Page 3 of Underworld

He clears his throat. “You said and. And what?”

Taking a deep breath, I say, “Alec. Alec would be there to hold me if anything happened. He was my teddy bear, the one I always relied on not to freak out when I burst into tears.” I laugh as a memory pops into my head. “The others would always run around trying to figure out who had hurt me and who they needed to kick around. But Alec, Alec would tell them to shut up. He would take me into their tree house and just hold me.” I feel a little depressed now that I’m thinking about them. “I miss them,” I whisper. A calloused hand gently rests on my thigh. I look up into those creepy sclera lenses but feel only comfort when I meet his soft gaze and smile.

“I’m sure they miss you too,” he states confidently. Fuck, I wish I held that same conviction. I squeeze the hand on my thigh, trying to soak in his confidence.

“You think so?” I try not to sound needy as fuck, but damn. I really hope they have been looking for me as hard as I’ve been looking for them. The only problem was I couldn’t make too much noise when searching because it would tip my father off to where I was. I’ve been looking for the last four years due to graduating early. I know my dad is looking for me, so I’ve been jumping from place to place, hoping I would find my guys in the process. Charon squeezes my thigh again.

“Why wouldn’t they miss you? You make it sound like you were close.” He lifts a brow in question.

I sigh and try to explain, “The closest. They are my best friends. Well, they were my best friends. Just wish I’d found them, or they’d found me already. Maybe they weren’t even looking for me. Or maybe something happened to them.” I shudder at the thought. He returns his hand to the steering wheel, making me miss the warmth his hand provided.

“Well, if I were one of them.” He gives me a wink, and I laugh. “I would say that we looked all over America for you. Of course, we were also afraid that something had happened to you. But not to worry because we won’t stop looking till we figure it out.”

I soak in his assurance and feel determination fill my bones. He’s right! I nod, encouraged by his words. “You’re right. I can’t give up!” I fist pump the air! Out of the corner of my eye, I notice him grin and feel my cheeks heat.

“Who knows, you may find them sooner than you think,” he says as he parks the car outside a cave and turns to me. “Now, off to the meeting.”

I nod, unbuckling myself. Opening the car door, I steel myself, trying not to lose the morale I’ve gained in the last few seconds. Charon comes up beside me, holding his elbow out. I thread my arm through his, thinking the action a bit odd, but what-the-fuck-ever. He leads me over to the entrance of the cave. Opening a door, we glide around. I can feel my heart beat faster with each step I take, and I hope to whatever higher power is watching me that Charon cannot hear it. He leads me through a maze of hallways and then opens another door, guiding me into an ultraviolet-lit room. He leads me into the center of the space and stops in front of a gentleman sitting on what looks like a throne; his head tilted down.

“Jane Alexander. Here to request an audience with Hades,” Charon announces. I glance up at him and gasp. Holy fucking shit. He has a UV tattoo that covers half of his face. It’s a skeleton. Fuck, that makes his eyes even more creepy. I hear the shuffle of feet, look in that direction, and notice another man dressed in what looks like an Assassin's Creed outfit. He has the hood up, covering the top half of his face. He also has a UV skeleton tattoo, but unlike the first man, it only covers the lower half of his face. I feel a brush of hot breath on my neck and squeak. At the noise, the man I was looking at lifts his head. I notice he has white sclera lenses. “That’s Thanatos,” Charon whispers in my ear.

I nod quickly, turning back to the gentleman on the throne. Another man stands beside him. He looks at home in the darkness with his milk chocolate skin tone and seems to have no issue showing off his muscular body in his medieval-meets-steampunk vest and fingerless leather gloves. His eyes show off three-eyed sclera lenses, and he also has a UV skeletal face tattoo. But his is different. Instead of normal skeletal teeth, his look sharp, like canine teeth. “That’s Cerberus. While he doesn’t have three heads, he has six eyes to make up for it.” I had to appreciate the amount of effort put into his well-thought-out persona.

I turn my gaze back to Hades as he lifts his head and let out an audible gulp. Fuck! He has medium-length, black hair that meets his chin on one side and is short on the other, allowing me to see the snake earring that climbs up his earlobe. A skull eyebrow ring peeks out between the hair falling across his face. Seems they all have their faces tattooed because this guy has a full-face UV tattoo. His black sclera lenses make him look every inch the part of Hades. Dark and intimidating. He leans into his palm, and I notice his hands are also UV tattooed to depict skeletal fingers.

“Jane Alexander, what can we do for you?” His husky but authoritative voice rolls over me, and I have to suppress a shudder. Fuck, what have I gotten myself into?

Chapter Four

Jane

Standing there stiff in the middle of the Underworld headquarters, all I can think is fuck, why the hell did I think this was a good idea? But then I feel a hand squeeze my forearm. That's when I notice I still have my arm threaded through Charon’s elbow. I look him in the eyes, and he winks at me. I let out a nervous giggle, covering my mouth with my free hand. Then I feel him lean down beside me and whisper, “Just breathe and tell him why you are here.”

I nod and take a deep breath. I’ve got this! I’m surrounded by four extremely attractive and scary as fuck guys who run the whole Territory of New York. They are basically the mafia. I’ve got this! No reason whatsoever to be scared. I groan at my internal monologue. Wiping my free hand against my jeans to hopefully get rid of the moisture, I take a deep breath. “So, I asked for an audience to see if you could help find a few men for me?”

He raises a brow. “A few men?”

I nod as I continue, “Four, to be exact.” He sits up now, seeming more interested.

“And what makes you think we can find these men for you?” he asks while tapping a ringed finger on the edge of his throne. I notice it’s a black snake.

I shrug. “I haven’t had any luck due to the fact that I can’t make much noise in the area. So I figure you could make the noise for me.”

He hums. “I see. And what makes you think these men want to be found?”

Looking up at Charon beside me, he nods, encouraging me to continue. I bite my lip, kneading it between my teeth as I think. He has a point, though. Maybe the guys don’t want to be found. No. No! The guys wouldn’t leave me behind. I had to believe that. Steeling myself, I look Hades in the eyes. “They wouldn’t leave me behind. They would want to find me. So if they can’t find me, I want to find them. But I have been trying to locate them on my own for the last four years with no success. I need help.” I really hope the pleading in my voice didn’t sound as bad as it did in my head.

He nods. “Very well. What are their names?”

As I answer, I try to suppress the hope rising in my chest. “Jace Miller, Zane Masters, Alec Moore, and Howe Taylor.” There’s a visible shift in the room when I finish. I’m not entirely sure what’s changed, but I can feel it. It’s like all the air has been sucked out of the room. Hades shifts in his seat and sits up tall.

He grins as he says, “Very well. But I must ask for payment before we look for your men.”

I stiffen but nod. I was expecting this. “What is the payment you require?”

He stands from his throne and saunters toward me, his voice dark as he says, “You become ours.”

I raise a brow as I sputter, “I become yours?” I look around the room to find the other two men closing in as Charon tightens his hold on me. “You’re serious? Like . . . all of yours?”

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