She stepped to him, brushed her hand against his granite jaw, let her gaze skip over his features. His tanned and weathered skin, the long slope of his nose she knew now really was linked to royalty, the deep gray depths of his eyes, and his dark eyebrows, cinched low as he stared at her as if she’d sprouted a second head. Then to his lips. Masculine. Hard. Yet so soft when they pressed against hers, when they opened to take her in.
She eased up on her toes.
He sucked in a breath. “What are you doing?”
“Kissing you.”
His eyes grew wide. “Why?”
“Because, silly daemon, you are irresistible.”
She grazed her mouth against his, just the slightest breath of skin against skin, heat against heat. He didn’t move. Didn’t reach for her. And as she slid her hands over his muscular shoulders and ran her fingers into the hair at the nape of his neck, then tipped her head to kiss him again, she smiled. Smiled because the circumstances of who they were and why and how they’d come to be here together in the middle of hell didn’t matter anymore. The only thing that mattered was him.
Orpheus…
Ironic that Orpheus the legendary musician had been the one to tame the Sirens with his lyre when he’d sailed with the Argonauts on Jason’s quest for the Golden Fleece. Though this Orpheus was no musician, he’d tamed her just the same. Awakened her. Shown her there was life beyond the order. Cynurus had stirred the need for a home, a family, a future inside her, but Orpheus was the one who’d stoked those cold embers and brought them back to life.
She slid her tongue along the seam of his lips, coaxing him to let her in. Used her strength to draw her body close until they were chest to chest, hip to hip, soul to soul. His hands settled at her hips. His fingers fisted in the damp fabric of her shirt. And just when she was sure he was going to let her in, he pushed back from her mouth and frowned down at her.
“I did take that arousal spell off you, didn’t I?’
She laughed, eased in closer. Felt the warmth of the earth element between them. “You did. But haven’t you figured out I don’t need an arousal spell to want you?”
His eyes narrowed. “You’re seducing me.”
“No, daemon. I’m enjoying you. The two are very different. When I seduce, trust me, I don’t enjoy.”
For a heartbeat, he didn’t speak. Just stared at her. Then he muttered “Skata” and brought his hands up to frame her face, drawing her lips back to his and kissing her with all the passion she’d been missing this last day.
She opened for him, drew his tongue into her mouth and savored that smoky, wet, dangerous taste on her tongue. The one that ignited fire in her blood and called to her on the most basic level.
His hands slid down her shoulders, over her sides, back to her hips again, dragging her closer to his erection. He took a step back, leaned against an outcrop of rock, and pushed one thigh between her legs, grasping her hips and dragging her close until she was rubbing up against him, growing breathless and sweaty all over again.
“Skyla, Skyla, Skyla,” he murmured against her lips, then dipped in for another taste that drove her a little more mad. “You’re going to be the death of me, Siren.”
This time, she eased away from his mouth. “No, I’m not. I believe in you, Orpheus.”
“You shouldn’t.”
“I can’t help it. You keep doing things that prove to me you are not at all what you think you are.”
“Don’t put too much faith in me. I never live up to it.”
She trailed her hand down his chest and laid it over the element resting against his heart, warm from a power that didn’t come from his skin or hers. It came from within. Just like the strength that was hidden in him but which he couldn’t see.
“Even a Fate can’t see the heart of a person, and free will reigns in all men, you included. But something tells me your part in all of this doesn’t end here.”
His piercing gaze held hers, and though her need for him right here and now was great, it wasn’t as great as her need for him to believe in himself. The only way she knew for him to do that was to find his brother and set right a wrong he felt responsible for.
She eased out of his arms but captured his hand in hers and smiled as she tugged him with her. His fingers closed around hers—strong, steady, alive. “Come on. We still have at least half a day’s journey. And that’s assuming we don’t run into any problems. I want to get this done and get back to the human realm, where we can pick up where we left off.”
