Chapter 17. god of Hell

I worry I've broken a vampire as we arrive at the edge of the Styx. Emmett's expression is that of shock. His stance is unstable at best, and his breathing is labored.

I may have given him too much to handle.

"The fuck is this place?" He shrugs out from under my grasp.

He's fine.

And so is the Styx. It's exactly as I left it - cold, dark, dismal. Uninviting. It's imbued with the looming despair that awaits one on the other side of the river.

Home sweet home.

My travel companion's awestruck expression does not surprise me. Most humans have never seen the likes of my domain. Only the dead are allowed here. The living, and even vampires, have a difficult time coming to grips with what awaits them in the afterlife.

Something Prince got very wrong in some of his music.

It is not a world of never-ending happiness.

You can't ever the sun.

And you are definitely on your own.

I speak from an eternity of experience.

My thoughts drift to Isabella as I ponder the musician's lyrics.

Bella.

I close my eyes and let the corners of my mouth tilt upward as I remember our short getaway to the ocean - the way her body glistened in the sunlight during the day and how it felt to have her hips move against mine at night.

I imagine her legs wrapped around me like they were just a short while ago.

I remember the way her lips traveled down my torso.

How her hands felt as they caressed-

"Hellooooooo."

My shoulders fall as I let out a defeated sigh. Emmett doesn't fit well into my fantasies of Isabella and my next visit into her bed. Or shower. Or lawn furniture. Perhaps all of the above.

And the rug.

As I glance down, I see a ring on my finger that had been missing since my visit above ground. It holds the family crest, so to speak, and it shouldn't surprise me. Being home would naturally mean I am once again… me. And besides, I would assume if I'm to give Emmett back to his friend, the vampire would be needing his own body once more.

Quite frankly, the absence of his will, somewhere deep within my psyche, is a welcome change.

I find the surge of power resulting in my return to be unexpectedly exhilarating.

As I breathe in the familiarity of my domain, I sense movements, whispers. I feel the crackle of souls who know their master has returned and the slight increase in fear they experience because of it.

And it is divine.

Emmett is a bit agitated now at the difference in whom he thought he was traveling with and who he has ended up with.

I can't say I blame him.

"What the fuck are you, man?" he asks, one part frightened, two parts genuinely inquisitive. "Chameleon?" he guesses. "Shapeshifter?" He feels that second option makes the most sense and leans in as though no one else here might hear him if he whispers. "Are you a fucking shapeshifter?"

I grimace.

Shapeshifter is a low blow. He's angry. He's insulting me. I get it.

"No, Emmett," I tell him. "I'm…" I should probably handle this delicately. Right?

Deep breaths.

"I'm Hades and this is the underworld." I shrug. "Hell, if you prefer. More specifically, the boundary between your Earth and Hell." I wave a hand out before us. "Welcome to the Styx."

When I finish my introduction, Emmett goes momentarily statuesque and slightly more pale than normal.

"You're-"

"Hades."

He looks around but only with his eyes. "And this is-"

Long story short. "Hell."

A flash of another possible scenario passes, and I imagine having this conversation with Isabella. I see her eyes grow as Emmett's do when she hears my true identity. I hear her gasp. I watch her run away.

But will she? After everything?

"Fuck me," floats from Emmett's lips and as he collapses backwards. I flit a chair behind him so he doesn't fall on his ass. It's the least I can do.

Perhaps I gave him too much too soon, but time is of the essence. I have a dinner with Isabella to get to.

He's staring at the floor, and when I begin to tap my foot, he looks up at me again.

"You sure you're not a chameleon?"

I raise a half amused, half offended eyebrow at him and he nods. Then his initial reaction to me from up in my office returns.

"So, you what, took over Ed's body? Were you possessing him or some shit? Where is he now?" He stands, ready to take on the role of a supernatural hunter of some type, and I hold a hand up to him.

"He's fine, Emmett. I simply moved his soul from one place to another. For a while."

Although thinking back, I hadn't exactly worked out the logistics of the long-term effects of that decision.

"A while? So you could screw around with Bella?" His jaw clenches. He practically bares his teeth.

"What? No, that was never my intention-"

"But that's how it went down, nonetheless. Asshole."

In short, I answer, "Yes." Emmett doesn't understand the road I've taken to Isabella. He doesn't understand the risks I've taken.

"Emmett," I begin to explain again but he's already coming for me. And I don't have time for this. I tilt my head, just a bit, and he's still as can be, unable to speak or move, much less attack me.

This is my kingdom after all. He needs to understand that.

