that mean you’re really alive?”
Charon stands back up, and his face creases into the smile I love. “It’s been up for debate many times.”
“And…?” I step into the boat.
He unties the rope, and I sit down, in the middle this time, near enough to Charon so I can talk. After we get out on the water, I plan to ask him my questions. To see what I can learn.
Charon shrugs and picks up the pole, already shoving it in the water to move the boat forward. “Let’s just say I don’t think I’ll die anytime soon.”
I see my opening. “Will I?”
Charon looks at me, and our eyes catch. The smile sinks away, and then finally, he looks out toward the water. “The monsters are a bit restless these days.”
He’s trying to avoid talking. But I’ve got him pinned like a mouse in a labyrinth with no exit, and I’m not going to lose my opportunity, even if he is poling faster, trying to reach the shore sooner.
“Do you know who I am, Charon?” I figure I can’t get much more direct than that.
Charon looks back at me and nods. “You’re Piper.”
Before I can say anything else, a monster bumps into the side of the boat, sending a spray of water up and drenching me. At the touch of the water, a wave of sorrow overcomes me, and I break down crying. I’m sobbing though I don’t expect Charon to come near me or comfort me, and he doesn’t. He’s probably seen this a million times before.
“It’ll pass, Piper. I promise.”
“I just want the lies to go away.” I’m still crying, but as the water drips off me, the sadness slips away with it.
Charon doesn’t say anything, and we cross in silence. Before I know it, I’m jolted when the boat bumps into the dock. But I don’t stand up.
“Aren’t you getting out?” he asks. He’s hopped out ahead of me and has already tied the rope, holding out a hand to help me.
I sigh, but it comes out mixed with a sob. Am I destined to never know anything? “Maybe I should just go back home.”
Charon purses his lips. His eyes flicker around—at the shore with the giant trees towering above, toward the empty tunnel in the rocks ahead, then back at the water. The wails of the sorrows tear at me, and each time I hear one, I see a monster jump up out of the reeds and snatch it from the air.
“Piper.”
I turn back to Charon. “What?”
He’s not looking at me. His eyes are still focused on the tumultuous water. Overhead, the crows call out their song, echoing around from one tree to the next. “Things in the Underworld haven’t always been this bad.”
I hold my breath. Maybe he’s going to tell me what I want to know. “In what ways?”
Charon points to the water. “The monsters are vicious now. The realms are getting out of control. Even the Elysian Fields. There’s talk of other gods gaining entry. Not to mention the overlords are seizing more power every day.”
I think of Minos. Of Ares appearing in Asphodel, if only as a shadow. Of Hell not working correctly. “How long have things been going wrong?”
Charon turns, and his milky white eyes meet mine. “Eighteen years.”
When he says it, it’s like I’ve been punched in the stomach. It’s the same amount of time my Earth above has been in the Global Heating Crisis. A Hell of its own with a sun which only gets more powerful by the day. Eighteen years. There’s something connecting my Earth above and this Hell below. Eighteen years. It echoes in my mind.
It’s the same amount of time I’ve been alive.
Are the secrets I crave somehow tied to the physical sufferings of the worlds both above ground and below? And am I somehow involved?
I open my mouth to respond, but I can’t think of anything to say.
“Please be safe,” Charon says.
I snap out of my thoughts and see him reaching back into the boat. I stand up and give him my hand so he can help me out. And no sooner am I on the dock, walking away from the boat, than I know it’s already slipping away through the reeds and the swampy water behind me. And just like everything so far, I only have more questions and still have no answers.
Chapter 33
Sisyphus
I stare at the ten tunnels. I don’t know which one to choose. I don’t even know where the others go. And Cerberus is nowhere to be found. I think he would have led me in the right direction.
The sixth tunnel is the one we took last time, but when I walk up toward it, I’m hit with hatred. A red fungus suddenly covers the edge of the cave’s mouth. I turn from it because the thought of taking that path makes me want to vomit. I step in front of the tunnel to its left, and the nauseous feeling is replaced by happiness. Green ivy covers the opening.
I stare through the illusion of ivy down the dark path. I count my heartbeats.
I don’t need happiness. I need answers.
This tunnel must lead to the Elysian Fields, but after Charon’s staid words, I know Rhadam won’t tell me much either. No one will. I focus on the ivy, which I think is an illusion, but I feed my anger into it until it bursts into flames. I watch it burn. And then I locate the tunnel with the hatred again and take a step inside.
Voices greet me.
I cover my ears and close my eyes but soon realize they’re inside my head, like specters floating around, trying to latch onto something real.
Each word is a chorus, beckoning me. I haven’t moved since my initial step inside the tunnel, and I want them to go away. I turn, thinking I’ll leave. Knowing this is a bad idea. But the opening where I came from is no longer there.
They know my name. I shake my head and take another step forward, trying to move as far away from the haunting sounds as possible.
“Stop!” I say it aloud, but the voices ignore me.
When they say it, I know where they’re coming from. The one place in Hell I haven’t been. Tartarus. Hearing the sounds helps me realize why Shayne didn’t want me to go there. They’re tearing at my insides, devouring my brain. I can’t get them out.
My heart skips around in my chest, and a hollow feeling of dread settles on my stomach. I just want them to go away. Squeezing my eyes shut again, I think of Shayne. Of Chloe. Even of my mom. Anything to make them depart.
