Guardian (28 page)

Like me, he was covered in large red welts from the biting, monster bugs.

Suddenly he stopped and held his arm out in front of me. “Do you hear that?”

I listened but heard nothing. Frowning, I shook my head. It wasn’t the first time Ian had heard something I didn’t.

He looked at me, his deep-set brown eyes looking haunted. “You can’t hear that?”

I shook my head again, giving him a tentative smile.

Finally he looked away, sighing. “Let’s go. I think we’re getting closer.”

My gaze took in the pulsing orange light in the distance. It didn’t look any closer to me.

An hour later Ian stopped and sat down on a rock, swiping at his wet brow with the tails of his shirt. His eyes had gone from looking haunted to looking downright terrified. I stopped in front of him and placed a finger under his chin, lifting it so he was forced to look into my eyes. “What is it, Elfaery?”

He shook his head, a deep shiver overtaking his large frame. “I can’t believe you don’t hear the voices…the constant screaming.” His lips trembled with emotion.

His words struck a chord and I looked around, my eyes widening in horror. Like the miles and miles of uninhabitable land we’d already crossed, the land around us was mostly rock, with very few trees and no other vegetation to speak of. The few trees were bent and twisted. Devoid of anything vibrant or green, their scrawny limbs reached toward a gray, smoky sky like skeletal fingers, begging for rain.

My gaze swung to the deep, pulsing orange light in the sky. “Hades.” I whispered.

Ian’s pretty brown gaze jerked toward me. “What did you say?”

My knees buckled and I sat down hard in the dusty, black dirt. “Holy shit, Ian. They came to the Underworld?” I turned to him. “Why would they do that?”

His eyes widened in sudden understanding. “We’re in Hades?”

I nodded. “That explains why you hear the screaming and I don’t. Spirits don’t hear the screams of the dead. We’re in another plane. Unfortunately humans and other magical creatures aren’t so lucky.”

He shivered again, his eyes fixed on the orange light. “The pits.”

I nodded, grabbing his large hand. “But the good news is, Hades and Persephone are in residence. He came back to get Mack’s soul settled.”

Ian came reluctantly to his feet. “Mack’s been sent to the pits!”

I laughed. “Of course not. He’ll be settled into the Elysian Fields. With Hades.”

“Do you know how to find the Fields?”

I shook my head, holding up my bracelet free arm. “But I know someone who can.” I stepped away from Ian and called the Watcher. After a moment his ugly face swam into view from the center of a glistening communication portal. I grinned at him. I’d never seen a more beautiful sight.

The Watcher’s ugly monkey face split in a grin. “Well aren’t you a sight for watching eyes. Where in Hades have you been, young spirit?”

I grinned. “I was hoping you could tell
me
that, Watcher.”

The ugly little god looked confused for a moment, then his beady black eyes took in the area around us and he frowned. “What are you doing in Hades, Nuria?”

I sighed. “Following suspects.”

The shiny, black eyes swung to Ian. “Isn’t
he
your suspect.”

“Not anymore. I don’t have time to explain right now, Watcher. I need safe passage to the Fields. I have to speak to Hades and Persephone.”

The Watcher’s overlarge hands were already forming shapes on the air. His face began to waver, and superimposed over it was a beautiful, green, and vibrant place with a sparkling castle on a hill. It looked a lot like Olympus, but I knew it was better than that. It was a way out of the horrible lands around the fiery pits. I glanced at Ian. And it was a much needed escape for a certain gorgeous Elfaery, who looked ready to slide drooling from the bonds of sanity if I didn’t get him out of there soon.

As the Watcher’s face slid away to be replaced by the portal to the Elysian Fields his final advice filtered through the portal to us. “Beware Persephone, Nuria. She’ll not like seeing a beautiful woman on the assessing end of Hades’ gaze.”

