Chapter 2
CHAPTER TWO
LIESIN
“Come to me, boy,” a smooth, deep voice breezed through my mind, and I wanted nothing more than to listen to the command. Yet my valuable time was taken by the pursuit of what was most important to me, and no voice would garner my attention when it was so wholly taken.
“I don’t want to talk to you.” Nova turned away from me, curling to her side in one of my father’s largest armchairs.
She pulled her knees up toward her chest to use them as a table to cradle a large book she was in the middle of.
The pages had faded from white to aged brown, and the binding was nearly as old as my father and held the telltale signs of being read repeatedly.
I walked farther into the room and took up the chair across from hers.
They both were angled toward a large hearth where the flames flickered from yellow to orange to blue.
The walls and floor were black marble that were polished so thoroughly that I could see Nova’s reflection in them.
It was to my advantage that I could use that reflection not to openly stare at her beauty.
Torches were placed on the wall to bathe the room in warm light.
Behind us were rows of shelving with my father’s extensive book collection, which I had been cultivating for the last few years.
I’d added more of my own collection and grew his library in both depth and volume.
Souls lingered within those dark rows of shelves.
They drifted through them, and some even flipped the pages of their own books.
They were ghostly translucent and would give even the bravest of men pause.
But Nova never seemed to mind. She was comfortable with death .
. . She was, after all, the Witch Queen of Death.
I crossed my ankle over my knee and sat back, content just to be this close to her.
I straightened the sleeves of my black suit coat, then rested my elbows on the arms of the chair.
“Come to me now.”
“Ugh,” I groaned, “Enough.”
I didn’t want this voice in my head. There was no comfort in feeling how very enticing it was. Anyone would be convinced to listen. Though it was concerning that I’d seen far stranger things growing up in the Underworld.
Nova’s dark eyes snapped up to mine. “Excuse me?”
I waved her words away. “I wasn’t speaking to you.”
She rolled her eyes and sighed. “Then who were you speaking to?”
“I can hardly say.” I drummed my fingers on the arm of the chair.
“Fine. Then don’t. Go take your crazy somewhere else.” She bent her head back down toward her book, letting that silky curtain of white-blonde hair fall over the side of her face, effectively blocking me out.
“You know you’re not supposed to be reading that.”
She tossed her hair back and glared at me. “What are you gonna do, tell on me to Hades?”
“Death in Time is not something Hades would want you reading.” I nodded toward the heavy tome in her lap. “Just a warning.”
“I’m already trapped in the Underworld with you. What more can he do to me?” She flipped a page and pursed those ruby red lips.
Everything about Nova was appealing: her long flowing hair, her dark eyes, her choice in gothic clothing, and oh that sharp tongue. I shrugged. “My mother liked being trapped down here well enough.”
“We are not Hades and Persephone.” She made a sound of disgust in the back of her throat. “And we never will be. Get that thought out of your head.”
“Consider that possibility forgotten.” How can I get through to her?
“Now, boy!” the voice growled with impatience.
I shot to my feet. “Fine.”
Nova’s eyes went wide. “Are you talking to me?”
“No.” I glanced around the dark library. “Yes, I’m leaving.”
“Okay.” She relaxed a fraction.
“Okay.” For once just love me the way I love you. “I will return later.”
She was already buried back in her book. “Don’t care.”
I tapped my foot on the ground and glowing white lines expanded out from where I stood.
They slowly swirled together until they formed a perfect circle around me.
The bright light illuminated the dark library and shined over Nova’s pale face.
The marble cracked under my feet and began to fall away.
I smirked at Nova just as my body dropped through the floor and into darkness.
Navigating the Underworld was as easy as breathing.
It was my home, my life, and where I loved to dwell.
Following the voice in my mind, I glided through the Underworld until the pull felt closer to me.
The ground spread around me, moving out of my way as I used my power to guide me in the right direction.
A moment later I was nearly all the way across the Underworld to the border between the Underworld and Hell.
There was a specific way the afterlife worked when people died.
If they were devout worshipers of the gods or a supernatural member of Evermore, then their souls faced judgement in the Underworld.
It was hard for humans to believe there were other options besides Heaven or Hell.
But they also had no idea a magical world of vampires, witches, elves, and shifters thrived around them .
. . the world of Evermore. Humans would live their lives, and when the time came, would either be sent to Hell or the heavenly plain.
The different souls all needed a way of co-existing.
Therefore, Lucifer was our unfortunate neighbor—a neighbor bound to his own territory, but still troublesome.
I appeared behind a large boulder about to walk out when I heard my father’s deep rumbling voice. “And what do you expect me to do about it?”
“There you are, boy. Listen well and learn obedience.”
I knew that familiar voice. It matched the one in my head . . . Lucifer.
I stopped before either of them saw me, but I was sure they both knew I was there yet said nothing. Lucifer made a sound of impatience. “I expect you to deal with the problem. They are vermin and I will not have vermin near my world. I rule here, no one else.”
“I’m aware.” Hades kept his voice even and calm, though I knew this conversation as wearing on him. My father was one of the only beings bold enough to meet with Lucifer face to face.
“If you have cockroaches, then I too have cockroaches,” he snapped. “I will not have such . . . parasites!”
“I understand.” Again, my father kept that calm, even tone.
“Handle it or I will.” Lucifer gave a satisfied hum, then lowered his voice, “Do you want me to handle it?”
