The Underworld Crown (Series)

Chapter 21

It took me a few seconds to realise the shadows weren't killing me. They travelled along my skin, taking their time to explore and taunt, rather than move with quick purpose. When I reigned in my panic, I noticed the shadows brought with them near-silent whispers from hundreds of different voices, each one too indistinguishable to make out on their own. The voices left a sour-taste in my mouth and a layer of frostiness on my skin.

Slowly, the shadows dissipated, my surroundings began to take form again and the whispering died down. Warmth returned to my skin and I exhaled in relief. Hades stood before me; a look of open shock plastered on his expression as he stared at me. I blinked once, then twice, and tried to put some explanation to what had just happened.

My thoughts were cut off by blood-curling screams.

I spun around, my heart in my throat, and gasped when I noticed the shadows hadn't disappeared – they'd only moved away from me and towards Kadyn. The guards who had held him had backed off, giving us a wide berth as the darkness swirled with the chaos of a cyclone. I was unable to see anything of Kadyn beneath its black surface.

His screams were the only indication that he was alive – but I didn't know for how long.

"Kadyn!" I called out, trying to claw my way through the blackness. Tears streamed down my cheeks as I reached haphazardly in the dark, desperate to reach him. This time, the shadows seemed to recognise me and skirted past my touch. I wasn't sure how I knew, but they wouldn't be able to hurt me. Couldn't hurt me. But they could hurt Kadyn, who was only human.

Suddenly his screaming stopped bouncing off the walls and my heart lurched, not knowing whether that was a good sign. I ran into something hard and tall and knew instantly that it was him. I wrapped my arms around him and held on tight, trying to ward off the darkness, but I stumbled under his weight and we fell onto the floor in a heap. I gasped as he took the brunt of our fall. Luckily, my body covered his and the shadows hissed, moving away from us since they no longer had anywhere to attack him that wasn't already protected by me.

Light once again surrounded us and I blinked as the aftermath of Hades' cruelty appeared before me. Kadyn, stone cold to the touch, stared vacantly into nothing. His lips were frosted with a blue tinge, as if the cold had penetrated deep within him and left an indelible mark. There was no colour on his face, no sign of life. I shook his shoulder, hoping to get a reaction but receiving none.

"What did you do?" I screamed at Hades, glaring at him with enough hate to fuel a fire. "Tell me what you did to him!"

I placed a hand on his torso, waiting for the steady rise and fall of my hand. It didn't come – he wasn't breathing. He wasn't living.

He was dead.

Hades had resumed his cool expression; any trace of his prior surprise was long gone. "I did exactly as I promised I would do. Your ally is dead."

"My friend," I spat out. "He was my friend."

Hades rolled his head on his shoulders, acting as if this was a typical day at work. Then, glancing sparingly at his guards, he ordered, "Take the body away."

"No!"

Instinctively, I shot up to my feet as four guards surrounded me. Without even thinking, I aimed a punch for the first guard, but he was the tallest and strongest looking of them all. Within a second, he had my back pressed flush against his chest and his sword at my throat. I stopped struggling as its sharp edge grazed along my skin, threatening to pierce and spill blood.

"Don't touch him," I snarled as the remaining guards leaned over Kadyn's body, but my captor tightened his grip on me and reminded me once again of what would happen if I didn't stay silent. I bit my lip as I watched them pick up Kadyn and remove him from the room. I tried to stop myself from sobbing in front of Hades.

Even with the knife at my throat, I was able to see Hades' expression of indifference as they left the room. I gritted my teeth and glared at him, all of my rage and grief making me see red. "I swear, I will kill you," I growled, feeling my promise reverberate through my entire body. I was almost thrumming with vengeance, and Hades' eyes widened only slightly at the emotion behind my words.

This time, I truly meant it.

I wanted to take the sword glistening at my throat and drive it through his deadbeat heart.

Hades cleared his throat and made eye contact with the guard holding his weapon to my throat, and something indistinguishable passed between them. Hades nodded slightly and retreated back to his throne, lounging lazily. Then I was being pushed by the guard towards the open door, my back still flush with his chest. Just as we exited, I breathed in a large gulp of air as the cold feel of the sword against my throat disappeared. Himeros and Erica stood before me, standing straight in alert. I'd forgotten they'd followed me here.

Before I could turn around and charge at Hades, a foot met my lower back and kicked me forwards. I stumbled to catch myself and spun too late, hearing the door to the Throne Room slam shut. In my frustration, I ran back up to it and pounded against the door. Tears flowed rapidly down my cheeks.

"Damn you, Hades! Persephone won't forgive you for this!"

"Serena?" Himeros softly asked, his voice as light as a feather compared to mine. He didn't dare approach me. "What happened? We saw them carry out one of the servants."

The throat tightened and I was unable to answer him. Anger curled hot and unrelenting in my gut, like a burning inferno threatening to burst from me in a nasty display of uncontrolled violence. I took a few deep breaths, but it did nothing to calm the raging fire.

Suppressing the urge to throw something, I paused to think for a moment and ran my hands through my hair, which was tangled and messy.

There was only one way I could channel my anger. Without mentioning anything to Himeros or Erica, I sprinted off down the corridor. Himeros' shouts followed me, but they passed through my mind with the ease of a ghost. Either of them could follow me if they wanted, but I suspected they knew I needed to be alone.

I raced down the steps towards the forest, taking them two at a time, and wrenched the door open. The green, lush environment that once soothed me did little to settle my raging anger. I'd never felt such unbridled emotion before and stepped into the forest line with my fists curled. Here, in the forest, I was not the trapped, flightless bird that had been stuck in the Throne Room with Hades.

I had power here.

I drew my hands up by my sides and channelled all of my anger and grief outward. My power rose onto its hind legs and roared in response, practically charging from my hands. Before my very eyes, the flowers at the feet of the trees grew spikes. Leaves curled on branches and then turned brown and dropped to the floor. Vines grew longer, searching the canopy of the forest for any threats but finding none. What I was doing wasn't natural, but it was cathartic. With every breath, my powers purified my body from anger and seemed to project it outwards.

Exhaustion eventually filled the part of my heart that had been blackened by anger. When I no longer felt anything in me but fatigue and sadness, I dropped to the floor and tucked my legs under me, content to stay there forever.