Hades

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Eleven

Seven days trickle by, and I still don't see Hades. Although Selene repeatedly told me that I shouldn't worry about his absence, that Hades was just like this and that I had done nothing wrong, a small part of me continued to worry that I had to have done something to upset him. Every time my thoughts traipsed down that path, an even bigger part of me just ached, and I wasn't sure why. And the longer Hades stayed absent, the bigger that part got.

"Winter Solstice." Was the rude awakening that woke me up one morning, courtesy of my new least-favourite person: Zola. The barked words were quickly followed up by an equally bitter, "Get out of bed before I box your ears, you lazy wench."

I won't deny it; I was a good girl, and got out of bed as soon as she said that. But Zola then discovered that I was a lot faster than I looked when I sprinted to the bathroom, locked the door and turned a deaf ear to her banshee-like shrieks.

"Evie!" Zola batters down the door, her heavy Italian accent thickening with frustration. "Get out here now, you insolent child!"

"Okay. First of all Z," I call out, lounging fully clothed in my jacuzzi. Pluto lazes about at my feet, his dark eyes flickering open and shut as he wavers in and out of consciousness. "I am not a child; I'm turning twenty in thirteen days. Second of all, I don't like your tone or the way that you are talking down to me. So I'm just going to stay in here until you learn to speak to me with some modern-day manners."

Zola growls. I hear a loud thud, sounding suspiciously like her head falling onto the door. "I don't know what Hades sees in you. You are the most resentful child I have ever come across! Back in my day, you would have never been chosen as a wife!"

"Good thing our world has moved on from that hellhole then, isn't it?" I drawl, giggling to myself at my pun. Yes, I'm being pointedly obstructive and annoying, but she's been getting on my nerves for weeks now, and I was still in a foul mood due to my 'Hades deprivation', as Kezia loved to put it.

"Evie Mae Autumn, you get out here right now, or I will tell Hades about your behaviour!"

I bolt upright, cursing quietly when my elbow jars against the edge of the bathtub. Pluto jolts at the unexpected movement, blinking up at me sleepily. "You're going to what?"

Zola obviously mistakes the incredulity in my tone for panic. Her response is lathered with smugness. "That's right! I will call your jailer if you do not obey me."

I roll my eyes, yawning exaggeratedly. "Go ahead. Call my 'jailer' — who, by the way, knows fully well that I am here of my own free will."

Zola hits the door and starts yammering away in Italian. "I did not die to deserve this hell! I am talking to Hades and then I am leaving!"

"Okay." I trace the edges of the bath with my fingers, swinging my legs out of the tub. "While you do that, can I have a bath?"

"Do what you want!" Zola hisses, kicking the door. "You are my responsibility no longer!"

She stomps away. Seconds later, my bedroom door slams shut. I wince slightly as the sound reverberates through the room and slowly lever myself up out of the jacuzzi.

I could have handled that better.

A few minutes of silence pass by, but Zola doesn't return. I grin smugly to myself. Success.

High on my victory, I spin around and decide to run a bath. Tossing all the bubble-bars and aromatic bath soaps that I can find into the running water, I double check that the door is locked, slip out of my clothes and lower myself into the bath.