Before the Dawn

Chapter Eleven

Crescendo and I sneak out of the castle keeping our eyes peeled for any sign of Declan. I walk swiftly, calling on darkness to hide us in the shadows. The letter from Andrea and Logan that Amora sent to me instructs me to go to the Gates of Hell so that I can return to the mortal realm, as terrifying as that sounds.

I glance down at the hand drawn map that Andrea and Logan made for me and then back up at the fork in the path that I'd come to. Well, that's no help, I think to myself with a sigh. I've just decided to go right when a voice stops me.

"What are you doing out here, Thanatos?"

I spin around quickly, heart in my throat. Persephone raises an eyebrow at me and taps her foot impatiently, waiting for an answer. Her eyes take in my cloak and the bag in my hand before I can stop her.

"I. . .uh," I stutter, but it's too late.

She narrows her eyes at me and purses her lips. I fidget under her probing gaze. "You're looking for the Gates of Hell, aren't you?" she asks with a small smile. She chuckles a little and shakes her head. "I told him that he couldn't keep you here. You're a fiery one. You always have been."

I stay silent, though my hands are shaking. Will she tell Declan? If she tells Declan I'm so screwed. I know that the Lord of the Underworld will be on my ass the second that he finds out, dragging me back to the castle by my hair if he has to. My warrior will stop at nothing to keep me safe.

I look at Persephone blankly, as if I'm not doing anything wrong and my fate doesn't lay in her perfectly manicured hands. She knows, though. I can tell by the way that she cocks her head to the side and eyes me that she does.

"Well, you should hurry. I saw him not too long ago and he was heading back to the castle," she tells me in an uncharacteristically helpful voice. She turns and begins to walk away but turns back around and points to my right. "The Gates are that way, by the way."

For just a second, I watch the goddess walk away. Why would she help me? I didn't even think she liked me. Nevertheless, I whirl around and take off down the path she pointed to with Crescendo right behind me . If Persephone was telling the truth- and I have no reason to believe that she wasn't- Declan will figure out that I'm gone soon, if he hasn't already.

The sound of Crescendo's paws hitting the ground echoes the thundering pounds of my heart. I run fast, as if Hell itself is nipping at my heels. If I wasn't so afraid of being caught, I would have laughed at the irony of it all.

I wonder if I'm making a mistake, running away from the one sworn to protect me. I already miss him but I sooth my heart by reminding it that the separation isn't permanent; we'll be together again soon.

I halt in my tracks, much to Crescendo's displeasure. She pokes her head around my legs and whines, as if questioning my sudden stop. I pay no mind to her, though, for something else has captivated my attention.

The Gates of Hell stand tall, giving off an air of intimidation and power. Tendrils of darkness curl around the wrought iron gates and lick at my ankles, sensing my own darkness. To others, I suppose it would be intimidating and even scary, but to me the tendrils only invoke a feeling of relief.

With a small jerk of my head, I command the tendrils to pull the Gates open. They do as I command obediently and I can feel their thirst to please me. The ground quakes as the Gates of Hell groan open loudly. The whole structure shudders as if reluctant to move.

A smile breaks across my face. I'm almost there, just a little further now. My smile falls, however, when the sound of heavy paws thundering against the ground penetrates the silence.

My head snaps up to see a dozen snarling beasts racing towards me. Hell hounds, a distant part of my mind whispers.

The creatures are huge, easily reaching my shoulders on all fours with rippling muscles covered in unruly black fur. Saliva drips off of their bared, wickedly sharp teeth. Their unsettling red eyes glare out at me from almost canine faces.

My muscles freeze in terror and, for one terrifying moment, I'm unable to move. Letting out a yelp, whether in fear or annoyance I can't tell, Crescendo shoves me forward with her large head. The push is enough to unfreeze me. Crescendo and I sprint through the Gates of Hell with the hell hounds hot on our heels. I pray that they let up once we're on the other side. They don't.

It's raining in the mortal realm when I'm chased through the Gates of Hell. The moon and the sun battle for power in the sky, whether at dusk or dawn, I don't know. An angry cacophony of growls sound in the once peaceful air.

I try to run but it's too late, the hell hounds have surrounded me. Crescendo is in front of me at once, ears flattened against her skull, snarling a warning at the hell hounds that get too close.

My eyes dart from side to side, as I try to figure out which one to attack first. My senses overload from the chorus of snarls and yelps and the black blurs that dance across my field of vision. The hell hound lunges at Crescendo's unprotected side, teeth bared and seeking blood. Blindly, I cast out tendrils of darkness to lasso themselves around the beast and drag it away from my wolf.

Crescendo sinks her teeth into a hell hound's leg. It lets out an enraged howl and bats its claws at Crescendo's head, bloodying her ear. Another hell hound uses Crescendo's distraction to its advantage, lunging at me with a malicious glint in its red eyes. Unable to do anything else, I raise an arm to shield my face from the beast's outstretched claws.

A flash of light streaks across my vision, colliding with the attacking hell hound, sending it crashing down to the ground. The beast whimpers and rolls around to put out the flames that had ignited in its fur. I look to my right sharply, wondering where the hell the fireball had come from.

Suddenly Theo is there, emerging through the circle of hounds, wielding fists of flames. The fire god sends another fireball hurtling toward a hell hound to my left, coming to my rescue without a word. Giving me a curt nod, he stands back to back with me and resumes his fight.

"Crescendo, run!" I yell at my wolf, conveying that I want her to run to the Academy to get Amora's help. She looks at me sharply, then dips her head and takes off into the dark. I can only look after her for a moment before my attention is pulled back to the fight at hand.

Together, Theo and I corner the hell hounds. Theo ignites a circle of fire around the hounds, forcing them to run back through the Gates of Hell with their tails tucked between their legs, yelping as stray embers burn them.

The circle of fire reminds me of the last time I saw Theo, when he revealed his true self in the middle of the woods and tried to kill me. Shaking my head, I return my attention to the last hell hound running back to the Underworld. Once it's through, the Gates of Hell slam shut and disappear with a gust of wind, leaving only a few stray tendrils of darkness behind as evidence that it'd been there at all.

Theo turns to me then with a mischievous smile on his lips and utters the words I know he's been dying to say since I left.

"I knew I'd find you, Thanatos."

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