Sirenz Back in Fashion (9 page)

Once outside, I was able to breathe easier. I quickly made my way over to the hole-in-the-wall coffee shop near the dorm. A huge latte and a cookie wouldn't solve my problems, but it would help me feel better.

Hustling to the door, I jerked it open, got on line, and ordered the biggest skim mocha latte they made, along with a chocolate chip macadamia nut cookie. I paid, got my treat, turned to go down to the barista to pick up my mega coffee—and almost slammed into Paulina.

How
…
?

“What are you doing here?” I asked, trying not to sound perturbed.

She shrugged. “I felt like … a latte.”

“Well, the line starts there,” I said, jerking my head toward the back of the shop.

“Oh.” She looked away with an almost lost expression—if someone could look that way with those monster glasses on. I felt a tiny twinge of guilt.

“Look, I have a few places to go, so I'll see you later,” I said. “Okay?”

She started a slow, sad shuffle toward the back of the line. The twinge turned into a nasty pinch.

Why me? Why me? Why me?

“Wait,” I said, before I could stop myself.

Paulina turned around. By the way her eyebrows tilted up and her mouth opened a crack, I could see the hope registered on her face.

“I'll wait for you here,” I sighed. “Go get your stuff.”

She smiled hugely and loped off to the back of the line.

You're an idiot, Meg. You don't befriend someone you have to betray.
I could just see my conscience wagging its finger at me.

Paulina kept looking back, as if she was checking to make sure I was still there. Every time her shrouded eyes met mine, she'd shoot me that weird half-smile that on a guy would have been cute.

Finally, a huge drink and bulging bag of treats in hand, she sidled up to me.

“So where are we going?”

Where were
we
going? I'd been trying to escape Paulina, and now I'd invited her along. “I was … just going to do a little shopping. I guess.”

She took a sip from her cup. “Okay.”

Shopping with Paulina was nothing like shopping with Shar. For one thing, despite how far she'd come with music, Shar would never spend an hour perusing downloads; Paulina and I managed to blow away nearly two hours loading up several of her slick devices. But I turned her down when she offered to get Elysian Fields' newest songs for me. An outing was one thing—that could be considered research. Accepting gifts was another.

We wandered over to the colossal windows of ABC to admire the displays.

I spied a bracelet made of ebony beads, with a silvery charm of a running horse. Its mane was sculpted in such a way that it looked like it was captured mid-gallop. It looked happy, wild, and free.
Unlike me.

“Oh, I really like that!” The gush escaped before I could stop it; it was the first thing I'd revealed about myself all afternoon.

“It's nice,” Paulina agreed. “Want to go have a look?”

I nodded. What harm could looking at a bracelet do? Hades hadn't given me the no-limit Visa or apartment this time—all I'd gotten was the iPhone, which was turning out to be absolutely useless. In addition to blocking the call function so that I couldn't reach the one person I most wanted to talk to, or any helpful goddesses either, there were new apps he'd loaded apparently just for me:
Acropolis Cleaners
, specializing in fleece.
Archimediate Time Management Services
, legendary experts in delegation, scheduling, and prioritizing.
Harpy Assassinations
, for when you didn't want to get your hands dirty.
Fury Us Legal Services
, fair-deals-r-us.
Carnivoropolis
, a guide to NY's meateries. And the phone was a constant reminder and link to Hades; he could harass me whenever he wanted.

Paulina opened the store door for me, then followed me inside. The bare floors creaked as I moved from table to table, looking for my bauble, when I heard a clock chime. Once. I pulled out my watch: 6:30. I only had a half hour to get uptown to Shar!

“Paulina!” I called. She came right over.

I stood on one foot, feeling bad about ditching her like this. “I forgot I have to … meet someone. I'm really sorry.”

There was that sad kicked puppy look again, but I didn't have time to think about it.

“I won't be long. See you back at the dorm, okay?”

She nodded.

“Later,” I said.

Not waiting for the half-grin that seemed to have a mysterious softening effect on me, I turned and bolted out the door and over to the subway.

