Page 89 of Going to Hell
She looked from her food to mine and slowly shook her head. “If I do that, Mother, you will lose your dress for two days.”
“Seriously?”
She nodded, and I sighed.
“Then I guess it’s more stew for me.”
“Father will change it for you if you ask him.”
“It’s fine. I’ll ask for what you have next time. What else is there?”
Her food changed to thin, glistening cakes.
“Pancakes?”
“Honey cakes,” Zotera said.
My mouth watered, and my stomach rumbled hungrily. I knew what I would be eating for breakfast if I was still here for it.
Zotera and I ate our meal then worked on the statues. She didn’t make a cute dog like I’d pictured. She made a deadly, three-headed beast with spears sticking from its side and a snarl twisting its mouth. Frozen in mid-lunge, the thing was completely terrifying. But when she stood back from it with a satisfied smile and asked me what I thought, there was only one answer.
“It’s terrifyingly realistic.”
She beamed at me.
“Cerberus was Father’s favorite guardian of the crossroads. The reminder of how his faithful servant died will torture him endlessly.”
“Whoa,” I said standing back from it. “Maybe we could try a different approach for a while? Do you remember a moment when Cerberus was happy?”
She shrugged and the statue reshaped itself into a well-behaved looking three-headed dog, sitting on its haunches, tongue lolling from one of its mouths.
“Better,” I said. “Now let’s see what else we can come up with?”
Hours later, I rested my head on my arms while sitting at the table and watched Zotera work on the next statue. My eyes kept drifting closed before snapping open again whenever she laughed to herself. The room I’d used the night before wasn’t far away, but I wasn’t completely sure it was still furnished. And, I also wasn’t sure I’d make it there without running into another mob of creatures wanting to chase me. So I stayed where I was, waiting for Hades to check in on us again.
My eyes drifted closed and didn’t open.
“Look at that skin. I hunger. I need.”
Bolting upright, I twisted in my seat and lightly slapped myself in the face with Hades’ reaching hand. He immediately turned the movement into a caress.
A tingle buzzed under my skin at the contact. Disoriented and tired, I met his tender gaze and felt a sense of relief. Hades meant safety.
“Come,” he said softly. “You must rest.”
He offered me his hand, and I nodded automatically as I took it.
“Goodnight, Zotera,” I called when he started leading me away. “Change one of those into a bed so you get some rest, too.”
Hades mumbled something about games that I was too tired to listen to as we left the throne room. The thought of crawling into bed occupied my mind on the short walk. Well, that and how much I missed the sun. Without it, I couldn’t tell how long I’d stayed awake this time. It felt like twenty-four hours.
Hades opened the door to the room we’d previously used, and I saw everything was the way we’d left it that morning.
The bed called to me. But so did something else.
“Could I have the privacy screen back, please?” I asked, veering toward the bed for the pot hidden underneath.
I missed home. I missed my own bed. And I absolutely missed plumbing.
