Page 20 of On a Pale Horse
His voice wove a spell through Cloris and unlike Hades, she had little control over it from years of practice. She glanced over, but Hades appeared unaffected. His voice whispered across her skin like smoky velvet lined rooms promising sweet oblivion. It wasn’t sexual but carnal, elemental.
Before she could answer Hades reached out and drew the man into a hug, ruffling his already ruffled hair. He looked the same as when she last saw him, but the lines which appeared around his eyes as he smiled in Hades’ embrace appeared deeper.
His teeth even and white, his skin a deep tanned shade of brown from living in desert lands. “What do I owe this pleasure?”
He met Cloris’s eyes, and she had to tell him the truth. It was physically impossible to lie in his presence. “We have come to find the Scales of Maat, and we were hoping you could help as you were once their guardian.”
Nine
Hades
“My old friend, it’s good to see you again.” He clutched the doctor tight in an embrace. He had so few friends when he found them, he kept them close.
Cloris cleared her throat. Buck turned to face her, but they did not embrace, simply exchanged conspiratorial salutes with a dip of their heads.
“Come in, come in. I don’t have class and it seems we have much to discuss.”
He had a slight accent that lent itself to Middle Eastern origins, but Hades had known Anubis since before he’d been trapped by Hel and fallen in with the Horseman, so he had no origin save the universe.
Cloris and Hades filed in and took two plush gray armchairs across from the desk covered end to end in aged parchment and old books. Anubis didn’t sit on the other side, he hopped up and perched on the edge of his own desk, sending papers flying off the other side. Hades made to grab them, but the professor waved him to sit.
Anubis jumped right to the point. “There are things happening in my city I don’t like.”
Cloris crossed one leg over the other like she wore her usual dress and heels. The impact of confidence held even in cargo pants and a t-shirt. Hades took a moment to appreciate that about her with a smile.
Hades turned his focus back to his old friend. “What sort of things?”
“There are souls, half living, half dead within the tombs and temples. A great power arrived here last night. I haven’t had time to discover what it means, but I have a feeling it concerns the pair of you. It doesn’t help the case you are here now.”
Cloris reached out to take Hades’ hand. “Do you think they’ve awakened theEinherjaralready?” She gripped his hand tighter, “Persephone.”
Hades had only just seen her but didn’t want to admit that to Cloris and then have to explain himself. A part of him hoped they would get through this and he’d be able to go forward with their plans. But with Cloris offering him something else … maybe he didn’t need it after all. That didn’t mean he wasn’t going to do his best to help Persephone if Hel really had marched on the Underworld. He recalled the Nymphs. Persephone had little in place to protect herself. And he had experience with Hel’s warfare tactics.
He didn’t offer any of his thoughts to Cloris, who now stared at him wide-eyed and panic-stricken. “We’ll figure out what is happening and fix it.”
Turning back to Anubis, he released Cloris and took Anubis’s hand from the edge of the desk. “Please, we wouldn’t be here if we didn’t need your help. We must find the Temple of Maat. I think that is where the problems originate.”
“If you seek the Scales of Maat, then I must inform you that you will have to pass a series of trials to gain them. Maat wasn’t about to let her greatest treasure fall into unknown hands if she could help it.”
He smiled wide before releasing Hades and grabbing a sheet of paper. With a flourish, he scribbled a map and held it out. Cloris snatched it and bent to study it. “This is Karnack?”
“Yes,” Anubis answered with an accompanying nod.
Hades smiled at his old friend. “Thank you. We have to go find this place, but I’ll return and thank you properly once our work is done.”
Anubis stood and hugged Hades, who squeezed tight in return. He’d forgotten how much he missed the man. They had more in common than Hades had with most other immortals, especially other so-called Gods.
Anubis patted his cheek gently. “Bring a bottle of something when you return, would you? I don’t get good wine out here.”
Hades nodded and turned to usher Cloris out, but she’d already headed toward the door while he said goodbye. One day he was going to need to question Cloris about her relationship with Anubis. There seemed to be a palpable tension between them. For now, he was simply curious. After they left, he had to at least ask something. “What’s up with you and Buck?”
She snorted at the nickname but didn’t respond to that. “Anubis and I have a history, same as you and him. Unfortunately, humans aren’t the only ones who die, and when he lost someone important to him, I had to escort them to the Underworld. He wanted to come, but by then his power had diminished and he was unable. I think he resents me for that somewhat.”
Hades nodded. He forgot how old she was sometimes. Thinking of her only beginning with the Horseman. But no, Death had no beginning, and it had no end. When there was no more life left to the universe, only then could Cloris sleep. Would this power exchange even work for someone such as her?
Cloris didn’t hesitate this time but grabbed Hades’ hand and then found themselves in an underground causeway. The air was thick, hot, and heavy with the scent of death. Hades had to breathe through it, adjust, Cloris looked untouched by it.
She released his hand and began walking in the complete darkness.