The Express Q landed me on 56th Street, but I had to race up the avenue to get to Pandora's Box. I arrived there, panting, at 6:54, and stood in front of the window waiting for the moment of change. People walked in front of me and behind me, blocking my view of the display: a life-size mannequin, posed in an elaborate red dress and made entirely of chocolate. The same as last week.

I kept glancing at my watch. When the minute hand hit 6:55, the window went black. I backed up a step, and a second later, Shar stood in front of me, wearing a filmy, one-shouldered white dress trimmed in gold. She looked like a goddess.

“Nice dress. I like it better than the bikini,” I said, ignoring a banker type who gave me a quizzical look, then a wide berth as he strode by.

She pursed her lips. “Funny. I don't have a lot of choices—barely there, somewhat there, or not there at all. I'm working with what I've got. Give me a break!” Then she tilted her head. “I'm guessing you didn't get a chance to try the fleece. Since I'm still here.”

I shook my head and dug in my purse for the iPhone, which I held up. “I've been trying all week. She's always awake first, dressed and sitting in the dark, waiting. Talk about creepy. I try to get up early; I even set the iPhone for 4 a.m., but it didn't go off. Probably you-know-who. Do you have any other ideas?”

“Sleeping pills in her water bottle?” Shar shrugged. “Tell me about her. What classes is she in?”

“She's in Calc with me. And Lit.

“Those are
my
classes!” Shar started.

“I know. By some
miracle
Elwood was able to plug her in all the right places,” I said shrewdly. The implication wasn't lost on her.

“Whatever.” She looked away. “Go on. What does she like?”

“Music,” I said. “You should see the sound system she brought in—it takes up an entire wall of the room! She put on this Elysian Fields live album and I thought I was actually at a concert.” At the last words I caught the sound of my voice—it seemed a bit too enthusiastic. Shar didn't look happy.

“Just music?” She slitted her eyes at me.

“It's only been a week. The crew that moved her in turned the room into a cave. Her bed's black, most of her clothes are black … ” I trailed off.

“Sounds like you two have a lot in common.” Shar crossed her arms over her chest—was she pouting?

Better not tell her about going out for coffee and then shopping—although I didn't initiate that.

“You have to know this is all Hades' doing,” I said. “He's making things deliberately challenging on several levels—separating us, putting me with someone with the same interests, giving her your schedule; all of it to psyche us out.”

She dragged her eyes to meet mine. “You really think so?”

“Absolutely. I'm sure he'd love a cat fight between you and me—one that distracts us from what's really going on. And I bet there's more to this, just like last time.”

She nodded grimly and was about to say something when I heard her watch chime.

I put my hand up to the glass. “I'll try again!” I shouted quickly. “And I'll see what else—”

The glass went black, and then back to the chocolate mannequin. Our five minutes were gone, and we'd accomplished nothing. When I turned to go, a homeless man and an old lady with a shopping trolley were staring at me like
I
had problems.

“Excuse me,” I said, but I didn't have to; they both backed away. As Shar would say,
Whatever
.

All the way home, I steeled myself for dealing with Paulina and justifying why I'd been nice to her. I'd have to be polite, but distant. No connections. With no other options, I had to try sneak-shanking her with the fleece again. Tonight I'd have to have it ready, perhaps tucked under my bed. Maybe I'd just not sleep at all—I'd pulled all-nighters before.

When I got back to the dorm, light slid out from under the crack of our door and music played softly on the other side. Taking a deep breath, I slid my key into the lock and went in. Paulina's messenger bag lay on the floor next to her bed, but she wasn't there.

“Must've gone to the bathroom or something,” I muttered to myself. I was glad I had a few seconds alone. I had to get ready for tonight, and I really didn't want her to see me get the fleece out. In fact, maybe it would be better if all conversation was kept to a minimum.

I walked over to my bed and was about to toss my stuff onto it when I saw a little silk bag on my pillow. It was blue, the same color as my eyes. I picked it up; it felt weighty. Untying the knot on the bag, I gasped as I slipped out the horse bracelet. A little tag fluttered out:

For Meg, from me. P.

This was going to get seriously complicated.

Shar

Not Telling!

