"Persephone..." Hades whispered.

"No! I am not leaving until I know what she saw!"

Cassandra looked apologetically at Hades. "Boreas has taken Melissa."

Chapter XXII.

The air whooshed out of my body and I sat with a thud. Has taken. Not will take. Whatever she saw, it was something that would be done now that Boreas had taken Melissa. A thousand possibilities competed for attention in my thoughts, each worse than the last. Hades was talking, but I couldn't hear him. All I could think about was my friend in the hands of that monster.

"Why didn't you warn us?" I advanced on Cassandra. She must have seen something in my eyes because she shrank back.

"I can't see everything. There's been a lot happening on the surface. Her kidnapping must not have been chaotic enough to draw my attention."

I narrowed my eyes. What else had happened that I wasn't told? I forced that thought to the background. It didn't matter right now. I had to rescue Melissa. "You have to help her," I told Hades.

"Boreas is only doing this to draw you out," Hades reminded me. "I can't let you go after her, and I can't leave my realm unprotected."

"You can't let me?"

"I can't risk you for a mortal. No. I'm sorry." He cut off my protest with a wave of his hand. "I know this is hard for you, but if it's any consolation, I don't think he's going to go to the extremes with her that he did with Oreithyia. He only chose her to draw you out. Once he realizes we're not coming he'll simply kill her, and then you'll be reunited with her down here."

Cassandra's inward hiss of breath was the only warning Hades got before I flew at him.

"You bastard!" I shrieked, my fists flailing, all of my self-defense lessons completely forgotten. He caught my wrists easily, dodging a knee to the groin. "Coward! You would just let her die!"

"Persephone!"

I tried to twist my wrists from his grasp, but he was too strong.

"Let me talk to your mother, okay?" I tried to wrench free, and he raised his voice. "Let me talk to her! I can't just step in, Persephone! That is her realm and the daughter of one of her priestesses!"

The words penetrated the red haze clouding my mind. I went slack in his grip, breathing erratically. My mom could fix this. She would rescue Melissa. Mrs. Minthe was her priestess. Mom had arranged for Melissa to be born so I would have a priestess. Boreas had chosen his victim well. Melissa mattered too much for us to let her die.

I was not in the room for the conversation with my mother. For some reason Hades was afraid I might try to attack him if the conversation didn't go my way. I lay down on my bed and did my best to rest. I needed to be at full strength, and Hades and I'd just spent the last of my powers.

After endless hours, Cassandra updated me on the situation. Boreas was holding Melissa hostage, and the price for her release was me. He promised no harm would come to her until next Saturday, when the exchange could be made.

That seemed like a long time, but it made sense. He'd no doubt burned through his powers kidnapping Melissa. He'd need ample time to get them back.

Of course, both my mother and Hades agreed exchanging me was out of the question. Their goal was to find Boreas as soon as possible and rescue Melissa. That was fine with me. I had a backup plan if necessary.

Over the next week I threw myself into my training. I was careful not to tip off Hades to my plan. He approached my goddess lessons warily but couldn't deny them to me. It was too dangerous not to have them. He seemed relieved when I chose to focus on teleporting. I could practice everything else on my own time.

Charon was more blunt. "You're not going to do something stupid if I teach you this, are you?"

"How exactly could I use pressure points against Boreas?" I asked in a dry voice. I wiped my sweaty palms on my black exercise shorts, shifting my feet to see the indentions they made on the blue matt.

"You couldn't. You know that, right? If you get this close to him you're as good as dead."

"I know that."

Charon met my eyes. "He'd come after you sideways, using the elements at his disposal. You'd want to be fast on your feet and prepared to break the ice. Watch under your feet, watch for flying icicles, and remember, your plants don't react well to his ice."

I kept my eyes level with his. "Thank you."

He sighed. "Has Hades taught you how to make shields?"

I shook my head. There were different kinds of shields. Hades used shields for privacy as opposed to defense. There were shields to prevent you from being seen, or heard, but there were also shields for physical protection. For the next hour I practiced throwing up a shield when Charon tossed dirt clods at me.

I focused on keeping him off balance, alternating my shields with making vines twist up around his feet.

"Hey! You don't need the thorns here!"

"Sorry!"

We kept it up for another few minutes before calling it quits. I stood, breathing hard.

"It won't be enough," Charon muttered on his way out the door.

"Why not?"

"I don't want to hurt you. He does. He really, really does. Please, Persephone. Don't do anything stupid."

He didn't wait for me to answer before he left. He knew I couldn't lie. After that lesson, Thanatos followed me like a shadow in and out of the palace. He was unusually silent about the whole thing. My feelings were a little hurt. I'd been counting on his support. He might not help me, but I knew he'd understand. Without him to talk through my plans, what could I do?

I shot him a frustrated look before I knocked on Hypnos' door.

Hypnos answered, face falling when he saw it was me. "Persephone."

"I need to learn how to get into human dreams to tell Melissa how hard we're trying to find her. Maybe she knows where she is!"

"It's not possible. She hasn't been given immortality yet. She hasn't been altered in any way. We can't enter every human's dreams. Just a select few."

"Melissa's my priestess. Shouldn't she be one of the few?"

Hypnos shook his head. "I already tried. Your mother hasn't done anything to alter her yet. She's probably waiting for you to stop aging before cursing her with immortality."

