Confused, I glanced at Zotera, who silently watched us, and Creon, who stood waiting a few paces behind Hades.
“Of course, you have my permission to take us there.” Why wouldn’t he? I was the one who’d asked him to find my uncle.
I understood what he’d been asking permission to do a moment later when the world shifted around me. It wasn’t a tremble or shake like when Hades got angry. It was more of a bowing, like my vision was closing in on me but not.
My insides twisted, and for the briefest moment, I felt an immense pressure squeezing in on me. It was the same thing I’d felt when the druid spell set me to Hell.
CHAPTERNINETEEN
Stumbling a step,I focused on my breathing and not throwing up. The disorientation and nausea slowly began to fade, and it took me a moment to realize I was clutching Hades’ forearm in a death grip.
“Sorry,” I mumbled, trying to straighten away without giving in to the urge to empty my stomach.
Instead of releasing me, he reeled me into his arms. The tender way he held me soothed the lingering sickness. Exhaling shakily, I rubbed my forehead against his chest and wrapped my arms around his waist, seeking more comfort.
All my discomfort vanished as if it had never happened.
“Forgive me, Goddess,” he breathed against my hair. “I forgot your reaction to that.”
“But you fixed it,” I said, breathing easier. “Thank you.”
He didn’t stop me from easing out of his arms, and I glimpsed the confusion in his expression before he turned toward a door that looked like every other door in this place.
“The soul you requested is in there.”
I struggled with a clash of emotions storming through me. Excitement. Disbelief. Fear. Doubt. It all flooded me along with my thoughts.
This was it. The moment of truth. I couldn’t believe Creon and Hades actually found my uncle. It had felt like this moment would never get here. And now that it was, I wasn’t sure I was ready. What if my uncle didn’t remember me or couldn’t speak like the other souls? What would I do if he couldn’t answer Hades questions? Or what if he did, and Hades didn’t like the answer?
The answer to all those questions waited inside.
My hands shook as I reached for the latch. It lifted freely without any need for the key. And I took a steadying breath as I pushed the door open.
The crowd of souls turned toward the sound of my entry. When they saw me, more than half of them cowered and started drifting away, crowding toward the far wall. The other half just looked and continued moving around.
Before I could start scanning faces, I spotted the soul that did neither.
The translucent shape of subtle blueish-white light didn’t have the brown hair or easily distinguishable deep blue uniform that I remembered. But the missing familiar colors didn’t hide the features I knew well. His eyes crinkled around the corners, and his brow creased as he frowned at me.
“Uncle Trammer?”
Shock replaced the frown, and tears welled in my eyes as he hurried toward me. His legs moved, but his shoes made no noise on the stone. He opened his arms, like he would hug me, and went right through me instead.
I spun around and caught his devastated expression through the back of his head before he turned toward me.
“It’s okay,” I said. “At least, I get to see you.”
He nodded and reached out, swiping a hand through my cheek. I realized why and brushed away my tears.
“It’s okay. I’m okay. I never thought I would get to see you again.”
Saying that reminded me why I was there, and I looked at Hades, who stood behind my uncle. Hades’ stoic expression hid what he thought of my reunion and made me nervous.
“Uncle Trammer, this is Hades,” I said, gesturing to the god he’d already noticed.
My uncle did a double-take then looked at me with concern and questions filling his eyes. He reached out again, his hand passing through my arm twice.
“I’m real,” I said.