Light filled that sumptuous yet foreign bedroom. Not sunlight, but the odd brightness that passed for daytime in Tartarus.

I was still here. Meg hadn't succeeded. Yet.

Groaning, I picked up the watch from my bedside table. It didn't tell real time—in this place, time was impossible to measure. There were no clocks or calendars, and sunrises were irregular. Even my body clock couldn't tell me when to sleep or eat. I only knew that when the hand on Ben's watch neared the twelve o'clock point, I might get to talk to Meg. Not that I ever noticed the hands moving until right before it chimed. The only thing I was somewhat certain of, based on our five-minute meetings, was that I'd been here a little over a week. Another call from Meg would mean it was two weeks.

I couldn't wait to talk to Meg. I wanted to be at the box for every precious second. With an exasperated sigh, I blew up my messy bangs, got dressed, and squandered away more time exploring the palace—the game rooms, the movie theaters, the indoor pool. I didn't want to go “outside.” Somehow the beautiful settings seemed more lonely. I even missed Cerberus, who wasn't answering my whistles.

When the watch finally jingled that it was time to talk, I hurried to the throne room. Running across the floor, I skidded to a stop right in front of Pandora's Box and lifted the lid.

“Shar!” said Meg, her face beaming.

“Meg!” I replied with a facetious brightness. “I'm still here!”

She blushed. Something wasn't right.

“I know. I'm sorry. The morning trap's not gonna work. She's always up before me. I even set an alarm for two a.m.”

“And?”

She looked away and in a lame voice said, “I fell asleep again.”

“Meg!”
You can catch up on sleep another time! I'll even do your homework, your laundry for you!

“I'm sorry.”

“Throw it on her when she's in the shower!” I practically shouted. Really, how hard could it be to put a fleece on someone?

“I'm trying to figure things out up here,” Meg said, sounding defensive. “I have to play nice for appearance's sake. And school hasn't stopped just because of this assignment.” She put a hand over her eyes. “I'm up to my ears in Calc. And I have a Social Studies paper.”

It was a lot, I guessed. I tried to feel some sympathy for her. But seriously, I was in
Tartarus
! I looked at her, ready to launch a string of reasons why she needed to put everything—school included—aside to finish this, when she lowered her hand and I saw her face. She was miserable. Of course Hades wanted us to be at odds with each other.

I took a deep breath. “That girl has my dorm room, my schedule, my friend, my
LIFE!”
Oh, little purloining Paulina was sooooo lucky I wasn't there. She was the person I should be mad at. Her
and
Hades.

“I did a little research,” Meg offered brightly. “There's something
you
can do.”

“Like what?” I pressed my lips together.

“There's a way out of there,” she said, lowering her voice.

“Definitely?” I perked up. Ben warned me not to “heed wild tales” of escape routes, but was he dense? His not-so-subtle warning had raised my suspicion that there probably
was
a way out. He'd have served his master better by keeping his mouth shut. “But how do you know?” I asked. “And why are you whispering?”

Meg glanced from side to side, shifting her eyes.

“I'm attracting an audience here. I thought our conversations would be private, but … ” She rolled her eyes. “Thanks, Hades!”

I felt a stab of guilt for giving her a hard time. Without a doubt, Hades was toying with her, and she'd been thinking about getting me out while I just waited around.

“Well? What do I do?” I prompted, glancing desperately at the hands on the watch. “Hurry!”

“You need to find someone named Eurydice,” Meg said. “I looked it up just to be sure. She's the only one who almost made it out.”

“Almost?” I sputtered. “You're sending me to someone who had an epic fail?”

“It wasn't
her
fault,” Meg replied defensively. “Her husband, Orpheus, was a musician. He was so broken up when she died from snake bites that his songs made even Hades and Persephone cry.”

“No way!” I said. “That's hard to believe, although Hades did relent a bit when we went hysterical on him.”

“So anyway,” Meg rushed on, “Hades told Orpheus that he could take Eurydice back to the mortal world with him, and set them both on a passage back. Orpheus was supposed to walk ahead of her. The only condition was that he wasn't allowed to look back, but—”

“He looked back,” I finished. “Which means she's still here.”

