The three of them stood out in the hall. Athan wondered how Hope had recognized Xan, and from where, but the other demigod studied the ground as he pulled his hand through his hair.

Hades stared at Hope’s door as if he could see through it. Perhaps he could. The god visibly relaxed when Persephone joined them in the hall.

“We will need to have a tray sent to her right away,” she said to her husband.

“Of course, dear.”

“I’ll have Imogen bring it to her.” Persephone offered a small smile to the demigods before kissing her husband, bidding him farewell, and disappearing.

Hades pointed down the hall to an open doorway and then led them into a large room. The space had all the makings of a swanky hotel suite with a plush L-shaped couch in front of a widescreen television. There was a small kitchen, an open door to a restroom, and two other doors that Athan hoped led to bedrooms.

Guilt stabbed at him, and he pushed his increasing fatigue away.

“I will leave the two of you here for now. Sleep if you can, or eat, or whatever else you want to do. I have other business I must attend, but I’ll return shortly. If you ring this bell”—Hades was suddenly holding a silver bell in his pale, slender fingers—“Imogen will be happy to serve you.”

Thinly veiled contempt dripped from the words, and Xan snorted.

“I’m sure we’ll be fine,” Athan said, shooting Xan a look. The last thing they needed was Xan’s temper. “Thank you.”

Hades exited the room, and the door clicked shut.

They sat silent for a time. Athan’s thoughts swirled around Hope, his emotions vacillating from optimism to despair. “She recognized you.”

Xan paled. “Not in a good way. She remembers me chasing her when she was a child.” He circled the couch and collapsed into the cushions, draping his arm over his eyes.

Athan sunk into the overstuffed couch. “She doesn’t even remember me.”

Xan sat up. “No? You do remember her breathing your name after you kissed her, right?”

Wait. “Are you jealous?”

There was no mirth in Xan’s dark chuckle. “Of course I’m jealous. But like I said, this isn’t about you or me. It’s about her.”

He was right. “I don’t understand why she would go to the Lethe.” Xan’s gaze was so heavy, Athan squirmed under it. “I don’t.”

“The last thing she saw before she ran to Thanatos . . .” Xan sat up.

The last thing she’d seen was Athan kissing Isa. Oh, gods, it was his fault.

Xan hopped over the back of the couch and grabbed the bell. “Prepare yourself for something quite dreadful. That Ginger girl is right mad.”

He shook the bell and then sprinted to the door.

Seconds later, the willowy girl appeared. Her pink lips were pushed up into a smile, but the skin around her eyes was tight with tension. “Yes, Son of Ares?”

“Was-Thanatos-anywhere-near-the-river-Lethe-when-you-pulled-Hope-out?” His words were rushed, blending together with his heavy brogue and making them incomprehensible.

She looked to Athan as if he could translate. Athan repeated the question slower, enunciating clearly so there was no way the girl could misunderstand.

The girl’s pale blue eyes dilated with fear, and she stepped back into the wall. Without saying anything, she scooted along until she got to the door, and then she fled.

Xan pointed at Athan. “I think that be a yes.”

Athan nodded. “But why?”

“Shite.” Xan picked up the silver bell again. He rang it over and over, and when no one came, he opened the door. Stepping out into the hall, he yelled, “Immy! Genny!”

Had he gone insane? “What are you doing?”

“If Thanatos pushed her in, then it was because Hades had commanded it, right? He wouldn’t have done something like that on his own. I mean, he has to answer to someone—”

Athan shook his head. “No.”

It wasn’t Hades, at least not if the lord of the Underworld was to be believed.

“Imogen!” Xan punctuated his bellow by burying his immortal blade up to its hilt in the black wall.

The pale girl stepped out from a dark doorway, her slight frame trembling. “I will take you to Hades.” She didn’t wait for a reply as she scurried down the hall.

Poor girl.

“You requested an audience?” Hades stepped out of a room and closed the door behind him. He wrapped a black silk robe around his waist, covering his pale chest and the top of his pajama bottoms. Pointing down the hall, he said, “Let’s go to your room.”

Imogen transferred her weight from foot to foot, her gaze flitting about the hall nervously.

Hades pursed his lips. “You are dismissed, Imogen. Thank you for your service.”

The young woman bobbed a curtsy and then fled.

“Is she immortal?”

Hades scratched his head. “No. Not yet.”

They continued walking back to their room.

“So, what’s her story?” Athan didn’t care, but he needed something to distract him as they walked.

Xan frowned at him, and Athan rolled his eyes. Besides, they couldn’t very well talk about treason or mutiny or whatever it was out in the open.

“Imogen has reached Elysium twice. She would like to be reborn again in an attempt to make it to the Isles of the Blessed.”

Athan stopped. “The Isles of the Blessed exist?”

Hades smirked. “Of course. Where do you think you are now?”

Isles of the Blessed. Those who make it to Elysium had the opportunity to be reborn, and if they made it back to Elysium three times, they would be able to reside in the realm of the Isles of the Blessed and have unimaginable joy and happiness forever.

“That twiggy girl has made it to Elysium . . . twice?” Xan asked incredulously.

“She is very selfless,” Hades answered.

“Even so, you don’t like her,” Athan said.

Hades smirked as he entered the room. “She is naïve. But I don’t think you really wanted to talk about Imogen.”

Athan closed the door behind Xan and faced Hades. “Thanatos is trying to overthrow your right to rule.”

“You got me out of bed to tell me that?” Hades pushed past Athan and gripped the doorknob. “Tell me something I don’t know.”

Athan flushed as the god opened the door and stepped into the hall.

“He pushed Hope in the Lethe.”

Hades came back into the room and closed the door behind him. His gaze narrowed. “Do you know this?” he asked in a hushed tone. “How do you know?”

Hades’s intensity made Athan nervous. “I don’t know—”

Hades rolled his eyes, and his face fell.

“Imogen got really nervous when we asked her.” Xan hurried the words. “You should ask her. She knows something.”

Hades dark eyes hardened to flint. “She would’ve . . .” He sucked air through his teeth and whirled to face them. “Say nothing. To anyone.” He glanced around the room, his face granite. “Don’t even speak of it here. I will summon you shortly.”

Xan returned to the couch and slumped into it. “Do you feel like we jumped from the frying pan into the fire?”

It was worse than that. The outcome wouldn’t just affect them. Not even just Hope. Imogen would be affected, and Thanatos was a god. The gods had infinite memories.

“You better get some rest. I have a feeling tomorrow’s going to be in the crap-pot, and you already look like death. Best not tempt Hades to keep ye here.”

It would be a miracle if Athan could sleep, but there was wisdom in Xan’s counsel. “Right.”

Athan walked toward the closed bedroom doors and opened the one to the left. “There’s another one here.” He confirmed it by pushing the door open. “You’re bound to get a better night sleep on a bed than the couch.”

Xan waved Athan away. “Who said I’m going to be sleeping? Go to bed, Athan. I need you to be smart. I need to be able to fight. I think tomorrow will be filled with a need for both.”