"What about Boreas, can't you spy on him in his dreams?"

"His defenses are too good."

"Better than you?"

Hypnos hesitated. "Actually, yes."

"How? Hades and my mom said there was no way he had much power left. How is he pulling all of this off?"

"That's a good question."

When no answer was forthcoming, I gritted my teeth. "What if I leave myself open? If he came to me, how could I get information from him?"

Hypnos' face closed of all emotion. "I'm not going to help you if you're going to do something foolish. Goodbye, Persephone." He closed the door.

When I could sleep, I left my mind unguarded. Boreas didn't take the bait. I felt like I'd hardly blinked when Saturday arrived. I summoned my keys and wallet and shoved them in my book bag. I pushed it under the bed, then I went to wait outside of Hades' chambers, as I had every morning since Melissa's abduction, while he conferred with my mother. I jumped when the door opened.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "She couldn't find him, but she's not giving up. She's searching everywhere. We know exactly where he's going to be this afternoon. If she can catch him off guard before..."

I knew what he meant. If they could rescue Melissa before he realized that I was not coming...otherwise she would be dead.

Tears weren't hard to call up, and I flung myself into Hades' arms. He hugged me, and I muttered something about my bedroom, sniffling for good measure. He led me back to my room where Cassandra was waiting.

"I need to change," I said as though dazed. I plucked at the top of my white dress, indicating the stains from my mascara running.

Hades held out a hand, blocking Thanatos from entering my room.

"I'll wait out here," Thanatos said with a shrug.

The door closed. I made a show of sniffling while I changed into jeans and a thick velvet shirt. When Hades' footsteps faded down the hall, I stopped crying. Cassandra turned to face me, eyes wary.

"Interesting choice," she noted as I pulled on a sweatshirt.

"I'd do the same for you." I reached under the bed and grabbed my bag.

Comprehension dawned in her eyes. "I can't let you."

"I don't suppose that, since I'm your queen, you have to obey me?" The sentence came out garbled, the thought half formed in my head, but the indignant look that flashed through her eyes told me she understood what I was getting at.

"Humans have always had free will. I've known Hades much longer than I've known you. If you try something, I will go to him. I can't let you do anything stupid."

"I've got free will too." I grabbed her arm. "It's not in your power to let me do anything."

"Thanatos!" she shouted.

I acted without thinking, otherwise it would have never worked on Cassandra. When I opened my eyes, we were looking down at the palace as the Lethe sparkled becomingly in the distance.

"What did you do?" Cassandra wrenched her arm free. "Where are we?"

"Olympus."

"You can't! No one can teleport past the rivers!"

"No, you can't," I replied, as though I'd known this would work. "I'm queen of this realm, remember?"

"Persephone!" she gasped. "You can't do this. I can't cross the Lethe."

"I can't have you telling Hades," I replied, watching mournfully as our friendship died. "I'll be back for you, but if I don't make it back, it won't take Hades long to find you."

"Thanatos had to have heard me!"

"Then I'd better hurry."

"No! Persephone!" She grabbed my arm. "Please don't leave me here. Anywhere else, you can leave me anywhere else and I'll stay, I promise I'll stay. Please don't leave me here." She sounded close to tears, her voice was panicked, and she was breathing hard.

"Why?"

"Please," she begged, tears dripping down her face. "Don't leave me where the other gods could find me. You wouldn't understand, you didn't grow up when they were in power. They aren't like you or Hades."

She was shaking, and too late I remembered how she had been cursed with visions.

"I won't leave you in Tartarus." I shuddered. "I couldn't put you through that."

"I won't tell him, I promise. Please don't leave me here, please." She searched my face and saw I didn't believe her. "Take me to the other side of the Styx," she suggested. "You know Charon won't reach it until this afternoon. You know his schedule as well as I do. You can do that."

I grabbed her arm and we vanished. When the Underworld materialized around us we were standing on a rickety pier, sticking out into the black water. I remembered the water was made of the tears of those leaving the living realm and wondered if any of those were Cassandra's.

She collapsed on the pier, shaking and crying.

"I'm sorry," I whispered, feeling terrible that I needed to leave her in this barren landscape. A thick mist shrouded the pier, leaving me with the feeling of being smothered in darkness.

"Just go." She shifted away from me and faced the river.

I vanished. When my feet touched the ground again, I was standing in Tartarus. The ground hissed beneath my feet, and I heard a bent figure snuffle, feet dragging the ground as it shuffled my way.

I shuddered, remembering being surrounded by those once-human twisted beings. I flicked my fingers and a thorn bush sprang up around it. It hissed and snapped its jaws, spittle flying from its decayed and bent mouth. I circled it, making sure it was secure.

"You're going to take me to the nearest entrance." I watched as the thorns grew into its thrashing body. "Now."

I released it, and the creature stumbled. I expected more of an objection, but the creature led me to a small passageway. It eyed me hopefully. I grimaced as I touched its shoulder. "I wouldn't bring you with me if I could."

I teleported him to the edge of the river of fire. If I got back, I wasn't sure I'd have enough energy left to defend myself, and I didn't want to risk him waiting for me at the entrance.

I adjusted the backpack on my shoulders, took a deep breath, and stepped into the narrow crevice between the stones.

Chapter XXIII.