“He did what?”
“Okay, let's start from the beginning,” Garret said. “Hades rules the Underworld. It is not Hell. More like a combination of heaven and hell.”
“There are regions where good souls go and then places for the baddies,” Gage shouted from the kitchen.
“I see,” I said. “Tartarus and, uh, the fields? Tartarus is like hell, right?”
“Yes!” Garret exclaimed. “Tartarus is indeed similar in that bad souls go there. The Fields of Asphodel and the Elysian Fields are neutral and good places.”
“Then there's the Isle of the Blessed,” Gideon said. “That's where the really good souls go.”
“Is that where you were?” I asked.
“Doubtful.” Garret snorted. “You have to save babies and shit like that to get there.”
“If we die now, we'll probably go there,” Gideon said.
“Can you die?” I asked.
The men went quiet.
I had just asked the main question Silas wanted answered. Shit. But I hadn't done it for Silas. I’d done it for myself. I needed to know that nothing could kill them. Because I didn't like the thought of them dying. And I didn't like the suspicion in their eyes either. So, I came clean.
“Look. I know trust has to go both ways, so I'm going to tell you what Silas was planning.”
Gage came in from the kitchen, holding a pan of half-cooked pancakes. He looked too grim to be holding pancakes. “Go on.”
“Silas said that Cerberuses have mates.” I saw them twitch. “And he said that you may believe I'm your mate.”
“Son of a bitch,” Gideon muttered.
The other two just looked away.
“Is it true?” I asked.
“We don't know,” Garret said. “Do I think it's possible? Yes. But we won't know for certain until . . . ugh, this is going out of order now. Just tell us the rest first, Indie. What was Silas planning?”
“He said the Devil cast a spell to bring each team a mate to share. Did Hades cast a spell?” I had to know before I said anything more.
“Yeah, he promised each Cerberus a mate,” Gage said. “A love patterned after the love he shares with Persephone.”
“Each Cerberus,” I said. “So, you're packs of three men. That's what makes a Cerberus, right?”
“Yes. We'll tell you more after you tell us about Silas,” Gideon said.
“All right. So Silas wanted to use me to get to you. He thought you'd take me in and I could learn your secrets.”
“Just as we've done,” Gage growled. “And now you're asking if we can be killed.”
“Gage!” Garret snapped. “She wouldn't have told us this if she planned on betraying us.”
“Or she might have said it to get us to drop our guard.”
“We already dropped our guard. She didn't have to go this route.”
“What does it matter?” Gideon asked. “If she is ours, she'll sense the truth, and she'll never betray us.”
“But if she's not, she'll run back to the Host and tell them everything,” Gage said.
