A series of crashes below made her scoot forward. Coming out of the gatehouse was a short, rocky beach, much like the entryway to Tartarus.
A woman with long white hair grinned up at her. Her hair whipped around her face.
The whistling sound?
“Melinoe?” Cyane called out, her brows furrowing. The goddess was the last being Cyane wanted to see with slick running down her thighs.
Within the next instant, she was standing on the rock beside her. Cyane stumbled on her feet, finding footing, even as Cerberus wasstillwithin her.
Melinoe grabbed Cyane’s hands. “Sweet Cyane, I’ve finally found you.”
Cyane’s belly churned. The smile was kind, genuine, and yet it filled her with unease. It didn’t make sense, it never made sense. How could kindness feel so terrible? Melinoe had been as good to her as Cerberus, but every time she encountered the goddess, a frigid chill told her to stay back.
“You were looking for me?” Cyane asked. “Where are we?”
Please don’t notice Cerberus fucking me invisibly!
“We’re still in Tartarus, just far past my father’s castle and where Styx lays. This place is endless, like each of the realms. Earth has space, Poseidon has the abyss, and well, Hades has this. There is more water under Gaia’s flesh than there is upon it.” Melinoe swept her hand out.
Cyane glanced out at the riotous waters with a shiver.
“But once you’re within it, you’re not with Gaia anymore,” Melinoe teased.
“This feels wrong,” Cyane said.
Melinoe circled her arms around Cyane and hugged her tightly. Cyane couldn’t stop staring at the waves, and the red foam it created on the rocks.Blood.
“I’ve been searching for you, but I couldn’t find you in my father’s castle. He often likes to keep his playthings hidden away, but I know where he hides them. You weren’t anywhere in the darkness until the festivities began. I did not think you’d be Cerberus’s prisoner. He’s never taken a prisoner before.”
Cyane turned her face to Melinoe and pushed out of her embrace. “What?”
“They’re never going to let you go.”
“H-how do you know that? Do you know why I’m here?”
“I don’t.”
“Then how can you be certain?”
“Hades has never let a mortal go, never. But I can help you. I know you’re searching for your parents. I can help you, my friend, but would you do a small favor for me?”
Cyane reached up and felt her chest where she usually stashed her note, but it wasn’t there. Fear crashed down upon her like the waves around her, pounding her ears. She’d even given up on her attempts to leave, needing to believe this dream, that this place would all eventually come to an end.
Cerberus wasn’t a trickster, he’d told her himself, but had he ever really expressly agreed to help her leave after the festivities? Cyane wracked her brain but couldn’t remember, not exactly.
Where was her note? She gripped the material of her gown in distress.
“It’s not there, is it?” Melinoe said.
Tears, blasted damning tears, sprang to Cyane’s eyes. “I can’t find it!” When had she lost it? How could she forget to keep tabs on it? The note had been with her her entire life. The thought of it being gone, of the only connection she had to parents disappearing, filled her with more terror than anything she’d come up against so far.
Melinoe took Cyane’s hands forcibly into her own and squeezed. “It’s not too late. I can help you if you help me.”
“How? What do I need to do?”
“Find out why Hades hates me so much. Find out and tell me.”
Cyane’s body shook. “That’s it? That’s all I need to do?”