Ian’s large, hot hands settled on my shoulders and I sighed. The Watcher was right. Few goddesses were as annoyingly jealous and insecure as Persephone. I knew my presence in the Fields would cause no end of problems. As I reached a hand into the glistening surface of the portal and felt it draw us in, I decided I’d need Ian’s help with the infuriating goddess.

He could distract her while I pumped Hades for information.

The portal deposited us in a lush forest on the edges of Hades’ kingdom. Our lungs filled with clean, sweet smelling air, the last of the smoke expelled on a breath, and sunlight burned the sweat from our bodies. Looking down, I saw that our clothes and skin were clean again.

Ian seemed to have been restored along with our clothing. He grabbed my hand and took off toward the castle with ground eating strides.

I hurried to keep up.

“I’ll get information from Hades while you keep Persephone busy.” He informed me.

I glared at him. “I think you have that backwards, Elfaery.”

He glanced at me, grinning. “Now you know Persephone isn’t gonna let you anywhere near Hades, sexy spirit.”

I tried to keep my glare in place but I knew he was right. Besides, it wasn’t too terrible being called sexy by, arguably, one of the sexiest creatures I’d ever had the good fortune to encounter.

I sighed. “You’re right. Why do I always get shit duty?”

He wrapped an arm around my shoulders and pulled me close. “I’ll make it up to you later, I promise.” His milk chocolate gaze focused on my lips and he lowered his head, licking the seam of my lips and nudging them gently open.

I moaned against his lips, heat pooling between my legs, and immediately forgot every concern flitting through my head. By the time Ian lifted his lips from mine I could barely remember where I was.

“What folly is this?”

I jumped, turning toward the strident voice. Oh yeah,
that’s
where I was.

“Hello your majesty.” Persephone held a basket of flowers over one forearm and stood with a well-padded hip cocked, glaring at us through wide green eyes. Her dark hair flowed in soft curls over her shoulders to frame her abundant breasts and touch her tiny waist. A single white flower was tucked behind one delicate, pink ear.

Her gaze never lifted from my embarrassed face. Her displeasure at my very existence throbbed on the air between us.

Ian stepped forward, blocking me from the goddess’s hostile view. “Your majesty, your beauty far exceeds all reports. It is my sincerest pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

Persephone’s gaze slid reluctantly from me and fixed on my Elfaery, widening just the tiniest bit in frank admiration. Her perfect, pink lips curved in welcome. “Hark, a randy bee to pollinate my flowers.” She reached out and touched his full lips, running a perfect, pink and white finger over his mouth and down to his strong chin with a reverence only a Spring goddess could show. “I await your seed, warrior.”

I rolled my eyes and peered around Ian’s shoulder. “Majesty, we need to speak with you about some recent visitors.”

Like a Spring storm over a sunny day, the sound of my voice brought a shadow to Persephone’s happy expression. She frowned at me. “Go away, ugly spirit.”

I opened my mouth to retort but Ian stepped sideways to obscure me again. I glared at his back, crossing my arms across my chest angrily.

Ian grasped Persephone’s flawless hand and tucked it in the crook of one arm, turning her toward the castle with the practiced ease of the most experienced courtier. “If you would walk with me for a bit, beauty, I would deign to ask you a few questions.”

Just like that, the cloud left Persephone’s perfect features and she smiled up at my Elfaery. They floated toward the distant castle, my existence behind them seemingly forgotten.

I plodded grumpily along in their wake.

“What is your name, warrior?”

“I am called Ian.”

Persephone pursed her pink lips thoughtfully. “A strong name surely. I approve.”

Ian stopped and turned to her, bowing over her hand and placing a tender kiss on the soft, white surface. “I am honored by your approval, Queen Persephone.”

She nodded slightly. “What is it I can do for you, beautiful warrior?”

“We seek a pair of plotters, majesty. An elf and a faery. We have reason to believe they visited the Fields recently.”

Persephone frowned. “None such have come to my palace. Are you certain of their visit?”

Ian nodded. “We have followed them directly here.”

