AURORA
Ruffles lay Frito and Funyun—her two gray kittens—on my lap and then cuddled up next to me on the suede couch, letting Cheeto, the Siamese cat, and Dorito, the mix of gray and Siamese, lie on her tummy. With her blue hat on, Ruffles smiled up at me and purred.
It was the night before the alphas and their packs would descend into the underworld, and my stomach was swollen beyond belief. I had hoped all week that our baby would be ready to come into this world, but she had stayed away for as long as she could.
Maybe that was for the better.
Overcome with sadness that we’d have to leave soon, I stroked Ruffles’s fur and slumped against the couch, listening to Venus talk about the underworld and give Ares, Marcel, and me some tips about what to do when we got there.
“The first time you arrive in the underworld—and the first time only—you will need to cross the Acheron River by the passage of Charon’s ferry. Though he is undead, like many of the hounds, he is in no relation to Hella and rarely speaks to anyone who is divine. It should be safe for you to cross without problem and without Hella’s knowledge.”
After licking Cheeto on the head, Ruffles turned toward Venus. “Meow.”
I nodded at Ruffles in agreement and rested a hand on my bump. “Yes, after we cross the river, what do we do then? I’ve heard that there are multiple kingdoms in the underworld. Where is Nyx and Hella’s kingdom located? Do we have to go through other kingdoms to get there? How will we know where to go?”
Venus sat up straight and crossed one leg over the other, her lovely, silky locks flowing down her back. The moonlight flooded into the room through the window and illuminated her olive skin, making me a bit jealous. How could one be so innately beautiful?
“First,” Venus started, curling her fingers around strands of her thick hair, “you will meet with Cerberus, the three-headed hellhound, who will let you officially enter into the underworld. Again, Cerberus is under Hades’s control and does not typically associate with Hella or Nyx.”
Vulcan grasped her shoulder and rubbed gently. “Is Cerberus a threat?”
“A threat?” Venus laughed. “No, Cerberus will not be a threat to you. He’s intimidating at first with three heads and foaming at all mouths, but … he won’t actually hurt divine beings. He’ll bark and roar, but Hades won’t let him attack any divines entering the underworld unless they provoke him first.”
Frito weakly stood on all four legs and curled closer to Funyun in my lap.
“Then, where?” I asked, gently stroking their fur.
Venus blew out a deep breath, her shoulders slumping forward. “From there, I would suggest that you meet with Hades. He doesn’t get involved in divine politics, but he will provide you with a map and some tips to navigate the underworld. He might seem like an annoyed man at first, but he’s just been trapped down in the underworld with nobody for way too long.”
“Seems like he needs a woman,” Marcel said, kicking back on the couch next to Ruffles and locking his hands behind his head, biceps flexing. He eyed Venus and raised a brow. “From the myths we learned in school, he might need more than that.”
Venus shushed him. “Oh, stop it. Those myths are nothing like the real gods. We’re more than our stories. Myths made Hades out to be the bad guy, but once you get to know him, he’s actually a sweetheart, just deeply misunderstood.”
Vulcan growled possessively, his grip tightening just a bit on Venus’s shoulder.
Venus brushed him off and pushed him away slightly. “Don’t be jealous. I’m sure you’ve slept with other people since I was gone too.”
Another warning growl exited Vulcan’s throat, but Venus didn’t even look fazed. In fact, she looked amused more than anything with a sly smile and sparkling eyes. She waved a dismissive hand. “Anyway”—she looked over at Marcel—“while everyone should go directly to Hades, you, Marcel, should go to Tartarus, where you’ll find Hella and ask for a life trade.”
Marcel sat up straight, body tense, and nodded toward the open door. Ares looked out of it to make sure Charolette wasn’t listening in on our meeting and shut the door, so Venus’s voice wouldn’t travel and echo in Mom’s grand pack house.
“Do not associate yourself with Aurora, Ares, or any of the other alphas coming into the underworld,” Venus continued. “That means no hugging, no good-byes, no scent lingering on your clothes. If Hella or Nyx captures even the smallest scent of them on you or finds you dreaming of them, they will kill you. Then, your mate will die.”
Marcel rubbed a hand across his face. “I’ve lived with them for over twenty-seven years now,” Marcel said, shaking his head of silver hair. “How am I supposed to get rid of their scent and the thought of them?”
Venus cleared her throat. “Twenty miles from the arrival zone, in the Acheron River, there is a pool that you will bathe in. It will burn your clothes and the top layer of your skin, giving you a fresh scent, almost as if you were reborn.”
“Burn his skin?” Ares asked, brows furrowed. “All the way off?”
“It’s a painful process, but you’ll get through it.” She glanced at me. “Aurora did as a baby after Medusa had to give her up. Medusa couldn’t leave any scent or trace of her on Aurora or else Hella and Nyx would have found her.”
I swallowed hard and frowned. This past month, I had been so rude to Medusa because she’d suggested that I give up my baby, but I hadn’t realized that she had given up so much when she did the same with me.
“And then?” I said, shame spreading through my body. “Then, what do we do?”
“After visiting Hades, you will start your trek to Tartarus,” Venus said, placing a map in my hand and wrapping my fingers around it. “This will help you. It was the best I could do with the terrain that I’d traveled through, but either way, you must be prepared. It has been hundreds of years since I’ve been to some of these places. The terrain might’ve changed, and you will fight monster after monster to get there.”
Grasping the fragile map, I glanced from Marcel to Ares. “We’re going to do this. We’re going to save our world.”