve been present for most of the Labors they’ve been officially allied with us for. “I’m glad the four of you had one another while I’ve been gone,” I say.

“We missed you,” Amir says, offering me a boyish smile.

Trinica just nods, but she’s lost the wariness.

I lead them to one of the large outdoor couches that horseshoe a firepit. “We don’t have long to talk,” I tell them. “The others will be here in about fifteen minutes.”

Zai leans back a tad. “Others?”

“I invited all of the champions here.”

The four of them exchange glances.

Meike frowns. “That doesn’t seem like a good idea.” And usually she is the optimistic one.

I half laugh but can’t help pulling a face. “Yes, all. Even Dex. There’s a reason.” I clasp my hands in my lap to keep from fiddling. “We don’t have much time, so I’ll lay it out for you plainly. All right?”

They nod.

I glance behind them toward the stairs, then start talking rapid-fire. I tell them about Boone. About how Hades can make him a god, but only if I win and he becomes king.

“Why are you telling us?” Zai asks slowly, strategic mind at work. I can see in his eyes that he’s already tracking where I’m headed.

There’s a bit of a distance between us now. All of us. Not palpable or bad, just…there. I’m not sure if it’s because they survived three more Labors without me, or something else.

“Because I’m going to propose something to the entire group of champions, but you are my closest allies. So, I wanted to tell you first.”

Movement on the stairs has me glancing over them again. The five of us get to our feet as first Jackie and then the others all make their way up to where we are.

No Hades. No Charon. No other gods or goddesses.

Just us.