Page 5 of Love and Death (Tempting the Fates #4)

HAZEL

D espite the possibility of this slowly blossoming hope, I cannot quell the feeling of dread that pools within the depths of my being as we draw closer to the palace.

My courage begins to falter, along with my steps, as we climb the stairs leading toward the glinting crystal towers that I’ve come to know as my own personal hell.

Reaching the gaping maw that is the palace entrance, it takes everything in me not to shrink back as we cross the threshold. I blink against the sudden darkness as it swallows us whole, and find my nerves immediately set on edge by the palpable tension in the air.

If I thought the chaos in the city was awful, this quiet sense of foreboding we’ve stumbled into is somehow far worse.

Much to my surprise, I feel Cerberus’ grip on my hand tighten ever so slightly, as if he, too, is put off by the violent intensity that permeates the air here .

I glance up at him, my eyes straining to make out his face in the darkness, but it’s impossible. His expression is unreadable, eclipsed as it is within the shadows of the entryway. Before my eyes can adjust to make him out, Cerberus pulls me forward, leading me ever deeper into Hades’ palace.

Our footsteps echo harshly through the otherwise silent halls, joining those of the armed guards that push roughly past us in greater number than I’ve ever seen here before. Dread only continues to rise within me as I notice no other beings, be they goddess or servant, among them.

What’s happened here since the trial? Where has everyone else gone?

I’m not the only one who seems to sense how out of place Cerberus and I look among their ranks, and I catch more than a few guards side-eying us along the way.

Turning down the corridor leading to my tower room, we finally break free from their number; though, I swear I can still feel their eyes boring into the back of my head as the hellhound and I continue on alone.

Neither of us says a word as we reach the staircase, and I steel myself for what I must do next.

I’m not sure how to begin, but I have to find out if the Guardian of the Underworld still wants my forgiveness. If he does, then I can only pray that he is willing to listen, if not earn it.

If not …

No, one step at a time.

I push aside the poisonous thoughts that rush to fill my mind with despair.

I cannot allow myself to be swallowed whole by defeat before I’ve even had a chance to start.

I know this battle over my heart and mind will not always be so easily won, but I will try my best to come against it and be victorious in the end.

The stairway spirals ever-upward, each step moving us closer and closer to my prison. I need to speak now, before it’s too late.

I look up at the hellhound, trying to catch his eye, but his gaze refuses to be drawn.

“Please, can I—”

“Not now.”

“But—”

“I said, not now,” he insists, his voice sharper than I’ve ever heard it.

Crestfallen, I do not press him further as he suddenly picks up his pace. It’s a struggle to keep up, and by the time we reach the landing, my breaths are shallow and my legs are aching from the exertion.

I shouldn’t have given up so easily. I’ll be lucky if I can get a single word out now, let alone my full request.

Cerberus drags me toward the door, dropping my hand to pull out a set of keys in the process. I watch, mouth dry and chest heaving, as he finds the right key all too quickly and slips it into the keyhole.

“Cerberus,” I whisper, his name barely making it past my lips just as the door clicks open. He stiffens at the sound of his name, and my heart sinks yet again.

“What,” he answers, the word far too prickly for my liking.

Have I truly misjudged the situation? It certainly wouldn’t be the first time. I just wish I knew what’s caused this dramatic shift in his behavior toward me.

“Did you mean what you said,” I begin, scarcely able to give voice to the question, “that is, when you came to ask—”

“I know what I said,” he snaps.

“But did you mean it?”

“Does it matter?”

“Yes.”

All too slowly, he turns to look down at me from his great height.

Our eyes meet, and I nearly stumble back a step at the look I see etched into his features, though whether it’s a look of pain or displeasure, I cannot tell.

“Why?”

Frustration begins to stir within me, and I have to swallow the answer I really wish to give him right now.

“Because … because I need your help.”

His lip curls up ever so slightly.

Displeasure, it is.

Perhaps I should have given him the full truth after all.

“Is that so?” he scoffs, the hope draining from me bit by bit as he continues to ignore my question. “And what exactly would you have me do?”

I hadn’t thought this far ahead.

I blink up at him, my mind utterly failing me as it refuses to give me any sort of plan at all.

“I-I don’t know,” I admit.

His eyes narrow on me, sending a shiver down my spine .

“It does not matter anyway,” he snorts. “My answer is no.”

“Please, I need your help! There is no one—” I catch myself before I can finish the sentence, but I can tell from the way his hand tightens around mine that the damage has already been done.

“No one else. No one but a lowly dog left to help you,” he finishes for me, the words bitter on his lips.

I recoil at this.

“That isn’t what I meant at all.”

“No? You attempt to bribe me into helping you, undoubtedly betraying my king in the process, and yet you … you cannot think of a single way in which I might possibly redeem myself in your eyes. Excuse me if I do not believe you ever spared a thought for me until—what was it? Oh, right, until there was no one else left to save you.”

“It isn’t that,” I plead, utterly taken aback by his strange outburst.

“No? I saw the way you looked at me in the arena.”

“I’ll think of something. I promise. I—”

“Well, be sure to let me know when you do,” he interrupts, kicking the door open behind him so hard that it hits the wall with a gut-wrenching thud. “Until then.”

He waves his hand toward the open doorway with a mock half-bow. I swallow hard, my eyes darting past him to search the dim room beyond as I try to choose my next words carefully. And then, think better of it.

Fine, if he wants the truth. He can have it.

“Why did you bring my father into the arena?” I ask softly. “Why did you choose to do something that would hurt me after saying you wanted to protect me?”

Cerberus flinches at this, his shoulders dropping slightly under what I can only hope is the burden of his shame.

“I was just following orders.”

“That is no excuse when it comes to doing what’s right.”

“You do not understand, I had no choice—”

“We always have a choice,” I say bluntly, meeting his gaze as fiercely as I can. “You’re right. I haven’t decided whether or not to forgive you. Not because I do not wish to, but because I believe the kind of forgiveness that you seek must be earned … and I think I know how you can do that.”

“How?”

“A simple favor.” His eyebrow arches slightly at this, and I take it as a sign to continue. “If Hades is to be my fate, and likely my end, then I would ask that I be allowed to see my father once again. To know that he is safe … and to say my goodbyes.”

Though my request is far from what I’d hoped to ask of him, at least it’s a start.

Cerberus’ eyes drop from mine, his jaw working as he considers all that I’ve said, and hope begins to bud within my chest. Only for his eyes to snap back to mine a few seconds later, the sharpness within them piercing me straight to my core.

“Inside,” he orders, with a sharp nod toward the bedroom.

“Cerberus, I— ”

“Inside. Now,” he barks, his lip curling up over his canines in a snarl as his voice ricochets down through the stairwell.

I lower my eyes to the floor in dismay, quickly moving past him and into the tower room beyond; the hope that had started to blossom within me wilting away with each step I take ...