The Underworld Crown (Series)

Chapter 19

"I see you passed with flying colours," Hades drawled as I marched up to him, grabbing his arm so that he could whisk me away from this place. I shot a last look over my shoulder, checking that none of the Sisters had followed me. Their parting words felt like they'd ran a cold finger down my spine, and I got the creeping feeling that I would be seeing a lot of them in the future, whether I liked it or not. Despite my paranoia, though, no one had followed me.

After nursing my anxiety, my eyes didn't linger on what was behind me. The cave had been beautiful at first, but now I could only associate it with the images of my dad holding a knife, or Alek stabbed in the chest and bleeding out. A shiver coursed through me. The reminders were painful, and I was grateful that Hades didn't tease a reply out of me or force me to elaborate on what had been in my test. Funnily enough, the shadows under his eyes told me he was actually quite grateful for my silence. Our relationship was definitely better off if neither of us spoke to the other.

As soon as we made it back to the castle, I stormed back to my room with Cerberus at my feet. I was desperate for a nap, but I also needed to clean the lingering traces of death and doom from my body. So, I drew a warm, bubbly bath and opted for dunking my head under, holding my breath and soaking in the quiet.

And in the silence, I screamed.

*****

With damp hair and pale skin, I hid my shaking hands behind my back as I entered the Dining Hall. I almost came to a standstill when I discovered that the thick, undeniable tension in the room had given way to something much darker and sinister – misery. Instead of the usual clinking of cutlery and glassware, the few competitors in the room stuck to themselves as they slowly ate the meals before them in silence, casting wary glances around the room.

Well, you know what they say about misery enjoying company.

I noticed that none of the Gods or Goddesses were present, nor were Persephone or Hades. This made me frown; I'd been told that this dinner was supposed to be a formal event, or at least a celebration of the first task being completed, but the atmosphere gave off more of a funeral vibe than anything else. Not wanting to cause too much disruption, I snuck into a free seat mid-way down the table and immediately regretted it, because Himeros, who had been behind me, viewed that as an invitation for him to sit beside me. As our chairs scrapped along the floor, the other participants present – being Jackal, Cleo, Nox, Thanos and Keros, as well as Artemis and the other children of Sloth City – looked up at us. Surprise flashed in their eyes when they noticed me, as though they hadn't expected to see me after the first trial.

Ignore them, I told myself, focusing on putting enough food on my plate to get me through tomorrow's training session. But my curiosity got the better of me.

"Where is everyone?" I asked Himeros, who for once appeared too tired to come up with some flirtatious greeting.

His eyebrows shot up. "You haven't heard?"

"Heard what?" I whisper-yelled back. His shock had put me on edge.

"Someone died during the tournament," a new voice rang, loud and clear. It was Cleo, her gaze latched onto mine from across the table. Great, so much for whispering.

"I heard it was two people," Amar cut in, placing his fork down to give us his full attention. "That it was two demigoddesses from Envy, to be exact."

Artemis sighed and leaned back into her chair. "No, Cleo is right. It was only one person – Lyvia, a demigoddess of Envy."

"How do you know?"

"I passed by Invidia and Lyvia's sister, Megeara, in the hallway. They were rushing off to meet Hades," Artemis replied smoothly. "No Lyvia in sight."