Realm of Darkness Read online

  “Graymark,” a gorgeous young woman with a bleached blond pixie haircut walked down a grand staircase, wearing a tight gold dress with a slit up to her hip.

  Tria glared. She glared harder when the woman kissed Gray’s forehead, until he turned to her and made the introduction. “Aunt Raven, meet Tria.”

  Shit. She was basically meeting God. The one with a capital G, according to most organized religions. And she’d been glaring at it - her. There must be a law against that.

  “Hey there.”

  Raven smiled. “You look like your mother. I recall encountering Persephone once.”

  “Sorry about that,” she winced, wondering what her mom had been up to now.

  “We actually had a blast. Although never again will I drink her nectar and ambrosia. The hangover, dude.” She returned her attention to her nephew. “Now, Lily tells me you haven’t been home in a few years; not even for her birthday.”

  Her tone made it clear that was unacceptable.

  He sighed. “You may recall what happened when I left.”

  “Yes, yes,” Raven waved it off like it was inconsequential. “You destroyed a city or two. These things are unavoidable when people like us come of age. What do you think happened to Atlantis or Pompeii?”

  “Hundreds of people died. Flames everywhere.”

  Raven shrugged. “If you’d come back, you’d realize that absolutely no one blames you. At all.”

  “My wings are black.”

  Gray’s tone was final at this one, and Raven lost some of her good humor, seeing as clearly as Tria did, that that was what bothered him. She didn’t understand why, exactly.

  “Your wings, my dad’s, my mom’s, my sister’s. All pure white. Mine? Black as night. Only one person in our entire family had black wings, and we all know who that was.”

  Tria didn’t. She was about to ask who they were talking about, but then something hit her.

  “Wait,” Tria said, “That’s your problem? That’s why you don’t make use of your powers? Genetics? The amount of melanin in your body?”

  He scowled. “It’s a little more complicated than that.”

  Tria couldn’t believe her ears. “Sure. And this cat,” she said, pointing to the little demon on her backpack, “is probably evil because he’s black. Same for Will Smith.”

  “That’s not the…”

  “Dude, I sort of liked you, but I don’t know now. Sounds like you’re a bit racist. That doesn’t fly with me. Do you have a problem with Shay for being mixed race?”

  Gray looked at her like she’d lost her mind. “Of course not.”

  “Then leave your wings alone.”

  “You don’t understand.”

  She understood perfectly, actually. Some of his attributes had come from someone famous, and he hated it. That sort of rang a bell.

  “No, actually, I just don’t care. It’s too stupid for words.” And saying it out loud made her realize something. She’d also been pretty damn stupid about her own damn face for way too long. “I have the face of Helen of Troy. Now that’s a genuine reason to freak out. The chic basically redefined drama. But even I don’t let it be an excuse to blow off my family and not use my own damn powers. Anyway, no time for this right now.” Talking to Raven, she asked, “If you don’t mind letting us use your portal, we need to head to the Underworld.”

  The beautiful angel inclined her head. “Changing dimension is never easy, but you’re going to have to go through two stops. It’s going to be a bumpy ride; your animals are welcome to stay here.”

  Indubitably proving that they understood each word being spoken around them, Remus whimpered, and Cat started to knead at the backpack, making his intention to remain on it quite clear.

  “Well then, if you’ll follow me.”

  They just took a few steps, returning to the grand staircase Raven had just walked down; at first glance, Tria didn’t see a thing, but now that they were closer, she could discern a thin, translucent layering to the air right in front of her; not exactly like a window - it looked like a liquid held in the space between the stairs and floor on their level.

  “Have either of you been to the Underworld before?”

  Gray turned to Tria, who shook her head, gulping.

  “No. I was born in the mortal realm.”

  Raven sighed. “Then it won’t be easy. Gray, direct yourself home. You know how a portal works. As soon as it lets you through the realm, Tria, you’re gonna have to think of where you want to go, as hard as you can. Think of everything you know about it. It may not be your home, but your blood will call to it if you let it.”