I stalk toward him, slowly, so as not to make him defensive.

"I don't want to hurt you, Emmett, but make no mistake, if you force my hand, I will."

He rolls his eyes. It's really all he can do. But it's enough to suggest he needs a bit more warning.

I flick my wrist. Not enough to truly send him into a crippling spiral of pain and torment, but just enough to make him a tad uncomfortable.

And send him a message.

His eyes slam shut and his body jerks. He lets out a muffled grunt of pain. It's over as quickly as it began, and this time, when he opens his eyes, he gets it.

"I regret what I've done," I tell him. "I didn't understand. I do now. Can you say the same?"

I wait, expressionless until he finally gives me an angry nod.

"What's done is done, Emmett, but that's why we're here. To make it right."

He breathes in and sighs heavily. Relieved perhaps. Maybe tired. Of everything. But I release him, nonetheless. He stumbles but catches his balance again quickly.

"You're still a fucking jackass," he mutters, unwilling to really give it his all.

"Agreed." I allow him the exasperation.

"And that was a dick move, by the way."

"Yes." But he's pushing it.

"You're -"

"We get it, Emmett. I'm a dick. Can we move on now? Or would you like your precious vampire to stay here longer than necessary?"

For the love of Satan.

"I knew you were acting fucking weird lately. Edward was, I mean, you… I don't know but somebody was acting fucking weird."

I shake my head as I check the timepiece on my wrist. The hands have stopped spinning. It's only then that I remember earthly things don't work quite right here in the underworld. They have no need to. So when I pull the cell phone out of my pocket and get nothing but a blank screen, that shouldn't disappoint me, but it does.

I'm edgy, suddenly wanting to text Isabella and let her know I'll be there soon.

"And how does she feel about all this?"

Emmett's words pull me out of my thoughts. "What?"

"Bella. You told her, I assume."

I don't answer him. He's too much like my brother right now. He's arrogant and a bit too sarcastic for my taste at the moment.

"Of course you didn't." He lets out a sarcastic huff and rolls his eyes. "Jackass."

I take it back, he's much worse than my brother.

As the god of Hell, I really should smite him for his lack of respect. Not too long ago, I would have without a doubt but now… how can I? He's absolutely right.

Emmett shivers a bit. Even for vampires, the underworld is quite uncomfortable and I too, admittedly, find that I miss the sunshine. More specifically, I miss the warmth that Isabella brings with her everywhere. The brightness of her smile. The softness of her touch. The promise of her kiss.

I love you, she'd said.

Would she still? When she finds I am no longer the man she thought I was?

"Why'd you do it?" Emmett asks, once again disrupting my angst.

"What?"

"I mean, why now? Why Edward? Why-"

I spin to face him, because really. "Do you see where we are, Emmett? Do you see the despair around you? Feel the sorrow tugging at your will? Do you hear the cries of the dead and tormented? And we haven't even entered the worst parts of this place yet. I've spent eternities here." He holds my glare and I do not waver either. "You should be asking me why not sooner."

I continue to lead him to the boat that usually awaits the dead.

"As far as your friend goes-" I hesitate. Guilt spreads through me like a virus. "I made a judgement call. It was wrong."

Emmett spits out a bitter laugh as he scutters away from something grasping for his ankle. "Ya got that right at least."

The ferryman gives me a curious look as we board. He most likely hadn't noticed I'd gone at all. He's fairly oblivious to anything other than the route to my domain and the one back here, where he waits for his next passenger.

It's a quiet glide across the water. I tend not to stare into it, myself. There are things there I don't care to see and some of them will snare you into their grips if you're not careful.

Something Emmett is about to experience when I snatch him back from the edge of the boat.

He shakes his head as though he's been entranced. "You'll want to focus on the land before us, Emmett." I glance at the creature descending beneath the surface once more. "If you fall in, I will not be able to save you."

He shivers as though coming out of a fog and then nods in understanding. "Thanks."

I don't let him see the satisfaction that his gratitude brings out. We're not here to bond, after all. We're here to retrieve his true friend. Something I will never be to him.

The nearer we get to the other side of The Styx, the more clearly I see who awaits us there.

"Won't be long now," I assure Emmett quietly. I cannot say I'm looking forward to the reunion awaiting me based on her expression.

"What the hell is that?" Emmett asks when he sees her as well. Her three heads search the river around her for threats.

"That, Emmett, is someone you do not want to trifle with."

"Hecate." I nod as we exit the boat. She shoots daggers at me with her glare as she pets my hound, protectively.

