Helios might’ve hated me, but he didn’t know that I killed his sister. He thought the rogues that she played with tore her to pieces, not me. And he wouldn’t find out. I’d punish anyone who tried to tell him.
Sneaking downstairs and into the torture chambers where there were chains strong enough to tether the earthly gods to the pits of the Underworld, I stared at Helios. Golden skin burning brighter than I’d ever seen it, he struggled against the chains.
I turned the escape key over in my pocket and crept over to him, making sure nobody was watching. When he saw me, he growled at me and started to pull on the chains harsher until they were swinging.
“I’m here to get you out, Helios,” I said, pushing the key into the lock. I hoped he’d calm down, but his skin was burning up about a billion degrees and searing the skin on my palms.
When I had undone his chains, he grabbed my wrist, skin and eyes glowing gold. “Nyx,” he seethed. “I’ve been chained the fuck up for over a week. Why are you letting me out now?” he asked as if he didn’t trust me.
He shouldn’t, but he would.
“It was the only way,” I said through gritted teeth. “Erebus would’ve killed you.”
Lie. Erebus wanted me to kill him.
I grasped his wrist and pulled him toward the door, so we could finally leave this place for good. We would hide in another kingdom and gather warriors to destroy Erebus together.
He stopped again. “Did you kill Eos?”
“What?” I whispered, glancing down the hall to make sure the guards were distracted.
“I need to know if you took part in killing Eos,” he said.
Beads of sweat rolled down my back. It was always warm in the Underworld, just not as scorching as it was at this very moment. Helios made it so much hotter. Footsteps approached from farther away. I swallowed hard and grasped his hand tighter. “We have to go quickly,” I said. “Erebus is coming.”
“Tell me the truth,” he said, pulling me back, his eyes starting to glow even brighter that I thought they’d burn right through me and kill me on the spot.
In a moment of strength, I shook my head. “No, I took no part in killing her.”
Lie.
It hurt like a lightning bolt straight through my chest.
It was wrong to lie to him, but I didn’t want him to hate me. I wanted to spend eternity with him, just as Erebus wanted with me. Killing Eos—no matter how much I loved her was the only way to get Erebus off my back and make Helios angry enough to stay in the Underworld to fight a divine war.
Was it selfish? Yes.
Was it crazy? Yes.
Was I just like everyone else in this Underworld? Yes.
But Helios didn’t need to know that.
When he found out, we would be done for. I could just feel it in my bones. But whatever the cost, I would cherish our love and our time together while it lasted.
I pulled him toward the door. “Now, come on, before anyone sees.”
We ran through the castle and out a secret exit, making a run for the Styx River to get out of this kingdom as quickly as we could. I didn’t know how far we would make it, but I hoped it was damn far because our love started a war that not even the gods could end.
And part of me didn’t want it to end. This way, Helios would stay in the Underworld with me forever. Screw the mortals, he was mine.