Page 11

11

PLAYING CATCH UP

O kay, so clearly, I had missed a lot.

Something that became truly apparent when Jared told me Lerna and Koro were married, causing me to drop the metal shard I had wanted to stab Koro with. After that, it was like an information bomb exploded, starting with me accusing Lerna of keeping this from me. Then she threw back about her wanting me to trust her. And then I threw back about trust starting with truth… or at least at the time, it sounded way more philosophical. Which of course ended with us both arguing and being separated by our men, giving us time to cool off.

This prompted words from them both like, ‘it’s been an emotional time’, ‘it’s been a long day’, ‘we each just need to calm down’. Honestly, the next thing I expected was for someone to ask if we were tired and needed a nap! I felt like a child but then again, I suppose, technically, this was our first argument as siblings.

At least for me it was.

Which meant that I was left to hear of everything that had happened from Jared as we travelled to a place Koro assured us would be safe. But then, it wasn’t just about what had happened since entering Hell for Jared, but more learning about what had started all that time ago. The parts I had been trying to get Lerna to tell me. The part of the past she had been cagey with me about from the start.

And now I knew why.

“I think she kept it from you because she didn’t want you to feel guilty,” Jared told me, making me throw my hands up dramatically and say,

“Too late for that!”

“Ella.” The sound of my name invoked a soft rumble from his chest.

“No, don’t you do that soft, tender name calling with me, I started this, I was the cause of what they did to you. I was…”

“Ella, stop, just stop, sweetheart,” he said, now coming to face me, holding my hands in his as I had been flaying them around in my melodramatic way. We had been traveling down an old looking road for a while now. Although, for me, it felt like ten minutes considering the amount he had told me. Most of which, I should have heard from my own sister, despite how hard it was for her to say anything.

“How can you be so calm… you, of all people?!” I exclaimed, making him smile down at me before saying,

“Because I have found peace with it all.”

“But how c…” At this he covered my lips with his fingers and told me,

“Simple, because it brought me you.”

I sighed before speaking with smooshy lips because he still hadn’t moved his fingers,

“Aww, Jwaard.”

He grinned before removing his hand to bury it in my curls and tilt my head back to kiss me. A kiss I noticed the second I opened my eyes, was witnessed by one angry looking Viking. He stormed past us, looking halfway between chewing glass and wanting to rip Jared’s head off. Meaning the harmful fun I had thought his flirting to be, might have been wrong, and Asher had been right.

Viking God had it bad.

Which meant, this was not good. Because if Jared ever found out, then let’s just say this was one added drama in Hell we didn’t need. Now as for telling Jared the very obvious thing he didn’t know, I had yet to find the right time. I didn’t think telling him I was pregnant as he was explaining how his fake wife, my sister, had orchestrated this whole plan just to save me from my uncle, was the best time.

Jeez, talk about fucked up families… this was something else. Although, according to Marcus, this was pretty tame compared to most Greek Gods and their family trees.

As for where we were heading, it was the ruins of Lúpē, which Jared told me was an abandoned town near the Cocytus, the river of sorrow. Something I was quick to tease,

“Sounds cheery.”

He scoffed and informed me,

“Lúpē is no better, as it means sadness, unhappiness, and suffering in ancient Greek.”

“Well not exactly the romantic destination I envisioned for our reunion, but at this rate, if there is a bed, then I will take it,” I joked, making him laugh.

“Yeah, well when I get home, I am thinking about buying a fucking tropical island for us to get stranded on.” Again, I laughed at that.

“Only if I can bring the snacks and sun cream… I burn like my skin’s been bathed in butter,” I told him, making him smirk.

“Then I will just have to keep you covered… under me.” He winked, making me giggle.

“Although the sight of you in a bikini would be cause enough to want to sink my own ship and keep us there, with that being your only clothing to wear.”

I gave him a wry look, before keeping our easy banter going by saying,

“Yeah, and knowing you, one roll in the palm trees and you would tear it to shreds… and I would be left with nothing.”

“And you wouldn’t hear me complaining,” he added with a wink.

“No, but you might hear me bitchin’ when I keep getting sand in my ass crack.”

