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“This is Shade’s demesne.” Yesterday still had his hand in hers, and it felt hot and sticky, but she wasn’t letting go.
Hazy sunlight filtered through the tree canopy, catching here and there on sprays of virulently colored blossoms. It was verdant and sensual and fertile, and the perfect setting for lust.
She wanted to lie down in the lush vegetation and feel the warmth on her skin. She wanted to watch insects move through the blossoms and feel the ambient warmth wrap around her.
Xerxes snarled and looked at her. He stared pointedly at the ground at his feet.
Enough of the frolicking Eve fantasy, she had a mission to complete.
The feathery plants at Xerxes’s feet had been flattened into a roughly humanoid shape. Bright spots of red blood looked garish against the glossy green vegetation. Eddie crouched for a closer look. “Was Shade here?”
Xerxes huffed. Eddie was beginning to recognize the ways they spoke to her. “You can track him, right.”
“Yes.”
Eddie stared at Xerxes. Had he spoken in her mind?
“Yes. We are in hell now and can access our full power.”
“Shit.” Eddie jerked back and plopped to her ass in the plants.
Xerxes’s tongue lolled out the side of his mouth. “Was that a command, mistress?”
He had jokes. Xerxes had jokes.
“What are you doing?” Yesterday stared down at her with a bemused expression on his face.
Eddie had to laugh. And yes, her laughter did have an edge of hysteria to it. “I’m talking to Xerxes.”
“Xerxes speaks?” Yesterday eyed the hound with misgiving.
“He said—” Eddie cleared her throat and forced the next words out her mouth. “He said that he has access to his full powers here in hell.”
“He said we.” Cronus had a deeper, slighter huskier mental voice than Xerxes. “Meaning you as well. Here, you have access to your full powers as well.”
“I have powers?” Eddie looked from one hound to the other, and then at Yesterday.
“He knows not,” Xerxes said. “That one likes to pretend he knows all about hell, but he knows little more than you.”
All things considered, Eddie would take the hounds’ word over the imp’s.
Cronus nudged her shoulder. “Ask him when he was born?”
“Yes.” Xerxes chuckled. “Ask him that?”
Yesterday did have some inconsistencies to explain. She turned and pinned him with a stare. “When were you born?”
“Really?” Yesterday coughed and scuffed his feet through the lush greenery. “I think we have more important things to worry about.”
Oh, and Eddie recognized an evasion when she heard it. “When were you born?”
He muttered something she didn’t quite catch, and Eddie leaned closer. “Say that again.”
“Well.” Yesterday heaved a massive sigh. “You know I am called Yesterday?”
Oh, no. She better not be putting the right two and two together. “When were you born?”
“The day before I came through the hell gate.” Yesterday took a preemptive hop back from her.
