Page 29 of Until Death

"As you wish, my king.”

"Good. Then that will be all for now," I say, dismissing him with a wave of my hand.

“Of course.”

Once he has left the room, I take a deep breath as I chuckle to myself.

The plan is in motion, and I can almost taste the power surging through me as I think of what is to come.

The mortal will be mine, and with her by my side, I will be unstoppable.

I stride over to the window and look out over the kingdom, my eyes scanning the horizon.

“Soon, we shall learn if a kingdom can truly be borne of a mere mortal.”

11

Eros

Ilet out an exasperated sigh, crossing my arms over my chest, as I stand before the gates to the Underworld once again.

It took longer than I expected to get through the forest, and I am not sure how many hours I lost among the trees. Though, judging by the fading light, it was far too many.

Of course, Death is nowhere to be found now, not that I expected him to just be standing around where Hazel left him … though, I suppose a small part of me did, but there is no trace of him.

Stepping closer to the gate, I reach out to make sure the mortal’s father is still held firmly to the gate when a hand grabs my wrist from the other side.

“What are you doing?”

“Who areyouto question me, mortal?” I scoff, pulling my hand back as strength is pulled from me at his touch.

“Did you hurt her? Is she here?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Hazel, is she here? Is … is that what happened to her?”

I freeze, a chill racing over my skin as I take a step back, my unseeing eyes shifting about as if trying to put a face to the voice.

“Who asks?”

“Her brother.”

I frown at this, trying to recall if I ever heard her mention a brother … and if so, what she told me of him. But I simply cannot remember.

“Wait, what areyoudoing here?”

“You have yet to answer my questions,” the young man says coolly.

I narrow my gaze at him, knowing full well how unsettling I can appear to mortals as I draw myself up.

“As I said before, I owe you no explanation. You are inmyrealm now, and you would do well to remember it.”

“You—”

The young man is cut off by a sudden cry, and the next thing I know, he has disappeared into the thick of the ever-growing sea of souls.

A curse escapes me as I shift out of my human form and lift my snout to the air. Even in my animal form, I cannot scent him. I do not even know his name to draw him toward me. There are too many souls wandering on the other side for me to make heads or tails of anything.