A part of me knew she would not take kindly to watching over my things while I was away. Hecate is a guardian of entrance ways, a goddess of witchcraft. She's not a ruler of the underworld. I thought I was giving her something more interesting to do while I was gone. Clearly, she's already bored with what I've given her.

"Exactly how long were you planning to leave me in charge while you're off playing, Hades? I have things to do. Places to bless, people to -"

"Curse, yes, I know." I wave a hand.

She notices Emmett and snarls. "And what is this thing doing here?"

He growls and takes a defensive step toward her. "Hey now."

I put myself between them. "This is a friend, Hecate. We're here to retrieve something and then-"

She stops me, mid-stride. "That's highly irregular, Hades." Her voice is curious but suspicious as well. "Since when do you bring the un-dead here?"

"Since this is my kingdom and I do as I please," I remind her. "Now leave us be. I'll return shortly."

She eyes me carefully and mulls over what I've said. "And then I may go?"

"Not quite."

Her face contorts into animosity. "But-"

We're already further away now. Far enough that I don't hear the rest of Hecate's whine. I don't know how to answer her, in any event. It can wait. I hope.

"Strange," I muse as we near the caves where I placed the vampire.

"Strange as in, ha-ha? Or…" Emmett ducks to avoid webs and creatures as we enter the mountain's hollowed out corner where Edward Cullen should be.

I notice what I already sensed but thought, somehow, I was mistaken.

I know he at least has been here. And didn't leave too long ago. My question is, how did he leave if I didn't allow it to happen?

I rub at my jaw and Emmett chimes in. "So, you lost him." He chuckles, amused that his friend somehow found his way out of my grasp. "You lost my best friend."

He doesn't understand the gravity of this situation. If the vampire is off on his own, here, in the underworld, he may not survive it.

Not alone.

I walk away and try to think of the best places to search for him before he gets himself into trouble, and Emmett trails behind me.

"I don't get it. Why wouldn't he be here if you put him here? And by the way, why the fuck would you put him there?"

Absentmindedly, I answer, "At the time, I thought he was-"

"A murderer?"

Emmett's response pulls me back to the present. "Quite frankly, yes."

"Yeah, well, ya got that one wrong, didn't you jackhole?"

I stand my ground. "Even if he weren't, or isn't currently, that doesn't mean he didn't deserve to-"

He shakes his head. "People in glass houses…" he mumbles.

"What was that?"

He cups his hands to his mouth. "You're a hypocrite, asshole."

I breathe out. I take a moment to regain my composure. And I realize I truly don't have an argument, any argument, that would justify my actions. And yet, I don't regret them. How could I? They gave me Isabella.

They gave me experiences I never would have known.

They gave me love.

And so much more.

"Edward, sometimes, I swear, it's like you're a different person all of a sudden."

"Perhaps I am."

"Since when?"

"Since you."

Memories of conversations with Isabella cause me to ask myself again… what happens when I do find the vampire?

"Okay." Emmett transitions from concerned friend to project manager in the blink of an eye. "Let's assume he was somehow able to free himself from this fucking place. Where would he go?"

I sigh but have to confess that being home again is like an old worn glove. Although I feel the doom, sense the despair, and hear the cries of the deceased, I cannot feel the vampire's presence who's been haunting my mind for the past weeks. So I start with the obvious.

"There's Tartarus." My eyes drift off into the distance, and I can sense the misery there like it's my own. I suppose he could be there, although I don't know why he would wander so far off. Or have any interest in visiting the creatures there.

"The Asphodel Meadows would never accept him. I doubt very highly he's there," I muse.

"And that's because…?" Emmett inquires, crossing his arms, judgmentally.

"I would not call the past actions of your friend insignificant, Emmett. Good or bad, Edward Cullen does not belong with the mundane."

He lifts an eyebrow and I wonder what he's thinking. Surprised, perhaps, that I seem to have an awareness of his friend he hadn't anticipated.

I'd love to tell him the experiences the vampire and I have been having since day one. Since time is of the essence, I move on with the next possibility of his whereabouts.

"There's always the Mourning Fields."

"What are those?"

"It's where souls go to continue wasting their existences away on unrequited love."

Emmett laughs. "Yeah, that's a hard no then."

"Why is that?" I wonder as a strained cry of anguish rings out that only the god of Hell can hear. I focus back onto present matters.

"He'd have to actually have loved someone to have it be unrequited, right?"

Is he saying…? "You mean he never-"

Emmett shakes his head as a scream of terror sounds somewhere off in the distance. "Not once since I've known him. And before that, he wasn't old enough to know what real love even is."

