Sweet Hell (16 page)

Josie felt melancholy take her. Even this, their beautiful meadow, had been destroyed. Her chest heaved, and she couldn't stop the tears from falling. “I hate this place. I hate Hades."

Dionysus enfolded her in his arms and whispered against her ear. “Hades isn't hellish when you're with me."

She looked up and smiled through her tears, feeling like a drippy, snotty mess. “And to think, you've gone the whole time without a coffee."

"Josie,” he said, his eyes full of love, his fingers slowly raking through her hair. “Don't you know by now? It was never about the coffee."

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Chapter 12

Galvanized by the knowledge of his love for her, Josie found she was able to continue their journey with new energy. Yes, they were in a sick place created by the sickest of sick minds, but Dionysus had assured her it must be over soon.

"You really think Eurydice is caught in this next level?"

"I do,” he assured her, pulling her along, looking revitalized himself. “I can't see how an innocent woman could get trapped anywhere else."

"But aren't there more sections to hell?"

"Sure. ‘Special’ spots for the truly vile. Like where Orpheus is. Sort of like the solitary confinement in a prison. Kept away from the general population so the other prisoners don't get any funny ideas about making you their girlfriend."

"Ew,” she whispered, grimacing.

"If Eurydice is anywhere here, she'll be in ‘The Forgotten Ones.’”

Josie cocked an eyebrow at him. “And do I want to know why it has that name?"

He turned, drawing her in for an embrace, his extraordinary warmth seeping into her as it always did. Making her feel better instantly. “
The Oubliette
makes you want to forget. In The Forgotten Ones, you'll be confronted by those who've been forgotten."

"It sounds the same."

"Not really. It's true, so much in Hades is about forgetting.” He tucked a stray hair behind her ear, then leaned over and kissed her lobe, making her body hum with desire. “Forgetting who you were. Forgetting who loved you. Forgetting life. Here, more than anywhere, Josie, I need you to remember. And please, don't touch anything. Don't touch anyone."

"Right,” she said lightly, trying to make a joke. “Or else I'll have to stay, I guess?"

He looked at her as if her words were true, making her heart sink. “Are you ready?"

"Sure,” she said, smiling, like an overwrought mourner at a funeral who couldn't stop laughing. “Is this where I finally get to see some fire and brimstone?"

"Not quite."

They took another step, and a door appeared in front of them. A nondescript door. The kind you'd see on any house or building. Dionysus reached out a hand toward the knob and turned it.

Josie walked through the doorway and couldn't believe her eyes. They were in a room, a gargantuan room. Like every location she'd seen in hell so far, it was huge, as if it could contain countless souls. And she supposed that was the idea.

The walls were painted, an inoffensive pastel color, although it was difficult to determine exactly which color it was. It wasn't quite pink, but didn't resemble blue or green either. It was just ... blah. On the walls were paintings. Not very good paintings. Just prints of banal subjects. Here, an apple. There, a sleepy dog. In another, a faded lily. There was a cubicle near the door, one that looked very much like a receptionist's office, but with no sign of a receptionist. And lining each lengthy wall were chairs. An endless series of chairs upholstered in diarrhea-brown vinyl. The sort of upholstery which looked as if it would stick to your thighs on a hot summer's day. And there were bored-looking people sitting in those chairs, reading old, tattered magazines.

"Oh my God,” she breathed. “Hell is a waiting room!"

Dionysus grinned down at her. “Well, this part anyway.” He waved his hand around. “Can you think of anything more hellish? An endless wait for a doctor who never appears? I always thought this part was quite clever of Uncle Hades."

"If you say so."

They moved into The Forgotten Ones, or as she couldn't stop calling it in her head, The Doctor's Office. Some heads looked up in their direction, expressing the beginnings of interest.

"Remember,” he started to warn her.

"I know,” she said, feeling a chill down her spine. “No touchy."

A man approached them out of nowhere. “Josie! How are you, gorgeous?"

She turned, astonished, and saw Sean Davison. Her high school crush. Looking just as he had then. Tall, with rich-boy good looks and charisma oozing out of his perfect ears. Grinning at her as if he knew what she looked like naked.

Of course, he did.

Did this mean he was dead or just illusion? She turned to Dionysus for clarification, but he didn't look able to help. He was too busy glaring at Sean as if he could kill him.

