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Chapter 15
Ares
I’d contemplated telling Elyse about my hunch that Catina was in the Underworld when I went to see her on Saturday. I wanted her to stop worrying.
But I’d said nothing. How could I get her hopes up if I wasn’t sure Catina was really there, or that she’d still be alive? And I didn’t want to put Elyse in danger, either. Because it was a fact that she’d go find Catina the moment she suspected where her friend was hidden. With her tenacity, she’d find a way to enter the Underworld. And that worried me.
Not only because it was her job to fight X and protect the humans, but because she felt personally responsible for Catina’s disappearance. Plus, Elyse had never been the type to sit back and let a hero take over. Elyse was the furthest thing from a damsel in distress, and that was one of the things that attracted me to her.
I didn’t want her to get it in her head she could go to the Underworld, only to find that Catina wasn’t there and then X would have her where he wanted her.
Because X left us that little clue from the lake to draw Elyse out, since we weren’t doing well enough finding him ourselves. Fucker probably roared with laughter at us. If we sprung a trap he’d set, I’d never forgive myself, and I wasn’t taking that risk with Elyse’s life.
So instead of telling Elyse about my hunch on Saturday, I’d spent time focusing on her, helping her forget.
My phone rang, and Elyse’s name flashed on the Caller ID.
“Hey,” I answered with a smile, certain she could hear it.
“Can I see you?” she asked, her voice serious, yet, I sensed no fear.
“Is everything okay? You can tell me now.”
She hesitated. “Yeah, I just want to talk.”
It was unlike her to be insecure about anything, and even more strange for her to ask for company. But I had to take care of Underworld business first. I’d put anything aside for her, but this was different because it might be the answer she needed.
“I need to look into something first,” I said. “I can’t see you right now. I’ll come to you as soon as I’m done, okay?”
“Sure,” she murmured.
I wasn’t certain if she thought I was okay at all—something was up, and it worried me. She wasn’t in danger, which was the priority.
I had more important things to focus on that would help her.
After we ended the call, I headed out, and made my way to Heracles’s front door and knocked.
“Fancy seeing you on my doorstep,” he teased when he greeted me. “You’re usually quite scarce.”
“Yeah, the outcast, I know, I know.” I rolled my eyes, not having time for the same shit, different day crap.
Heracles shrugged. “We all have a history.”
He was right, of course. Every god or goddess had a beef with someone. Or with everyone. It was part and parcel of being immortal. It was hard not to have issues when you were in each other’s faces forever. And it got damn boring on Mount Olympus, so many deities created problems for the sake of entertainment.
“How can I help you?” he asked, his hands shoved into the pockets of his cargo pants.
“I’m headed to the Underworld.”
He raised his eyebrows before nodding, gesturing for me to come inside. I followed him in and closed the door behind us.
“I didn’t think it was quite your vibe,” he quipped.
Was that dry humor?
“It’s not,” I replied. “But I’m pretty sure it’s where X is holding Catina. I want to know what the odds are of her still being alive, and you were down there that time to kidnap Hades’s hound, Cerberus.”
Heracles sighed, his brow furrowing with that worried look he often gave off. I swore, some days I wasn’t sure who was the biggest killjoy. Heracles or Poseidon. “Yeah, the twelve labors were a long time ago.”