  She nodded, half panicking.

  “Also it goes without saying, but you cannot, under any circumstances, go anywhere near the River Styx. Or you’re dead.”

  On that cheerful note, they stepped through the portal, and then her guts started to hurt like they were being roasted; the ground spun at a thousand miles an hour. She’d only just thought of closing her eyes when Gray yelled, “Now, Tria!” Shit. Her turn. Why hadn’t she thought about the details first? Okay, she could do this. There was a palace; her mother had said it was made of red bricks and adorned with gold fountains and sculptures. And a dog. There was a big dog, with three heads, and pretty bloodthirsty, too, but her mom liked it. And somewhere in that large, mostly empty palace, there was the father she’d never met. The father who didn’t know she existed.

  Persephone had made that clear early on. “If he’d known I was pregnant, he would have convinced me to give birth to you at home. He would have wanted to raise the two of you, and we would have been happy together. But if we’d done that, the world would be defenseless in a few years, when the rest of our family passes through. This age is on the brink of the Abyss, Tria. Your uncles and cousins have spent the last hundred years finding ways to return to the mortal realms they love so much. It’s just a matter of time. And when they do pass through, you, your sister, and the rest of the children we’ve managed to hide will be the only hope of the poor innocent souls living here.”

  “I don’t understand,” she’d said, because, well, she’d been six.

  “You will, someday. For now, all you need to know is that I love you. Your father would have loved you if he knew you. You and your sister.”

  She’d pouted, tired of hearing of that family she’d never get to meet.

  Her twin sister lived in another mortal realm. Her mother wasn’t even showing her how to fight. Tria hadn’t understood that either. All she’d wanted at the time was a whole family.

  That day, spinning round and round, when everything hurt, and she was supposed to somehow direct the portal to the right place, Tria managed to hold on to that particular memory: the ghost of her twin, and the shadow of a Hades who might have been a decent dad, if given a chance.

  She was too old to believe it now; she knew most gods were assholes. But she remembered the home she’d imagined as a child. And finally, the vortex let them through, spitting them out onto a golden beach.

  Tria fell on her knees, retching; she could hear Gray doing the same at her side. “Cat?” was her first word. She twisted her neck to look at her backpack.

  Holy fucking hell, was that little demon purring?

  Yep. Yep he was.

  Gray laughed. “They say cats are realm travelers, you know. That proves it.”

  Remus was a little wobbly on his feet, but he’d also pulled through.

  Feeling slightly better, she looked up and saw it for the first time. She wasn’t sure what she’d expected. An evil fortress with skulls on pitchforks, maybe. But right there, atop a hill crowning the golden beach, there was a palace; red and gold, like her mother had said. She hadn’t mentioned that it had been pulled right out of a fairy tale, though.

  “This is the Underworld?” Gray mused.

  Tria did doubt it. Maybe she’d taken them to the wrong place. But just then, a humongous, slobbering, three-headed dog, with fangs the size of cars coming out of his top
lip, started running towards them, growling.

  Quest

  Cerberus. Persephone had always spoken of the beast fondly, and right now, Tria wondered if her mother had been insane. Each of the creature’s heads were growling and snarling, and its fiery eyes were downright feral.

  They didn’t have enough time to run, given the fact that each of its leaps covered the length of a good-sized house, so Tria raised her left hand and pushed as much energy through it as she could, hoping to stop the beast.

  The usually efficient red and black mist failed her this time; the hound passed through it like it was nothing. But it also stopped. One of the heads stopped growling. He lowered it, and sniffed the air.

  Remus, insane as he was, took the opportunity to decide now was the time to make a friend. He leaped forward and started to yap at Cerberus.

  All three heads seemed confused now.

  “Okay, so, as we’re not dog food right now, we can assume he’s been conditioned to respond to you,” Gray whispered. “Go pat him now, before he changes his mind.”

  Her head snapped to him. “You want me to pat that?”

