Page 70 of Love and Death
Turning my attention back to the convergence point, I peer down each of the hallways once again. If I were Hades, where would I want to keep a body as powerful as Death’s?
Despite his ego, something tells me that fear would lead him to put Death somewhere out of reach. Somewhere almost impossible to get to without knowledge of the palace, which, I admit, I have little of.
Still, my guess would be underground. That rules out the staircase ahead, for now.
I lean forward to decide between the other twohallways, grabbing the sconce on the wall for balance. My heart leaps into my throat as I suddenly drop forward several inches with a resounding metallic clunk.
The stone trembles beneath my feet, a low rumble vibrating through the palace as a seam opens up in the floor where my hall converges with the others. The entire slab of stone between the corridors drops about a foot before slowly pulling away to reveal a spiraling sapphire stairwell.
Impossible.
The stone settles with a heavy thud, silence once again rushing in behind it. I step closer to get a better look, but there is no way to tell where the staircase leads, let alone how far down it goes.
The stairwell disappears into darkness—no torchlight, no sconces, no magic to guide the way. Just the cold breath of whatever lies beneath, swirling up to greet me.
I hover at the edge of the seam, every instinct I have left warning me that this path was hidden for a reason. That this wasn’t built to be found. Least of all by a mortal.
Which is precisely why I have to see where it leads.
Where else might a god hide a body?
Grabbing the nearby torch from its sconce, I press my other hand to the dagger at my thigh.
Just in case.
And then I step forward to begin my descent into the dark heart of the sapphire throne.
20
HAZEL
Imake it about half a spiral down the stairwell before I feel the stone slab rumble above me, and I can’t help but watch as it begins to close. A sudden rush of wind extinguishes my torch as the entrance seals itself seamlessly back into place, entombing me in a pitch-black void.
I should have known my supposed luck was too good to be true.
Well, there’s nowhere left to go but down.
Placing my nearest hand flat against the damp chill of the wall, I use the unlit torch to help feel my way forward. The stairs are cut from slippery, uneven crystal, making every step a challenge, and any sudden movement treacherous.
The air grows heavier—ancient and moldering—as it clings to my skin and leaves the tang of forgotten iron in my mouth. I shudder, the stone beneath my feet growing icier still, and I swear I can almost hear the frosting of my breaths as they escape me in smaller and tighter gasps.
Time holds no place here, my descent as painstaking as it is unending. I’m nearly ready to give up and collapse in exhaustion when the darkness shifts.
A faint flicker.
And then, the next thing I know, I have to shield my eyes as blue flames erupt from somewhere far below and shoot up to illuminate the central spine of the sapphire stairwell in a burst of brilliant light.
I’ve pressed myself flat against the opposite wall of the stairwell without realizing it, my heart thundering in my chest.
I can see now, but at what cost? Who lit the flame? And why only now?
I refuse to turn back, despite the uncertainty. If there is someone down there, I’ll eventually be caught anyway, and I would rather take my chances while trying to find out what lies below.
Shifting forward, I keep my one hand pressed to the wall for support and ready the torch in my other to wield as a weapon, should the need arise. The going is easier now, and I hurry to escape the stairwell as quickly as I can.
Within a handful of minutes, the spiraling staircase levels out, and I find myself standing before an open archway. Leaning forward, a long, fairly narrow hallway leads off to the right and left.
Stepping out into the hallway, blue flames run in patterns along the walls on either side in elegant carved lines too shallow to be lit by anything other than magic. Taking another tentative step forward and away from the shelter of the stairwell, I peer off into the darkness.
