Page 33 of Love and Death (Tempting the Fates #4)

HAZEL

E ros now harnessed to the hellhound’s back, we begin the next stage of our escape. Slipping out of a relief in the surrounding wall that looks like it’s long been hidden behind thick, dead vines, it becomes instantly clear that the city streets aren’t sleeping.

Cerberus guides me quietly past curtained windows that flicker with nervous movement, torches swiftly blown out at even the slightest of sounds. The clatter of pebbles kicked by boots that are not our own skitter down alleyways that we are quick to avoid.

The guards are here, somewhere, looking for us. That much is clear.

Cerberus stops suddenly, his hand outstretched to prevent me from rounding the corner without him. I barely have time to bite my tongue before I hear heavy clanking footsteps come to a standstill somewhere in the next alley, just out of sight from us.

“Has this section been searched? ”

Deimos, I’d bet my life on it, and not only from the way Cerberus’ grip tightens on me.

“Yes, my lord.”

“Good. Search it again. I want every palace upended, every god, servant, and creature turned out of their beds until they are found.”

“At once, my lord.”

One pair of boots hurries off to do as the god has bidden them, but the other doesn’t move.

“He cannot be far,” Deimos mutters to himself. “I swear I can still smell the fleshling’s blood on him … the taste of her fear.”

Cerberus’ jaw sharpens, his lip curling up over a fang as if he’s preparing himself for a fight. I place a gentle hand on his and am relieved to see the tension drop from his shoulders.

I have no doubt that Deimos’ days are numbered in the hellhound’s book, but the last thing we need right now is to draw more attention our way. Another minute drags by before the bloodthirsty god finally turns to head down another alley.

Still, we wait until the sound of his boots dies from our ears before Cerberus grabs my hand and leads me onward. We turn down another alley and then abruptly duck through a broken hole in the wall to our right, stepping into the ruins of a small amphitheater.

In the center of the open space is an ancient archway, vines and moss climbing over its jagged stone, and inside is a single set of stairs leading down to a metal gate that has somehow managed to stand the test of time.

My feet drag slightly as we step toward it, and I suddenly start to worry about what I might find in a catacomb that lies so deep within the Underworld itself.

Reaching the bottom of the stairs, Cerberus carefully pushes the gate open and pulls me inside.

Shutting it behind us, we begin our descent into the dark.

Into the catacombs.

I stumble several times and only manage not to tumble the whole way down thanks to Cerberus’ hold on my hand. He, on the other hand, seems to have no problem navigating the dark.

Reaching the bottom of the stairs, my stomach drops as he lets go of my hand for a moment before it alights in flame to illuminate the landing.

“Here,” he whispers, grabbing an old torch off a nearby wall and lighting it before handing it over to me. “I would rather we traveled in the dark, but I cannot carry both bodies and still hold your hand.”

“I understand,” I say, trying to hide my relief that we won’t be continuing on without light.

Cerberus glances once behind us and then moves to a shadowed corner to pick Death’s body up off the floor. I hadn’t even noticed it, despite the light of my torch, he’d hidden it so well from view.

“We need to hurry, it will not be long before someone gets desperate enough to expand the search outside the city, if not down here.”

Cerberus leads the way, our footsteps muffled by a thick layer of dust and the rot of time. My torchlight flickers across patterns carved in stone, collapsed tunnels, dark crawlspaces, and gods know what else.

Bones lie strewn about the floor from what I believe were once tombs, long since desecrated.

I grimace as the toe of my boot connects with one, but it does not clatter against the stone, it simply turns into a cloud of dust …

That wafts into the air, forcing me to cover my mouth as I try not to breathe it in.

We move deeper and deeper, the silence unnerving as each arched tunnel only seems to grow narrower than the last, until we step out into a wide, low-ceilinged room.

“I thought I might find you down here,” a woman says, her voice little more than a bored drawl.

Cerberus spins to face her, quickly moving to put himself between us.

The woman sits on a stone ledge, one leg bent to lean on as she twirls a blade in her hand.

“Eris,” he hisses in greeting. “Still slithering through the shadows, I see. Tell me, has Hades finally given you the pleasure you so crave, or are you still begging him to notice you?”

“Tough words for Hades’ runaway mutt and his mortal bag of bones,” she sneers. “You did not honestly think you would get away with this little … rebellion of yours, did you? I have been watching you far too long not to know enough of your secrets.”

“Last I heard, it was not you but me who brought Hades to his knees.”

“Enough foreplay,” she snaps, Cerberus’ words hitting their mark as she rises from her seat. “I will end this, here and now. ”

She’s quick, but Cerberus is quicker. He drops Death against the wall, blocking her attack and kicking her backward. Yanking on a leather strap, he drops the harness and Eros next to Death and charges goddess.

They crash into the far wall, causing the stones to tremble and dust to rain down from the ceiling. Eris lets out a grunt of pain, but manages to slip his hold, her blade flashing in the flickering light of my torch.

“Cerberus!”

He whirls around just in time to block her strike, grabbing her arm and throwing her over his shoulder to hit the ground. Hard. I swear I hear the crunch of bones, but she is on her feet the next moment.

There is nothing but fury left in her features as her eyes shift from him to me.

My heart leaps into my throat before my legs can move into action, and I just barely throw myself to the ground before she lunges at me … missing by a thread as her blade sings past my ear.

