Page 85 of Dead End

They terrified the human in me.

I inhaled a brave breath and continued forward. The whispers grew louder as I advanced toward the hill. Then I saw it. A crooked black line in the rocks, a shade darker than the rock surrounding it. As I inched closer, I realized it was large enough to squeeze through. I didn’t know why I was drawn to it. Any number of creatures could use it as a passage in and out of the hill’s belly. My only consolation was that these creatures would bow to me should I encounter them.

Still, I’d rather not encounter them.

I stuck a foot through the crack at the bottom and pressed forward. I remembered a story of Winnie the Pooh that my grandmother liked to read to me. Pooh got halfway through a cave window in his effort to secure a pot of honey and got stuck there. Wedged between the rocks, I started to laugh.

“Silly old bear,” I said to myself.

I pushed myself through the gap, ignoring the bloody scrapes on my arm and hip and the bruises that were sure to form. They’d heal soon enough.

The stench hit me immediately and I gagged. I wasn’t alone in this cave, whether the other was alive or dead remained to be seen. My money was on the latter, which made no sense when we were already in the land of the dead.

I inched closer for a better look, afraid of what I might discover. I held my breath, in part because of the smell, but mostly out of fear.

Two figures, barely conscious. By the looks of it, they’d been here a long time. Their hair was overgrown, and they reeked of sweat and piss. They seemed to be alone in this tiny cave. Was this a form of punishment? Did we keep souls in agony without releasing them?

Shame on us.

Upon closer inspection, I realized that the taller one wasa man. He looked even taller than Kane, who was six-four. His rugged face showed remnants of blisters, as though he’d been scalded a long time ago and failed to receive treatment. I pushed back the second figure’s hair for a better glimpse of their face and that was the moment I knew.

They were teetering on death—except they couldn’t die because they weren’t completely mortal.

They were avatars, inhabited by gods.

They were my parents.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

I staredat the two figures in shock. I didn’t want to get ahead of myself. It would be too devastating to hope, only to face disappointment. After everything I’d lost recently, I didn’t have the emotional capacity to handle that outcome.

Then I remembered the remainder of Dream Aite’s sentence:Maybe that’s why you’re seeing Tartarus, a taste of what’s to come for all your bad deeds…Like they could really trap the goddess of the underworld in her own prison.

Was that what had happened? Had my subconscious known all along and guided me here to find them?

The sound of my heartbeat thundered in my ears as I fled the cave in search of help. How had they managed to fit through that narrow gap? Did anyone know they were here?

Tartarus had originally served as a prison for the gods who’d been ousted from Olympus. Instead of returning to The Corporation’s prison or risking obliteration, had my parents staged a car accident and opted to imprison themselves beyond the company’s reach?

I’d bet the Castle and all its contents this was the reason The Corporation refused to share my file with me. They hadevidence that suggested my parents hadn’t been obliterated, and they didn’t want me to know. But what about Annie, the Fate who’d said she cut their threads?

I shook off the questions. Right now, my only concern was getting them out of Tartarus. As the current ruler, Hestia was the only one with that official power.

I found my aunt in the snug, curled up with a home interiors magazine. She glanced up at the sound of my pounding footsteps and blinked the drowsiness from her eyes. “Melinoe, is that you?”

“Yes,” I said, catching my breath. “My parents… I found them.”

Her eyebrows drew together. “What do you mean you found them?”

“They’re here.” I inhaled sharply. “In Tartarus. I need help getting them out.”

The goddess set aside her magazine. “I don’t understand.”

“I don’t either but trust me. It’s them. I need to get them out. Now.” I bit off the last word. My muscles were drawn so taut, I was fairly certain my aunt could snap me in half if she felt so inclined.

Hestia hurried to her feet. “Lead the way.”

“We’re going to need equipment. And more muscle than the two of us.”

---