To have lived as long as these creatures have and never felt love… the vampire and I are more alike than I assumed.

"Anywhere else?" he asks. And yes, there is.

"Elysium but…" The painful sobs of the mournful grow louder now. "No."

"Why?"

"It's reserved for demi-gods and saints." Sounds begin to jumble together. The howls of the dead are much like Isabella's hounds when she arrives for their outings. They all scramble for her attention, fighting their way to the front.

I haven't the time nor patience for it. I jerk my head just so to make it stop as Emmett lets himself laugh at the thought of his friend the vampire being hailed a saint. "Okay then. Not so much. Anywhere el-"

"No," I cut him off a bit too readily.

"Why don't I believe you?"

"Emmett, unless your vampire friend has been re-born, he wouldn't even know the way to the Isle of the Blessed."

Emmett's eyes search the space around him for an answer. Any answer. And then I decide for the both of us.

"Let's begin with Tartarus. Perhaps his curiosity got the better of him."

Although, let's hope not.

And as we start on our way, Emmett tells me, "We know what it's like, you know."

"What's that, Emmett?" I flick brimstone out of our way as we walk. It reminds me of Isabella's green juice.

"Being alone. For an eternity."

And I nod. Because I imagine they do. Although admittedly, I was beginning to think it doesn't have to be that way for me.

I love you.

"What the fuck?" he calls out as he jumps away from something beside us on the trail of dirt and fire.

I wave a hand. "It's just Eurynomos."

"What the hell is he eating?" His face contorts into disgust.

"The flesh of corpses." I eye him sideways and fight the amusement I feel that this larger than life vampire is afraid of one measly demon. "Don't worry, Emmett. He won't bother you. You're not dead. Technically."

My companion visibly shivers and walks a few steps closer to me as we go on our way. "This place is sincerely fucked up."

He's not wrong. "Tell me about it."

xXxXx

When the Styx is far behind us and we are well on our way to Tartarus, I hear the faint familiar whispers of a certain trio of madness. I purse my lips and grind my teeth at their never-ending divisiveness.

The furies.

I sigh. They are goddesses, yes, or at least they were, once. They are mostly vengeful and full of spite these days, constantly plotting to drive the souls mad of those who "deserve" it. Granted, that's their job. I myself have relished in their assistance in the past, but today, I don't have time for their puzzles and schemes.

Laughter screeches from their small circle of conspiracy.

"Careful, careful, be precise." I hear one's gruff voice from just beside us now.

"My turn!" another argues. I have to admit, I'm curious as to what they're plotting. Or who it's about.

Emmett moves himself to my other side, the one furthest from the old crones. I grin. It doesn't hurt for him to realize where he is.

"This one is so much fun!" their leader cackles.

"Added bonus," one coughs out as she laughs. I roll my eyes at them as we begin to pass them by.

Until I hear the rest of her claim.

"Heee won't be able to do a thing about it!" The three of them let out a high-pitched snigger in unison with a creepy undertone. Something about the way she sings the word "heeee" tells me to stop and inquire within.

Because, clearly, they are referring to me.

"What are the three of you up to?" They stop mid-chuckle for a beat or two, eyes darting to and from one another, then they simply choose to ignore me and continue on with their plotting.

"Wouldn't you like to know!" one cackles. Laughter from the trio makes my spine grow cold.

I take a deep breath in, angry now at their disrespectfulness. I stretch and hover over them, zeroing in on the most vengeful of the group. My voice booms as a loudspeaker might in a crowded hall. "I asked you a question, Tisiphone."

She recoils as my voice echoes against the fire covered mountains, but only a little. Only enough to make herself appear polite. And that's when a small pinprick of awareness hits me. And I realize, I don't need an answer. It's written all over her face. All over the three of their faces.

It should have crossed my mind sooner, but I was too preoccupied with finding the vampire and now it may be too late.

The furies don't simply cause havoc, you see. They drive insane those who commit the most heinous of crimes.

Including, but not limited to, patricide.

I give the old hag a grave and threatening look. "You will not harm her, Tisiphone. And neither will your cohorts."

She's visibly glad that I'm playing her game now. She gives me a smug grin and locks arms with her sisters. "We must, my lord," she says in mocking graciousness. "it's our job, my lord, and you can't tell us otherwi-."

"Can't I?" I look around us as my heart rate increases. "You're in my dominion, after all."

Slowly her arms loosen from her grip on the other two. Her blood shot eyes become slits and her black bat like wings ruffle. "What are you getting at, god?"