  “I’ll be right behind you,” he promised. “And if that doesn’t work, I’ll pull you out of the way. It’s all good.”

  As she took careful, slow steps towards the beast, Tria wondered if she hadn’t been a cat person all along.

  “Hi,” she croaked awkwardly at one head, holding her hand up. “I’m Tria. My mamma says you’re nice. I guess I’ll find out. Or lose a hand.”

  The creature’s middle head was focusing on Remus, the left one, glaring at Gray; she approached the right one, which sniffed her deeply. Finally, she was right in front of it. The head, lowered to her level, wasn’t all that bad from this angle. It looked like a German Shepherd’s. She concentrated on that. Shepherds were good protectors, trained to defend their owners, but they didn’t bite for no reason. Right?

  Her hand reached its nose. The next second seemed endless as she expected his jaws to close around her hand any second now.

  They didn’t. Instead, he bumped on her hand a little harder. Tria scratched the soft fur and a low, rumbly, happy growl escaped head number one.

  “Good doggy, that’s it. We don’t wanna eat Tria, no, we don’t,” she cooed.

  She was pretty sure they’d come to an agreement when her utterly stupid cat jumped on top of Cerberus’ right head.

  Tria stared open-mouthed. So did heads two and three.

  “He didn’t. Tell me he didn’t.”

  She had no other word for the animal. If they all died, it was that stupid kitten’s fault.

  A humongous tongue came out of head number three, and licked the poor kitten, who totally deserved it. Head two panted. Then, Cat jumped down, and Cerberous cheerfully started chasing him around the beach.

  “Okay, let’s go. Cat will follow,” she guessed rightly.

  He wasn’t the only one, though; Cerberus escorted them across the beach and up the hill, occasionally pouncing on Cat, who somehow didn’t die.

  They’d almost reached the door of Hades’ palace when a noise made them turn back to the beach.

  It had been deserted only moments ago, but now there were hundreds upon hundreds of dark boats with red sails approaching.

  “Charon. I thought there was only one ferry?”

  Gray shrugged. “Too many people dying, I suppose.”

  Tria didn’t like the idea of witnessing souls arriving at the Underworld and awaiting their judgement, but something made her stand her ground. When the first boat arrived on the beach, she knew why.

  A few of the passengers who made it on shore seemed to fit what she’d imagined; they seemed lost, broken; some of them, almost drowned. They were too pale, their eyes, hollow.

  But in addition to these lost souls, she noticed a few men she recognized from the headquarters. One, in particular, stood out, with his flaming red hair. And if she wasn’t mistaken, Ajax was very much alive.

  So, that was why Knox had told her not to seek Charon. He’d already made a bargain with Ajax.

  Shit.

  “We need to get moving. Now.”

  Then, she turned to Cerberus, wishing against all wishes that he was going to heed her words. “See those guys?” Two of the three heads turned in the direction she was pointing to, while the other stayed set on her. Which was a little disturbing. “The one still breathing. They aren’t supposed to be here. Can you attack them for me?”

  For a beat, she was pretty sure the dog didn’t understand a word of what she was saying, but then the third head also turned towards the beach, and Cerberus was running at full speed.

  “Life goal: own a three-headed hound,” said Gray, as they advanced towards the palace’s door. His own dog moaned in protest. “Sorry, Remus, love you to bits, but a Cerberus would just come in handy in most situations. Like, invasion. Or dinner with the in-laws.”

  They were standing in front of the palace’s unnecessarily high door now. Tria stood, face all scrunched up, as she tried to figure out how to get through. There was no doorbell, no doorman, either.

  “We’re going to have to push.”

  Between the two of them, they probably could.

  But, as it turned out, no show of force was necessary; the doors opened wide as soon as her palm touched them, just like her own house.

  She was genuinely surprised. Then, she wasn’t. It had to be her mother having done something to ensure she could get through.

  The gardens of Persephone were gloreous; Tria might have stood there watching them for all eternity, if Gray hadn’t pulled her sleeve and reminded her, “We’re supposed to run, remember?”