"How's Mike? How's Angelo?” Sean asked. He was gnawing gently on his bottom lip, the practiced move that used to set her teenaged body aflutter. And he was looking her body up and down as if he very much approved of what he saw. He pointed to an empty chair. “Sit with me and talk for a while. I've missed you, gorgeous."

Gorgeous
. He'd always called her that. Her and all the other girls he'd fucked in high school. Only Josie was the only one who'd gotten pregnant by him.

It all came back to her then. Her adulation of the handsome boy from a wealthy family. Her excitement when he began to display some interest in her. He'd said he'd loved her. And she'd been head over heels with him. He'd been as exotic as an otherworldly creature to her. Seductive and charming, the boy with all the right gestures, with all the right words.

She'd tried so hard to forget him. And here he was in The Forgotten Ones.

Fate sure did have a funny way of kicking you in the ass sometimes.

Dionysus tugged on her arm. “Josie, tell me. Please."

The story came pouring out of her. “He was my high school boyfriend. At least, I thought he was, but he wasn't really interested in me. He just wanted another notch on his belt. I got pregnant. I'd never been so scared in my life. I didn't tell anyone. Not my brothers, not my parents. Not even a friend. I was so ashamed."

"But,” she continued, “I loved him. I wanted to keep the baby and be a family. But Sean told me to abort it, and since I would have done anything for him, I did.” She ignored the tears that were raining down her face. Just stared at the picture-perfect image of the boy who'd made her afraid to love all these years. “Within two days of the abortion, he broke up with me. Within three days, he was hooking up with the next girl. When I questioned him about it, he told me I wasn't the ‘right sort of people’ to be a part of his family."

Hades-Sean just looked at her with an “Aw, shucks” sort of smile. And held out a hand to her. “I've changed, gorgeous. Stay with me here. You'll like me here."

Dionysus readied himself to defend her. But then she got mad. Furious, in fact, at all the game playing in this hellhole. She wouldn't be brainwashed again, certainly not by the little shit who'd devastated her soul in high school. Yes, he'd played tricks with her mind and used her, making her afraid to trust men. But Dionysus had helped her trust again, and she wouldn't let Sean, or Hades, defeat her.

She put a hand on Dionysus's arm. “It's okay.” And then she turned to the wraith of her former boyfriend and said what she'd never been able to say as an impressionable seventeen-year-old girl. “Fuck you, Sean."

She began walking away with a beaming Dionysus, but then turned back. “And by the way, you have a miniscule dick."

The wraith howled in agony, as if she'd kicked him in the balls. Before her, the form that had seemed so substantial began to languish. Pieces of Sean simply wore away, chunk by chunk, eroding into nothingness, until all that was left was a fine mist that disappeared down the hall.

She turned away, feeling like a total badass. Maybe the tortured soul had gone off to torment someone else, but it wouldn't be her.

As soon as they were a few feet away, Dionysus leaned over and whispered, “That was awesome. I'm so proud of you.” He held her and wiped the last tear from her eye. And then he kissed her eyelids, as if to seal out any future tears. “I'm sorry for what he did to you."

She drowned in his eyes, feeling nothing but sweet warmth and love there. As well as the understanding that could only come from someone who'd lost a child. She'd been so young. So stupid. So determined since then not to make the same mistakes. But the beautiful man in front of her had taught her that some mistakes didn't need to be repeated. “Don't worry. It's ancient history."

They walked on and on. It seemed they scoured the interminable waiting room for hours, Josie ducking away from any spirit who dared to approach her. But they hadn't found Eurydice. Even Dionysus seemed discouraged. His shoulders had slumped, and he seemed lost in the place he'd known for so long.

What if they didn't find her? What then? Would Orpheus return and set the bakery ablaze with her inside? Would he condemn her to an eternity with Sean “Tiny Dick” Davison?

And what would happen to her relationship with Dionysus?

For the first time on this deranged quest, Josie felt truly worried.

That was when the second door appeared. Dionysus just stared at it for a moment and pulled her to his side.

"I'm guessing by your less-than-enthusiastic reaction,” she said, “that door isn't supposed to be there?"

He gave his head a solemn, grave shake from side to side. “But I think it's for us."

"Okay,” she said, suddenly feeling the urge to cry again. “Then let's finish what we started."

