Аполлион

Aiden glared at the guard and heat poured off him. The guard’s smile tipped up in response.

The one in front of me grabbed a fistful of my hood and wrenched it back. His ice-blue eyes narrowed. “It’s them.”

My heart dropped to my toes. He said it like someone had been expecting us, and that was so not good. I tried to keep the panic out of my face, but it must have been evident, because the guard laughed as he turned back.

“Disarm them all,” he said. “And then we must go.”

The disarming part took seconds. Our cloaks were removed, daggers stripped away. Aiden’s backpack was taken hostage. I passed Aiden a glance, but he stared ahead, his jaw set in a rigid line. Crap on a cracker, this was bad. Caleb seemed resigned, though, his shoulders slumped, as if he knew what punishment was coming.

Watching the backs of the guards, I wondered how quickly I could take them all out so the three of us could make a run for it. But that would probably require akasha, and where would Caleb hide down here? Where would we go? And to come this far, only to lose it all? I couldn’t even come to grips with it. A cold knot of fear sat heavy in my stomach.

With dread raking deeper and deeper with each step, we could do nothing else but follow the guards to Hades’ palace.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered to Caleb.

He shrugged. “Like old times, though.”

“Yeah, but this is different. There’s a dragon made of fire that will—”

“No talking.” The guard who liked to play with his sword rode up beside us. “Or I will make it that none of you can talk again.”

Like my father? Sweet, hot rage exploded. My mouth opened, but Aiden’s warning glare closed it. We were herded toward the palace in silence. Two guards on horses in front of us, two behind us, and one on the ground made it impossible to do a damn thing.

And then the gates to the palace were swinging open and we were ushered in across a sparse courtyard. Everything was happening so fast. My heart pounded; sweat dotted my brow. I felt naked without the damn cloak, and there was a freaking hellhound sleeping on its back by the entrance, its meaty paws kicking in the air as it dreamt of chasing souls or whatever hellhounds dreamt of.

Guards dismounted from their horses and strode toward the entrance, pulling open the palace doors. The guys on either side of me seemed to be handling all of this better than me, or they were just better at pretending not to be one step from spazzing out, but Caleb probably wasn’t blown away by Hades’ palace like I was.

After all, he played Wii with the gods here.

But Hades’ palace was… opulent.

Gold and titanium plated everything—the walls, ceiling, furniture, and even the floor. Hades’ symbols were everywhere. The bull and the two-prong spears were engraved into the floors, stitched into the elegant tapestries. Black velvet chaise lounges filled the great hall, but it was the covered thrones occupying the dais that caught and held my attention. They were truly fit for a king and queen, but it was also what was near them.

Slumbering beside them were smaller hellhounds—maybe puppy hellhounds. Their multiple heads rested on their paws, and acid drool pooled under the lolled tongues.

The guards stopped and, without any words, dropped onto one knee and lowered their heads. A second later, the floor-to-ceiling gold and titanium doors next to the thrones swung open. Even though Hades was supposed to be in Olympus, I fully expected the god to come strolling through the doors, ready to toss the three of us into the fiery pits of Tartarus.

Weak in the knees, I forced myself to keep my eyes trained forward. Sentinels didn’t feel fear… my rosy half-blood butt.

But as the figure drew nearer, I knew it wasn’t Hades. It wasn’t even a guy. It was a female—and it was a goddess.

She was beautiful—tall, damn near seven feet. Waves of curly red hair fell to an impossibly narrow waist. Her eyes were all white, cheekbones high, lips plump, and nose pert.

And she was practically naked.

Her white gown was gauzy and completely see-through. I got a good idea of her bra size… if she’d been wearing one, which she wasn’t. Underwear must be optional down here.

Aiden was staring. So was Caleb, although he looked like he was quite used to all this… woman on display. Hell, even I was staring.

She crossed the great hall, her long legs parting the chiffon of her skirt, playing peekaboo. Dear gods, I felt my cheeks start to burn, but I still couldn’t look away. As she neared, her all-white eyes flared, and then dimmed. Two bright, emerald-colored eyes appeared.

Caleb relaxed beside me, a slow smile creeping across his handsome face—the face I’d missed so much. “Hello, Persephone.”

My eyes widened on the beautiful goddess. So this was the infamous Persephone. Even though I was Team Boy, I could see why Hades had become so enamored with her, going as far as to pluck her away and bring her down to the Underworld.

The first guard, not the one who’d cut Aiden, lifted his head. “We apprehended them as you wished.”