Hades (Contemporary Mythos Book 1)

After drinking a gallon of water and drowning herself in coffee last night, Sara started to act more like herself. Filling her belly with greasy food and carbs was first on today’s agenda. The buffet was set up in an outside eating area with open spaces, allowing the wind to blow through, and a breathtaking view of the horizon. We sat at a table facing the beach, munching on smoked pork, toast, and brine cheese.

“How did you get me to the room yesterday?” Sara asked.

I choked on my toast and grabbed for my water. “Keith.”

Her forked clanked against her plate. “Keith? He carried me?”

“You wouldn’t walk on your own, and you’re a foot taller than me. I didn’t see it going well. Don’t worry. I escorted him from the premises post-haste after he dropped you off.”

She groaned, dragging her hands down her face. “I’m never drinking again.”

I cocked an eyebrow.

“Okay. I’m not drinking today.”

The smell of salt, coffee, and breakfast food wafted through the air with every gust of wind. It was quiet save for the low murmurs of surrounding conversations and the tide crashing against the shore. I wondered if this was what the Elysian Fields would be like.

Sara flopped her napkin on the table and scooted across the booth seat. “I’ve drunk so much water I feel like I’m peeing every two minutes. I’ll be right back.”

I chuckled and ate a piece of pork. Hades walked around a nearby corner, dressed all in black. Had the guy never heard of the color grey before? Heaven forbid he switched it up for something crazy like green or blue. He leaned against a beam, crossing his arms over his chest. Another man walked up to him with black cropped hair that transitioned to wavy in the front. He dressed like he’d gotten out of a business meeting. A full tan suit, jacket draped over his shoulder, the sleeves of his white button-down shirt rolled up to his elbows. Aura colors of brown and dark muddy pink eked from his pores. This guy was bad news.

I leaped from my seat to eavesdrop. Another pillar stood adjacent to the one they were by, and I ducked behind it.

“What I don’t understand is how she worked her way around it,” the dark-haired man said, rubbing a hand over the light beard on his chin.

“Well, she had a long time to figure it out, didn’t she?” Hades asked.

“The clause was solid. I made sure of it.”

“Oh, yeah? Tell that to Theseus.”

“If you’d have been patient like I said all those years ago, maybe you wouldn’t be a depressed fool all over again,” the dark-haired one scoffed.

“Theseus?” I whispered to myself, so lost in my thoughts, I didn’t notice their conversation had come to a screeching halt.

“Who’s your friend?” The dark-haired man asked, a light flashing in his eyes.

A hand gripped my arm, and Hades yanked me from the confines of my pillar.

“Eavesdropping on me now?” He glowered down at me, letting go.

“Pfft. Don’t flatter yourself. I was uh…” I eyed the smoothness of the pillar next to me and dragged my finger down it. “Admiring the resort’s infrastructure. Top-notch craftsmanship.”

The dark-haired man smiled, his pearly whites beaming in contrast to his olive complexion. He slipped a hand in his pocket.

“This is my brother,” Hades grumbled.

His brother stepped forward and slapped Hades on the back several times. “Jesus.” He extended his hand. Pronounced: Hey-Seuss.

I shifted my eyes, heat rising up my spine. “Nice to meet you, Jesus. I’m Stephanie.” I managed to introduce myself with only two stutters.

He cocked an eyebrow. “Stephanie? How interesting.”

“It’s a—pretty common name.” I chuckled, and he squinted at me. “Is this the one who has a thing for water?”

Hades kept his gaze fixed on Jesus. “No.”

“I’m more of a fan of thunderstorms, to be honest,” Jesus said, winking.

I put a hand on my hip. “Oh? Are you one of the ‘getting caught in the rain’ types?”

“Not so much the rain as it is the lightning. The way it crackles across the sky.” He grinned, shifting his glance to Hades, who rolled his eyes.

“That’s a nice suit,” I said.

“Why, thank you. I’m in the middle of a big case right now, actually. I came to check in on my brother. Make sure he’s relaxing like he said he would.”

Hades’ hands balled into fists.

“Case? Are you a lawyer?” I knew something felt off about him.

“I am. Criminal defense.”

Criminal defense lawyers were the absolute, positive scum of the earth in my profession.

“And somehow, you manage to sleep every night?”

Hades arched a brow in evident surprise.

Jesus’ grin spread wide. “There’s nothing quite like the challenge of defending someone you know is guilty.”

