Soul Bound (22 page)

My heart breaks at the scuffle that follows. The grunts of pain that escape my boyfriend’s lips. I dig my fingernails into my palms so hard they draw blood, hating to just stand here and wait and not try to save the day.

“Where are you taking him?” I hear Jareth’s father demand. “As citizens of Elysian Hills, we have the right to know.”

“And don’t try to do anything stupid,” his mother adds. “We are witnessing this arrest. If he’s not treated in a lawful manner, we will report your patrol to the proper authorities.”

“Don’t get your panties into a bunch,” the demon sneers. “We’re taking him to the Lake of Fire prison, nice and legal
like. You can file an application to visit once he’s been processed.”

“We will do that. And I better not see a hair on his head out of place when we do.”

I can’t help a small smile at Jareth’s mother’s bravery. Standing up to slimy demons can’t be easy. But she loves her son. I can hear it in her voice. And I’m pretty sure she’d stand up to Hades himself to protect him.

It’s not long before I hear the heavy front door slam shut behind the demons and their voices fading off into the distance. The bookcase slides open and Jareth’s family peers in at me. “Rayne?” Sarah calls. “Are you okay?”

How do I even answer that question? I emerge from my hiding spot, my whole body still shaking. Jareth’s mother pulls me into a warm hug, stroking my hair. “I’m sorry,” she whispers. “I wish he hadn’t done that. He didn’t have to.”

I pull away from the hug. “Actually,” I tell them, “I think he did. But don’t worry. I’m not going to give up until I get him out.”

“Oh, Rayne, I’m so sorry!” Sunny cries, as I tell her and Race the story later that evening back at my father’s house. “You must be totally freaking out.”

I flop back on the couch, staring up at the ceiling. “Freaking out doesn’t even begin to cover it. I can’t believe I just stood there and let them take him away. Without even a fight. What’s wrong with me?”

“What good would it have done to have both of you in jail?” Race points out. “This way at least you have a chance to save him.”

“But how?” I moan. “I mean, I can’t exactly storm a Hades prison and break him out. Even with Hercules’s help, that would be impossible.”

“Maybe when you talk to Hades about me you can ask him to free Jareth as well?” Sunny suggests hopefully.

“But then what about you? You think he’s going to let you both go?” I scowl as I realize the position I’m in. Will I really have to choose between my sister and my boyfriend? How could I possibly make that choice if I can only save one?

“There’s got to be another way,” Race reasons. “If only we could get in touch with Hercules. Maybe he could help us out. I mean, I know the prison-storming thing is out. But the guy’s pretty clever. He might have another idea up his sleeve. After all, he’s been hooking up with the boss’s wife for hundreds of years and still manages to keep his head somehow.” The rock star’s voice is full of admiration.

I look at him, my mouth dropping open in excitement. “That’s it!” I cry, bouncing up on the couch. “That’s totally it!”

Race and Sunny give me puzzled looks. “What’s it?” my sister asks.

“Hercules’s girlfriend. Hades’s wife. Persephone. I bet she has the power to spring someone from jail. And I’m sure she’s listed in Hellbook.”

“But why would Mrs. Hades help us?” Race questions. “I mean, unless Hercules mentioned us to her, she doesn’t
know us from a hole in the wall. Why would she stick her neck out for some random non-dead strangers?”

“Because,” I say, my eyes shining my enthusiasm. “These particular random, non-dead strangers know about her secret love affair. And I’m guessing she’d pretty much do anything in the world to avoid us mentioning this little tryst to her husband…”

Sunny stares at me in disbelief. “Are you serious? You want to blackmail the Queen of the Underworld?”

“If it means getting my Jareth out of the Lake of Fire? Abso-freaking-lutely!”

“
H
e’s over here, Your Majesty,” the green-skinned demon jailer announces, jingling his keys as he leads the beautiful Persephone and me down a narrow, rocky path along the shores of the Lake of Fire the next day. The goddess, dressed in a pair of skinny jeans and blinged-out tank top instead of the Grecian toga I’d imagined her in, wipes her sweaty brow as she gingerly steps over a boulder in strappy Louboutins.

“Finally,” she mutters. “This heat is going to ruin my complexion.”

