Page 35 of Raising Hell
“You should probably just take a knife to him like he wants.”
They were all trying to drive me insane. That was the only answer.
Skirting around her, I told myself to ignore the pair as I went to the spot in the wall where I’d witnessed some of the monsters appear. There wasn’t one wall but two. One in front of the other with matching stone that created an optical illusion of a single wall.
I peered around the first one and startled a monster there. It turned around and ran away into the passage while I stood there with a racing heart.
Okay. No more peeking around corners for me.
“How many of these hidden openings does this room have?” I asked, moving away from that one.
“Twenty. They lead into other hallways.”
I nodded and tipped my head back to look up at the ceiling. Ornate carvings connected the ceiling and wall. Some depicted women carrying pots on their heads. Others had men fighting bulls with crazy big horns. There were even chariots. All of it looked incredibly old.
“Was this what the throne room looked like before Persephone changed it?” I asked.
“Yes.”
I glanced over my shoulder at Hades, who stood nearby. He was looking up at the carvings too.
“They’re pretty,” I said. “I like all the marble too.”
“Everything in my domain once resembled Olympus. It was a place of beauty and peace.”
“Until Persephone,” I added.
His gaze found mine, and he dipped his head in acknowledgment before going back to studying the room. That he wasn’t watching me said a lot.
“What else are you missing?” I asked.
With his hands behind his back, he slowly turned away from me. It might have looked like he was studying the room, but I knew better. He never turned away from me. Not even when he was mad. The only time I could remember anything even close was when he’d run himself into the wall. I thought back to why he’d probably done that. Considering his level of obsession with Persephone, attempting to knock himself unconscious had probably been an attempt to numb his pain.
Was that what he was doing now? Hiding his pain?
I closed the distance between us and stepped in front of him.
His eyes were flickering with that red glow again.
“Tell me,” I said.
“I miss familiar faces.”
“Like the other gods from Olympus?”
He gave a scornful laugh.
“You are the only goddess I have ever longed for.”
“Ashlyn,” I said softly. “Not a goddess.”
He looked away from me, studying the stone again.
“Who do you miss?” I asked.
“You will make me name those who wronged my goddess? Those she’s condemned to unjust eternal punishments for slights against her glory?”
“So you want to free some more people like Creon?” I asked, trying to keep up.
