“It worked,” Eve said.
All around, the mist began to rise higher. Eve and Mac watched it warily, stepping backward as it curled toward them. Breathing too much of it would land them in a hell of a lot of trouble, as Mac had learned three weeks ago.
“Get out of here,” I said. “I’ll be fine.”
“Wish I’d hugged you,” Mac said.
“Same.”
She smiled.
“I’ll hug you when I get back,” I said. “Now go!”
The mist had reached my knees and continued to crawl toward them.
“Be safe,” Eve said.
“Of course.”
Mac and Eve gave me—or rather, the place where they’d last seen me—one last look, then turned and fled. I sucked in a deep breath and spun back to the mist. It rose quickly, prickling against my limbs. It should have felt horrible.
Instead, it felt like a caress.
I drew in a shuddery breath, hating what it could make me feel.
“I’m coming for you, you bastard.” I set my jaw and staggered farther into the mist. I only made it a few feet before going to my knees, the pain too much to bear. Rage flared in my chest.
He’d done this to me.
Hand over hand, I crawled toward the deepest part of the mist, a jet-black pool that must be the origin. The portal. He’d be here at any moment, and I didn’t want him setting foot in my precious library.
Tears of frustration and pain stung my eyes as my arms gave out. Every limb felt like it was being eaten by acid from the inside, and it seemed as if I were breathing through water.
I’m dying.
There was no question—I’d waited until the very last moment to return to Hades, and this was the result.
Bastard.
I pushed myself farther, army crawling across the cold tile floor, my vision nearly gone from weakness.
Finally, I reached the black pool. I could hear the sound of his magic—waves crashing against a cliff wall—and taste it on my tongue—dark, bitter chocolate. I dragged myself into the deepest, darkest part of his magic, feeling it all around me, suffocating. It grabbed hold of me, dragging me through the ether and spinning me through space.
For one blissful, exhilarating second, I felt nothing, just the wild spin of the ether as it took me to hell.
Then I collapsed on the cold ground of another library.
Panting, I lay on the stone floor, staring up at the ceiling that soared overhead. In a split second, I took it all in. Ah, yes. I was back in the library that Halloween forgot.
The stone rafters had been carved from an ebony rock. Narrow and arching, they looked like bones blackened by fire. On either side of me, oak bookshelves soared tall, filled to the brim with tomes bound in dark leather. Spiderwebs stretched in front of the volumes, glittering like string threaded with diamonds. Emerald and amethyst spiders skittered across the webs, beautiful yet terrifying.
And yet, every bone wasn’t aching. My muscles didn’t feel like shredded meat. Even my lungs worked properly.
I’m better.
The physical effects of the potion had worn off. Relief surged through me, and a massive grin spread across my face.
Oh, thank fates.
Only seconds had passed since I’d arrived, but Hades….
Was he here?
I sat up, keeping my movements and my breathing silent. With any luck, my invisibility potion should be holding strong.
The door to the library burst open, slamming against the wall. Hades strode in, power incarnate, lethal and terrifyingly beautiful—that is, if beautiful commanded an army of the dead and personally tortured the shit out of the fallen souls in his realm.
His ocean-dark gaze searched the library for any sight of me, his strong jaw set with determination. The sight of him standing in the door, dark cape flowing back from his broad shoulders and his body cast in shadow, sent me back to the moment I’d escaped this place.
I’d nearly made it to the portal when he’d blasted through the door, shirtless and glorious, with his golden wings flared wide and his body corded with muscles hewn in war. Rage had vibrated from every atom of him, his fallen angel’s face terrible in his anger and grief.
His beauty made me hate him all the more.
“Seraphia.” His voice rumbled like thunder, deep and low, flowing inside me like smoke and filling me up with a prickling tension. “I know you’re here.”
Silently, I rose. I stood only fifty feet from him, right in plain sight. Thank fates for Eve’s potion, which was definitely working.
Silently, I stepped to the side, creeping toward a bookshelf. He just needed to get farther into the library and leave the door open. Then, I could sneak around him and get the hell out of here. With any luck, I might be able to find the cure for the pomegranate potion without ever speaking to him at all. Then I could escape forever and never see him again.
It’d take all the luck in the world for my plan to work out that way, and I was ridiculously short on the stuff.
Still, I’d try
He strode deeper into the library. There was no sunlight in this miserable place, but he stepped into a pool of light cast by the chandelier above. The sight of him nearly made me gasp.
He looked like hell.
His cheekbones were even sharper, his ocean eyes shadowed like the grave. Once again, he was dressed entirely in black leather armor, down to his gloves. His shoulders were just as broad, but I had a feeling I’d find the muscles cut even more fiercely. Hewn like iron. There was something raw about him, as if he’d been pared down to his basest parts.
Is this what my absence had done to him?
I swallowed hard, having no idea what to make of it.
Get it together, ninny.
I crept toward the door, determined to ignore the tortured twist of his lips as he looked around the library, clearly searching for me. Silently, I slipped by him, holding my breath so that I made no sound at all. Fortunately, my trainers were silent on the tile floor, my jeans and loose jumper easy to move in.
A second later, I slipped out the door and into the underworld. From where I stood at the top of the library steps, it sprawled out in front of me. It was midday here, the sky a murky gray. The sun never shone. I still didn’t know if there even was a sun.
Once again, I was struck by how his home was a dark shadow of my own. Like Guild City, a massive wall surrounded the town, but this city was built on top of a mountain. On the other side of the circular wall, the world fell away, becoming flat plains, forests, oceans, and lakes.
Yet all of it was so dark. So devoid of life.
It didn’t stop it from being incredible.
From here, it felt like I stood on top of the world. The library was higher than everything else in the city except the castle at the other end of the avenue that cut through the town.
The buildings were ornate structures of black stone and glass. The stone itself was carved in swoops and swirls, while the glass gleamed like water. If I could lose myself amongst those buildings, it would buy me even more time.
I couldn’t help but peek back over my shoulder, spotting Hades still standing in the middle of the library.
He was perfectly still, head bowed, dark hair flowing longer than it had been last time. His broad shoulders curved inward slightly, and his hands clenched at his sides.
Did he think it was a false alarm?
Was it disappointment I saw on him?
No way. And even if it was, it wasn't like he was disappointed not to see me. Whatever we’d shared had been about him trying to use me for his own purposes, not because he cared about me.