I’m not enjoying it much either, but I’m too happy to complain. Thank the gods that when I first contacted Persephone—“Call me Percy”—over Hellbook, she was more than happy to help me out. Especially once I explained the situation. Turns out Mrs. Hades isn’t too fond of the Demon Patrol either, as it’s
always trying to mess up her opportunities to see her boyfriend. And she’s a sucker for stories of forbidden love. So when I told her of their actions and how I needed to get my own boyfriend back, she was more than happy to throw her weight around to spite her husband’s guard and give us a happy ending. As a bonus, she also agreed to bring us to the palace afterward for a personal meet-and-greet with the husband. And we didn’t even have to blackmail her for the privilege.

“Ugh. I hate this place,” the goddess mutters as she pinches her nose with delicate fingers to ward off the stench of rot and sulfur. “I cannot wait until winter is over and I can go back up to Earth for the next six months.” She glances over at me. “I’ll look you guys up when I get back. Maybe we can try that new Mario Batali restaurant that just opened. It’s supposed to be to die for.” She giggles at her pun. “Get it, to die for?”

“Um, sure. That sounds… great?” Okay, she’s a little annoying, but I think her heart is in the right place. Guess it can get pretty lonely down here for the living.

“Here we are,” the jailer announces, stepping in front of a room literally made of pillars of fire. Thank goodness as a vampire, I don’t have to be concerned with smoke inhalation. I try to squint past the flames to catch a glimpse of my boyfriend. I gasp as I find him lying on the ground, bruised and battered. I guess the demons didn’t keep their promise not to rough him up. Bastards.

“Jareth!” I cry as the guard slips his key in the lock and the fire door slides open. He looks up, confused and dazed. Then his eyes lock onto me.

“Rayne!” he cries, scrambling to his feet. He rushes over to me and gives me a huge hug. “You found me. You actually found me.”

“Of course I did, silly,” I say, hugging him back. “You think I’d leave you down here?”

He looks at me, then at the jailer. “But how… ?”

“Jareth, meet Percy. As in Persephone, Queen of the Dead. She totally hooked us up.”

Jareth bows low to the goddess. “I am forever in your debt, Your Majesty.”

But Percy waves him off with a laugh. “Don’t mention it,” she says. “It’s the least I can do for true love.” She looks over at me with a smile. “You’ve got quite a lady here,” she tells Jareth. “You’d better hang on to her tight.”

“Oh, I will,” Jareth replies, his eyes shining. “You’d better believe it.”

And that’s how we find ourselves, sometime later, in a large, luxurious one-bedroom suite in the castle of Hades himself, waiting for our audience with the big guy. Percy said it might take a while for her to pull some strings, and in the meantime, she wanted to make our reunion as sweet as possible. The room is decorated entirely in white and the bed linens are made of the softest silk. As I step out of a nice, hot steamy shower, wrapped in an Egyptian cotton robe, I find Jareth propped up in the king-sized bed. He gestures to me with a smile and I join him, curling up into his body and resting my head on his shoulder.

“You’re amazing,” he whispers, stroking my back, looking down at me with love in his eyes. “You never give up. You always find a way for a happily ever after.”

“You’re pretty amazing yourself,” I remind him, rejoicing in the feel of his hands on me. Happy I’ll never have to leave his arms again. “I mean, what you did for your family… For all you knew, you could have been stuck in that jail cell for eternity. And yet you had no reservations.”

“I would have been, if it wasn’t for you,” he says, leaning down to kiss my cheek. “Oh, Rayne, I’ve been such a jerk. Such an idiot. I pushed you away when all you wanted to do was help me. And yet, you didn’t give up on me. Not even after I told you I never wanted to see you again.”

“Yeah, well, I can be just as stubborn as you,” I reply stoutly. “And you’re my blood mate. You’re stuck with me—no matter how far you try to run.”

“I promise I will never run again,” he assures me, gazing into my eyes with affection. “How can I ever repay you?” he asks. “For what you’ve done for me and my family?”

“Well, you can start by forgiving yourself,” I tell him. “No more Mr. Emo.”

He chuckles. “Can you believe that?” he asks softly. “All this time I’ve held onto such guilt for destroying my sister’s life. Little did I know she’s a lot more grown up than I gave her credit for.” He rubs his chin thoughtfully. “Seeing her down here, with my family, so glowing and happy, I realize I’ve wasted too many years wishing I could change things, when things are actually pretty great, just as they are.”