“The story goes that she was sucked back down and never saw the mortal world again. But she would know where the way out is. She's seen it.”

“I'm on it.” I nodded.

The watch started chiming.

“Time's up!” I cried.

“Look for Eurydice!” she shouted just before the box went black.

I noticed she hadn't said anything about trying to get the fleece on Paulina again, but still, I felt better. There was something I could do instead of waiting around and trying to avoid Hades, who truth be told had been surprisingly absent. Since he apparently relished having me down here, I thought he'd be making a pest of himself, but it seemed he was up to no good somewhere else.

“What are you doing?”

I jumped. Caz strolled up to me in his lazy gait. He was dressed in casual khakis and a loose, barely blue cotton shirt. Very airy and light, and sexy on him.

“Talking to my … friend. Up there,” I pointed. A heavy sigh escaped. I hadn't told Meg about Caz; there hadn't been enough time. And really, there wasn't much to tell.

“Hades lets you? That's a first.” Caz's sleek blond hair slipped over his eyes. Impatiently, he brushed it aside.

I nodded. “Yes. I'm allowed to talk to Meg once a week.”
Don't say too much! Contract violation! More time for bad behavior!
“She's, uh, keeping me up-to-date on homework. And stuff. But don't go giving him too much credit. We only get five minutes.” I wiped sweaty palms on my Grecian gown. My hands always perspired when I was lying. Only my mother knew this, and I was determined to keep it that way.

“He's never allowed
any
one, not even Persephone, to talk to anyone outside his kingdom while they're here. She sneaks to the mortal plane to do that.” Caz's gaze was shrewd. “I'm stunned. I'd ask how you managed that, but I'm guessing you can't discuss it.”

I looked away.

He glanced around. “I was hoping to run into you earlier today, but I guess he's been keeping you busy. Want to go explore, or are you waiting for … ”

“Him? Pffft. As if.” I made a face. “I'd like to see the Elysian Fields. I wanted to ask—” I just managed to shut my mouth before blabbing about trying to find Eurydice. Cute as he was, Caz was still in the “need to know” category for giving out information.

He cocked his head, those blue gray eyes, the color of a stormy sea, so beguiling, mesmerized me. I stared at them, forgetting what I was saying.

“Ask what?”

“Huh?” I replied stupidly.

“What did you want to ask? Something in the Elysian Fields you wanted to see?” he prompted.

Oh. Right.
My brain went to bubblegum with him around.

Sweat rolled down my palms. “I wanted to ask if people really liked it here. Hades says it's not all bad.”

Caz smirked. “It's not all good, either, but I'll show you around. Come.” Before he could grab my hand, I swiped them on my dress.

“Wow, you've got really warm hands.” He tugged me along to one of the side doors. He opened it and we stepped into a desert. Great hills of pink sand rolled, with an oasis not far in the distance. “Before we hit the Elysian Fields, you really have to see this.” He grinned mischievously. We ran to a cluster of golden palm trees and I gasped at the lavender lake in front of me.

“It's
purple
,”
I breathed. Beautiful, breathtaking.

“Yeah. Hades likes to add his own twist to everything. Poseidon favors blues and greens, so Hades went in a completely different direction. I think it's a kind of game, like—” And he sang, “ ‘Ifffff Iiiiii were the kinnnnng of the pantheeeeeeon.' ”

It was a fair imitation of the Cowardly Lion from
The Wizard of Oz.
I couldn't stop the giggle.

“Yep, that sounds like Hades. Has to do things his way.” I moved slowly forward. Of course, if the lake was purple, the fish had to be different too. Even as a kid, I never would have dreamed of fish with fur. Or the patterns and shapes I saw now. It was like modern art gone sea crazy.

“Un. Be. Lieve. Able.”

Again Caz reached for my hand, and I followed. We ran over a shimmering pink sand dune to a red mountain range.

“Before we climb to the top, you have to see the caves.”