He frowned but followed, his boots kicking up dust, his hand never leaving hers. “Where we left off was me being mad at you for pushing your way along on this trip.”
She laughed. “Okay, then we’ll skip ahead to the part where you’re not mad and are thankful I came along.”
“Am I?”
“You will be. Trust me.”
***
“They’ve entered Tartarus, my lord.” Orcus bowed his head in that subservient way that made Hades want to praise the disgusting creature by backhanding him across the room.
“And my wife?”
“Waiting.”
Of course. Waiting for Orpheus to reach the Cursed Marshes. His wife would attack then. When the hero and Siren would be disoriented and unable to run. It was a good plan. A plan Hades himself would have come up with…if, that is, he only wanted the Orb.
But now, knowing the Siren was with the no-good hero, and knowing what Atalanta and Krónos had planned, the Orb wasn’t enough. He wanted them all. The souls of two Argonauts, a Siren, and Atalanta. His power would surge with the blessed souls of the first three, and the last…well, he just wanted to see that bitch Atalanta suffer.
His father he’d deal with later.
“Bring me my wife.”
“She will be most displeased, my lord.”
A wicked smile turned up Hades’s lips and he clasped his hands behind his back as he rocked on his heels and stared out at the swirling red sky. “I’m counting on it.
“Oh, and Orcus,” he called over his shoulder.
The creature’s scuffling stopped. “Yes, my lord?”
“Send Tantalus to the Cursed Marshes to tell them where they can find the Argonaut’s soul. I’m ready to hurry this along.”
***
The air grew stagnant and thick, the moans and cries for help so loud they were a never-ending buzz in Orpheus’s ears.
As he followed Skyla across Tartarus, they stayed to the shadows as much as possible but found it impossible in places. They passed rivers of lava where souls were being thrown into the boiling streams, racks where souls were stretched and tortured with instruments that ranged from knives to scythes to chains. Everywhere, pain and torment rang out around them but none paid them any mind. They were allowed to pass as if they were invisible. Which just seemed…wrong.
As they walked by a particularly gruesome scene—a soul staked to the ground, being devoured by dogs—Skyla covered her mouth and looked away. “How does he decide who suffers what atrocity?”
“It’s different for each soul.”
Skyla turned his way. His feet stopped. Again that sense of déjà vu washed through him, the one that had grown stronger the deeper they’d delved into the Underworld. “I don’t know how I know that. I just do. At judgment, Hades determines what punishments fit the perpetrator and he sets them up on a cyclical pattern. A day of each until the soul is killed, only to suffer through a new scenario the next day.”
“That’s awful,” Skyla whispered.
It was. Horrendous. To know that day after day you’d be tortured until you died in different yet equally heinous ways, only to awaken and do it all again. An endless repetition of life, torture, and death.
Skyla slid her hand into his and tugged. “Come on.”
He focused on her familiar amethyst eyes. Eyes that also brought a sense of déjà vu. Eyes he knew he’d looked into long before that day at the concert. “Skyla…”
“Yes?”
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His chest filled again with that warmth only she could bring. “I…” Why do I feel like I know you? What is this weird connection we have? But he knew she wouldn’t answer his questions. He’d tried that before. Maybe he should just stop questioning and be thankful she was here with him. To be in this place alone…
A shiver ran down his spine even in the blistering heat.
He shook off the thought and stepped toward her. “Yeah, let’s go.”
They walked another few hours until the barren ground shifted to wet, seeping marshes where all five rivers of the Underworld converged in a murky, bubbling, swampy mire. Souls could be seen floating amidst the muck, struggling to break free, but the surface was as impenetrable as glass, and the muffled screams echoed in the air.
Please don’t let Gryphon be down there.
Orpheus had no idea how they’d get him out if he was.
A shout echoed to their left. On instinct, Orpheus pushed Skyla behind him and turned that way. She grunted and stepped free of his protection, then reached for her bow.