“Absolutely,” I agree. “And now we’ve just got to save my sister and live happily ever after.”

“I like the sound of that,” he agrees, pressing his lips against mine. “And I promise, no matter what happens, I’ll always be there for you. I’ll never push you away again.”

“Ditto,” I murmur, dissolving into his kiss, our mouths finding and loving one another with a passion I never thought possible.

F
or some reason, I thought Hades’s palace would look like something out of a
Clash of the Titans
movie. You know, all Acropolis looking, with marble floors and lots of white pillars and the like. Maybe even some royalty types lying on couches, being hand-fed grapes by their slaves. And, of course, lots of togas. But, as I should know by now, real life is nothing like the movies. And here is no exception. Instead, the palace is done up in a completely postmodern style, with crimson leather couches, glass tables, and art-deco chandeliers. Pretty sweet, I have to admit.

“You have a lovely home,” I say politely to Percy as we pass through yet another opulent living space on our way to meet her husband the next day.

“Please. You should have seen the disaster it was when I first moved in,” she replies, fanning her face with a well-manicured hand. “The place was totally Gothed out to the max. For some reason, my dear old husband had the idea that the Lord of the Dead should be a Hot Topic frequent shopper. He painted all the walls, floors, and ceilings black and even had a specially commissioned coffin couch. A
used
coffin couch.” She shudders. “I had my poor decorator murdered the moment I arrived so I could begin a total top-to-bottom makeover. It’s been years and it’s just starting to shape up now…”

Wow. I totally take all my compliments back. Coffin couches? Black walls? How cool is that? Hades sounds like my kind of bad guy.

We come to a small waiting room with two antique couches alongside each wall. On the far wall is a set of extremely ornate double doors with depictions of demons and other nightmarish creatures carved into the wood.

“See?” Percy points to the door. “There are obviously some things that still need to be replaced.” She pushes open the two doors and we follow her into a small, dark study. On the far side of the room, covering nearly the entire wall, sits the biggest TV screen I’ve ever seen. Beneath the TV, sits a nondescript, little old man, sporting two miniature horns on top of his balding head. My eyes widen as they take in his wrinkly, liver-spotted hands and grandpa trousers. Is this the big bad everyone’s so scared of?

And is he… I do a double-take… actually playing Vampires vs. Zombies?

“Um, hi, sweetie,” Percy addresses her husband in a saccharine-sweet voice. Now I can see why she’s hooking up with Hercules. “This is—”

“Damn it to hell!” Hades screams as a zombie proceeds to grab his vampire character and chomp its head off. He throws the controller across the room, where it smashes into about a hundred pieces. He whirls around in his cushy, black leather chair, giving his wife a death look. “How many times have I told you never to interrupt me when I’m playing my video games?”

Percy rolls her eyes. “About as many hours as you spend playing them,” she growls back, obviously not afraid of him. I cringe a little, waiting for his response.

Instead, the god just laughs and pats her on the arm. “Touché, wifey,” he replies before swiveling back around and taking a brand-new controller from the white-togaed slave who presents it to him. I wonder how many of these things he goes through in a week.

“I’m sorry, maybe you didn’t hear me,” Percy says louder. “I’ve brought some friends to talk to you.”

“They’ll have to come back,” Hades replies absently. “I’ve decided not to speak to anyone until I pass level twelve.” He hits “continue” on his game and the monitor springs back to life. His vampire reappears in the mall, hacking at the oncoming zombies with a machete. I remember this level from back home. It’s a real bitch.

Percy steps in front of the monitor, obscuring her husband’s view. “But, darling,” she says through clenched teeth, “you’ve
been on this level for three weeks now. And the minions are starting to get restless.”

Hades screeches as a zombie grabs him and takes a huge chomp out of his leg, spewing blood everywhere. There goes another controller. I hope he has stock in PlayStation.

“I don’t care if Zeus himself wants to come for tea,” he screams back at her. “Now get out of here before I have the lot of you beheaded.” He grabs yet another new controller from his slave with such force the poor boy almost gets knocked over.

“Fine. Whatever. See if I care if they overthrow you from power,” Percy shoots back before storming out of the room. I glance over at Hades again but he’s completely back to the game. Reluctantly, Jareth and I retreat after Percy.