He nodded. “Wardens, the creatures who fill the dead zone, can pass through that bridge with spirits who do not belong in the area they are in. That can mean moving them to a better or worse level. However, they still use that bridge.”
“If it’s there, why do you need wardens?”
“Because the path between is treacherous and difficult to navigate. Wardens are one of the few who can find their way. Most who venture in without a warden never make it out again.”
I recalled the creature that I had seen the night I had met Hunter, which felt like a lifetime ago. “One showed up in my house…”
He turned to stare down at me, a calculation in his eyes that made me more than a little hesitant. “Wardens are drawn to things that do not belong where they are. You, mortal, seem to consistently be somewhere you do not belong.”
Truer words were never spoken. Still, I kept that to myself and turned to survey the room. It had a sitting area, a large bed, a dining table that sat eight, a bathroom through an open doorway. On the balcony, which didn’t appear to close or have drapes, were more places to sit. It reminded me of some penthouse room in a fancy hotel where diplomats and princes might go to stay.
Then again, what was hell if not some horrible travel destination that always sounded better in theory than person?
“Does the room meet your needs?”
His words were so careful, so polite. It set off alarm bells in my head. This man was, by all accounts, the most powerful being in hell, and yet he spoke to me as if he were an errand boy.
“Tell me what you want,” I said again, his careful demeanor enough to make me risk it. “You drew me here, so clearly you need something. Just come out with it.”
“That will come in time,” he answered. “For now, rest easy knowing I do not wish you dead. I have questions I hope you have answers to, but such things must be approached in the right way. Tonight, we will have a get-together to welcome you. There is clothing in the closet through that doorway, but if you require anything else, simply let the guard at the door know. There is also water on those shelves—I know how much you mortals need your liquids.” He stepped away with a slight bow, something old world and strange.
“I want to know if the people I came with are safe,” I blurted out as he turned away.
He paused, then glanced over his shoulder. “We want many things, mortal. What you will discover here is that they are all possible…for the right price.”
With that, he was gone, leaving me alone in the room, cut off from the people I relied on, and more confused than ever.
Chapter Twelve
I couldn’t take my eyes off myself. I had never been the dressy type of girl, maybe because no one noticed me even when I tried, and yet something about my reflection in the large mirror on the wall drew me in.
I wore a black dress that fit snug at my hips but flowed looser to my ankles, giving me room to move comfortably. The top had thick straps and didn’t sit too low, so I didn’t feel like that waitress at the ballroom, the one who nearly fell out of her shirt each time she bent forward.
My hair wasn’t greasy despite not having been able to wash it, but the black of it had been lightened by the ash. It was like a natural and gross dry shampoo.
My first look at the dresses had made me want to complain, but then I’d thought…what the hell?
When was the next chance I’d get to wear something like that, where I got to be the sort of girl who wear it?
So I’d thrown caution to the wind and tried on a few of the pieces, all of them fitting me to a suspicious degree. There was no way they hadn’t been put there specifically for me to wear.
Worse, the amount of clothing made me wonder just how long Lucifer expected me to be staying.
Instead of dwelling on that, I finished getting ready and drank more of the delicious water.
The bottles were glass, but somehow the water inside was cold despite no source of refrigeration that I could see. I had to guess it was magic, since everything else in hell had been stiflingly hot.
The room was no different, and even though it was immaculately decorated, the heat was worse than it had been farther away from the palace.
A knock on the door came, one that had me pulling away from the mirror and standing straight.
The knock came again, and I realized I’d never said to come in. Then again, I was pretty sure I was a prisoner, so I didn’t think manners counted for much. “Come in,” I called out.
The door opened, no creak to the hinges, but instead of Lucifer, it was a woman with long green hair and silver eyes. She was tall, thin and looked like lightness to the darkness of hell.
Her smile was wide and honest, and she walked around in her flowy yellow gown as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
That was the sort of comfort in dresses I’d always wanted and never managed.
“Ava?” she asked.
I managed to close my gaping mouth and nod.
“I’m Persephone. I told Lucifer he could handle the other guests and I would see to you. He can be dreadfully overwhelming with all that glowering he does.”
It took a moment to hear anything past her name, because the Greek mythology I had taken started repeating in my head.
“Wait, wouldn’t that make Lucifer Hades?”
She paused, her smile widening even more. “Yes. Well, sort of. Everyone gets parts of the stories wrong, or they take one tiny bit of truth and make it into a tale that