The voice grew stronger, and then a body came into view. A real body, not a soul like every other person they’d encountered. How Orpheus knew that he couldn’t be sure. The souls looked real down here, but there was something about them that struck him as not complete.
The man, being, whatever, stepped out of the scraggly trees and stopped a few feet from them. He was dressed all in white, with dark hair, and two scars that ran down his cheeks. But he was definitely real. And very, very familiar. “You seek the Argonaut’s soul.”
Orpheus slanted Skyla a look. She had her bow up and ready to strike. “How do you know what we’re here for?”
“Souls have ears,” the male answered. “And secrets waft on the wind.” His voice lowered. “Do not be so naïve as to think you were anything but allowed to venture this far amongst the dead. The Argonaut you seek is not among the Cursed Marshes. He’s on the plains, over the ridge to the west.”
Orpheus’s gaze followed the sweep of the male’s hand. “Why are you telling us this?”
The male stepped closer. “Because I’ve been told to.” He slid a small teardrop-shaped vial of liquid into Orpheus’s hand and whispered, “Even here, in the land of the forgotten, hope remains. Watch for the unexpected. They’ll strike when you think you are free.”
He turned and headed back the way he’d come.
“Hey!”
The man stopped. Glanced over his shoulder.
“Do I know you?” Orpheus asked.
“You did. Once.”
Why that left Orpheus more uneasy than the fact this guy had approached them, he didn’t know. He raised the vial. “What’s in here?”
“Ambrosia. It has the opposite effect in the Underworld.” The man turned and headed back into the mist.
“What do you think that was about?” Skyla asked.
Orpheus didn’t know, but as he watched the male disappear, another shot of déjà vu whipped through him. “I think it means we need to watch our backs.”
“Do we search the marshes or trust him?”
If Gryphon were here, it would take days, weeks, to find him. There were so many lying trapped in the shadows of the tall reeds. “What do you think?”
“It’s your call.”
Yeah. His call. His mistake to make, too. Only one of many he’d made during his lifetime.
He didn’t know why, but that déjà vu said to trust the man. He slid the vial into his pocket. “We head for the plains to the west.”
***
Skyla’s feet ached from walking and her back was sore from sleeping on the rocks. But she was a warrior, one who’d been through worse and had endured tougher conditions. The heat was a pain in the ass, but she was thankful for the tank that left her arms bare, and she was thankful too for the moody male at her side. Even if he’d grown quieter and darker with every step they’d taken in Tartarus.
They made it to the top of the plateau, damp with sweat and breathless from the climb. As Skyla passed Orpheus the water bottle, she scanned the horizon.
More souls being tortured in various ways. Some tied to poles, some locked in cages, some out in the open, being set on fire. Even though revulsion roiled through her, she knew she was growing numb to the atrocities. No single one struck her as any more vile than another. Until, that is, she caught sight of the male in the trees a good fifty yards away. The one hanging from chains, suspended from a limb high above. He was naked, while hundreds of thousands of snakes struck at his toes and ankles and legs.
“Holy gods.” She hated snakes. Always had. She couldn’t imagine a worse torture.
Orpheus turned and froze. “Gryphon.”
He pulled the blade from his back and tore off across the field before she could stop him. Before Skyla could remind him about ambushes and traps and what that male they’d encountered had told them back at the Cursed Marshes.
Watch for the unexpected.
Skyla’s heart shot into her throat. Pulling her bow free, she took off after him. And prayed this wasn’t that moment.
Chapter 22
Orpheus skidded to a stop at the edge of the trees. The horror of the scene sucked the air from his lungs. Gryphon dropped his head back between his shoulder blades and howled in pain.
Lift your legs, damn it! Why wouldn’t he lift his legs away from the snakes striking out at him again and again?
“Gryphon!” He called out several times, but Gryphon didn’t respond. The snakes formed a carpet of writhing bodies on the ground beneath him, blocking Orpheus’s path.
