The underworld. So few living mortals had seen it. She couldn’t believe she wanted to be there.
She walked closer to Athena, who was as usual solid and steady as stone, and so familiar compared to everything else. She wanted to take Athena’s arm. But of course she didn’t actually do it.
“Where are the dead?” she asked. “Where’s Aidan?” She tried not to sound so disappointed. But her heart had hoped she’d be able to sense him the moment they arrived. Her foolish heart had hoped he’d be there to meet the boat.
“They’re everywhere and nowhere,” said Athena. “They barely exist unless someone has need of them. Like dusty books in a boarded-up library. Like stuffing in the walls.”
Cassandra stopped in her tracks. She didn’t want to see him that way. A shade, no more substantial than a hologram.
Athena touched her shoulder.
“I didn’t mean that’s what happened to Aidan,” she said. “He’s my brother. He’s different. To get him out, we first need to speak to Hades. My uncle. This is his turf, and you don’t take anything without permission.”
“Will he give us permission?”
“For a price, maybe.”
“And if he doesn’t?” she asked.
“I’ll figure something out. We won’t leave here without him, unless…” Athena slowed.
“Unless what?”
“I don’t know what a dead god is like, Cassandra. He could be awful. A monster. Or worse. We’re close now,” she said. “But we can still turn back.”
Cassandra stared at Cerberus’ massive heads and at the dark tunnel before them. A monster. Or worse. If she looked into Aidan’s eyes and didn’t see him, she didn’t know what she’d do.
“No,” she said. “It’s worth it, whatever the answers. It has to be.”
Cerberus barked and darted around a corner. Athena put her arm out protectively.
“Whatever we find, don’t be scared,” Athena said. “He might be fine. Maybe it won’t be just me protecting you here, but both of us.”
It was a nice thought.
They turned the corner.
Cerberus stood with both heads bowed before a young dead woman, her profile gray, her yellow hair dry as straw. A black dress, dusted with her own decay, hung from her bony frame. She turned to greet them, and Cassandra almost yelped.
One half of her was dead. The other was rotten. Rotten and run through with small rips and tears from flesh that had swollen, burst, and receded again. Her left eye was clear and bloodless. Her right was yellow, milky, and softening. Most of her hair had fallen out on the right side, and most of the scalp skin had gone with it.
“It’s been a long time, sister-cousin,” the dead woman said. Her black tongue moved across her lips.
“It has, Persephone,” said Athena.
Persephone. The goddess of the underworld, who was once so beautiful that all gods wooed her. So beautiful that Hades kidnapped her to be his eternal bride.
“May I offer you something to eat or drink?” Persephone gestured behind her, to a golden table piled with sweet fruit and roasted meat, golden chalices filled with sparkling liquid. Cassandra hadn’t noticed it before, too distracted by the horror in front of them.
Or perhaps it just hadn’t been there. The scent of the food and particularly the drink drifted toward their noses, the first real smells since they’d arrived. All at once she was parched and starving. Athena gripped her arm.
“Not a good idea,” she said out of the corner of her mouth. She nodded politely at Persephone.
“You may offer, cousin. But we must refuse. We’re here to visit, not to stay.”
Persephone smiled. Or she mostly smiled. The rotted side of her mouth refused to obey. It stretched and tore instead. Cassandra stifled a heave.
“Tell me,” Persephone asked, “what news of my brothers and sisters?”