My jaw dropped.

Hades stepped in front of me, casting a shadow. “Darlin’, your friend’s back.”

Sara slid back into the booth at our table.

“I’ll uh—I’ll leave you to it.” I took one last look at Jesus, and he waved with his fingers.

Absolute. Scum.

As I walked back to Sara, I replayed the snippet of conversation I heard them having in my head. Theseus? Why did that name sound so familiar? I sat down and dug out my cell phone from my bag.

“Care to fill me in?” Sara asked.

“Eavesdropping turned into meeting Hades’ brother.”

“Does their entire family look like Greek gods?”

I dropped the phone long enough to give her an exasperated look.

She laughed and slapped the table. “Oh, right. That was a joke I didn’t even realize I was making.”

I flicked my thumbs across the screen, searching through my Google results.

“Why are you on your phone during our vacation?” She snatched it.

“Hey!” I went to grab it back but returned with nothing but air.

“Theseus? The Greek hero? Why are you randomly looking this up?

My knee bounced underneath the table. “Wanted to be prepared for trivia later tonight. I know my gods and goddesses more than heroes, and you know they’ll ask both.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Uh, huh.” She held the phone out to me, and I yanked it back.

I could never get away with any B.S. with her.

“All I’m seeing are references to him and the minotaur.”

“He was in a lot more stories than that one.” She licked butter from her thumb. “Like the one about the Underworld?”

I lifted my eyes. “What about it?”

“You don’t remember? Him and Pirithous ventured there to rescue Persephone. They were captured until Hercules released him. But Pirithous had to stay. Poor guy.”

Hades and Jesus were finishing up their conversation. Jesus pointed a finger at Hades before turning to walk away. Hades dragged a hand over his face, clenched his fist, and stormed off.

“Let’s get going. For some reason, this resort feels claustrophobic all of a sudden.” I stood up, tossing my napkin in a perfect tri-fold on the table.

“You okay? You seem spooked.”

“I’m good.” I gave a reassuring smile. “Great.”

We grabbed a taxi and asked the driver to take us to the nearest bazaar, or plaza, or mall…whatever they called them here. We walked through the city center with a dozen businesses. There were shops for sandals, spices, alcohol, jewelry, leather, virtually anything imaginable. The buildings were an ancient Greek style with a modern flair. Patrons of all forms made their way over the white tile walkways. You could quickly tell the locals from the tourists by the speed they walked or whether they stopped to take selfies.

We found a boutique with gowns in the window. The small width of the entrance was misleading. The place was massive. There was a high ceiling with a circular design cut into it. Wooden planks filled the circle, and every wall had racks of clothes, shoes, and purses.

A woman walked up to us, greeting us in Greek and clapping her hands together.

“Hello. We’re here to find a couple of gowns,” I said.

She grinned and clapped her hands again. “Wonderful. Are you from America?”

Sara gazed around the shop. Her eyes were as wide as beach balls. “We are.” Even her voice sounded mesmerized.

“Splendid. Welcome, welcome! Let me show you to our dress section. Do you have any ideas in mind? Neckline? Color? Length?” She motioned to us with her finger and walked to the back. Her heels clicked against the wooden floor.

“Long length. It’s for a masquerade ball,” Sara answered.

The saleswoman’s eyes brightened, and she smiled at us over her shoulder. “How fun!”

This woman was in full sales mode.

“Here is our selection. As you can see, we’ve got plenty for you to choose from. The dresses are sorted by color and vary in style from there. If you don’t see your size, just ask, and we can check in the back for you. Please don’t hesitate to come to me with any questions.” She gave a warm smile. “Dressing room is in the back corner. And mirrors are in the center.” After giving a firm nod, she walked away, approaching newly entered customers.

Sara made a beeline for the purple dresses, her favorite color. White and yellow were mine, but they only managed to drown out my already pale skin. By the time I settled on the green and blue racks, Sara had three dresses draped over her arm. I had no clue what I wanted and grabbed two at random. Sara dragged me to another stand. She feverishly pushed hangers aside until she landed on one, which made her gasp. She held the dress up, biting down on her lower lip, smiling.

It. Was. Gorgeous. A cranberry-colored dress with a strapless bodice transitioning into a full, flowy skirt. I had no clue what the pattern was on the front or what fabric the skirt was made of, but it was perfection. “I’m not sure I’m worthy of wearing this.”

