Page 71 of The Ferryman’s Rest Inn & Grogshop

“She’s fading,” Hades murmured. “She used to move around and care for the plants. Now she just sits. I don’t know how much time I have before I lose her completely.” He turned, crossing his arms over his chest. “Pythia didn’t see a dragon melting the wall. She saw you walking through it. We’ve been waiting for you.”

Chapter 25

YOU AGAIN

The enormity of the expectation being laid at my feet was making my stomach twist. He’d been waiting thousands of years for me, and I had no freaking idea what I was supposed to do.

I stood up. “Can I have some time alone here to think? I don’t know what to do, but I promise I’ll try my hardest.”

The expression on Hades’ face said he didn’t want to leave me here, but when Pythia rose and moved toward the hall, he gave me one final glare before following her.

Once they were gone, I jogged in place and swung my arms, trying to relieve the tension that was paralyzing me. Think, Sam. What’s special about me?

I lifted my left hand, the one wearing a wedding ring, and rested it against the transparent wall. Closing my eyes, I found my magic spooled in my chest and forced it down my arm and around my hand. My only thought was that my necromancy was needed. Perhaps the wall was some evil creation, using the souls of the dead down here.

I pushed my power into the wall, trying to tear it apart. I opened my eyes. Nothing, though Persephone did tilt her head for a moment.

If it wasn’t my necromancy, perhaps it was my lycanthropy. I unsheathed the claws of both hands and scraped at the clear wall in front of me. Nothing. That time, though, Persephone turned and looked right at me.

Or, no. Not at me, at the sound. I lifted my left hand again, since Pythia had mentioned my ring, and scraped my claws against the wall. Nothing happened and there was no response from Persephone.

Damn it. I dropped to the ground and leaned my head against her prison wall. What was I missing? I closed my eyes again and looked for the blips in my head. Everyone outside of the Underworld was cut off, but I could see Coco’s red blip, Bracken’s pale green, and the purplish smudges of the immortals living down here. What I couldn’t see was a purple blip for Persephone.

Was she even here? Was this some horrible magical projection intended to drive Hades insane? I couldn’t wrap myself around her blip and speak with her because my mind didn’t register her presence.

Why didn’t that work? Why couldn’t I see her? I considered all the other things I couldn’t see down here. I was in Hades’ realm. Perhaps Persephone was not. Was she hidden in another realm? Damn it! What was I missing?

And then a memory popped into my head of me pushing through a doorway between the human and fae realms using the ring Gloriana had exchanged with me. I’d used it again to get through fae wards to find the estate Aldith had hidden in Wales.

I stood and stared down at the gold ring on my pinky. Was this why Gloriana had given me the ring? Had she known what had been done thousands of years ago?

Right hand trembling, I lifted it and placed it flat against the wall. A tingle ran through me. Terrified, I pushed with all my might and felt the wall give. Persephone’s head whipped back and she stared hard at the spot I was pushing on.

My hand broke through and Persephone jumped to her feet. Fear got the better of me and I pulled my hand back out. The look of defeat on Persephone’s face almost killed me. I wasn’t giving up. I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t going to be trapped in there with her. I’d made a promise to Clive.

Holding my hand in front of my mouth, my lips on the ring, I whispered, “It’s time. I’m going to free her.” I put my hand back on the wall and pushed again. It was easier this time, either because I knew it would work or because Gloriana was helping me.

Either way, I pushed through. First my whole hand, then my arm to the elbow, to the shoulder. The wound from the ghost warrior tingled as the rest of my body followed until I found myself in a fae prison, face to face with Persephone.

“Who are you?” she asked, her gaze running over my modern clothes. “How did you do that?”

I bowed my head in respect. “Persephone, I’m Sam. I was brought here to try to free you.”

Her initial excitement seemed to drain from her and she sat again. Hades was right. She was fading. No food or water for thousands of years? I didn’t know how she was even talking to me.

“Hades will be very happy to see you,” I told her. “If you’re ready, we can go now.”

“Hades?” Fear jumped into her eyes. “But he’s the one who locked me in here.”

Oh, God, had he? Was this all some elaborate ruse to… No. That made no sense. I was no one. What would be the point of imprisoning me? I went to the wall and pushed a finger back through. Okay, I was good. Plus, Pythia seemed an honest sort and I doubted Meg had been lying in wait for eight years just to lock me in a garden. That’d be weird.

Persephone watched me, confusion and fear at war in her expression.

“Sorry. I just got a little nervous there.” I held up a hand, trying to erase the last few seconds. “Hades loves you. He’s been searching for you every day since you disappeared.” I sat on the rock beside her and took her hand. “Truly.” I pointed at the rock wall in front of us. “He had to dig through rock for years to find this chamber. This section right here is transparent on the other side and he comes every day to be with you and try to figure out how to free you.”

She shook her head. “I saw him. He came to the meadow to meet me. I’ve gone over it and over it in my head. I don’t understand what I did wrong. I thought he loved me and then he hid me away from the world.”

“That wasn’t him. When he arrived in the meadow, you weren’t there. He worried you’d changed your mind and had run away.”