My Tattered Bonds (31 page)

 
“Persephone wouldn’t enjoy that,” I pointed out.
 
“She gave me the helm so that I could escape to prevent that very thing.”

His lip twisted into a snarl for just a moment before he composed himself again.
 

“Yes, the helm.
 
We shall get to that, as well.”

“Hades, you’re very handsome.
 
It is true.
 
And whenever I am near you, you do something that makes me feel almost unbearably attracted to you. But I know that you are somehow inflicting that reaction in me.
 
I love my husband more than life itself.
 
I would never choose you over him.
 
So, whatever you are plotting, put it out of your head.
 
I won’t agree to it.”

“No?” he asked in amusement.
 
“I do so love your passion, Harmonia.
 
It is one of the things that draws me to you.
 
But you must learn to not be so impetuous.
 
You cannot react to any situation with certainty until you know all of the extenuating circumstances.”

“Such as?” I raised an eyebrow.

He held out his elbow and I stared at him unmoving.
 

“You really think I will just walk with you?”

“Would you like to see your mortal mother?” he asked simply.
 
My jaw dropped.
 
In my utter weariness and all of the excitement and stress of finding the Olympians, I had momentarily forgotten what Ahmose had told me- that my mother had disappeared from Ogygia.

“What have you done?” I demanded.
 
In answer, he held out his elbow again.
 
Gritting my teeth, I took it and we strolled slowly further into the dark abyss that surrounded us.
 
We didn’t need to go far.
 

Three glittering golden cages stood in the middle of the room.
 
They were beautiful, with ivy garlands wrapped around the bars festively.
 
Inside each one, a shadowy figure sat.
 
I crept closer to see more clearly and gasped.

Not only did he have my mother, but my best friends from the mortal world, Jess and Jenn Gray were here as well.
 
I yanked free of him and ran to the cages.

“Mom!” I cried as I pulled at her bars.
 
But even with my goddess strength, they didn’t budge.
 
Allison Lockhart eyed me calmly.
 

“Hi sweetie!
 
Have you come to join us?”

I froze. She didn’t seem bothered or afraid.
 
I looked into her cage, and saw that it extended magically into a set of lavish bedchambers.
 
It only appeared as gilded cage.
 
I shook my head.

“Mom, are you alright?”

She looked at me strangely.
 
“Of course I am, sweetie.
 
I’ve never been better.”

Confusion clouded my thoughts as I turned to my friends.

“Jess? Jenn?” I asked warily.
 
“Are you alright?”

Jess gave me her signature sassy look, her little pixie nose tilted into the air. “Why in the world wouldn’t we be, Macy?
 
I’m ticked though because you have never shared this place with me.
 
Hades says that you have known him a long time. And I’m supposed to be your best friend.
 
You’ve been holding out on me.”

“Holding out on you?” I repeated uncertainly as dread filled me up. What in the hell was going on here?

Hades crooked one finger at Jess and she eagerly jumped from her seat, throwing open her cage door and flinging herself into his waiting arms.
 
He kissed her long and lustfully as she curled her body around his.
 
He glanced up at me as Jess sighed contentedly.

“What have you done to them?” I whispered.
 
“Hades?
 
This is… this is atrocious.”

He withdrew from Jess and motioned for her to return to her cage. She sighed, but obediently returned, glaring at me as she passed.
 

“Why is it atrocious, Macy?” she snapped.
 
“Are you jealous?”

“Jealous?” I repeated.
  
I turned to Jenn.
 
“Jenn… surely you don’t feel the same way.”

“What way do you mean, Macy?” she turned to me innocently.
 
“We love it here.
 
Why wouldn’t we?”
 
She sounded puzzled.
 
“No homework, Hades is amazing…and we feel perfect, all of the time.”

“But you’re prisoners,” I pointed out.
 
They all three shook their heads in unison.
 

“We can go anywhere here that we wish,” my mom answered proudly.
 
“Not at first, but we proved ourselves.
 
We showed Hades that we don’t want to leave, so now we’re free to roam as we wish.”

My gaze flew to Hades.
 
“I don’t know what is going on here, but you need to release them.
 
They don’t belong here.” I tuned out their protests as I focused on the god of the Underworld.
 
“I don’t know what you’ve done to them, but stop.”

He looked at me in dark amusement.
 
“Sweet Harmonia.
 
It is not something that I’ve ‘done’, it is just the way that I am.
 
I cannot help it.
 
The attraction that you feel toward me?
 
Amplify that by at least a thousand.
 
That is how mortals feel when I am near.” He shrugged.
 
“It is just the way it is.
 
They are attracted to me, almost uncontrollably.
 
