Caleb chuckled. “It’s all good in the hood. Come, we’ve got to do this quickly.” He gestured toward the road leading to Hades’ palace. “I’m surprised you guys even made it this far without getting caught. The whole Underworld is in a tizzy over what’s been going on topside.”

“I imagine that’s why they’re so busy down here,” Aiden commented.

“Yep.” Caleb shoved his hands deep into the pockets of his jeans. “A lot of Sentinels and pures coming through here. Sort of blows, you know?”

“Yeah, it blows real bad. So why would we—?”

Without warning, the ground trembled violently and a great, terrible roar cracked overhead, shaking me to the bone.

I turned, as did everyone else, toward Tartarus. The smell of sulfur grew until it was thick and choking. Fear exploded in my gut. Aiden was beside me in an instant, his hand pressing into my back. “What’s happening?” I asked.

“You’ll see,” Caleb responded, totally nonplussed.

I shot him a look, but then a ball of fire flew straight into the air over Tartarus, twisting and churning as embers flew in every direction. The fire shifted, morphing as it continued to stream into the sky.

The funnel of fire stilled for a moment.

On each side, the fire grew, spreading into giant wings that seemed to reach all corners of the Underworld. In the center, a dragon’s head appeared. The mouth opened, omitting another bloodcurdling scream, and then it swooped down. The impact shook the ground as the fiery tail whipped through the air.

Then it quieted.

“Holy Hades,” I mumbled.

“It’s like the welcome party for those sentenced to Tartarus,” Caleb explained. “Happens every time a group arrives in there. You get used to it after a while.”

“What the hell…” I muttered. There was no way I’d grow used to seeing that.

“Come on, we’ve got to go.” Caleb slid in front of us. “It could take years to find Solaris, but I knowjust the thing that—”

Four black stallions parted the crowd, their riders tall and imposing, garbed in leather. Swords—freaking swords—were leveled out from their sides. They surrounded us in seconds, herding the three of us until our backs pressed against one another.

Aiden reached for his dagger and ended up with the business end of a sword pointed at his throat. The look on the guard’s face screamed he was neither afraid nor above using it.

“Crap,” I muttered.

We were so screwed.

CHAPTER 25

The guard’s arm didn’t tremble. “Move, and you will not move again.”

Aiden froze, and I don’t think I breathed. I was pretty sure Caleb wasn’t breathing either, but then again, he didn’t need to breathe, being that he was dead. But that didn’t mean he would go without punishment. We were caught. He was caught, and all I could think of was the dragon we’d seen. Guilt tore through me like a wildfire.

The guard eyeballed Aiden. “Raise your hands.”

“You told me not to move, so I’m not sure how I can raise my hands,” was Aiden’s dry response.

I bit back a laugh that wouldn’t have been appreciated.

Not amused, the guard slipped the sword inside Aiden’s hood. The sword tipped up, easing the material back. The guard smiled when Aiden’s face was revealed and a thin trickle of blood seeped down his cheek.

Hot and fiery rage burned, and I wanted nothing more than to knock the ass off his horse, but the sword was too close to the skin of Aiden’s neck.

“Raise your hands,” the guard seethed.

A smirk crossed his lips as he slowly raised his hands. “Is this good enough?”

“The three of you are to come with us,” another guard announced as he sheathed his sword. “If you do not obey, we have been given permission to use any method needed. Please be assured that a death in the Underworld is the same as topside.”

The guards turned pale eyes beyond me to Caleb. “And there are things worse than death here, boy. You should’ve have thought about that.”

Caleb said nothing, but we had to do something. We couldn’t let them take us wherever they planned to take us. Problem was, only Caleb knew how to get Aiden and me out of the Underworld, and it wasn’t like we could really ask him that right now. And I wasn’t leaving Caleb to face this alone.

So yeah, like I said, we were screwed.

A guard on foot came between the two horses and headed straight for me. Aiden moved only a fraction of an inch, and the tip of the sword pricked his skin.

“We’re back to the not moving part again.” The guard smirked. “Is that good for you?”

Aiden glared at the guard and heat poured off him. The guard’s smile tipped up in response.

The one in front of me grabbed a fistful of my hood and wrenched it back. His ice-blue eyes narrowed. “It’s them.”

My heart dropped to my toes. He said it like someone had been expecting us, and that was so not good. I tried to keep the panic out of my face, but it must have been evident, because the guard laughed as he turned back.

“Disarm them all,” he said. “And then we must go.”

The disarming part took seconds. Our cloaks were removed, daggers stripped away. Aiden’s backpack was taken hostage. I passed Aiden a glance, but he stared ahead, his jaw set in a rigid line. Crap on a cracker, this was bad. Caleb seemed resigned, though, his shoulders slumped, as if he knew what punishment was coming.