"It's my job," I tell her. "No, it's my responsibility to ensure the creatures of this world follow certain rules, is it not?"

Come now. Fall into my trap, little bird.

"What rules?" She's visibly angry now although she tries very hard to hide it. She knows deep down where this must be going, but she can't quite put her long, crooked finger on it yet.

"Isabella has not fallen into the circle of humans that you have power over."

She tilts her head. "Hasn't she?" She tilts her head upward and breathes in the air. "She murdered."

"Murdered!" The other two sound off as though making a point.

"And he-"

"But he wasn't actually her father though, now was he?" I point out.

Three blank faces stare up at me.

Loopholes.

Every time.

They know I have them.

"But he was-"

"But nothing, whore," I cut her off with a bitter warning. "She did nothing the son of Zeus wouldn't have."

"But she's not a-"

"She's off limits," I remind her. "And that, as they say, is that. Do you understand?"

They say nothing. But I can tell they're thinking as they each share silent looks with one another. Which is never good.

As I hesitantly back away, truly believing my instructions are enough, I soon realize they apparently have not learned their lesson just yet.

"She stole citrus!" Megaera, punisher of theft, chimes in, pointing to the heavens as though taking lemons from a grocer is cause for the death penalty.

It's all relative, in actuality.

"Aye," Alecto adds. She tortures humans for their moral crimes. "And oh, how angry she was when she pulled that trigger, your highness."

I consider Emmett, who appears a bit concerned, but not enough to step in on this conversation. Not that I can blame him. Then I close in on the three witches, virtually strangling them as a reminder of what could befall them if they choose to defy me.

"Let me make something extremely clear for the three of you," I tell them as I stalk closer. My voice becomes a rumble of terror that reflects in their eyes.

They attempt to stumble away, but they will not escape my wrath if it becomes a necessity.

"If I sense any one of the three of you looking in her direction, whispering her name, or merely thinking about Isabella, you will find yourselves in the furthest corners of the darkest pits of this world. You will hear nothing. You will taste nothing. You will see nothing but horror. You will only feel the stinging blade of my bident searing through your bodies for the entirety of the remainder of your existence. Do you understand me?"

They don't reply. They don't blink. They don't breathe.

"Answer me!"

They nod in fear. Tisiphone is the only one courageous enough to speak.

"C-consider it so, my lord." She doesn't look me in the eye and her compliance is sincere this time.

My blood slows and my breathing becomes easier as I realize I have no need to question or threaten them further.

Isabella is safe.

I love you.

Emmett skips a beat before hurrying to catch up with me.

"Wow," he says when we're far enough away that he feels it's okay to speak again.

"What?" I ask as I keep a keen eye on the rest of the creatures stirring within the underworld and work to regain my composure.

"I mean, aside from the fact that I think I just pissed my pants back there, I actually got the impression you give a shit about Bella."

He seems surprised by this revelation. I would have thought it was obvious.

"She's the only thing that matters, Emmett. I would destroy entire universes to make sure she is guarded from the likes of those three, and worse."

"I know," he says quietly, as though he's contemplating if I would consider myself worse.

And I do.

xXxXx

"I don't understand," I say, mostly to myself, after we exhaust every square inch of hell looking for this confounded vampire.

"Is it possible he-"

"He does not have the ability to leave this place on his own, Emmett. He may have found a way out of his cell, but-"

"Who's … he, Hades?" Hecate asks as we arrive back at the Styx to regroup. Apparently, she's been snooping in on conversations that are none of her business.

I sigh, agitated, and pinch the bridge of my nose before answering.

"No one of consequence, Hecate. A vampire that I-"

"You mean the attractive one with the sad eyes and brooding stare? The one I thought about comforting myself, this past week?"

Emmett laughs. "That's him."

"You should have asked me from the get-go, Hades." She pets Cerberus and shoots me a smug grin. I hope she doesn't think she's taking my hound with her when she leaves.

If she leaves.

"I'm asking now, Hecate," I tell her, agitated. "What do you know?"

"He took the vampire," she says, unwilling to offer anything else at first. She wants me to work for it now. I suppose I have no choice.

"Who-"

"What the fuck, dude?" Emmett's anger is returning, and I fear if he uses air quotes at any point, he and Hecate will be having a death match.

She really can't stand vampires. Or air quotes.

I hold a hand up to him to quiet his rage and he obliges for the moment.

"Hecate. Who took the vampire?"

She doesn't answer for a moment. She's busy eyeing Emmett.