They can’t help it and neither can I.
 
It is just something about me.”

“It is one of your abilities,” I whispered in realization. “It is how you draw people here and keep them.”

He smiled at me silently, his teeth blindingly white.
 
I found that I had to fight the strange attraction to him myself… still.
 
It was maddening, but the pull toward him was certainly there as much as I didn’t want it.

“Your friends and your mother like it here, Harmonia,” he pointed out needlessly.
 

“Yes,” I snapped. “Because you’ve made it so.
 
You can’t just steal them away and keep them. They have lives in the mortal world.”

I found it odd that none of the three were asking any questions about their surroundings or the supernatural element that was around them.
 
They had been abruptly thrust into it, yet they acted as if everything was normal, as though they had forgotten their mortal upbringings.
 
 
They weren’t even curious about my appearance- I was wearing clothing from my home on Olympus and I was covered in my husband’s blood.
 
I hadn’t yet had time to wash it off.
 
And none of them found that odd?

“Harmonia,” Hades began smoothly, his voice like melted butter.
 
“You must do what I wish or these three lovely ladies will no longer be welcome here with me.
 
I’ll have to send them away to Tartara.
 
Do you want that?”

They immediately began protesting and crying at the thought of being separated from Hades, not at the thought of being sent to Tartara.
  
I shook my head in wonderment.
 
This was absolutely insane.
 
Yet, on one level, I understood it.
 
If his magnetism was hard for
me
to resist, it must be impossible for them.
 
And they probably had no idea what Tartara even was.
 
But I did.

“What do you want?” I growled.
 

“Oh, it’s a decision you’ve had to make before, Chosen One.
 
And you made it then.
 
Let us see if you will choose the same now.
 
You for them.”

A rush of déjà vu washed over me.
 
Yes, I had certainly been faced with this before, when the Fates had forced me to choose between my own life and those of everyone that I loved, including Cadmus.
 
I had stood on the lip of a massive fire pit and had eventually decided to sacrifice myself.
 
I exhaled a ragged sigh.
 
I had even more to lose now. I had a daughter.

“You won’t lose her,” Hades replied to my thought.
 
“She can stay with you.
 
I don’t ask for your life, I simply ask for you to stay here in the Underworld with me.”

The darkness seemed to swirl around me as I weighed his demand.
 
It was so much to think about that I could scarcely process it.

“And if I don’t?” I murmured.

“Then Tartara will have three new prisoners,” Hades answered smoothly and strangely without malice.
 
“I don’t wish to torture you, Harmonia.
 
I simply know no other way to gain your cooperation.

“I need you to wake up now.
 
Sneak outside of the palace and you will find someone waiting to bring you to me.
 
Come alone.
 
Do not wake Cadmus or anyone else.
 
If you do, the consequences will be dire.
 
I will not only send your mother and friends to Tartara, but I will be forced to take your daughter, as well.
 
Don’t force me to do that.”

He studied me for a silent moment, his handsome face impassive as he waited.
 
I struggled internally for a moment, but quickly came to the realization that I had no choice.

I nodded.
 
“Fine.
 
I will come to you and we will discuss this.”

“Oh, I doubt there will be much discussion.
 
But come to me.
 
And these three women will be saved.”

I opened my eyes.
 
I was safely in bed with Cadmus and Raquel.
 
But I wasn’t truly safe, I knew that.
 
And at the moment, neither were Jess, Jenn or my mother.
  
I sighed and brushed a kiss across Raquel’s brow.
 
She was sleeping quietly, her face angelic in her slumber.
 
I watched her for a moment, memorizing every plane of her face.
 
I had no idea when I would see her again.
 
I leaned over her and kissed Cadmus lightly on the cheek without waking him.
 
In his sleep, he tightened his arm around us and a knot tightened in my throat.
 
Quietly, I slipped from under his arm and out of bed.

“Mama?” A small voice called.
 
“Where are you going?”

I startled and turned back. “Raquel, I thought you were asleep,” I whispered, leaning back over the bed.
 

She shook her head.
 
“I’m too excited to sleep.” I brushed her hair away from her face.
 

“I’ll be back in just a while, sweetpea,” I murmured.
 
“You stay here with daddy and keep him company, alright?”

She nodded trustingly and I swallowed hard as I bent to kiss her one more time before I turned and walked into the hall, working my way stealthily to the main floor of the palace.
 

Peeking out the back windows, I found everyone still dancing and laughing outside in the courtyard.
 
I crept past the windows lining the terrace and out onto a side porch.
 
I stopped abruptly when I found Eris sitting on the top step.
 
Her dark hair was piled on her head and her white gown was spread around her.