Page 46 of Love and Death
They pause, their heads turning in perfect unison to look down the corridor, and my stomach twists as I silently pray that they don’t spot us.
I’d hold my breath, too, if I still had any air left in my lungs to hold. Just when I think I’m on the brink of passing out, the two stone giants finally walk on, disappearing from view.
Cerberus cautiously pushes away from the wall, and I can’t help myself as I drink in a shuddering gasp of air. He whirls on me, wincing as he lifts a hand to cover my mouth, but it’s already too late.
“Who goes there?”
I grimace at the gravelly voice and try to give the hellhound an apologetic look, but he’s already turning away from me.
“It is only I, Cerberus,” he answers, nudging me further behind him as the two stone guards reappear at the far end of the hall.
“What are you doing in this wing of the palace,” one of them asks as I try to peek through the gap between the hellhound’s waist and arm.
“What amIdoing?” Cerberus repeats, his voice suddenly dangerously low. “What are you doing that you would dare to questionme?”
“We have our orders. No one is to enter this wing of the palace without—”
“On whose orders?”
The two stone sentinels glance at one another as if confused, though their stony faces do little to show it.
“Deimos’ orders.”
Cerberus lets out a snort at this, his eyes narrowing on them.
“And since when has Deimos’ authority surpassed my own? Or have you forgotten that I am the one you answer to in Hades’ absence?”
Again, the guards exchange a look, though this one I find entirely unreadable.
“That may have been true before yesterday, but Deimos has since been given authority over the guard in the king’s absence,” one of the giants says as they both take a threatening step forward. “So, again, I ask, what reason do you have to be in this wing of the palace?”
I can tell by the way Cerberus’ body tenses that this isn’t the response he was expecting.
“Very well. If you must know, I have an audience with the queen.”
What?My stomach twists at his words, but I otherwise force myself not to react.
“The queen is not to receive any guests.”
“Again, on whose orders?”
“Deimos, as we have already—”
“Is that so,” the hellhound chuckles darkly. “Then Iwill just have to inform Hades upon his return that not only has Deimos overstepped his authority, but so have his guards.”
I have to admire his quick thinking, not to mention the silver of his tongue, as he admonishes them so effortlessly, despite his wounded state.
“To think thatanyonebesides the king would dare restrict the queen from doing as she pleased within her own home. If I did not know better,” he trails off, shaking his head as if he can’t believe what he was about to say. “No, surely it is impossible ...”
“What is impossible?” The two guards shift slightly, stone grinding softly against stone, as they wait for him to clarify.
“To think that Deimos would try to usurp the throne in Hades’ absence and that his own men would be too blind and dumb to see it.”
Neither of the guards reacts to this, and I brace myself for their fury as they stare down at Cerberus in true, emotionless rock form. At least, that’s what I think they’re doing … until they both suddenly bow their heads in grating unison.
“Forgive us, but we are bound to do as the king commands,” one of them says. “If what you say is true, then rest assured that Deimos will not succeed. However, as things are, orders are orders.”
“So, you will deny the queen her request,” Cerberus says testily.