  Oh, yeah.

  She shook her head, willing herself to wake up and ignore the colorful vision of summertime bliss with its fountains of liquid gold.

  They reached another set of gigantic doors; these were open, until they passed through. They closed behind their backs with a heavy, final thump. Tria pressed her hand on them, hoping to keep them open, but they didn’t budge at all.

  “It won’t work, little gods. You’re in my house now.”

  She turned around slowly. Then her gaze went up, and up, and up, sizing the mountain in front of her. Suddenly, she understood why everything, from the dog to the doors, seemed so large in the Underworld.

  Hades sat on one of the two thrones at the end of the large hall. At a glance, she estimated him at about thirty feet tall.

  “I know that face.”

  His voice was thunder, lightning, and humongous waves crashing and making every wall tremble. Like, seriously. The floor, too.

  “I suppose you would,” she replied, clearing her throat.

  “The original woman wearing it was fairer. Not handsomer, perhaps, and certainly no cleverer, for she would never have made it to my home alive.”

  Hades rose from his throne and took one step. One instant, he was a thirty-foot-tall giant, but the next instant he was the size of a man. A large one, who made Gray look scrawny.

  “I’d also recognize that smug chin anywhere, child of Hell, spawn to my neighbor,” he said, addressing Gray, who managed not to squirm.

  Major badass points for that.

  It hit her that the man could decide to obliterate them in a wave of his hand if he saw fit. Shit.

  Just as that thought crossed her mind, though, the god announced, “You’re in luck, children, as I find myself in dire need of entertainment. Tell me of your quest, and I shall consider not feeding you to Cerberus.”

  “Thank you?” Gray tried.

  The god shrugged. “He should have eaten you alive. That was my latest directive concerning intruders. He doesn’t deserve to be fed, the lazy bastard.”

  Ajax

  Gray would have greatly preferred leaving this bit to her, but Tria didn’t seem in any condition to speak right now, so he cleared his throat.

  “We’re here concerning your Helm. Long story short…”

  “I prefer the long s
tory, child. Winters are long and boring in Hades.”

  Okay. Who was he to contradict a god?

  “There’s a great-nephew of yours causing havoc in the mortal realm.”

  “Which one?” asked the god and waved his hand.

  A platter of cheese and wine appeared on top of it. Dude, he really took the storytelling thing seriously.

  “What? Which nephew or which realm?”

  “Both. Either. I just want specifics, to visualize everything.”

  Gray was about to get back to it, but Tria blurted out, “There’s a bunch of guys on the beach right now who want to come here and steal your helmet.”

  Hades glared at her, eyes narrowed. “You just ruined the story. I seriously hate spoilers, little god. Do not talk again.” His tone held a real warning. “Go on,” he told Gray, holding his hand up to offer some food.

  “Isn’t there a rule stating that if we eat in the Underworld, we can never leave?”

  “Nah. ‘Eat pomegranate’ was a dumb euphemism for sex. Not my idea. Apollo got his peeps to write all the stories; he said it makes for a more PG tale. Have some cheese. Careful with the nectar.”

  Best. Cheese. Ever.

  He ate some more, and handed some to Tria, too.

  “So, which realm? Which great nephew?”

  “The realm where the planet is known as Earth. And the guy’s called Ajax. Not Ajax The Great, a new Ajax, son of Apollo.”

  Hades sighed. “Say no more. That whole line is overly dramatic. Okay, so, what’s his deal?”

  “He’s after world dominion.”

  “Obviously. I meant, why is he on my shores? Little Helen mentioned my Helm.”

  “Right. He’s after the Infernal Three. There’s a fair few powerful creatures on Earth now, who won’t just bow down to him. With those three, he hopes to rule us.”

  Hades frowned like he didn’t think that made sense.

  “No son of Apollo can become Master of the Three. He’d die trying to touch any of them. Makes no sense.” He tilted his head, mildly curious. “Are you lying to me?”