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She glances at me and gives her braid another little tug. “Once, a very long time ago, Death gods weren’t confined to the Underworld as they are now. At times, they would walk the mortal world, as death is as much a part of nature as life is. They often moved among people, to remind themselves of what the living left behind. At least, Arawn did.”
Rhiannon takes a shaky breath. “It was on one of his journeys that I met Arawn. Afterwards, he would visit with me. Ask me questions about my life. We spoke often, enjoying each other’s company. And eventually… we fell in love.” Her voice trails off into a pained whisper.
This feels almost too personal for me to continue listening to, but I need to know what’s going on. Any information could be the difference between Janie and me getting out of here, or… not.
As if she can hear my thoughts, Rhiannon gives me a pained smile. “I was human, though. Mortal. And when mortal and immortal mingle… well… there can be consequences.”
Yeah, that’s tactful in the face of a Demi-goddess. Dad made out okay in the end, but Aphrodite never forgave him for loving another woman after her, even after she’d long grown tired of their relationship. I’m sure it caused him hardships, but he always did his best to make sure I knew that he believed I was worth any price.
“It was less of an obstacle for us, though.” Rhiannon smiles then, wistful. “Mortal I might be, but all living beings must eventually pass through the gates to the Underworld. We made a promise to each other, that when the span of my life ran out, I would make my way to Arawn’s domain, and simply never pass beyond it. I would not reincarnate, nor would I reach the heavens, but what did that matter?”
Rhiannon blinks rapidly, refusing to let the tears that are gathering in her eyes to fall. “I would be with my love. And he was worth any sacrifice. We would be together forever, that way.”
My heart hurts. I want to hug her, or somehow comfort her, but I don’t think it would be welcome. It’s just… I have an idea how the rest of her story plays out, and it’s so unfair.
She glances at my face, and tries to smile, but it’s too tight, too pained. “Yes, you’ve guessed already. I could not make it through the Fourth Gate. Morevna’s realm will not release a soul until it has released its attachments to the world. That’s her Garden’s purpose, after all. To numb the pains, to dull the flames of rage and vengeance, the things that make people cling to old hurts. But releasing my ties would mean surrendering my love for Arawn.” She laughs, but it comes out as more of a sob. “I was desperate to pass through. But in order to do so, I would lose the reason for wanting to move on in the first place. And so, I was trapped. Until you came along.”
I shake my head, unable to wrap my brain around that many years of loneliness and desperation. How had she not given up? Just severed her ties to at least end the agony?
Rhiannon grabs my hand. Her eyes are desperate, pleading with me to understand. “I know Arawn,” she says fiercely. “Better than any mortal ever has. He would not have abandoned his realm, Penelope, not willingly anyway. Something must have happened to him. Please, we must find out what happened to him.”
I feel for her; I do. It’s a terrible, tragic story. But my deadline is screaming towards me like a train on a track, and I just don’t think I have time to save Janie and play Nancy Drew for Rhiannon.
I want to help, don’t get me wrong. Whose heartstrings wouldn’t be pulled by a story like that? But, cards on the table, I’m not even sure I’m going to be able to save myself at this point.
But, just like when she was begging me to help smuggle her out of Morevna’s domain, I have a really hard time looking into Rhiannon’s pale, desperate face and turning her down. I know she died a long time ago, and she’s a lot older than she looks, but she reminds me a little too much of Janie for me to dismiss her.
I sigh, and awkwardly pat her hand where it’s wrapped around mine. “I’ll try, okay? I can’t promise anything. I’m not even sure how to get out of this room. But if I can help, then I will.”
Ephemeral tears bead on Rhiannon’s eyelashes, and for one horrifying moment, I think she’s going to kiss my hand or something. But she just clutches it with both of hers.
“Thank you,” she chokes out. “Penelope, thank you. That’s more than I could ever ask for.”
I open my mouth, to say something awkward, I’m sure. I’ve never been good around people crying. But before I can say ‘boo’, the door flies open, hard enough for it to slam into the wall and crack the wood. Or maybe the stone.
Rhiannon vanishes into a cloud of mist and retreats to the relic. And honestly, I can’t blame her. If I could have done the same, I probably would.
Because Ares has returned. And the look on his face is nothing short of murderous.
Ares stalks up to me, and he looks so furious, I’m halfway surprised his footprints don’t smoke behind him.
“You,” he snarls.
“Me,” I answer with a guilty smile and a strange laugh.
He glares at me. “You have been nothing but an infuriating disaster since the moment you set foot in the Underworld. I should wring your neck and be done with it.” He starts pacing again. “Enough with all this shit!” he says as he faces me and throws his hands into the air. Then he starts pacing back towards me again. “At least then I could have my revenge.”
So, I’ve been threatened before. And while I don’t use my magic a lot in the mortal world, or at all, really, sometimes it has come in handy. I might be a shitty Demi-goddess, but I still was one.
Being threatened by a man who isn’t only a full head taller than I am, with the kind of muscle that bench-pressing Civics gets you, whose powers are all centered around being able to murder a lot of people, and who has a somewhat decent reason to really, really,reallywant me dead should have probably been terrifying.
But for some reason, all it does is make me incandescently angry.
I knock his hand away from where he starts reaching for my shoulder, and I think it’s only surprise that lets me actually pull it off. The gesture must shock him, because he pauses for a second.
“Excuse me?” I actually take a step closer, crowding into his space. Alarm bells are going off in the back of my brain, and I know it’s stupid to antagonize him, but I’m too angry and frustrated to care anymore. “You’re the one who kidnapped my sister, and now you’re mad that I inconvenienced you by coming to rescue her? Where the hell do you get off? If you didn’t want me in your business, then why did you drag me into it, you asshat?”
Ares blinks at me. His expression is odd—like something a cat might wear if the mouse it just caught turned around and roared at it.