The goddess gave a little moue of impatience. “You are mistaken surely.”

Ian opened his mouth as if to argue and then apparently thought better of it. He bent elegantly over Persephone’s hand again. “I bow to your wisdom, majesty.”

She smiled regally. “Will you join me in a walk about the lake?”

“I’d be honored, your majesty.” As Persephone turned toward the sparkling water in the distance, Ian glanced at me and jerked his head toward the castle. I nodded, and turned away.

It was risky, but I needed to find Hades and question him. If Persephone discovered our duplicity we’d be toast. But we really had no choice. Having declared her rejection of the possibility that Aubrie and Dawnia had come to the Fields, Persephone would stick to her declaration like Zeus to his gavel.

I needed to question Hades before she got to him.

Praying the vain, fickle goddess would forget my existence in her world entirely…at least for a while, I stepped into a wrinkle and hurried toward the castle. Once there, I stepped out of my travel layer and grabbed the arm of the first person I saw. It was an old woman, dressed in servants garb.

“I need to speak with the King. Where is he?”

The servant woman turned her warty, large nosed continence to me and regarded me with dull eyes. I sent the tiniest bit of my power into her arm and watched as her eyes brightened. I knew Persephone had not only sent all of the young, attractive servants away in her jealousy, but she’d also infused the servants with a dulling power to ensure that none of them had any ideas of bettering themselves by approaching Hades with an offer he couldn’t refuse.

Looking at the warty hag before me now, I shuddered at the very idea.

I repeated my question and she nodded toward a long, marble lined hallway, her rheumy eyes sliding over me with interest. She smiled widely and I realized with a surge of revulsion that the inside of her mouth wasn’t any kind of improvement on the dry, wrinkled exterior. “Her majesty won’t be happy to see you, my dear.”

I dropped the woman’s arm and turned in the direction she’d shown me. “If I’m very lucky she won’t even know I’ve been here.” I murmured.

But the woman had already lost her focus when I dropped her arm, and she was shuffling off down the hallway, head hanging low.

I found Hades in the throne room. He stood with his back to me, long muscular legs spread wide, in a warrior’s stance, looking through a wall length window at his kingdom beyond. The big hands he had entwined at his back twitched and worked at each other. Something in the droop of his broad shoulders told me he wasn’t having a good day.

“Your majesty?”

He turned, his eyes widening in surprise at seeing me there. “Monad Nuria!” In spite of himself his gaze slid behind me, as if expecting Persephone to jump out and yell boo. He took several steps toward me and then stopped suddenly, his handsome face paling noticeably. “You shouldn’t be here.”

I was amazed at the sight of the fearful, hen whipped man before me. When before I’d encountered Hades, it had always been on Olympus. The trembling character I saw before me in the Field resembled
that
Hades not one whit.

“I understand, your majesty. I’ll be very brief. But I must ask you a couple of questions before I go.”

He took a deep breath and settled his hands at his back again, nodding briskly. I imagined that the long fingers were worrying themselves again behind him. “I am following a couple of plotters, an elf named Aubrie and a faery named Dawnia. I have reason to believe they visited the Underworld. Have you seen or spoken to them?”

Hades shook his head without hesitation. “Nay. None such have visited us here. Are you certain they came to the Underworld?”

I nodded.

He walked to his throne and sat down, draping himself sideways on the gold and velvet chair. Fortunately my question had made him forget, for a moment, his fear of his wife finding us together. Rubbing his long fingers over his chin in thought he said. “Mayhap they visited the pits. But that seems doubtful.” He gave me a knowing look. “Their kind would take the pits hard indeed.”

I nodded, thinking of Ian’s reaction to being within miles of them.

“I wonder…” he started.

“What folly is this!”

Persephone’s shrill voice pierced Hades’ thought processes like a sharp knife through soft pudding. He leapt to his feet guiltily, though we were fully clothed and stood half a room apart.