Pickup Styx (8 page)

I looked at her with all the emotion I felt: lust, admiration, protectiveness, and above all else, love.

“Would you like to experience those things?” she whispered before she threw herself at me. Our lips crushed against each other’s, as if we could fuse and never have to part. She undid my shirt with lightning quick hands and her dress was on the floor in one ragged breath. I pressed her against the wall, pinned her hands above her head with one of my hands, and then ran the fingers of my free hand down her side, softer than a feather. I stared into her amber eyes, seeing acceptance and, at long last, love behind them. I wanted her now, but I kissed her instead—deep, carnal, claiming what was mine. She tasted warm and sweet. I released her arms and squeezed her tighter to me, kissing her deeper still. I felt intoxicated by her. I always had. If I lived two thousand years, I would never think clearly when it came to her. Her name was a beacon of joy in my mind.

Her teeth grazed my earlobe. “Cheney, I need you. Now.”

It was all I needed to hear. One firm tug and her panties fell to floor. She wrapped her legs around me and I thrust forward. Moving slow and easy, savoring each sensation, until she begged, demanded and clawed at me for more. I massaged my tongue against the tip of her ear. She whimpered and shook with need. I moved faster inside of her, my tongue matching the rhythm against her ear. She raked her fingernails against my shoulder, but the pain only spurred me on. All of me was drenched in Selene until finally her body clenched around me, taking us both over the edge. We clung to each other as she lowered her feet back to the floor. She leaned her head back for a moment with a small, satisfied smile.

“Now what?” she asked.

My lips grazed her jaw. “We’re just getting started.”

The hour to leave came faster than I would’ve dreamed possible. The coven and Sebastian met Corbin in the same clearing I had reclaimed my elf half while Cheney sneaked Frost into the castle. We decided to keep my body at home in our bedroom so he could keep an eye on Frost.

I dressed in black cargo pants, a black tank top, and a black zip-up sweatshirt with the map Cheney found folded into my pocket. Grandma’s necklace was cold around my neck. I still wasn’t positive I should trust her, but in the end my heart won out over my head. Frost wore her customary black gloves. She went over the rules again. I couldn’t be judged or I would be stuck, I only had twelve hours or I would stay forever, and I shouldn’t eat or drink anything if I ever wanted to come home again. I was beginning to sense a theme.

“You will wake up in the Asphodel Meadow.”

“Like the flower?”

She rolled her eyes. “I’ve told you. I don’t know. I haven’t been there. I only know what it’s called. Remember to mark the place you wake up. That’s the exact spot you need to return to in no more than twelve hours. I’ll know when you’re there again and will bring you back. Do you understand?”

I nodded.

She handed me two rough-edged coins that looked hand forged.

“What are these for?”

“If you want to see Charon, Charon will expect his toll. Put them in your mouth and don’t lose them.”

“Why my mouth?”

“To make sure they go with you.”

I nodded again, my stomach in my throat.

“Lie back when you’re ready.” She leaned against the wall and crossed her arms over her chest.

Cheney and I looked at each other. “I will come back,” I told him. “And when I do, I will make up for all the trouble I’ve caused.”

He kissed my hand. “I wouldn’t trade all that trouble for anything in the world. I love you exactly as you are. Just come back to me, princess.”

“I love you too.” The words got stuck in my throat and tears spilled over the edges of my eyelids. I would make it back. I had to. I lay back before I lost my nerve completely. This wasn’t goodbye.

“You should leave,” she told Cheney.

He gave her a withering look. “I am not going anywhere.”

She didn’t flinch. “I’ve done this before. Dying isn’t pleasant, and loved ones tend to overreact and make stupid mistakes, like touching me. I don’t want two dead bodies.”

He folded his hands behind his back and backed against the wall but didn’t leave. If I hadn’t been so nervous, I would’ve been moved by the gesture. I put a coin in each cheek, held the necklace from my grandma on my tongue just in case, and then closed my eyes and gripped the bedspread.

“Twelve hours,” Frost repeated and fastened something over my wrist. Fear kept my eyes squeezed tight. I didn’t want to see death coming. A moment later, her hands, cold as dry ice, latched on to my arm. I held still until I couldn’t take the cold spreading like ice in my veins. I tried to pull away as my arm went numb, but her grip was too tight. I tugged harder to no avail. The cold reached my chest. My heart felt like it had been struck by lightning. My body clenched and contorted beneath her touch. The necklace choked me. Pain blinded me to all else until my vision fell blissfully black. I had the sensation of floating in nothingness. I waited to feel something,
anything
, but that never happened.

I opened one eye then the other. I was surrounded by thick-stalked, star-shaped flowers that had veins of red running through the centers of each white petal. I wiggled my fingers then my toes. Everything was apparently working, so I stood. I was surrounded by people of every age, ethnicity, and personal style, all moving in the same direction, as if dazed. A tugging sensation at my core snared my attention. I looked down and saw I was moving forward too. Just like them.

No, no, I can’t!
I hadn’t marked where I’d woken up. I would never find it again. The field went on for miles and everything looked exactly the same. I tried to use my telekinetic ability to get back to my spot where the flowers I’d crushed were already beginning to right themselves, but nothing happened. I fought to go in the opposite direction of the pull. Little by little, I inched backward, but if I lost concentration for even a moment, I lost ground. Grabbing the flowers, I managed to turn my body back the way I’d come. Then I used their heavy stalks like rope, pulling my bodyweight with my arms to aid my legs. Finally I reached the edge of where I’d been. I looked for a way to mark it. I yanked at the flowers, trying to rip them up, but they were rooted too deeply. I plucked the heads off, but they instantly grew back. The pull at my core was growing stronger by the second. I couldn’t hold out for much longer.

