“I don’t want to join in on your festivities,” she snapped back. “Why should I do anythinghepleases when I have no idea why he brought me here in the first place?”
Cerberus turned back to her. “You dare to defy a god?”
“He’s not my god.”
Suddenly, Cerberus was in front of her with his hand around her neck. “Not your god? How quaint. I have a word of advice for you, mortal woman—think long and hard about the history of the pantheon, and think of those who denied the gods what was theirs. The ages have not been kind to them.” He released her abruptly with a scowl in his voice. “You look like a drowned harpy. Put yourself together because whether you like it or not, you’ll do as you’re told or suffer consequences. And not me, nor any other being, will save you from it.”
He stormed towards the looming, red door. Without opening it, he walked through like smoke and vanished.
Cyane stared after him, shaken.
His touch had made her feel safe, comfortable. For a moment, she’d imagined all of her questions would be answered and he would understand, but that feeling had disappeared as quickly as it’d come. Maybe it hadn’t actually been there at all.
The monstrous dog beside her yawned deeply, drawing her eyes downward.
One of the other dogs came forward with a tennis shoe in its mouth.
She recognized it.
The dog dropped the shoe at her feet, and she picked it up, turning it in her hands.
Fine.She reached her hand into her dress and found her note. If she needed to play the part of a puppet to get out of here alive, then she damned well would. Memories of her childhood threatened to emerge again.
God gazes lovingly upon those who honor him.
The last thing Cyane wanted to do was smile, but she would do so anyway. She wasn’t happy about it, but it didn’t mean she couldn’t play the part to protect herself.
As a child, waiting to be adopted, she’d hoped that maybe the people in the next room would be her real parents. That they regretted giving her up and had returned for her. That maybe God had looked lovingly down on her, and she wouldn’t have to wait until she was an adult to meet them.
But, clearly, that hadn’t gone according to plan either.
Cyane nervously steppedinto the foyer that led to the ballroom. Beside her were Cerberus’s hounds; two flanked her while the third led the way. They were her jailors, and she their captive. With precise nudges, a few terrifying growls, and several nips at her heels, they’d forced her to do what they pleased.
She’d hoped they’d leave her alone, forget about her.
Still, she’d come to prefer the large beasts with wide jaws and sharp teeth over the ethereal beings and their intimidating ways.
I like you guys more than your master.Her nostrils flared briefly.
She smoothed out her dress and brushed her fingers through her loose hair, encouraging it to fall around her shoulders. She had no idea if she looked like a harpy or not. There’d been no mirror in the room, nor anyone, to tell her otherwise.
Back in the gatehouse room, it’d taken both time and courage to step beyond, even as the dogs forced her towards the door.
She’d considered jumping out the window and into the water. She’d try to make her way out of this place without help, but Cerberus’s warning came back to her, and the fear of defying a force likeHadesstopped her.
No one, as far as she could recall, had ever escaped the Underworld without help. And the ballroom was maybe the place she might find someone to ask for it.
Music drifted into the corridor. The vibration surged up her feet and legs. She started, finding her jailors gone. She searched for them, but they were nowhere to be seen.
Fresh thoughts of running never fully materialized as the steady pounding drums loudened. The music entered her ears, her skull, her bones. Her body vibrated. A deliberate beat she couldn’t place, nor had heard before, yet it resonated throughout her being, making her heartbeat wild and uncontrolled. She lifted up onto her toes and lowered back down.
The Day of Dancing.
Cyane moved to the entrance of the ballroom and peeked in. She fought desire, refusing to cavort into the room beyond, a little afraid of what the music was doing to her. It wasn’t human music, which seemed more like noise now in her memories, but ancient and eldritch.It’s not meant for human ears.A breath escaped her.
Her father’s note burned the flesh of her chest, reminding her not to get caught up in the magic.
Hades sat at the far end of the ballroom upon his throne. A direct path was open from where she stood to where he peered with hooded eyes out over his guests. Cerberus was next to him on Hades’s left, imposing and alert. Decked out in the same Greek armor she’d seen him in earlier.