Watching the backs of the guards, I wondered how quickly I could take them all out so the three of us could make a run for it. But that would probably require akasha, and where would Caleb hide down here? Where would we go? And to come this far, only to lose it all? I couldn’t even come to grips with it. A cold knot of fear sat heavy in my stomach.

With dread raking deeper and deeper with each step, we could do nothing else but follow the guards to Hades’ palace.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered to Caleb.

He shrugged. “Like old times, though.”

“Yeah, but this is different. There’s a dragon made of fire that will—”

“No talking.” The guard who liked to play with his sword rode up beside us. “Or I will make it that none of you can talk again.”

Like my father? Sweet, hot rage exploded. My mouth opened, but Aiden’s warning glare closed it. We were herded toward the palace in silence. Two guards on horses in front of us, two behind us, and one on the ground made it impossible to do a damn thing.

And then the gates to the palace were swinging open and we were ushered in across a sparse courtyard. Everything was happening so fast. My heart pounded; sweat dotted my brow. I felt naked without the damn cloak, and there was a freaking hellhound sleeping on its back by the entrance, its meaty paws kicking in the air as it dreamt of chasing souls or whatever hellhounds dreamt of.

Guards dismounted from their horses and strode toward the entrance, pulling open the palace doors. The guys on either side of me seemed to be handling all of this better than me, or they were just better at pretending not to be one step from spazzing out, but Caleb probably wasn’t blown away by Hades’ palace like I was.

After all, he played Wii with the gods here.

But Hades’ palace was… opulent.

Gold and titanium plated everything—the walls, ceiling, furniture, and even the floor. Hades’ symbols were everywhere. The bull and the two-prong spears were engraved into the floors, stitched into the elegant tapestries. Black velvet chaise lounges filled the great hall, but it was the covered thrones occupying the dais that caught and held my attention. They were truly fit for a king and queen, but it was also what was near them.

Slumbering beside them were smaller hellhounds—maybe puppy hellhounds. Their multiple heads rested on their paws, and acid drool pooled under the lolled tongues.

The guards stopped and, without any words, dropped onto one knee and lowered their heads. A second later, the floor-to-ceiling gold and titanium doors next to the thrones swung open. Even though Hades was supposed to be in Olympus, I fully expected the god to come strolling through the doors, ready to toss the three of us into the fiery pits of Tartarus.

Weak in the knees, I forced myself to keep my eyes trained forward. Sentinels didn’t feel fear… my rosy half-blood butt.

But as the figure drew nearer, I knew it wasn’t Hades. It wasn’t even a guy. It was a female—and it was a goddess.

She was beautiful—tall, damn near seven feet. Waves of curly red hair fell to an impossibly narrow waist. Her eyes were all white, cheekbones high, lips plump, and nose pert.

And she was practically naked.

Her white gown was gauzy and completely see-through. I got a good idea of her bra size… if she’d been wearing one, which she wasn’t. Underwear must be optional down here.

Aiden was staring. So was Caleb, although he looked like he was quite used to all this… woman on display. Hell, even I was staring.

She crossed the great hall, her long legs parting the chiffon of her skirt, playing peekaboo. Dear gods, I felt my cheeks start to burn, but I still couldn’t look away. As she neared, her all-white eyes flared, and then dimmed. Two bright, emerald-colored eyes appeared.

Caleb relaxed beside me, a slow smile creeping across his handsome face—the face I’d missed so much. “Hello, Persephone.”

My eyes widened on the beautiful goddess. So this was the infamous Persephone. Even though I was Team Boy, I could see why Hades had become so enamored with her, going as far as to pluck her away and bring her down to the Underworld.

The first guard, not the one who’d cut Aiden, lifted his head. “We apprehended them as you wished.”

“Apprehended” was so not a warm and fuzzy word.

“You three look surprised.” Persephone’s lush lips were tilted with mischief. “These are my personal guards and they’ve been keeping an eye out for you. I’ve been expecting you.”

“How?” I asked, stunned.

Persephone smiled. “Caleb and I play Super Mario Kart every day at one, and when he cancelled on me I knew something was up.”

I looked at Caleb slowly.

He shrugged. “It’s not my fault she’s observant.”

“And very bored when my husband is in Olympus. Caleb keeps me company.”

I so hoped it was the platonic type of company, because Hades wasn’t known for his forgiving nature.

“Guards, you may leave us now.” When they hesitated, she laughed. “I am fine. Please leave and do not speak of this to anyone.”

One by one, they filed out of the room, sword guy eyeing Aiden like he wanted to slice his other cheek. Aiden held his stare as a smirk crossed his lips.

Men. Sigh.

Once the palace doors closed behind them, Persephone clapped her hands together. “I asked a few questions of a little nymph who had come into the Underworld just a few days ago—one of Apollo’s nymphs. And it doesn’t take a weather scientist to figure out it had something to do with his lineage.”

“It’s rocket scientist,” Caleb corrected as he tugged down his hood and pulled off his cap.