Page 85 of Love and Death
Neither of us moves for a few seconds, and then I feel—
I scream as something wraps around my leg, andpulls. Cerberus grunts, trying to reposition Death in his arms to grab me, but it’s impossible.
I am pulled under, the icy water forcing a muffled scream and an explosion of bubbles from my lips. Something crawls up my legs, icy tendrils spidering their way around my body as I’m dragged to the floor.
It’s too dark to see anything; my torch lost beneath the waters with me. All I feel is thousands of tiny fingers wriggling along my body, up my neck, and then over my chin to pry open my mouth.
I thrash against it, every fiber of my being in horror as I use the last bit of air left in my lungs, and my musclesstart to give way to the creature. My body goes limp just as water rushes around me, and then, I’m choking.
Gagging, as Cerberus lifts me out of the water and pulls something squirming out of my mouth. I cough, water spilling from my lips as I’m jostled against the heat of his chest as he fights against the current.
Finally, I hear the swirling gurgle of the water give way to splashing as we move on to dry ground once again.
“Hazel,” Cerberus drops to his knees to lay me down, flames licking to life to edge his head and shoulders as he peers down at me. “Did you … are you …”
I cough, rolling over to spew the remainder of the Styx on the ground.
“What was that?”
“That was a Maniphage.”
“A what?”
“One of the torments that breeds within the Styx, a convergence of pieces of various damned souls. In this case, it would appear to have been … fingers.” He looks down at his feet before adding, “I honestly do not know how you survived it unharmed.”
“What do you mean by unharmed?” I scoff.
“Well, they tend tear off the body parts they associate with, if they can, and this one definitely could have.”
I shudder, my stomach tightening and forcing me to dry heave, as if that might help relieve me of the memory.
“I thought you said it was safe here,” I say when I can finally speak again.
“It should have been,” he says, his voice rough. “Therecent rise in the river must have caused something to get swept in here.”
“I can’t go back in there.”
He pulls me, shivering, into his arms, allowing the heat of his body to soak into my bones while I attempt to recover.
“You do not have to. We made it through. The gate is just up these stairs. Can you walk?”
I nod against his chest, and he reluctantly releases me.
Anything to get as far from these catacombs as I can. I pull myself up onto my feet, stabilizing myself against the stone wall as Cerberus lifts Eros and Death onto his body once again.
He lights a new torch and hands it to me as we climb. Reaching the top of the stairs, we turn, and a rush of fresh air—or, at least, as fresh as it can be down here—wafts in from a gate at the end of the tunnel.
Relief drags me down for a second before carrying me forward. Cerberus removes a key from behind a loose stone and unlocks the iron grate, pushing aside some old cobwebs and vines to allow me through.
Leaving my torch behind, I step out and turn to look up at the city as it looms up behind us, its high walls stretching toward the swirling sky, Hades’ palace rising in dark, ominous spires above it all.
Tears flow freely from me as a relieved smile breaks across my face.
Aglaia no longer confines us.
We havefinallyescaped the city.
“Where do we go now?” I ask once Cerberus finishes locking up the gate and hiding the key.