He burst out laughing, making Tyr glance behind him and sneer, something Jared didn’t notice, thanks to giving me all his attention.

“So, tell me more about this cheery place we are headed to?” I asked, looking around at the mountainous landscape and the old road that snaked through the valley.

“It is situated in the Vale of Mourning, where souls who died from heartbreak roam in search of their lost love.”

I couldn’t figure out whether to be sad for the souls or mortified that the ‘cheery place’ was in fact, not at all cheery.

“Jesus, yeah, not exactly selling it to me here.”

“You asked,” he pointed out, making me sigh.

“So, what, it’s a Vale of wronged lovers, bitter ex’s, and unrequited love of hopeless souls?” I asked, making him shrug his shoulders.

“It’s better than Tartarus.”

“And that is?” I asked, soon wishing that I hadn’t.

“A barren and unforgiving wasteland located far below the Underworld. It used to serve as a prison for the Titans and a dungeon to house the worst of the worst. A place to torture the darkest of souls and most evil that exists… that was until most of it was destroyed in the war thirty years ago.”

“Okay, forget what I said, the Vale of Mourning sounds lovely,” I conceded, making him chuckle, prompting him to lift my hand that was held in his to his lips to kiss.

“Tartarus is one of the oldest parts of any realm, and what grew from the heart of darkness was fair judgement.”

I frowned before asking, “What do you mean?”

“Hell is home to many souls, and not all of them what you would exactly class as evil to the core. Think of it like a prison, not all its inmates that are kept there have the same sentence. A child murderer doesn’t walk hand in hand with a thief, someone who steals bread to feed their child… do you understand?” Understanding took place of my questioning frown.

“Yeah, so Hell started off as a place for the worst and grew when the Gods realized that not every soul here should suffer the same eternal fate,” I assumed.

“Exactly, for you would have had to have walked through the houses of judgement if you made it through the Gate to the Underworld,” he guessed, because obviously he knew his previous home well.

“Yeah, but it didn’t exactly look busy,” I joked.

“And nor would it, as not many believe in the Greek Gods any longer, for those ancient days are no more.” Now this surprised me.

“Wait, so you mean if no one believes in them… then what? Where do they go instead?”

“Honestly, I don’t have all the answers, as I can only speak for the realm I was born from. But new realms have to grow from something as belief fuels them, sparking their existence. As for the Underworld, there are enough stories passed down throughout the ages that keep it one of the most powerful still,” he replied, teaching me something I didn’t know and never thought to ask before now. But then again, it wasn’t exactly light and casual conversation to have over breakfast.

“It is?” I asked, prompting a nod from Jared before he went on to say,

“Now as for a Christianity’s Hell, it is why the Devil they call Lucifer or Satan is known as the King of Kings, for it is the most popular religion in the world. But then with over two billion followers, representing over thirty percent of the global population, then it is of little wonder he holds the title.” My mouth dropped, his knowledge nothing short of impressive.

“Wow, how did I not know this?”

“Not exactly what I would call first date conversation,” he teased.

“Yeah, but technically we only had one date and if I recall, I was a mute at the time.”

He laughed at that.

“Oh, the good old peaceful days,” he joked, making me punch his arm, that I had to say was barely concealed in his tight clothes.

I wanted to ask what his trousers were made of because it didn’t look like any leather I had ever seen before, his tight T-shirt being the same. The black material molded to his frame and showcased his muscles perfectly. The sight made me wish we were there already.

“So, this place we are headed to, does that mean we are going to see wailing ghosts all over?” I asked, instead of voicing my thoughts and adding… and will there be a bed?

“We will soon find out, won’t we?” he replied, nodding ahead at the giant stone arch that I could see marked the end of the winding road. One that had forests on one side in the distance, and mountains in the other.

“Don’t worry, I will protect you,” he said with a wink when he felt me shiver at the idea.

“Oh, good at fighting ghosts, are you?” I teased.

“Well, it’s true, I don’t have a proton pack or brown overalls but…”

“Coveralls,” I corrected, using the American term, something he chuckled at.

“Either way, I think we will manage,” he assured me, and I had to say, his confidence gave me hope at least.