She tossed it over my arm. “Stop it. It’s going to look killer with that chocolate hair of yours.”

We tried on all dresses, and Sara ended up going with the first dress she’d picked out. Her gut instinct dress. Dark purple, halter top style, form-fitting, and a small amount of flair at the bottom. My favorite part was the array of sparkles covering the entire length of it. I insisted on trying the two random dresses I’d picked out first. The green one made my boobs bulge out of the top, and the blue one didn’t fit past my hips.

When I walked out in the cranberry dress, I had my hands slapped over my eyes. I hoped it looked as good as it did on the hanger. “How does it look?”

“Oh my God, Steph. You’re—a vision. Take your damn hands off your face.”

I peeled my fingers away, one by one. The reflection in the mirror couldn’t have been me. I didn’t recognize myself. An electric tingle traveled down my spine. The bodice hugged my curves, and the skirt portion made me want to twirl, but I held back. Sara stepped up behind me, gazing at the mirror over my shoulder.

“What did I tell you?” She asked with a grin.

“Care to explain what I’m wearing?”

She pointed at the bodice. “The pattern is called filigree, and the skirt is of tulle.”

Screw it. I twirled and twirled once more for good measure, the skirt flowing around me like a lazy cloud. “You were right. This is perfect.”

“You’re welcome. Now let’s get the hell out of here. We’ve got some last-minute quizzing to do before trivia tonight. The first-place prize is two free spa admissions. Full body massage included.”

Everyone gathered in the massive atrium with a large screen and projector at the front. In the middle was a stage with a podium. Everyone sat in pairs. Predictably, Keith and Guy were there, and they’d zeroed in on us like two hounds with a fox. Sara and I did Greek mythology drills for the better part of two hours before arriving. We felt prepared and ready to win our free trip to the spa.

“King of the Gods,” Guy said to Keith.

Keith was bent forward, his elbows on his knees, chin resting in his hands. “Zeus.”

“Goddess of Love.”

“Aphrodite.”

“God of the Forge.”

“Hephaestus.”

Guy flopped a pile of flashcards on the table. “We got this!”

Keith sat up, and they did some form of a practiced handshake.

“I certainly hope you don’t think simply knowing the names of all the gods and what they’re in control of is going to make you win,” Sara said, her legs crossed, the top one bouncing.

Keith made a pfft sound. “Of course not. We were running drills.”

My lips puckered together, holding back a laugh. We had this in the bag. Hades appeared from the darkness in the corner of the atrium. He stayed away from everyone, folding his arms over his chest and leaning against a nearby wall.

I elbowed Sara in the arm. “Wonder why he’s not joining in. You’d think he’d be great at this game being named after the god of the Underworld and all.”

“Maybe he’s supervising us mere mortals answering questions about his family,” she replied with a sidelong grin.

Hades stood motionless, his eyes catching the light like a cat.

“Well, this should be a lovely time, don’t you agree?” Michelle asked. She and Rupert walked up to our table dressed like they’d come from an elegant dinner. At least Rupert had pants on this time.

“Fan of mythology?” I asked as they sat down at our table.

Rupert leaned back in his chair and draped his arm over Michelle’s chair before crossing his legs. “Not particularly, but with that grand prize, I figured we might as well bloody try, right?” He gave a light smack to Keith’s shoulder.

In. The. Bag.

“Everyone, we are currently passing out buzzers for each pair. We will begin the game in a few minutes,” a resort worker announced.

A woman in a white polo rested a red plastic buzzer on the table between us. Sara couldn’t help but reach forward and slap her hand on it. It made an obnoxious boing sound. Other sounds resonated around us: classic buzzers, cuckoo clocks, and whistles.

“Is everyone ready?” The announcer on stage asked, scanning the crowd.

I threw my fists into the air, letting out as loud of a “woo” as I could. Sara followed suit, and we were successfully the loudest duo in the bunch. Flight of Icarus by Iron Maiden blasted through the speakers.

“Interesting choice, eh?” Guy said, bumping his shoulder into Keith’s.

Once the music died and the crowd was sufficiently pumped up, the announcer held his hands up for silence.

“We will ask a series of questions regarding Greek mythology. These questions may include the gods or heroes, so be prepared for both. I will read the questions, and they will appear on the screen behind me. Ring your buzzer when you’re ready to answer. Wrong answers will give you a negative point, so be sure not to buzz in prematurely.”

“First question: What was the home of the Greek gods?”