I clenched flowers in each hand and silently cast a spell to turn them into beacons of light. When I let go, the blooms were a bold purple, not glowing at all, but that was okay. I could find the purple in a sea of white. I drifted away from them, watching to make sure they didn’t change back. When the flowers were out of sight, a new thought struck me. How was I going to find Corbin here? I looked around, trying to figure out where I was and where I was going. There was a clearing ahead, filled with people barely creeping forward. When my feet finally touched the ground, I was on an old wooden deck so jammed with people that there wasn’t a spare centimeter to move.

The realization that I was never going to find Corbin sank in, quickly followed by despair. I was on my own. How was I ever going to make it through without help? I stepped back toward the field, but the platform was like a vacuum sucking me in.

“You’re just going to wear yourself out,” a voice said, and two hands gripped my waist and pulled me back into the crowd.

I turned to see a well-built human man with a vaguely bored expression on his face.

“You’re new, huh?” he asked.

“Yeah.” He wore khaki pants, a red t-shirt, and a rock-climbing belt. “Did you fall?” I asked, not really sure what people in the Underworld were supposed to talk about while waiting in line.

He glanced down. “No. House fire. I was asleep.”

I frowned. Who slept in rock-climbing gear?

“You don’t show up in what you were wearing. You show up in what you were most yourself in.” He gave me a pointed look. “Did you die in
that
?”

I looked at myself and sure enough, my strategically planned outfit was missing. “Crap.” I closed my eyes. “I wish someone told me that.” I was in a short, tan dress with a gold lace overlay and heels. Practical. My hand went to my chest. At least I still had the necklace and watch, but where were the coins? I patted down my sides and hips, but they were gone, and so was the map. “Shit.”

He laughed. “You’re dead. There’s no coming back from it. Whatever’s bothering you really isn’t as important as you think.”

There was no point arguing with the well-meaning guy, so I changed the subject. I would worry about the map and the coins once I knew I needed them. I glanced at my watch. “What’s at the front of the line?”

He curled his lip. “Judgment. I wouldn’t be in a hurry to get up there if I were you.”

“Do I have a choice? Don’t we have to go through?”

“I let the eager people go in front of me.” He winked. “I figure the longer I’m out here, not in there, the better.”

“How long have you been waiting?”

“Who can keep track? What year is it?”

“2013.”

“Huh.” He leaned his head back. “Twelve years, I guess.”

My mouth fell open. Talk about the line from hell, but I didn’t have twelve years. I didn’t even have a full twelve hours. I had to find Corbin or wrangle my own way across without being judged. “Well, good luck. Thanks for setting me straight, but I need to go. I have things to do.”

He laughed, making people stare at us. “You don’t have anything to do. Not anymore.”

The crowd suddenly shifted and squeezed in tighter. A few people screamed and someone shouted, “Vampire!”

I immediately moved forward, looking for Corbin. The man grabbed my shoulders. “You have to avoid vampires. They come for the souls. Easy pickings. This platform might as well be a buffet.”

Struggling to see the direction of the vampire, I saw heads of people vanish before my eyes, as if a path was being cleared. I pulled away from the man and shoved through the sea of people. The closer I got, the harder the people in front of me pushed back on me. Occasionally someone tried to hold me back, but I kept my forward momentum until I broke through to the cleared path. I recognized the white-blond head immediately.

“Corbin,” I called. He turned around.

A smiled eased across his face. He looked drunk and predatory. He strode toward me, touching spirits to his right and left, absorbing them. “My pet, how about a kiss?”

I shuddered. Something was wrong with him. A stranger’s hand clamped down on my arm and tried to pull me back into the crowd. “Stop it,” I shouted. Corbin was almost to me, his hand reaching out, lust in his eyes.

Not knowing what to do, I went with my gut and took the final step to Corbin, even though I was terrified. He gazed down at me like a lion looks at a gazelle before he inhaled deeply. “I wish I could smell you,” he said. “Anyone who looks this delicious must smell divine.”

“You don’t want to hurt me, Corbin.”

“I don’t?” His arm shot out to the left, taking another spirit. “They are good, Selene, but you, you will be . . .” His tongue trailed over his lips. “Sinful.”

“Corbin, look at me.”

“I am looking at you, pet.” His eyes were devouring my body, but that wasn’t what I meant. “I have been waiting for this a long, long time.”

“No. Look at
me
.” His eyes drifted to mine and I locked my gaze to his. “You know who I am. You came to help me, remember? I’m Selene. Your friend.”

Something flickered in his blank stare. Without him, I was dead anyway. Disappearing was probably better than hell. I put my hand on his chest, and his breath hissed out between his teeth, but he didn’t absorb me. He restrained and sobered considerably.

“Best remove your hand, pet.”

I rubbed my face hard, so relieved I wanted to cry. We still had an audience.

“I told you, you didn’t want me to come with you,” he said, looking a little sheepish.

“Not exactly inconspicuous, are you?

He shrugged. “We don’t have time to waste. Follow me.” Corbin started back down the path he’d cleared and people parted, trying to avoid him. “Once they cross the bridge, they’ll beg me to take them,” he said, his eyes gleaming and dark.