"Hecate," I push, but not too much. She's not like the crones, this one. I know my limits with her.

She smirks in the end. Happy that she's pushed my buttons.

"Poseidon."

I blink and Emmett leans in just a bit. "I'm sorry, did she just say Poseidon?"

Is he deaf now? "Yes, Emmett," I tell him as I try and piece together how this escaped my notice.

"King of the sea?"

"Correct." And when.

"Are you gonna tell me Zeus exists too, or...?"

I look him in the eyes and let out a heavy sigh. "I wish I could tell you otherwise."

xXxXx

"Greek gods." Emmett huffs in understanding that there are things, even beyond his awareness, that exist.

I eye him for the tenth time in as many minutes as I pace, thinking how this could have happened under my nose.

Emmett needs to move on.

"I don't get it," he ponders. "Why would he care about some dumb ass vampire? We're nothing to you people, gods, whatever. How would Ed even be on his radar?"

I hate to say it. "I believe I have a feeling I know why."

"You gonna share? I mean, the sooner we can figure this shit out, the sooner we can find him, right?"

"He loved someone once." I pause and then correct myself. "He's loved many in more recent centuries, but this one was different. It was before it was accepted that gods slept with the likes of humans."

"Sounds familiar," Emmett muses.

I roll my eyes because it's not on any level the same as what his species deals with.

"Poseidon hid it well. For a time. But then she had a son. Had our brother found out, he would have destroyed the babe. Possibly even the lover."

"So, what? Was it against some law or something?" He's confused gods with vampires, poor thing.

I shake my head. "Zeus felt he was the only one allowed to sire bastards since he is the king of the skies" I feel my eyes roll. This story is so old and so petty.

Emmett snorts, disgusted and yet amused. I continue the story.

"So Poseidon hid them away, never to see her or the child again."

"Dang. That's actually kinda sad," he muses. And I would have agreed, tens of thousands of years ago, but now…

"Only he screwed up. He couldn't help himself. He had to see his son - what he'd made. The beauty of it. He's selfish after all. And egotistical. So Zeus destroyed them all."

"He-"

"Obliterated a woman and child." I stare off at nothing. I still hear their cries for mercy.

"Fucking A, man. So this Poseidon a-hole is jealous of you, or is this some kind of morbid version of Pay it Forward that only gods play?"

I nod. "Something like that, I'm sure. He's as much as warned me several times since I've been with Isabella. I should have sensed he would do something like-"

"Hold up," he stops me, as he just now realizes who. "The big guy?"

I nod and he growls. "The one that flicked me?"

I nod again as Emmett internalizes the fury he feels about me leaving him defenseless the other night. Then something else hits him.

"So - you don't have a gambling problem."

"No, Emmett. I do not have a gambling problem." I can't help but grin as he puts the puzzle pieces together.

Once he has, he gives me something of a sympathetic nod. "No offense, but your family is jacked up, dude."

"Yeah." He has no idea.

xXxXx

Above ground, the cell phone in my pocket begins to buzz incessantly. When I pull it out, I find that Isabella has indeed been trying to get ahold of me.

I love you.

Emmett takes a deep breath in and holds it for a while before letting it out again. "Fuck it feels good to breathe fresh air again," he says. "Where to now?"

"I don't sense him here either," I tell him. "And he would never be allowed inside Mount Olympus."

I grow more and more annoyed with Poseidon for being such a dick… and so petty. I'm also concerned for the vampire.

"So where would he-"

"Underwater is my best guess. That's where Poseidon rules. He has power there, much more than he would on land." It makes sense. But where? The ocean is vast. I don't have a lot of time here.

Emmett nods. "Well, then we better figure this shit out soon." He starts to head toward a car, parked at the rear of the parking lot.

"Where are you going?"

"To try and track my friend down.". I feel a strong urge to make things right between us. To try to anyway. Oddly enough, he's become a trusted ally. To me, at least.

"Emmett." My voice feels like it wants to fail. But I owe him this.

He turns halfway. He doesn't look at me, just the sky. It's as though he can't stand to look me in the eyes for whatever is coming next.

"I'm sorry for-"

"Save it." He glances in my direction, pressing his lips together. "I'll let you know if I find anything." With that he's gone, into his vehicle, and down the road before I can take another breath.

It's just as well, I decide. Because here, outside, alone, in the dark, comfort finds me, strangely enough. And it is here in the dismal abyss that I check every message I've received from Isabella.

There's the first one I received back before I took Emmett on our little trip. The text.

