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“Is this heaven or hell?” Devon asked.
Thanatos chuckled but silenced the moment the woman’s silvery gaze cut to him. The hound in the corner growled a little but didn’t bother stirring, its three heads still on the floor, lazily taking in everything.
“This is the Underworld. There is no heaven nor hell. The moon is purple. The sun is red. Yet, regardless of such things, you are most certainly surrounded by the dead,” she hummed a little after her statement.
He stared at her for a long moment.
“Does anyone ever laugh at that?” he asked, watching her, and wondering if they would
torture him with horrible rhymes for all of eternity.
The woman looked a bit affronted at this.
“I’ve used it for well over 200 years,” she snapped, her hands going to her hips, her many
bracelets jangling.
They stared at each other for a moment in silence.
“And of those 200 years…?” he let the statement trail off as her eyes narrowed.
She threw her head back, letting out a boisterous laugh.
“Oh, I am going to like you, aren’t I?” she looked him up and down. “Well, it will be interesting to see how this all plays out.” She waved her hands in the air as if she was showing some grand prize to a game show winner.
“But for now, I must attend to my duties. Be good, mortal man.” She glanced to Thanatos. “And you too, Reaper.” She winked as a silver circle of light swirled around her, and she blinked out of existence.
Devon was so alarmed by the stranger’s visit, and exit, he barely heard the door open again.
This time, a guard on either side of it held it ajar.
A woman, one that stirred his fragmented memory, strode in and Devon was sure his heart stopped.
He put his palm over his heart, finding a heartbeat again.
Holding his hand to his chest a moment longer just for reassurance, Devon watched the woman closely. She was darkness to the light of the woman who had stood before him only moments ago.
She was tall, lithe, her walk graceful like that of a dancer. Long, straight black hair was brushed back from her face. A face that would have been the beauty of aristocratic nobility in ancient times with her thin nose, sculpted cheekbones, and a thin oval face with alabaster skin. She wore a black silk dress with a long v down from her collar bones to mid stomach, her breasts slightly peeking from the sides, and her sleeves flared out.
Though she looked like a lady of some great noble family, Devon could feel she was something more than human as she moved to stand in front of him. He could almost see some color around her, like an aura, for a moment before it faded away.
Her eyes moved over his face and she nodded subtly before taking a seat next to Thanatos. The hound moved from Thanatos’ side to hers. Its tail thumped restlessly as it gazed up at the woman with its normal canine brown eyes. Eyes that held an intelligence that told anyone that this was no mere dog.
The woman scratched behind the beast’s ear as if it were the family golden retriever.
She then turned her lightning blue gaze on him and looked him over, her intense focus so laser-sharp, Devon began to feel awkward.
He was an anomaly, he knew that, and he was way out of his depth here. It was obvious from
everyone’s reactions so far that this was a first.
“Devon Aideonous, mercenary of the mortal world,” she greeted solemnly, her hand on the back of the dog’s neck.
He squinted at her opening statement of his identity and the fact that she did not introduce herself.
No, hi, hello, I am the devil, and you are in hell, he thought as they stared at each other in silence for long moments. Devon, unsure of what to say to her, wondered again how in the hell any of this was real–this beautiful woman in black with glowing blue eyes scratching behind the ears of what was only moments ago a three headed monstrous hell hound with eyes of fire.
Sitting there with his jaw on the floor would not lend him any help in dealing with the woman he knew had to be the Goddess. Devon rose to his feet and her eyes narrowed at his attempt to even the playing field between them.