Although the sight of that entrance didn’t. It looked like it was made up from grieving souls all twisted together and carved in pale stone. But at the very top was a hauntingly beautiful woman who was reaching out with her arms to what looked like carved waves beneath her.

“That’s Phaedra.” he told me, now seeing where my gaze was focused.

“Who?”

“A famous tragedy in Greek mythology, she was a princess and daughter to King Minos of Crete, becoming later a queen, as she married the famed hero Theseus, the King of Athens.”

“And let me guess, he broke her heart?” I said wryly, but he surprised me.

“No, she broke his when she fell in love with her stepson, Hippolytus.”

I gasped.

“Oh no, that’s bad… and icky.”

Jared laughed at my childish choice of words.

“Yeah, wasn’t the best of ideas,” he agreed with a smirk.

“And what about him? Hippo… er… whatever his name was, did he love her back?” Again, Jared laughed, something his brother seemed to grin about as he looked back at us, no doubt pleased to see his brother happy again.

“Phaedra was infatuated with Hippolytus, but he was devoted to Artemis, the goddess of chastity.”

I snorted a laugh.

“Well, she doesn’t sound like much fun.”

Jared pulled me closer and growled sexually,

“No, not at all, not like my own Goddess.”

I giggled and said,

“Why, Mr. Cerberus, are you just trying to get in my pants?”

“Always.”

I snorted a laugh, blissfully happy we were back to being this way with each other again. Despite all that had happened these last few days.

“So, what happened next?” I asked as we approached the arch, making me look at the female in a new light.

“I see you like my story telling.”

“Well, that’s what I get for falling in love with a biker HellBeast who reads,” I said, reminding him of our time in bed when I woke to find him reading The Great Gatsby. The second I said this, his features grew tender, before he stopped me, pulling me close and burying his face in my neck, growling,

“Fuck, but I can’t wait to get you alone to show you just how much I love you in return.”

I shivered, feeling his words shoot straight to my core. However, I still wasn’t ready to give up our banter.

“Aww, you gonna make me a daisy necklace?” I teased, making him bite my flesh until I yelped, before he soothed the sting with his tongue, quick to warn,

“Behave, Red.”

“Now where is the fun in that?” I questioned with a wink.

“Well, if you don’t mind having an audience, then neither do I, so come on, drop your pants, love.”

My eyes widened in embarrassment, making him burst out laughing.

“I am teasing you, Red,” he said, before taking my hand in his and pulling me alongside him.

“So come on, my educated Beastman, finish the story.”

“Where was I? I seem to have got distracted, in the best way,” he asked winking at me.

“Goddess of chastity,” I teased in return.

“Ah yes, well she was also the Goddess of hunting, wild animals, the moon, and a patron of childbirth.”

“Ironic that,” I muttered, making him chuckle.

“But Hippolytus’s love for Artemis was why he rejected his stepmother’s advances. Something she didn’t exactly take well.”

I groaned with a shake of my head, asking,

“Oh no, what did she do?”

“She became the villain in this story, because in her anger, Phaedra accuses Hippolytus of attempting to rape her.”

“Oh no she didn’t!” I shouted, outraged.

“She did, something that backfired greatly and cost her love his life,” he replied with a shrug of his shoulders.

“Oh my God, so her husband killed him then?” I guessed.

“Of a sort, yes, as Theseus believed his wife and therefore cursed his own son with the help of the God Poseidon, who sent a sea monster to kill him.” I gasped at this and the poor man’s tragic end.

“That’s awful… and what happened to the spiteful bitch and evil stepmother?” I asked, needing to know the end of the story.

“She committed suicide.”

“Oh,” I muttered, looking up as we traveled through the arch, and I could see now what it was she was reaching down for. It wasn’t the waves like I first thought, but instead it was the man’s arm sticking up out of the waves stretching up.

“Baby,” he said in a sweet tone.

“Hmm?”

“You looked like I just kicked a wolf pup,” Jared said in a soft voice.

“I think I need to get you some happier reading,” I told him, making him smirk.

“I hear smut ends happy,” he teased, making me burst out laughing. Something that ended abruptly when I saw where we were, or should I say…

Who was waiting for us.