Almost here?

I wish I had gone to her instead. I wish I had simply forgotten about the vampire in my domain and stolen Isabella away, whether she was ready to or not. Maybe then… but no.

There is a red circle on the phone icon. My thoughts are forgotten as I struggle with the device, but I'm finally able to play a message she apparently left for me.

"Hi, Edward." Her voice is a song I feel I haven't heard in a thousand years. "Where'd you disappear to? Something happened here at my place and you're gone. Call me when you get this? Or just show up on my doorstep. I'd give anything to have you stalking me right now. I'm a little scared. And Edward, I love you."

Worry creeps up inside me at her words. I pull the phone away from my ear and notice another text that I hadn't before.

I wish you were here to hold me

Are you having doubts?

Are you afraid to talk to me like I talked to you?

Nothing could change how I feel about you

I promise

Come to me

Call me?

I love you

I know it's only been a couple of days

and maybe it's crazy

but I think I always will.

I trace the words.

I love you.

My chest aches. I despise that she's spent the majority of the evening questioning how I feel about her. Or that I would even consider running away.

I hate that it's me who's invoked this concern in her.

I find her number and press the call button on the phone. When I hear her voice, I smile.

"Isabella, I-"

"Thanks for calling! I'm clearly unavailable but leave a message and I'll call you back!"

It's not her. It's merely a recording of some sort. I waste no time in heading straight for her apartment, thinking of the last things we said to each other on that fucking rug in my fucking office. When she asked me how many there had been before her.

"I've never loved anyone before, Bella," I told her as I slid a hand between her legs. "Never." I pressed my lips against her neck, leaving goose flesh in my wake. "You're my first." I found the corner of her mouth. "My only," I admitted when I gazed into her eyes.

And then I savored her own confession as she whispered breathlessly, "I've never said it to anyone else, either."

A shaky breath leaves me as I take a moment to focus on her voice, exiting the car at Isabella's apartment.

I love you.

I take a tentative step toward telling Isabella everything but am stopped short when I notice a figure lurking near the building entrance - only they're not on the steps, they're in the bushes beside it. And I am taken back to my conversation with the crones from the underworld.

Surely, they would not disobey me after the consequences were so very clearly laid out before them.

Or is it Poseidon, looking to steal her away as well?

Because that's not going to happen.

I won't give him the satisfaction of turning my plans upside down.

Quietly, I sidle up behind whoever is hiding in the thorny brush. The closer I get, the more I realize it cannot be my brother. This person is too plump and… tiny. He's gruff and unkempt. Poseidon would never want to come across as anything but clean cut and powerful. And he would never cower like that.

I grab the human by his collar and hold him up for inspection with a curious glare.

"Who are you?" He smells like alcohol. It seeps from his pores. I hold him a bit further away.

"Dude, chill." He tries to wriggle out of my grasp, sloppily, but it's all for naught. "I'm just looking for someone." He swings his body and flails. "They live in this building."

He grunts and struggles, and I narrow my eyes before dropping him back down to the ground. As he lands, something falls from his grasp and clanks against the concrete sidewalk. I'm getting the most disturbing sense from him.

"Are they not home?" I ask him, interested in his reasons for hiding in the dark. "Why wouldn't you simply knock on their door?"

"I-I don't know, I just-" He shrugs at the building.

I cross my arms and peer at him skeptically. "Well perhaps I know them."

He bends down and retrieves his lost item, hiding it behind his back as though he's afraid I'll steal it. As though I have a need for such things.

He straightens his shirt but keeps an eye on me while he does it. He cracks his neck, readying for a fight if need be.

With me.

I laugh.

"She's not exactly the type to go around introducing herself to people," he tells me as he struggles with the iron item he holds.

She.

Now that indeed grabs my attention even more.

"You never know, do you?" I wave a hand at him. "Come, try me."

"Oh," he stammers. "Well, sure. I mean, she's about-" he holds a hand up-"This high. L-long brown hair. Brown eyes. Pretty vanilla."

"Vanilla?" Odd word to describe a human. They certainly don't taste like vanilla. At least Isabella doesn't. She's much sweeter and much more addictive.

"Yeah, you know, plain. Nothing to sneeze at."

I bite my lip a tad and nod.

"Her name?"

"What?"

"I could pass it along to the other people living in this domicile," I offer. "Perhaps they've seen her."

"Um." He's not sure he should.

"Come now," I tell him with a slight grin that manipulates him as only the god of hell could. "What can it hurt to have more people helping you find this girl?