I went for the buzzer, but Keith and Guy’s went off first.

“Olympus!” Guy yelled, and they did their stupid hour-long handshake again.

Sara shrugged. “We thought we’d give you guys that one.”

I narrowed my eyes and scooted forward on my seat, hovering my hand over the buzzer.

“Correct! Next question: Who gave Pandora her infamous box?”

I slapped our buzzer and shouted, “Zeus!”

“Correct!”

“Ha!” I pointed at Keith and stuck my tongue out.

Sara chuckled. “You’re really getting into this.”

“What was Achilles’ weak spot?”

Michelle slapped her hand down so quickly she almost knocked the buzzer off the table. “Oh, heel, heel!” She bounced in her chair.

“Correct!”

Rupert leaned over, kissing her. “Great job, love.” He stared at a woman at another table.

“We practiced answering questions, but I think we should’ve practiced our reflexes,” I said to Sara through a fake smile.

“Don’t worry. There’s no way they’ll get the harder ones. They’ve been pretty easy so far,” Sara reassured.

“The wand of Hermes is called what?”

Crap. I didn’t know this one.

Sara pushed her hand down on top of mine, pressing the buzzer. “That would be the caduceus.”

“Very good! Correct!”

Guy smiled at her. “Impressive.”

“You have no idea, Canuck.” She shimmied her shoulders.

Both Canadians laughed. Michelle laughed with them, then looked at Rupert, who had taken out his cell phone and was mindlessly scrolling through it with his thumb.

“Who is the goddess of vengeance?”

Boing. “Nemesis!” I grinned, knowing I was right.

“Correct! Now…this next question is worth multiple points, so be prepared to answer in its entirety.”

Sara and I leaned forward, ready to win.

“The story of Hades and Persephone—”

My body tensed, and my throat felt like sandpaper. I looked over at Hades, and he shifted his stance. Instead of leaning lazily against the wall, he stood rigid.

“Legend says that Hades planted a certain flower to lure her away from her guides so he could abduct her and force her to be his bride of the Underworld. What was that flower, and who was Persephone’s mother?”

My chest tightened as I pressed the buzzer with less enthusiasm than before. “Narcissus. Demeter.” I spoke my answer in Hades’ direction, monotone.

“You have this legend as you call it…wrong,” Hades said from the shadows.

The announcer shielded his eyes from the spotlight. “I’m sorry?”

Hades sauntered from his darkened corner, dressed in his long-sleeve black shirt and pants. “It was Zeus who convinced Gaia to plant the flower. He wasn’t innocent in this. And you all keep using words such as kidnapping and abducting. She was not held prisoner. It was she who ate the food of the Underworld.”

The way he spoke chilled me to the bone. Hurt and sadness laced every word.

The announcer laughed nervously. “We have ourselves an expert here, folks! The myths are, of course, always up for interpretation, sir.”

Hades’ fists clenched at his sides. “Interp—”

I could see his chest heaving through his shirt from across the room. A mysterious, dark smoke started to spread across the ground near him, then disappeared. Did I imagine it?

“What the hell is his problem?” Keith asked.

“Looks like we have our winners, everyone!” The announcer ignored Hades, pointing at Sara and me.

Claps, whoops, and hollers clouded the room, but I was far too distracted to care. Hades stormed away, and I stood, gripping Sara’s shoulder when I passed.

“Don’t you want to at least accept our—” Sara started, but I’d already trotted off.

I made it as far as the awning-covered walkway where he stood, gazing up at the moon.

“Hades?” I approached him like one would approach a Grizzly.

He slipped his hands in his pockets and kept his back turned. “Go away.”

His words stung, but I knew they came from a place of hurt. “You should really deal with this, you know? Talk to someone. I think you might be suffering from post-traumatic stress?”

He removed one of his hands and opened his fist. “I’m not—” He turned around to face me. “I’m gonna ask you one last time to let me be. I’ll bring nothing but bad news your way. You’re far too vibrant of a being, darlin’.”

I wrapped my arms around myself, feeling naked even though I was fully clothed. “I’m only trying to help you.”

“I don’t need, nor did I ask for your help. Walk away. You can’t win every battle, and you’re most certainly not gonna win this one.” His jaw tightened, and he shoved his hand back into his pocket.

Tears welled in my eyes, and I nodded. “Alright. You win.” I held my tears back until I was a safe distance away then let them flow like the river Styx.