“Trying to steal something that belongs to me, warlock?”
At the sickeningly familiar deep voice, Isadora’s heart lurched in her throat. For the span of several seconds she didn’t breathe, didn’t move, couldn’t think. When her muscles finally clicked back in gear, she turned her head toward the front of the temple where a man—being—dressed in worn denim jeans and a short-sleeved black T-shirt sat perched on the altar, his legs so long they reached all the way to the marble floor.
“Hades,” Apophis growled.
“We’ve been through this before,” Hades said in that jovial tone Isadora knew was anything but friendly. “Nice body, by the way. Step up from your last one.” He winked, straightened. “What’s mine is mine and what’s yours is mine. And you know I don’t take kindly to you trying to take my stuff.”
Hades’s piercing black gaze swung Isadora’s way. Bile churned in her stomach as he stared at her as if he could see through every last stitch of clothing she wore. And in the silence each of his sick acts and wretched promises came back tenfold.
“You look shocked to see me, little queen. But we both know why I’m here, don’t we?”
She swallowed hard. Didn’t dare move. Had she thought Apophis was the worst of her worries? Oh, skata. She’d been so naïve.
“This does not concern you, Hades,” Apophis growled again. “Go back to the Underworld and leave us be.”
Hades’s gaze snapped to Apophis. Their eyes locked, and some kind of other-being communication passed between them. Isadora flipped over, tried to scoot back, but met solid rock. The two held each others’ stare so long, Apophis’s mouth snapped closed and he visibly trembled. But it wasn’t until sweat broke out on the warlock’s brow that Hades finally broke the stare-down, hopped off the altar, and said, “No, I don’t think I will.”
He turned toward Isadora and held out his hand. Dressed as he was, with his jet-black hair tousled and his features relaxed, he almost looked handsome. If you ignored the fact he could grind you to dust with barely a flick of his pinky finger and enjoy it along the way. “Come, little queen. We have much to discuss.”
Isadora didn’t move. But behind Hades, Apophis couldn’t contain his fury. His eyes grew so wide they nearly consumed his face, and that brilliant glow turned into a blinding spotlight that forced her to blink and duck her head. From the corner of her vision she watched as he lifted his hands, just as he had in the castle when he’d slammed Gryphon with some sort of energy force. But Hades whipped around before the blast left the warlock’s fingers, and with one outstretched hand his powers hurled the warlock clear across the temple, out the main door, and blasted him into the far wall of the cavern.
Rocks crashed down, a loud roar erupted. Hades crossed the wide floor in three easy steps and was out the door before Isadora clued in to what had happened. A blood-curdling scream tore through the cavern, followed by a pop and sizzle, and then there was nothing but silence.
Fear rooted Isadora in place. She knew this was her chance to get up, to run, but she couldn’t move. And when Hades stepped back into the temple, his expression set and jaw locked, she knew she was too late.
“Isadora!”
Demetrius’s frantic voice from somewhere close brought her head up and around.
Hades glanced to the ceiling and frowned. “Damn heroes. Always trying to save the day.” He crossed back to her, held out his hand. “He can’t interrupt us, so don’t worry. Now. The earth element, please.”
His request shocked the voice out of her. “The…? I don’t know what you’re—”
“Talking about? Oh, I think you do. The diamond. In your hand. What was once coal and came from the earth and is now so much more.”
Oh, shit. “How do you—?”
“Know about it?” he asked, finishing her sentence again. “You made a deal with my treacherous wife, little queen. Remember? She brought you to me so you could save your sister’s soul. In exchange you gave her your power of foresight for one month. That one month has just begun.”
The deal. Of course that’s how he’d known. But still…
“She…she saw that I’d find it?”
“Mm-hmm. She sees everything now. Thanks to you.”
The diamond dug into her palm as she tightened her fist around the jewel. So that’s what Persephone was after. For one month she’d be able to see where each element was located. Now all she’d need was the Orb of Krónos and she’d have the power to release the Titans from Tartarus, bring about the war to end all wars, and have the strength to control what was left.
“Where…?” Her voice was nothing but a whisper. “Where is she?”
“Tied up at the moment. Literally.” He knelt, rested his forearm against his knee. “You see, I know the bitch well. And wife or not, I’ll not allow her to control something that should have been mine thousands of years ago.”
His. He was talking about the human realm. His brother Zeus controlled the skies, his other brother, Poseidon, the seas. While he had free reign over the Underworld and all its levels of horror, he couldn’t control the human realm. And that’s what he obviously wanted.
“Why…why didn’t you just come and take it before I got here?”
Disgust crossed his features. “Because I can’t. Thanks to Prometheus, the ass.”
When Prometheus scattered the elements, he must have put restrictions on how they could be found, Isadora realized. Or stolen.
“The only plus to the whole damn situation,” Hades continued, “is that the wife will be spitting nails by the time I return to Tartarus. And I like her much better when she’s hell on wheels, don’t you?” His licentious grin churned her stomach. “Oh, don’t look so horrified. I know you’ll like her soon enough. Once you get used to her…tastes.” His gaze traveled the length of Isadora’s body. “And now that you’re no longer a virgin, I can’t wait to tell her she won’t have to be so…careful with you.” His soulless black eyes slid back to her face and held. “Just imagine what lies in wait for you when she returns to her mother for the summer and you’re finally mine.”
Bile rose in her stomach. She remembered clearly what she’d witnessed in the Underworld. The depraved acts he’d made her watch. Though he technically hadn’t laid a hand on her, he’d wanted her to see and hear and remember what he had planned for her when she was his. And that memory still haunted her dreams and cast a shadow over what was left of her life.
“Of course,” Hades said, leaning toward her, “I may be willing to make a trade. If you’d rather keep your soul instead, that is.”
“A t-trade?”
His hollow eyes sparked. “Your soul for the diamond in your fist.”
Her heart skipped a beat. “You…you’d give me my soul back? Just that easy?”
“Of course that easy. A deal is, after all, a deal.”
Hope flared and a future, a real future, beckoned. But even before warmth spread up her torso, the flames of life grew cold and dark.
She couldn’t give him the element. Apophis had the Orb, but it was only a matter of time before Hades figured that out and took it back. Judging from the little power play he’d put on here minutes ago, taking the Orb back would be a snap. And if Persephone found the other three elements before the month was up…then the world as they knew it would be destroyed.
“It’s a simple choice, little queen. Your soul. Yours once more to do with as you please. And I will be nothing but a memory.”
“Isadora!” Demetrius’s voice echoed from somewhere close again. A banging sound followed. Her eyes strayed to the dark ceiling of the temple, covered in gold-plated tiles.