I cough, ancient dust shooting up my nose and coating my mouth as it extinguishes my torch, throwing the whole room into complete and utter darkness.

“It would have been so easy to obey him,” Eris calls out, her voice nowhere near where I expected it to be.

“It could still be so easy. You could have your fill of the girl here and return to your king’s side a hero.

All it would take is a few thrusts of cock, then blade . .. Or claw, as you seem to prefer.”

“Perhaps that is all it takes for you,” Cerberus snarls.

“The bond means nothing,” the goddess continues, her voice changing location yet again. “It is forced. She will not want you once it is broken. Once the Fates get what they want and unravel you again.”

Flames burst to life in the middle of the room with a growl of fury, and I realize that Eris is trying to destabilize him by poisoning the reality of our relationship.

“Don’t listen to her! The bond doesn’t matter,” I call out. “I will still care for you, regardless.”

“Care for you, see?” Eris laughs wickedly. “She even admits that there are no mutual feelings there.”

“I do not care,” Cerberus says. “She is free to choose. I will not force a bond between us, not when I know what a lifetime of that feels like.”

“You say that, but this is different from a leash,” Eris says, her voice seeming to come from everywhere at once.

“A fate bond will force intimacy. Force her to like you. To want you, and only you. And, it means you can finally have sex , what does it matter if she wants it now or not? She will. Do you not want to feel her wrapped around your—”

“Enough, Eris!”

My eyes widen in shock as a flaming hand suddenly clamps around the silhouetted neck of a much smaller figure.

“She will not want you, if you let her escape.”

“Then let that be her choice—”

Cerberus lets out a pained cry, the flames dying just as there’s a sickening crunch, and the room is once again cast into darkness.

I hardly dare to breathe as silence stretches on for a long minute before it is broken by the hellhound’s voice, “Hazel, are you alright? ”

“Yes.”

“Good, just a moment.”

There’s the scuffle of a body crawling through the dirt before flames light up the darkness to reignite my torch. The hellhound is sat on the floor in front of me, holding the side of his ribs where dark blood seeps through his shirt.

“You’re hurt!”

“It is nothing. I will survive this, but I dare say she will not.”

I glance behind Cerberus only to quickly look away, Eris’ body lying amidst the dust, her neck singed and bent the wrong way. My lips part to ask if she is really dead, but then I think better of it.

“We need to go. Eris’ presence will be missed when she does not return with a report.”

“I thought you said they wouldn’t check the catacombs.”

“I did not expect it,” Cerberus admits, grunting in pain as he rises to his feet. He offers his hand to help me up before walking over to lift Eros onto his back. “But Eris is different. Deimos will know where she went, and he will notice when she does not return.”

He takes a long, stuttering breath in as Eros’ weight settles on his shoulders.

“Shouldn’t you cauterize the wound?” I ask.

“I cannot. She used a chaos blade; it will have to be sown together by a thread of starlight.”

“A thread of starlight? You can’t be serious. Where are we supposed to get that? ”

“Right now? Nowhere, we have to focus on escape. I will be fine. It is painful, that is all. Come.”

He refuses to say more, and I can do nothing but worry in silence as Cerberus takes Death in his arms and leads on. The catacombs continue to narrow and twist as we descend, and then I hear the eerie echo of trickling water up ahead.

“What is that?”

“A distributary of the Styx. It runs under the palace mountain and has partially flooded the lower levels of the catacombs over the last few centuries.”

“We aren’t going down into the lower levels, are we?”

“It is the only way to the forgotten gate.”

“Through the waters of the Styx?”

“It is only a short wade, a few minutes at most.”

My heart skips a nervous beat in my chest, my mouth going dry at the very thought of touching the Styx again, let alone wading through it, regardless of how long.

“Is it safe?”

“Safe enough.”

This is not the answer I hoped to hear, but what choice do I have? I press my hand to where I’ve hidden the golden obols, hoping that’ll work the same way down here.

We continue in strained silence, fear wrapping its icy tendrils around my heart as the water’s gurgling voice swells in my ears. Making our way down a set of stairs, the catacomb walls begin to grow slick and bead with moisture, as does my skin with worry.

The hellhound stops and moves to one side, allowing me to come up beside him. Small waves lap at the stairs just below, and I hold up my flickering torch to look down a long, sloping hallway of dark, shimmering water.

“I don’t think I can do this.”

“You can. We are nearly there.”

“How deep does it get?” I ask, every fiber of my being dreading the moment I choose to enter it.

“Knee-deep at first, and then it should rise to about your waist. Perhaps a little higher, if there was an influx today.”

“An influx? Of what?”

“The dead.”

I shudder just as a droplet from the ceiling hits the back of my neck, racing an icy trail down my spine.

“There must be another way.”

“No, the other tunnels have long since collapsed. This is the only way. I would not bring you here if I thought I had another choice.”

“This doesn’t feel right.”

“Because it is not. The Styx is an angry, devouring beast, long mistreated by the Underworld. It would swallow us whole, if it could,” Cerberus says, his voice low but steady. “But in here, it can do little more than taunt us. Trust me, Hazel.”

“Okay.”

“Hold on to my shirt, and keep the torch high.”

With that, we step down into the dark waters of the Styx.