"It's um-" He seems hesitant to tell me. Perhaps he senses danger, himself.

"Spit it out."

"Bella?" he finally says and clears his throat. "Bella Swan? But she might be going by another name. Higginbotham, or . . . Dwyer? I'm really not sure…"

He prattles on a bit more, but my heart sank as soon as he said her name, confirming my fears.

Bella. There is no other Bella who lives here. I know that much.

I love you, I hear her saying for the umpteenth time this evening.

You will not harm her, I hear myself repeating somewhere inside my mind. It's a now routine urge to protect her from whatever dangers loom.

Why is he searching her out? With a pistol of some sort, at that?

He's been wisely backing away this entire time, however, I have also been stalking toward him. He won't be escaping this conversation now.

"What do you want with Isabella?" I glower. His eyes grow big as my height grows slightly. The rage inside me starts to multiply.

"Isa- wait, you know her?"

I nod. "I do. But that doesn't answer my question, does it, human?"

He shakes his head rapidly and reaches for the revolver he's been trying to hide. I flick a hand and it flies from his grasp.

"What the-"

"I'll only ask you one more time. What. Do. You. Want. With. Her?"

Isabella's eyes flash before me, filled with love, trust, honesty.

I'm upon him now. He's more than afraid. He's terrified and searching for a way out of this predicament, but that won't be happening.

You will not hurt her.

"Answer me!"

"Okay!" He jumps and screams. "She killed my dad, alright?" He cowers and I am suddenly startled into ceasing my advance.

His father.

Bella's step-father.

The abusive husband and insolent guardian.

"You're related to the evildoer?"

I hear Isabella's word inside my mind.

She was never going to leave him. I couldn't lose her too.

I shot him. In cold blood.

"I just want her to answer for what she did, man." His voice shakes with the knowledge of what is about to befall him. "He didn't deserve it," he cries. "He was a good dad. I just- fuck. What the hell are you?"

And I liked it.

I tower over him now, with all my power. I let him see who he's encountered in the dark here, on the streets of the woman he plans to attack.

And I give him a cold smile.

"I am Hades, Jacob. Ruler of the underworld and overseer of the dead," I inform him calmly. His face is red with worry and his eyes water with tears that are far too late to shed.

"But I am also Orcus," I add. "The killer. And it is time for you to die."

He starts to scream as I snap a finger, but it's over as quickly as I thought it. I let out a sigh of relief and satisfaction. He is no longer a threat to Isabella and he no longer needs to search for vengeance against the murderer of his father.

As he lay on the pavement, blood dripping from his nose and ears, his eyes glaze over with death. I watch him, content that I've saved Isabella from not one but two fates worse than death this evening.

And I like it.

"Good luck, Jacob," I tell him, knowing where his soul is headed.

A scream pulls me from feeling justified in my actions, and I look up to see a small girl in a window up above, howling with terror at what has just taken place before her. Her horror jolts me into a sudden realization and I also hear the sounds of a certain vampire calling out from his new prison.

I can't understand why I wasn't able to reach out sooner, but nonetheless, I hear him now. And with a blink, I'm gone from Isabella's home and I'm with the vampire.

There's a disturbing irony in why Poseidon has trapped him here.

I stand on the bow of a sailboat, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, and we're in the midst of a storm that doesn't exist to the human eye. There he is, laboring to keep control of his boat and his wits.

I watch him fight to steer the vessel as he stands opposite me.

He's lost. And that's new to him. He doesn't understand why he can't quite grasp his whereabouts. Why he cannot see the stars. Why his technology refuses to work properly. Why his strength fails him.

He's disheveled. Tired. Exhausted even. He looks as though he's been here for months, and yet I know it's only been at the most a day.

He turns to fight with the sails once more when he notices he's not alone.

And then he sees me.

He turns and faces me as I watch him carefully, fully aware that finding him means I will need to find a way to exist in my own skin. And what that may mean for Isabella and me.

The vampire gives me a bewildered stare through rain and wind. He appears to recognize me, but he's not entirely sure why. I give him a half smile as I nod to him.

"Hello, Edward."

PSA: Songs are Let's go Crazy by Prince (mention) and - River By Leon Bridges

I swore this story would only have short chapters when I started. Apparently, that's out the window. Apologies for the long-winded trip to hell this week. Sue's beta skills are satan-sent. Chrisann's thoughts on this guy make me smile like a loon. And belladonnacullen forces me to (try and) keep up with her fantastic skills at the written word. THANK YOU as always, for reading this story. I am super grateful you're taking the time.