“Are the prisoners fed as well as I will be?”
“The ones here are. Demeter has rules about the pits. She’s trying to wipe out the monsters because she knows they can beat her army. That’s the actual reason she’s making them fight. There’s a fight tonight, and Kimon is up. I wasn’t sure if you wanted to attend.”
“I suppose I must, even if I don’t want to. If I see how they are hurt, I can better treat them. What kind of medical equipment am I going to have access to?”
“This is top secret, of course, but right next door is a top of the line medical facility.”
“I don’t know the first thing about treating monsters.”
“You could go a long way just talking to them.”
“I want to treat the others too. Not just the ones in the cells. I might not know how, but I want to try.”
Cerberus let out this little whimper and buried his heads in my lap.
“That’s not possible, River. The fights are to the death. As I said, Demeter wants all the monsters dead.”
“Then how do I help you free the monsters?”
“We need to find out how to get those collars off. Only Hephaestus knows.”
“Then, I want to see Hephaestus.”
“It’s too dangerous. Demeter has some of her armies outside his volcano. I’ve tried it.”
I just shrugged. He wasn’t trying hard enough.
“Then, get me inside the fucking volcano.”
“Watch the fight first before you decide there is an easy solution to this problem, River.”
“Fine. I think I will go talk to Kimon if he’s fighting tonight. Is he allowed out of his cell? Can I bring him in here?”
“It’s not really fair to the others, River. Pavlina and Tryphon can’t do the same.”
He was right. I wanted them to be comfortable, but I couldn’t exactly invite a gigantic spider and a Kraken back to my new apartment.
“Fair enough. Can I get upgrades to their cells so they are more comfortable?”
“Find out what they need, and I’ll make it happen.”
Maybe Hades wasn’t so evil after all. I needed to go back and find out precisely what they all needed to be comfortable in that nasty jail. If Hades didn’t keep his word, he would have me to answer to.
And I would find a way to beat that bitch Demeter.
Chapter 7
River
I
was in way over my head. These weren’t animals with tummy issues or diabetes. They weren’t even big scary monsters I needed to be afraid of. Sure, they were huge and could kill me in many horrible ways, but I’d met worse monsters in the Costco parking lot. Maybe I was being stupid, wanting to help them. Perhaps as soon as I set foot in their cage, they would rip me apart and suck the marrow from my bone.
Still, I’d treated aggressive animals before. They weren’t bull men, sea monsters, giant spiders, or birds that couldn’t die. Maybe I was being foolish. I knew how to read animal body language. I didn’t know the first thing about monster body language. Still, they needed my help. I had some weird gift where we could talk, and we’d just have to set some boundaries.
The first thing I needed to do was bribe them with treats. Everyone liked treats. It didn’t matter which species you belonged to; that fact was always the same. I also knew Hades told me they were trapped in their monster form and could look just like me. What could I bring them that wouldn’t be totally offensive?
Cerberus was sprawled out on my bed with his paws in the air.
