Chapter 17 – Keto
KETO
We go further into the entrance to the Underworld until we are deep enough that we reach a tiny cave off the main tunnel.
Two miserable torches light the space that looks like little more than a jail cell.
Cerberus leads me inside and seats herself on the edge of the stone bed.
Ignoring me, she picks up a bone from a metal plate and begins to chew on it.
“I’ve come for your help.”
She laughs. “I don’t know what help I can be to you.” Her voice raises, and she throws her arms out. “Look around you! I’m no help to anyone in this fucking place!”
I tremble. Not because I’m afraid, but because I forgot just how bad Cerberus lives.
My gaze goes to her collar. Perhaps? An idea blossoms in my mind.
“Hephaestus made your collar too, right?”
She smirks. “Got to love the fucking gods, right? Making our lives miserable since the beginning of time!”
I ignore her anger. I’m used to it, and I don’t blame her for it. “I was told he was here for a time.”
She nods. “Yeah, when I was a child. Dear old dad, Hades the fucker himself, said he was here to make me a birthday gift.” She tugs at the collar. “Nice gift, huh? Probably should’ve had some kind of registry.”
My stomach clenches. Cerberus is younger than I am. I didn’t know her as a child, but I can only imagine the day she realized that she was going to be Hades tool, not his child. Not beloved by anyone.
“I’m so sorry.”
She shrugs and goes back to chewing on her bone. “Not your fault. But if you ever see him, do me a favor and punch him right in his godly face.”
“About that,” I clear my throat. “I’m looking for him.”
She freezes and regards me with suspicion. “Why?”
I move a little closer, look towards the entrance to her home, and lower my voice. “I want him to remove my collar.”
She drops the bone and something unexpected flares to light in her eyes. “Won’t your brother stop you before you can?”
“He thinks I’m dead.”
She studies me for a long minute. “I know where he went after this.”
I tense. “Where?”
She looks down at her collar, then to the huge chain that’s connected to it. I don’t understand why she won’t tell me. Why she’s holding back.
“I’ll tell you, but only if you promise me something.”
“What?” I ask, confused.
“That you find a way to get me free too.”
I stiffen. Free her from Hades? I can’t imagine that’s possible.
She looks up and meets my gaze. “I’ve heard Hephaestus is different now. He regrets a lot of what he did for the gods and feels terrible for being tricked by his ex-wife into doing so many terrible things. If you speak to him, I think you could get him to come back and release me.”
My word is everything. If I give it, I have to fulfill my promise. “I don’t know if it’s possible to free you.”
Sadness fills her eyes. “Then… just promise that you’ll try.”
Of course I’ll try. I can’t believe I didn’t think about it before. “I give you my word as The Mother of All Sea Monsters, as a Goddess of the Sea.”
My promise holds power that we can both feel, like the heat from a fire.
It takes a long minute before I take a shaky breath.
“Okay,” she says. “Hades doesn’t know this, but I overheard Hephaestus talking.” She looks around, lowering her voice to no louder than a whisper. “There’s a sanctuary, a hidden place of magic that not even the gods know about.”
“A sanctuary?” I can’t believe it. “Do you have any idea where I can find it?”
She shook her head. “But if you can find a gargoyle, I think you could find it.”
I stiffen. “Why?”
She raises a brow, staring at me as I’m completely clueless. “Because that’s where they live.”
Sitting back, I’m stunned. So all I need to do to get free is have the gargoyles take me to their home? That can’t be too hard.
Can it?