Just as abruptly as the door's appearance, Dionysus grabbed her and held her. Only after a couple of minutes did he release her and gaze into her eyes. And then he kissed her. Her mouth opened to him, automatically, hungrily, and his tongue partnered with hers. Dancing to a rhythm underscored by their undying love. A love that would continue to feed them, no matter what they encountered behind that door. Lips smashing against each other. Hearts palpitating against each other's chest. Hands roving, needing to remember everything Hades had tried to make them forget.

They pulled apart, and it struck Josie that Dionysus had never looked so tired. Almost gaunt. There were lines in his face she'd never seen before. As if hell was feeding off him and his powers. An illusion, no doubt, like everything in this godforsaken place, but unsettling still.

She tried to inject one last shred of levity into the proceedings. “Okay, Monty. I'll take door number two."

With a sad smile, Dionysus put his hand out and opened it.

They stepped through the portal, and it occurred to Dionysus that Josie was finally witnessing some fire and brimstone. Hell, at its legendary best.

He wasn't familiar with this particular level, hadn't realized it existed. Of course, he wouldn't put it past his uncle to keep innovating, like the head of any company worth its salt.

They were in what appeared to be an underground cavern with stony walls that seemed to glow from within, as if someone were stoking fires behind them. It was rank, the stench reminding him all too much of decaying corpses. In strategic places on the walls were metal cuffs, the type one might see in a medieval castle's torture chamber.

As many as there were, only one prisoner was shackled there. Eurydice.

She looked exactly as he remembered her. It was no wonder Orpheus could not forget her. She was a lovely girl. Long, dark curls. Round cheeks. Pink lips that trembled upon seeing him. And she was still robed in an ancient Greek
peplos
, the folds draping over her womanly body.

"Please,” she called in a voice possessed of a strange echo. “Help me."

At that moment, the chamber was filled with orange smoke, accompanied by the fragrance of hyacinths in spring. They all watched as the smoke cleared.

"Of course,” he muttered, clutching Josie's hand. “I should have guessed."

The last whorl of smoke dissipated, and a woman appeared. One he'd known since the day Zeus brought him to Olympus. A red-haired goddess in a dazzling white robe, one whose deceptively sweet smile was matched only by the shimmer of coldness in her flashing blue eyes.

Persephone. Reluctant wife to Uncle Hades and Queen of the Netherworld.

"Dionysus,” she welcomed him in a lilting voice. “It's been too long.” She didn't acknowledge Josie, didn't even look at her. Of course not. She was a mere human in Persephone's eyes. Expendable.

"You know why we're here, Persephone. Orpheus wants Eurydice back."

Persephone pouted. “Orpheus has been a very bad little boy. When I gave him the opportunity to search for his wife, I never dreamed he'd approach one of the gods. He hates us all so much.” She cocked her head and considered. “No. I'm sorry, but I can't allow it."

"What's it to you if he spends eternity with his wife?” he demanded, impatient with his aunt's flippant attitude. “You have a husband."

Her carmine lip curled even more. “He's boring. He never takes me anywhere. And Orpheus is so pretty. I want to keep him for myself."

With that, Persephone dipped her head in a graceful nod, and Orpheus appeared in a cloud of dust. For a moment, he was disoriented, his wild eyes looking back and forth. He finally spied his wife, attached to the beastly wall, and he cried out, trying to run to her. But Persephone had him under an invisible choke hold, as if he were chained to her, and he could not move.

"Let me go, you vile bitch!"

The goddess's eyes widened in anger, and her prisoner's body buckled, as if he'd been struck by a heavy implement. “I am your queen here, Orpheus,” she scolded. “You'd best not forget that!"

"Persephone,” Dionysus pleaded, ashamed by the whole display. Disheartened by Eurydice's whimpers. Embarrassed for Orpheus. Wishing he could just whisk Josie out of there. “At least let the girl go."

"I can't,” came her petulant reply. “When Orpheus told me he wanted to find his wife, I bound Eurydice to this wall myself, using an ancient, formidable spell. An unbreakable one. I wanted to ensure she could never be freed. And now, it cannot be reversed. The wall is greedy. It needs a mortal in its clutches.” She spared an icy glance for Eurydice. “The wall must be fed at all times."