Page 16 of Taking Orders in the Underworld

Nika noticed a slight tick in Tomas’ clenched jaw, clearly unhappy with the answer, but he continued with his tale anyway.

“To answer your question, yes, it was a snake. Venomous, as we all know now. When she dropped to the ground, we all thought it a joke, for she kept saying that dancing to Orpheus’ music would be the death of her. She even said that was what Hymenaeus was apparently alluding to. It was as if she knew. This small, graceful creature, truly the beauty among us all, and none of us immediately ran to her when she fell.”

A single tear ran down Tomas’ face. He impatiently wiped it away.

“By the time we got to her, it was too late. The poison had travelled to her heart, and she was on her way to meet with Hades.”

Tomas felt guilty, Nika realised.

“You couldn’t have known,” she said, in that no-nonsense way of hers. “And you likely couldn’t have stopped the poison anyway.”

He continued as if he hadn’t heard her.

“Afterwards, we all listened to Orpheus lament. When he played … it was as if the air stopped moving, as if we were all dead with her. As if we were in that pit of unfathomable, unending grief with him. The only thing that has bought those of us who were there any comfort was the thought that they had been reunited again in the Underworld.”

Tomas turned towards Nyx. “So, thank you, Goddess of Night, for your offer of help. Even if your stubbornly foolish daughter can’t seem to accept it. Those two deserve a lifetime of happiness after being ripped away from each other so cruelly, not once, but twice.”

Nyx inclined her head. “You’re very welcome, young nymph.”

“While I agree my daughter can be stubborn,” Erebus added, “she is not, and has never been, a fool. I would urge you to think more carefully about the labels you attach to her, Tomas. She is not one you do not want on your side. Trust us on that. And I would urgeherto rethink preconceived notions that may have been embedded in a young mind erroneously.”

Nika pursed her lips. It appeared she was getting reprimanded on all fronts, a situation she neither liked nor was she familiar with.

Gods damn you, Tomas.Why did you have to be here to interfere?

“Come, we will make up a room for you to stay in while I sort this business with Asteria. I should still be able to catch her before the dawn.” Nyx rose fluidly from her seat, her black robes sweeping across the stone floors.

“How do you plan on getting Asteria to assist you?” Nika asked, for the first time in centuries curious enough to want to tag along on one of her mother’s outings. Perhaps it was because she’d just been reprimanded like a child and wanted to soothe old wounds with old habits.

Nyx turned and pinned her with a stare. “You do not need to concern yourself with my work, Daughter. Us ancients like to keep our secrets between us. Perhaps, instead, you can see to it that your friend is taken care of. I hear you are rather good at that.”

And so, as her mother left, Nika followed, kissing her father goodnight, before walking back up the spiral staircase. Tomas followed along behind her, to one of the many spare rooms in the sprawling mansion.

***

“You know, this really isn’t what I would have expected your family to be like.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Nika grumbled as she pulled linens and silks aside in the bedside trunk and found what she was looking for – an ugly, orange, knitted blanket.

“It gets cold here,” Nika said, thrusting the blanket into Tomas’ flat chest. No muscle, no definition, just flat. It was a wonder he didn’t fall over at the force with which she’d thrust the blanket at him, but Tomas stood fast.

It seemed that was his talent.

“I didn’t expect them to be nicer than you.”

“Charming. Is that why you travelled all the way to Tartarus to find me? Whydidyou come looking for me if Garth didn’t send you?”

“Because, you didn’t just leave Garth in the lurch. You left all of us in the lurch.”

Tomas turned to the small wooden bed – the only thing in the room except the side table and trunk, both of which groaned with age whenever they were opened – and began making his bed. Another uncomfortable silence filled the rest of the space.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to. I’m just used to doing everything on my own, figuring it out on my own,” Nika eventually said.

“Yeah, well, you don’t have to.”

“Is that the other thing you were going to tell me?”

“Huh?” Tomas gave her a quizzical look over his shoulder as he finished making up the bed.

---