Page 26 of Wild Hunt
So Hades was the one who’d pulled me from the water. And it looked like he’d given up.
“Come on, you stupid asshole,” I growled. “Don’t give up now!”
If there was one thing that was worse than being dead, it was being rescued by him, but I sure as hell didn’t want to be both.
“You stupid bitch,” he muttered under his breath.
A surge of anger ran through my ghostly form and I clenched my fists. It soon became hope. “Can you hear me?”
No response. He was still looking at my corpse and when he reached out to touch my cheek with a tenderness I didn’t think he was capable of, I froze.
“I know what you’re thinking, but it’s a mistake.”
A woman’s voice made me jolt, and for a moment, I feared it was the siren. When I looked up, I saw her walking over to him from the tree line. A beautiful woman with long, flowing hair like ink. She wore an exquisite blue gown with a soft red scarf draped around her shoulders. She drew closer and I realized she was transparent, just like me.
“Who are you?” I asked. “What’s a mistake?”
She looked right at me but didn’t answer, turning her attention back to the young god who was just sitting there, watching my body grow cold and blue.
“Resurrection magic is forbidden for a reason,” she said softly, resting a hand on his shoulder. It looked like she was actually touching him.
Most shockingly of all, he looked up at her. “I know that.”
He could hear her. “Hades!” I cried, desperate to get his attention.
“He can’t hear you,” the woman said calmly, folding her hands. “He and I share a unique bond.”
Hades looked around, frowning. “Who are you talking to? Is that her?”
“Pay no mind,” she said casually. “The guides haven’t come to retrieve her yet.”
“That means there’s still time,” he muttered.
She frowned and in that moment, there was something so similar about their expressions. It was in the eyes and the Cupid’s bows of their lips. “Hades, you promised. Do not go the way of Orpheus or there will be consequences. There are always consequences.”
“You don’t think I know that?” he snapped. His anger faded immediately. “I’m sorry.”
Guess he got along with ghosts better than he got along with people.
The ghostly woman looked up at me, her expression troubled. “Hades, please…”
He ignored her and all I could do was watch helplessly as he held my fate in his hands. Resurrection magic. Was he seriously thinking of using that on me? Rumors swirled around what Hades was capable of, but no one really knew for sure. It looked like the blue flames were just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak.
Hades began whispering words I couldn’t make out, but the cadence made me doubt they were in a language I couldn’t have understood anyway. At first, nothing seemed to be happening, but then his voice was joined by whispers all throughout the forest. The woman looked around nervously and gave me a pitying glance before she faded away completely.
Okay, so that was disconcerting.
The whispers grew louder, rising with Hades’ voice. I took a step back from my body as a blue flame shot up from the earth and formed a circle around me and him. Well, at least my physical aspect.
The flames grew and grew until they became a massive wall and Hades stretched out his open palms. As if obeying his command, the ring of fire jumped into his palms and shaped itself into a glowing blue orb. It looked like an entire universe contained within a single sphere, and when he opened his eyes, they were the same bluish white as his flame.
The sight made me breathless, but before I could process what was happening, he blew onto the sphere and sent streams of glowing smoke spiraling down to my lips. They were already turning blue, but somehow, the smoke forced its way past them. I watched as he funneled the infernal flame into my body and my skin began to take on a more lifelike color.
I felt myself being pulled again, only this time, I was getting sucked back into my body rather than the endless abyss of the water. The next thing I knew, I was opening my eyes and gasping involuntarily. The rush of air into my waterlogged lungs was far more painful than drowning had been.
Oh, yeah. I was definitely physical again. Being dead didn’t hurt this bad.
My body sat up of its own accord and I found myself grasping Hades’s shoulders for support. It was a struggle to take even the shallowest of breaths, and it remained one for several minutes. He held onto me, saying nothing, and as the trauma of being pulled back into the realm of the living by the god of death begin to subside, the confusion set in.
