Page 11 of Love and Death (Tempting the Fates #4)

“I know,” Lilia says before lifting her chin in defiance, “but Cerberus is right. He should know what is going on.” She pauses and takes a deep breath to steady herself.

“We were told that the Fates placed two conditions on Hades’ deal.

For it to come to be fulfilled, they required a mortal soul to be found.

A soul pure in heart, undesiring of the king’s throne, and yet powerful enough to bring about the birth of new kingdoms or raze the very Underworld to the ground in its wake. ”

“How can you speak the words?” Theo questions .

“I do not know,” she whispers, a mixture of relief and terror dancing across her features.

“A mortal soul required for what?”

“All I … we know is that when such a soul arrived, of its own free will, it would be given a choice meant to shape the rest of eternity.”

“It?”

“Well, we did not know the mortal would be female.”

“What choice?”

“That is beyond my knowledge,” Lilia answers.

“Why was I not party to this knowledge? Am I not the keeper of mortal souls in the Underworld?”

“Perhaps that is why it was kept hidden from you,” Lilia murmurs, more to herself than me. “The second condition was that the soul had to enter Aglaia of its own free will, unguided by any knowledge of the deal. It could not be forced.”

I clench my jaw in anger.

All this time, I have acted on the king’s behalf without knowing the true extent of the deal he made. All this time, I believed it was just a deal meant to protect the gods from their own stupidity.

Now, I see it for what it really was, a lure.

A play for power.

What else could the Fates have meant by a mortal soul capable of birthing new kingdoms or razing the Underworld to the ground in its wake … other than to have Death himself chasing after it.

My brow furrows as I try to wrap my head around how they could possibly foresee Death ever falling for a mortal. Perhaps that is why they offered it .

An impossible price for an impossible deal.

“Who else knows of this?”

“I do not believe there is anyone else in Aglaia, save you, Death, and the mortal, who does not know.”

Just wait until I get my hands on Eros.

He knew all this time and still sent her into the very mouth of the lion’s den?

Rage turns my vision red, but I force myself not to show it as I ask, “How did you come to know this?”

“It was the queen who told us. She said it was part of the Fates’ deal that we must all know before our tongues could be bound to keep its secret.”

I shake my head slowly at this. Something is not adding up. If the queen knew … no, there must be more to this.

“Is that everything? Is that all you know?”

“Yes,” Theo insists.

“Wait, there is something else I must tell you,” Lilia’s lips part, and she has to swallow nervously before saying, “I believe Hades means to take Hazel as his wife.”

“What? But he already has a wife. He cannot take a new queen unless Persephone …” I trail off as I realize what she is trying to tell me. “I see, thank you. Now, I really must insist that you tell me where I can find Eros.”

“Is he not still being held in the dungeons?”

“No.”

“Then I am afraid I do not know,” Lilia says with a sad shake of her head. “I have not seen him since the king’s palace.”

Biting back a string of curses, I rake a hand through my hair in exasperation as I try to decide what to do next .

“Do you have any guesses as to where he might be? Some place where he might choose to hide away for a time?”

Again, she shakes her head.

“No. You would have better luck trying to track down a ghost than I would be at hazarding a guess.”

I close my eyes, pinching the bridge of my nose in an effort to steady myself. Of course, it would be my luck that no one has seen him since the trial.

“Wait,” I say, my eyes snapping open as a thought pops into my head. “You said that you were among the women being kept at the palace. If that is true, then how did you escape?”

“It is a trick,” Theo warns, “do not answer him.”

“Enough, husband. Let us not fool ourselves. If he or the king wished to take me, you would be long dead by now,” Lilia says, placing a gentle hand on his arm before turning her attention back to me.

“I did not escape. We were ordered to be released not long after Hazel was found to be in the king’s bedchamber. ”

“Ordered, by whom?”

“The queen.”

“Persephone? You are certain of this?”

She nods.

“I only wish I could be of more help to the mortal.”

I mull this surprising new bit of information over in my head for a moment before an idea begins to form in my head.

“Perhaps you can be.”

“How?”

“Hazel needs someone she can trust by her side,” I say. “Someone who can reassure her. Someone who can tend to her without raising suspicion—”

“No, absolutely not,” Theo interrupts. “My wife will not step foot in that palace again, not as long as I still live and Hades sits upon the throne.”

“Theo, if I can be of help to the girl—”

“No.”

“But—”

“I said, no,” her husband says, his voice firm but gentle. “I must draw the line at this, my love. Please. I cannot knowingly put you and our unborn child at risk of the king’s mercy.”

“Your husband is right, I should not have asked.”

“I will go.”

I freeze at the sound of a new voice, inwardly chiding myself for not noticing the approach of this unseen guest sooner. Turning, I survey the thick wall of foliage, but I see nothing that gives away their position.

“Show yourself,” I order. A few seconds later, an alluring young woman tentatively parts the vines and joins us in the small clearing. “And you are?”

“My name is Florence, my lord. I am a servant to Lord Eros, and I’ll gladly be of service to the mortal girl, if you will accept my help.”

“A succubus with a name, and not of the king’s court at that? Interesting.” I cock my head to one side, eyeing her warily. “And why should I accept your help?”

“I know the girl,” she answers. “It was I who tended to her needs while she was a guest here.”

“What she says is true,” Lilia affirms. “Plus, there is the added benefit of her being a succubus. ”

“How is that a benefit?”

“Because I mean nothing to the gods of this realm. I was created to live and die in obscurity, and as such, I have learned to move unheard and unseen through the very halls that I serve … as forgive me, my lord, I believe I have just proven.”