Page 28 of Love and Death (Tempting the Fates #4)

HAZEL

R est will have to wait.

Scrambling to my feet, I hurry to release Eros’ and myself from the makeshift harness, my fingers fumbling in my weariness.

The silk fights me as I work to reposition it around my body, twisting, tucking, and re-pinning it until I can move freely without tripping over it.

My work is sloppy at best, a far cry from Florence’s expert designs, but it’ll do.

My hand slips to Death’s dagger, nestled within the folds of the dress. I’d taken extra care to hide it, while still leaving it easily accessible to me … should I need it.

Now ready, I hesitate, glancing back at Eros.

Is it really wise to venture off in search of help and leave his body here unguarded? Especially if the dream I had was real.

Probably not, but I can see no other way.

I cannot drag him, let alone carry him from this room myself, and I do not wish to sit idly by as I wait and hope to be rescued. I’ve done enough of that while locked away in Hades’ tower.

Double checking one last time to make sure Eros is as secure as possible, I finally turn toward the broken doors. I search the area, trying my best to disturb as little of the damaged ground as possible, but I find no evidence of who might have done this, or why.

Taking a deep breath, I step across the threshold to peer out into the palace hall. It’s just as eerily quiet as it was before, but—my heart skips a hopeful beat in my chest—someone has left faint, matte footprints pressed into the polished shine of the stone floor.

Perhaps they’ll lead me to Persephone, if not to Cerberus.

Or to whoever—whatever—broke down the queen’s doors.

Florence’s warnings echo in my mind as I slip out into the hall and move as quietly as possible along one side of the wall, careful not to disturb the prints as I go.

I know this is dangerous, but I refuse to believe it is any worse than sitting still like prey just waiting for its chance to be caught.

The further I walk, however, the less certain I become of my choice to follow the footsteps. Where the silence was eerie before, now it is altogether unnerving. There’s a weightiness to it that wasn’t there before, as if it knows some dark secret that I have yet to discover.

I flinch, the light scuffle of my feet echoing ahead, despite my best efforts. I almost wish the halls weren’t so empty, if only to distract from my own clumsy sounds.

Following the trail forward, I note how the footprints do not waver in their pace. They’re steady, unhurried, and unbroken as they mark their territory through the palace’s sapphire halls with measured precision.

I’m just starting to wonder who they might actually belong to when I’m suddenly forced to come to an abrupt stop.

The footsteps are gone.

Vanished without a trace.

Slowly, I lift my eyes, terrified that I’ve just allowed myself to foolishly stumble straight into their owner’s presence. But I am still very much alone, much to my relief.

I am, however, dismayed to find that three other hallways converge here, and there’s no trace as to which way the mysterious footprints went.

I crouch down to try to check the angle of the light against the floor.

Nothing.

The footsteps don’t fade or trail off in any one direction, they have simply ceased to exist, as if their creator just disappeared mid-step.

My skin prickles at the thought, causing the hairs at the nape of my neck to stand on end.

I will have to make a choice, whether I follow the footsteps back to wait at Eros’ side, or pick one of the other halls to search at random and risk getting lost.

I sigh, as if my getting lost would be of help to any of us. Glancing back over my shoulder, my mouth goes dry.

No, that cannot be right.

Rising to my feet, I turn to retrace my steps a little ways down the hall, but to no avail .

The footprints I’d followed are gone in their entirety. No matter how hard I look, it’s almost as if they never existed at all.

I feel sick. My heart pounds dizzyingly in my ears as I step back to press myself flat against the cold stone of the wall.

I’d focused my whole attention on the floor, on the trail … I won’t be able to find my way back without it, there had been too many turns, too many splits in the passageways, for me not to get lost along the way. I close my eyes, taking a deep breath in to help calm my racing mind.

I refuse to believe the footprints I followed to get here were just some trick of the mind. Though, now I’m starting to worry that it wasn’t so much me following them, as it was them leading me here.

Returning to where the hallways converge, I peer around the corner to look down each one in turn.

To the left, the hall quickly veers off and out of sight. To the right, it is lined with a number of doors on either side, statues set into alcoves between them. And straight ahead, the hall gradually opens up to a large room, the periphery of which I cannot see, with a sweeping staircase.

If only I knew whose footsteps I’d been following, perhaps I would know which way to go … or avoid. It’s too late now to worry about that now, I need to decide my own path going forward.

I suppose I should start by deciding who I’m going to look for first. Eros told me to find Hypnos and to bring their bodies to him .

Thankfully, I know where Eros’ body is, but I have yet to locate Death’s, let alone find someone strong enough to carry the weight of two gods.

I grimace at this last thought. Cerberus is the only being who comes to mind who might be even marginally capable of such a feat, but even he must have his limits.

And that is assuming he agrees to help me with this. I push this doubt from my mind, I can worry about it when and if the time comes.

So, first things first, do I seek out Cerberus or try to find where Death’s body is being kept?

It’s immediately obvious to me that I’d have better luck finding a body than I would a hellhound, though the thought makes my stomach turn. I am most likely fooling myself, knowing that neither Florence nor Cerberus has managed to return with news of him, yet.

But I have to try.

If I can find him, then all I’ll have left to do is convince Cerberus to help us. I admit, it’s barely a plan, but at least it’s something.

Turning my attention back to the convergence point, I peer down each of the hallways once again. If I were Hades, where would I want to keep a body as powerful as Death’s?

Despite his ego, something tells me that fear would lead him to put Death somewhere out of reach. Somewhere almost impossible to get to without knowledge of the palace, which, I admit, I have little of.

Still, my guess would be underground. That rules out the staircase ahead, for now.

I lean forward to decide between the other two hallways, grabbing the sconce on the wall for balance. My heart leaps into my throat as I suddenly drop forward several inches with a resounding metallic clunk.

The stone trembles beneath my feet, a low rumble vibrating through the palace as a seam opens up in the floor where my hall converges with the others. The entire slab of stone between the corridors drops about a foot before slowly pulling away to reveal a spiraling sapphire stairwell.

Impossible.

The stone settles with a heavy thud, silence once again rushing in behind it. I step closer to get a better look, but there is no way to tell where the staircase leads, let alone how far down it goes.

The stairwell disappears into darkness—no torchlight, no sconces, no magic to guide the way. Just the cold breath of whatever lies beneath, swirling up to greet me.

I hover at the edge of the seam, every instinct I have left warning me that this path was hidden for a reason. That this wasn’t built to be found. Least of all by a mortal.

Which is precisely why I have to see where it leads.

Where else might a god hide a body?

Grabbing the nearby torch from its sconce, I press my other hand to the dagger at my thigh.

Just in case.

And then I step forward to begin my descent into the dark heart of the sapphire throne.