Hades

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Fifteen

I don't recognise the person at first — I'd only seen him fleetingly at the ball — but from the paleness of Spencer's face, I can hazard a pretty good guess.

It's Zeus.

I swallow, rubbing my bare arms. Suddenly I'm all too aware that I'm standing in my penguin pyjamas in front of the king of the gods. "Hi."

"Hello Evie." The man steps forward, his wizened features serious. "Do you know who I am?"

"Not definitively." I admit, smiling sheepishly. "But I have a pretty sound idea, judging from the guilty look on Spencer's face."

Spencer glares at me, causing the man to laugh.

"Yes, Dionysus tends to look like that a lot when I am around." He replies. Though his tone is amused, I can tell from the look he gives my friend that he's not pleased by Spencer's presence. He extends a hand for me to shake. "I am known by many names, but I am most commonly known as Zeus."

"Can I call you Phil?" I ask weakly, my mind a total mash of nonsense. Spencer bites back a laugh.

"No." Zeus' expression hardens. "Evie, I apologise for my unexpected presence, but I must ask that you come with me."

The blood rushes from my face. Spencer steps closer to me. I struggle to keep my voice steady. "Why?"

"Due to the events of the Winter Solstice celebration, we have called an emergency assembly to discuss the consequences of your actions."

My stomach drops. "Consequences?"

"I would strongly recommend that you change into more appropriate clothes before we leave." Zeus ignores my question and nods Calla forward. "Hermes will transport us up to Olympus when you are ready."

He beckons at someone behind him, and Olly melts out of the shadows. He nods at me solemnly, but doesn't meet my gaze. My stomach plummets through the floor.

Calla meekly walks over to me and pushes me towards the wardrobe. She speaks quietly. "Go and get dressed, Evie."

"But I don't—" I begin to protest, but Spencer steps in.

"Evie, for the first time in your life please don't argue when someone tells you to do something. You don't want to make things worse, trust me."

Zeus nods stoically in agreement. I swallow, fear turning my veins to ice.

What did I do? Does this have something to do with—

I glance over at Spencer and he nods, confirming my thoughts. Another crack splinters my heart.

Hades. Our kiss. The deal.

What have I done?

I get dressed quickly, and when I return Spencer and Calla are gone. Zeus nods again when he notices me and gestures Olly forward. Olly wordlessly steps forward and places a hand on Zeus' shoulder. The pair of them simultaneously turn to look at me, and Zeus offers his arm, an almost mirror image to his brother. But unlike his brother, my heart doesn't jump when I place my palm on his wrist and the world blinks away into another image. Not at all.

"I thought Hades was the only one who could move around like that." I speak up quietly, silently cursing myself when my voice unintentionally trembles. I'm so caught up in it all that my mind barely registers we're somewhere else.

"Between the Underworld and the surface, yes." Zeus' reply is impassive. "But Hermes is the only one with the ability to traverse between all three realms. It is essential to his role in the universe."