It groaned under the weight of an opulent feast: platters overflowing with dishes so exquisite they seemed to glimmer in the candlelight, the scents rich and decadent, curling into the air like a lover’s whisper. A sharp ache twisted in Mal’s belly, her eyes locking longingly on a plate of glistening red apples.
‘Don’t,’ came Thanatos’ low warning, his fingers wrapping firmly around her arm and drawing her back into the shield of his chest.
‘But I’m—’
‘I know,’ he said, his voice dark with knowing. His stare had already drifted to the far end of the hall, wary. ‘You’re hungry. You all are, Melinoe. That is the peril of this ring.’
Mal didn’t fully understand, but instinct stirred within her. Without hesitation, she reached for Makaria and yanked her back as well.
‘My stomach aches,’ Makaria whispered, her voice small with discomfort.
‘This realm,’ Thanatos said grimly, ‘belongs to Beelzebub, the Lord of Gluttony. Within his ring, any soul that treads these floors will be consumed by an insatiable hunger, lured by his cursed banquet. To eat even a morsel is to bind yourself to him for eternity.’
Mal’s brows furrowed. ‘But we’re gods,’ she argued, though her stomach churned in protest, rebelling against her reason. ‘Why should it affect us?’
A slow, shadowed smile touched Thanatos’ lips. ‘Oh, Melinoe. Being a god does not spare you from temptation. Quite the opposite. Gods are the greatest sinners ever conceived. And there is no prize more coveted in Hell than a god made captive.’
Mal’s eyes swept over the long, blackened table and the figures slumped in every seat, each one a soul devouring the cursed feast before them with glazed eyes and trembling hands. All but three seats were taken, the final trio positioned at the head of the table, conspicuously empty. As though the king of gluttony had known they were coming.
She did her best not to grimace as her attention landed upon Beelzebub himself, grotesquely enthroned at the centre. Hisbloated form overflowed from his seat, rolls of flesh heaving with each breath. His face was almost lost beneath layers of fat, eyes small and beady, glinting with anticipation as they drew near. Grease slicked his lips and fingers, the latter fat and adorned with rings so tight it seemed impossible they had ever been removed. His black robe hung loosely over his swollen frame, its buttons long since surrendered.
With a wheezing laugh, he rubbed his glistening bald head. ‘Come, come. Sit.’
Thanatos gave a discreet nod and leaned in, his voice a low murmur against their ears. ‘Do as he says but do not eat. If we endure the meal without touching a single bite, he’ll grant us safe passage.’
Beelzebub’s thick finger extended towards Mal, beckoning her to the seat at his right. His grin widened with sickening delight as she approached. She ignored the scraps of food caught in his yellowed teeth and seated herself, catching sight of Thanatos and Makaria settling opposite her.
‘I’ve heard whispers about you,’ Beelzebub said through a mouthful, tearing a roasted chicken leg apart with his teeth. ‘Hades has been meddling again. Tell your dear father to visit me, will you? It’s been an age.’
Mal said nothing. Instead, she pressed her hands against her abdomen, as if to still the hunger gnawing from within, a silent war against the pull of temptation. The scent of roasted meat and honeyed bread curled around her, cruel and cloying.
‘If you eat something, you’ll feel better,’ the king drawled, placing a glistening chicken leg upon Mal’s plate. ‘Rotten, just as wyverians prefer it. Though each soul sees something different laid upon my table.’ He swept a bloated hand towards the ravenous diners, their only sounds the wet gulps of chewing and the low groans of insatiable hunger.
‘Why are they here?’ Mal asked, her voice steady despite the tightening in her gut.
‘When they died, gluttony was the sin that defined them,’ Beelzebub replied with a crooked smile. ‘Here, it takes the shape of food. But up above, gluttony can take many forms. Excess, and the bottomless craving for more. They never knew when to stop. Now they are condemned to eat for eternity, chewing endlessly, never sated, their bellies ever aching.’
‘That’s... horrifying.’
‘Perhaps,’ the king mused, still smiling. ‘But this is Hell, God-killer. It was never meant to be pleasant.’
Mal’s eyes narrowed. ‘How do you know what I am?’
Across the table, Thanatos stiffened, his stare sharp and cold as obsidian. A silent warning. But she did not flinch.
The king let out a laugh, loud and grotesque, spittle flying from his lips to land on the feast like rain. ‘There’s little we do not know in these depths. Especially when it concerns Hades.’
Mal said nothing, but her breath caught as a pang twisted her stomach. The hunger was becoming harder to ignore.
‘You look ravenous,’ Beelzebub said, voice oily with amusement. ‘One bite. That’s all it takes.’
Mal glanced down. A slice of apple pie now rested on her plate, golden and glistening, its scent curling into her nose like a lover’s breath. She leaned in, inhaling deeply, then recoiled, forcing herself upright, her spine rigid against the chair.
‘I’m looking for someone,’ she said, steadying her breath.
‘A soul?’
‘Yes. Her name is Allegra. I need to know whether she’s trapped here, in your ring.’
