The Underworld Crown (Series)

Chapter 27

It seemed I wasn't the only one who disliked heights. Calista kept on freezing at spontaneous intervals, whipping her head back and forth, at times even rearing back onto her hind legs. It seemed that, no matter how much we disliked each other, we may have had something in common. I was just glad that it was Alek dealing with her, not me.

As we got closer and closer to the base of the crater, my muscles started to relax and I sped up, finally able to indulge in the view.

Greed City reminded me a lot of Sloth City – except here the distribution of wealth appeared to be even more skewed. It was clear from walking along the perimeter that there were some very wealthy families closer towards Plutus' palace, however many homeless on the outskirts. The closest homes were makeshift amalgamations of wood and metal scraps. By the look of their poorly designed roofs, many people were lucky the Underworld didn't have rain or snow.

I was so distracted by the sight of civilisation that I didn't notice when we came to a stop at the end of the pathway. Calista snorted ardently over my shoulder, wetting the right side of my face and bringing me back to reality.

"Argh," I complained, wiping it off with a frown. "That was disgusting."

"That's what you get for suggesting I blindfold her," Alek retorted, a small smile dancing on his lips.

"Yeah, well I still think it's dangerous for Persephone to see where we're going."

I surveyed the people walking up and down the street. It was getting late, so there were few milling about, but every time someone came close to us, they shot us intrigued looks and slowed down their pace.

"Don't worry about the stares," Alek said quietly, so closely I almost jumped. "They don't see a lot of new faces around here...being in the middle of a field of volcanoes and all."

My eyes rounded and I looked at Alek in alarm. "Wait – how is the city supposed to protect itself if a volcano does erupt? This place is literally a bowl of lava waiting to happen."

"Plutus has prepared for that–" he pointed upwards, towards the roof of the cavern, "–by building a titanium plate that covers the roof of the city. It's embedded in the walls and only closes over the cavern when Plutus orders it to. And if a volcano erupts, the plan is that an excavation team will be able to dig their way back out and re-open the cavern."

My jaw dropped. "That's why this city looks so deep underground? Because we were walking down hundreds of years' worth of solidified lava?"

"It's more like thousands, but yes. We're actually standing on the original ground level right now."

"Wow. That's pretty cool, but also kind of scary." I glanced at Alek accusingly. "You lied about us being safe though."

"There's only an explosion every hundred years or so, so there was an almost certain chance we were safe. Besides, we needed to come here to collect more supplies. There's also no way to get to the North Gate that doesn't cross volcanoes. They border the wastelands' entire perimeter."

A young couple decked in black and sporting dark eyeliner strolled past, their gazes zeroed in on us. The man had his arm wrapped tightly around the woman's shoulders, holding her close. As I looked at the woman more carefully, I realised she was looking at us with widened, stressed eyes. It was a look of fear – fear of the person next to her. The male had a snarl affixed to his face. My cheeks heated up and I fisted my hands in rage as gripped her tightly, keeping her all to himself.

His eyes burned into mine and then rolled up and down my body. When his eyes reached mine again, his snarl grew into an insidious and predatorial smile. I flinched as his steps slowed in front of me.

Alek stepped forward and held his crossbow high, blocking me from the man's view.

"Keep walking," he growled.

The man seized up Alek's muscular body and weaponry, and seemed to realise I wasn't worth the fight. He scowled and spat at Alek's feet, then tugged the other woman closer to him and walked away, glaring at us over his shoulder.

Alek remained in front of me for a few more moments, waiting until they were out of our sight. I placed a hand on his forearm. He flinched at my touch, but then seemed to relax.

"That woman..." I said, feeling a wave of sadness overcome me, "she's in trouble."

Alek shook his head, surprising me. "No, she's not. They're both scammers."

"How do you know?"

He turned to face me, the intensity in his eyes scaring me. "The people in Greed City love to deceive others to get what they want. I've seen people like them before; they team up to try to make girls like you feel sympathetic and draw you in. And once that happens, well..." he trailed off and cleared his throat. "Anyway, I can't believe they even tried to take you from me."

The memory of that woman's expression was imprinted on my mind, and I shuddered at the thought of what could have been.

"Come on," Alek coaxed softly, placing a hand on my back to steer me in a different direction. "We need to find somewhere to stay."

"Do you know any places?" I asked. "Any without people like the ones we just saw?"

He nodded; his expression lightening. "I know a man called Jackal who runs a pub. He has a couple apartments above his business, and he owes me a favour or two."

"Is he trustworthy?"

"He's about as trustworthy as people come in Greed City."

"And how trustworthy is that exactly?"

His dark eyes danced. "I see you're learning."

"Yeah, well after that couple I don't know what to expect." I wrapped my arms around my waist, suddenly paranoid that even the old lady hobbling down the street was traitorous.

"Not everyone in the Underworld is a horrible person," Alek said.

My lips quirked up into a smile. "What, like you?" I teased.

He smirked. "Oh no, princess, I am much, much worse."