“Holy gods.” Skyla drew up beside him, her bow at the ready, her chest rising and falling with her labored breaths. “There could be anyone hiding in these trees.”
“I don’t care what’s in the fucking trees. I care about getting Gryphon down.” He waved the sword over his head. Jumped up and down and hollered to distract the snakes.
Skyla lined up her arrow and fired at the snake coiled to strike at Gryphon’s bare, bloody toes. The arrow sliced right through the snake’s neck, dropping it to the ground. As if they’d just taken notice that something else hunted their prey, the snakes on the edge of the mass turned and hissed in their direction.
Skyla took a step back. Orpheus followed. Three snakes with beady eyes, yellow markings, and heads like cobras wriggled across the ground right for them.
“Um, Orpheus?”
He swung out with his blade, decapitating one, and angled to the second. The third snake shot after Skyla.
“Orpheus!” She lifted her bow, fired. The arrow sailed through the air and sliced into the neck of the charging snake but didn’t slow its pursuit.
There wasn’t time for Orpheus to conjure a spell, wasn’t even time to reach her with his blade and try to help. Some internal voice said, Use the vial.
He dug the vial from his pocket. Inside, the liquid glowed an eerie blue-green. The stranger had told them it was ambrosia. In the human world, ambrosia gifted immortality. If it worked differently down here…
“Here!” He threw the vial to Skyla, then struck out with his blade toward the snake still trying to snack on his flesh.
She caught the glass vial with one hand, twisted the lid. Then she tossed the contents toward the snake, reached for her arrow again, and lined up her shot.
Orpheus decapitated the snake in front of him, turned to help her, but realized he didn’t need to. The glowing liquid hit the snake and immediately stopped its forward momentum. As if it had struck a wall, it jerked back, then a hissing sound echoed and smoke rose up around it. Seconds later nothing but ash littered the ground where the snake had been.
Skyla darted a look his way. “Whoa.”
Whoa was right. But not enough. Orpheus looked back at Gryphon and the thousands of snakes below him. “Give it to me.”
Skyla handed it over. Inside the glass, the blue-green liquid glowed bright, refilled to the top as if she’d never used it.
He ran towa
rd the mass of writhing bodies and in the same motion Skyla had made, flicked the liquid out across the snakes.
Hisses roses up to meld with Gryphon’s cries of pain, followed by the acrid scent of flesh burning and smoke rising up to fill the woods. The snakes, the whole lot of them, were reduced to nothing but smoldering ash.
He crossed the smoking remains, scaled the tree, and eased out on the branch to unhook the chains. “Hold on, Gryphon.”
Gryphon’s body dropped to the ground with a thud. Heart in his throat, Orpheus picked his way down the tree trunk to find Skyla already kneeling next to his brother, her backpack on the ground at her side, the blanket from inside it wrapped around Gryphon’s shaking shoulders.
“Wh-who are you?” Gryphon asked, clutching the blanket to his bloody body, shivering as if he were in the Arctic.
“I came with Orpheus,” Skyla said. “We’re here to help you.”
Gryphon’s head shifted in Orpheus’s direction but confusion creased his forehead. And in his light blue eyes there wasn’t a single shred of recognition.
Orpheus knelt next to his brother. “We’re gonna get you out of here.”
“No!” Gryphon’s eyes flew wide and he lurched to his feet, knocking Skyla back to the ground. “I have to get back to the city.” His wild eyes searched right and left. Beneath the blanket he clutched tightly to his chest, shivers racked his body again.
Orpheus eased slowly to his feet. Held up his hands in surrender. “Easy, Gryph. No one’s here to hurt you.” From his peripheral vision he saw Skyla push herself up and circle around to Gryphon’s other side.
“No,” Gryphon said, backing up a step, his bloody bare feet scuffing over ash and razor-sharp rocks. “This is a trap. This is more torture. I won’t stay. You can’t make me stay! I’ll find my way back to the city.”