Climb to the top of Underworld Everest? In a dress and sandals?
This boy was seriously misguided. A cave didn't sound too doable either. I really needed to be looking for Eurydice. We'd already wasted time doing nothing, but I wanted to be with him. It'd been a while since I'd felt this way about anyone. Staying a little longer wouldn't hurt.

The cave opening was around eight feet in both height and diameter. We entered, pausing to let our eyes adjust to the darkness. The floor was stone, no dust! I wouldn't have dirt between my toes if the rest of the cave was like this. Although it would be cool to rinse off in the lavender lake. Provided the furry fish didn't bite. One never knew with Hades.

Caz moved to stand in front of me. “Okay, close your eyes. Let me lead you, and when I say, then you can open.”

I started to object, but he cupped my face with his hands, warm and so not sweaty.

“Trust me.”

Should I?

He was a prisoner, like me, and knowing our petulant overlord and his penchant for creative punishments, Caz wasn't likely to hurt one of Hades' pets.

Plus his eyes were too soft, his hands too gentle for me to believe he would do me any harm.

And I
wanted
to go.

I closed my eyes.

He moved behind me and gently, slowly, guided me forward. No steps or rocks interfered with my walk. When we'd gone about a dozen steps, I could feel the coolness of the cave and that slightly musty odor of damp rocks. Water dripped in the background and it sounded musical, like drops falling on bells.

“Look,” he whispered, his breath soft and warm in my ear, his body close to me. My heart beat a little faster. I opened my eyes. The cave had become a concert hall cast in stone, the ceiling studded with diamonds and giving the illusion of millions of tiny lights. The columns were a rainbow of gemstones: onyx at the bottom, followed by rubies, sapphires, emeralds, and topazes. The breath left my body in a whoosh. All I could do was stare.

“Hard to believe Hades created this, huh? He's a mystery, that one.”

I nodded dumbly.

“Sing something.”

Finally coming to my senses, my head snapped around. “What?”

“Sing. La la la.” His voice echoed, but it sounded better—richer and deeper—than when he'd sung the Cowardly Lion melody.

The only song that came to mind was the birthday song. “Happy Birthday … ” My voice was sweet and full, and so much stronger than in real life. This place was better than the acoustic music room at school.

“Amazing! I could do concerts here. I'd be a
rock
star!”

Caz looked at me for a full second before he groaned and laughed.

Oh yeah, I still had the wit.

“All right, Lady Shar Shar. We still have a lot to see.”

This time, I grabbed his hand. He gave me a huge smile and off we went. It seemed like only steps and we were enshrined in a secret garden.

“The only garden in Tartarus,” said Caz.

“But I thought, given who his mother-in-law is, there wouldn't be any flowers or trees.” An adorable bunny hopped close but Caz yanked me back. He stooped and picked up a rock, throwing it at Thumper.

“What are you doing?” I demanded. “How could you?”

He pointed. The rabbit hissed, showing enormous fangs. He picked up another, larger rock. The rabbit hissed again and I shrank back. Caz lifted his arm and the creature bounded off.

“That's Hades' snub at Demeter. Takes all her cute and fuzzy animals and turns them deadly.” Caz dropped the stone and quickly grabbed my hand as I bent to stroke a velvety petal of an iridescent chartreuse flower. “Be careful,” he warned. “Not everything is at it appears. Even the flowers. Avoid them, they're lethal.”

I heard grumbling and tried to step under the shadow of a large tree, but Caz pulled me back again.

“What're you doing?” he whispered, his brow furrowed, “You have to be careful here! This place is dang—”

“Shhhh!” I hissed, pulling him close. “I thought I heard someone.”

He looked around. “Don't worry. It's just the gardener.” He pointed to a stooped and wizened figure burdened with a pair of enormous hedge clippers.

My heart jumped into my mouth.

Arkady Romanov!

He looked just as I remembered, old and frail, but he moved around the garden with ease, hauling the shears. He cautiously approached what looked like a perfect tree with pink and yellow flowers. He hesitated for a moment before reaching up with the clippers and snapping off a low-hanging branch. The tree shook, and one of the pink flowers morphed into something that looked like a mouth filled with rows and rows of jagged teeth.