The border between the Underworld and Hell was a tenuous one. As a child I feared it falling and Lucifer getting free into the Underworld with his horrible demons. Now I knew he was still trapped. But for how long was the question, and it was one I had been asking myself more often than not.
My father gave a long-suffering sigh. “I will handle it.”
“How?” Lucifer growled.
“Do I walk over there and tell you how to rule Hell?” My father’s voice grew deeper, more threatening. Of all the gods, he was the most in control. He ruled his own realm and maintained souls all around the world effortlessly. He continued, “No, I don’t.”
“Watch yourself.” Lucifer growled.
“Are we finished?”
Lucifer chuckled. “You are lucky I enjoy our little meetings.”
“Yes, I feel blessed myself.” Sarcasm dripped from my father’s words, and I had to fight not to chuckle.
His laughter cut off. “Deal with it . . . or I will.”
Silence fell and I stood there frozen, waiting. A moment later my father’s voice came to me smooth and clear. “He’s gone.”
I stepped from around the boulder and joined my father. His dark eyebrows drew low over his violet eyes. “What are you doing out here?”
I nodded toward the glistening barrier. It was like looking through beveled glass that moved and glistened like the surface of the sea. “I was summoned.”
He turned and glared in the direction of Hell. In the distance stood Lucifer’s castle. It glowed bright among the darkness and fires, as though it was made entirely of lava. “Fucker.”
“Indeed.”
“Come with me.” He turned from the barrier and strode back toward our own castle.
When I fell into step with him, his power wrapped around the two of us and my body went weightless.
I went from a tangible being to an intangible ghost in the flash of a second.
The Underworld flew by in a blur of lights as we walked.
Not even a second later we slowed to a stroll and stopped in his personal quarters.
His movements were jerky and agitated as he paced in front of his oversized desk.
To one side was his giant black desk with ornate carvings in the front of it.
To the other side was a fireplace that was taller than me and three times wider.
The flames were large and crackling, filling the room with warmth.
His long black cloak billowed around him with each step he took.
A low growl rumbled in his chest. “I am sick of sharing a border with him.”
“Understandably so.” I nodded.
“The Fallen have no idea what it’s like being tasked with such a burden.” Strands of his inky hair fell around his face and brushed over his shoulders. “And now we have these . . . parasites.”
The Fallen were a league of angels who had fallen from grace at the beginning of time.
Some said they fell because of Lucifer, others said they were the ones to drag him down.
But how was anyone to know the truth of what happened at the beginning of time?
Now they were tasked with ruling the supernatural world of Evermore and those who inhabited it.
But The Fallen longed for nothing more than their redemption, which made them ruthless rulers who did not tolerate any sort of fuckery.
The problem was that there was always fuckery afoot.
“What are you going to do?” While he seethed with annoyance, I aimed for calm. I would always help my father, because deep down he would always do what he believed to be the right thing. He was loyal and selfless and always cared for the souls left in his charge.
His face lit with an idea, and he marched to a door at the back of his office and wrapped his hand around the knob. He paused to look over his shoulder at me.
I swallowed. “I’m not sure we need to go in there.”
A sinister smile spread across his face. “I’m very sure we do.”
“It feels problematic.” I didn’t want to argue with him. I just wanted him to take a moment to think before he gave in to his state of agitation.
“It’s brilliant.” He turned the knob and shoved the door wide open. Golden light flooded into the dark room, and he stepped through into the light. “Come.”
This is going to be interesting.
I walked in behind him and stopped at his side.
Walking through the door didn’t just take me to another room, it took me to another place in the Underworld entirely.
A place where only he and The Fallen were permitted to go.
I’d only ever taken the time to peek through the doorway at this sacred place, and now my father was inviting me in.
All types of warning bells were going off in my head, but I stepped through the doorway and stood in a pristine white room.
An infinite array of threads ran across the ceiling, seeming to disappear into an endless abyss.
They were a mix of glittering gold and brilliant purple.
My father lifted his hand and a golden strand drifted down from the ceiling and rested against his palm. It turned from brilliant gold to the deepest purple. I narrowed my eyes at the threat. “Should that happen? The whole changing from gold to purple thing?”
He shook his head. “Technically, no.”
“Then why do it?” I had the oddest desire to reach out and touch one of those golden threads and see if it too would change to purple for me the way it did for my father.
“I am activating their truest selves.” He smirked at me.
The threads glided and moved over the ceiling. There were so many it looked like a river flowing above us. “Are you saying these are . . .”
“The threads of life,” he finished for me, “each one belonging to a soul on Earth. Each one going on its own journey. I care for each one.”
I arched my eyebrows at him. “Oh, the secrets you keep, and here the world thought all you rule over is death.”
“I’m but a keeper, Son.” He raised his hand and another thread fell into his hand, changing from gold to purple. “Life must run its course as fate has seen fit.”
My brow furrowed. “Then what are you doing?”
“Activating them and giving fate more options.” He chuckled.
“And by activate you mean . . .”
“So many questions.” He shook his head at me as more of those threads fell into his hands. “We’re going to make the world a much more interesting place. Now, less questions and more help.”
He motioned for me to touch the threads.
When I lifted my hand, a thin, nearly translucent one drifted down into my palm.
The moment it brushed my skin a jolt of power ran through me.
It was a pure dose of life that electrified me from head to toe.
The thread slowly turned from gold to purple, and I felt as though I had altered something deep within that soul’s life.
“It’s a heady feeling.” My father moved to stand next to me. He placed his hand on my shoulder and gave it a squeeze. “Now don’t stop until I say so.”