Hades

13 Speak of the Devil

I had no idea what time it was in Venus Cove, but I kept imagining Xavier’s bedroom with its sports paraphernalia and lopsided piles of textbooks on the carpet. For some reason that’s where I most wanted to go. The thought of being in his room surrounded by his things made my heart race with longing. Where was Xavier right at this very moment? Was he happy or sad? Was he thinking about me? One thing I knew with certainty was that Xavier possessed the kind of decency that made heroes out of mortals. He had never abandoned his friends in times of need and he wasn’t about to abandon me now.

I felt cold and saw that the embers in the grate were dying. I reached for the wine-colored throw draped over the foot of my bed and wrapped myself in it. The candles were burned almost to the wick and cast strange elongated shadows across the walls.

Having decided that I would not be left to languish in Jake’s airless kingdom somehow made me feel calmer. As soon as I felt the first waves of sleep, I focused my energy on reconnecting with Xavier in my mind. My body grew heavier and yet I felt an indescribable lightness. It was not possible to pinpoint the exact moment of scission, when matter and spirit chose to follow different paths, but I knew it was happening the minute the details of my hotel room blurred and suddenly the plaster rose on the ceiling was in front of my nose. All I had to do then was allow myself to drift.

As I drifted, like a humming vibration, I travelled through time and space and over water until I reached my final resting place. I was standing in Xavier’s bedroom. I didn’t land there so much as blow in like a wind under the door. Xavier had thrown himself full length across his bed and was lying on his stomach, face buried in the pillow. He hadn’t even bothered to take off his shoes. On the floor a hefty volume of the Princeton Review’s Best 371 Colleges lay abandoned. His mom, Bernie, had arranged a copy for me too — insisting we both had to make a list of our top ten choices. I smiled at the memory, recalling the conversation Xavier and I had had only days before the Halloween party. We’d been lying on the south lawn taking turns reading aloud the most interesting statistics about our short-listed schools.

“We’re going to the same college, right?” he’d asked, but it was more of a statement than a question.

“I hope so,” I replied. “But I guess it depends on whether they want to station me somewhere else.”

“They can just butt out. No more ifs, Beth,” Xavier said. “We tell them what we want now. We’ve been through enough to have earned that right.”

“Okay,” I said and meant it. I took the hefty volume from him and flipped causally through the pages.

“What about Penn State?” I asked, trailing my finger down the index.

“Are you kidding? My parents would have a combined coronary.”

“Why? What’s wrong with it?”

“It’s known as a party school.”

“I thought the choice was up to you.”

“It is, but that doesn’t mean they’re not rooting for Ivy League. Or at least somewhere like Vanderbilt.”

“University of Alabama?” I asked. “Molly and the girls have applied there. They want to be sorority sisters.”

“Another three years with Molly?” Xavier wrinkled his nose teasingly.

“I like the sound of Ole Miss,” I said dreamily. “What do you think? Oxford would be just like here, our own little world.”

Xavier smiled. “I think I like that idea. And it’s close to home. Put it on the list.”

The conversation replayed itself in my head as if it had happened yesterday. Now, here was Xavier, slumped on his bed, all plans for the future abandoned. He flipped over to lie on his back, eyes staring blankly at the ceiling. He looked lost in thought and his face showed visible signs of exhaustion. I knew him well enough to be able to read his mood. He was thinking: What now? What do I do now? What more can I do? Xavier’s rational side was very strong. It was the reason so many people brought their problems to him. Even students he didn’t know very well would come to him for advice on which AP class to take or what sport to try out for. Whatever the question they rarely walked away disappointed. Xavier had this uncanny ability to examine a problem from all angles at once. In fact, the tougher the problem, the more determined he was to solve it. Except the one facing him now floored him completely. This time it didn’t matter how many angles he considered it from. He had no answers and I knew it was killing him. Helpless was not something Xavier was accustomed to feeling.

I thought of all the things I so badly wanted to whisper to him. Don’t worry. We’ll work this out. We always do. We’re invincible, remember? It felt strange, our roles being suddenly reversed. This time it was my job to try and get Xavier through. I willed myself forward so I was hovering just inches away from his face. His eyes were half open, slivers of sky, but melancholy, missing their usual brilliance. His light walnut-colored hair fell across the pillow and his lashes glistened with unshed tears. The wave of emotion that hit me was so strong I almost had to turn away. Xavier was never like this. His eyes were full of life even when he was being serious. He could brighten a room just by entering it. This was the senior class president of Bryce Hamilton; respected and loved by the entire school population. He was the one person nobody ever spoke a bad word against. I hated seeing him so defeated.

A tentative tapping at Xavier’s door startled me so much I flew across the room, generating a rush of wind that almost overturned a chair, but Xavier barely seemed to notice. A few moments later, the door opened a crack and Bernie stuck her head into the room. She looked apologetic for interrupting his privacy, but as soon as she saw her son lying listlessly on the bed, concern flooded her face. She covered it quickly with feigned cheerfulness. I could see in her expression her love for Xavier and her intense desire to protect him. He looked so beautiful he could have been an angel himself, but so profoundly sad, it frightened me.

“Can I get you anything?” Bernie asked. “You hardly touched your dinner.”

“No, thanks, Mom.” Xavier’s voice was flat and lifeless. “I just need some sleep.”

“What’s going on with you, honey?” Bernie inched toward the bed and tentatively sat down. She looked wary; worried that invading the space of her troubled teenage son might not be the wisest idea. Xavier’s unresponsiveness told her he wanted to be alone. “I’ve never seen you like this before. Is it girl trouble?”

I realized his mother had no idea what’d happened. He hadn’t told her I was missing. I guessed it was because she’d want to contact the sheriff, demand to know why they weren’t investigating my disappearance more thoroughly.

“You could say that,” Xavier said.

“Oh, well, these things have a way of sorting themselves out.” She laid a hand gently on his shoulder. “And you know your father and I are always here if you need us.”

“I know that, Mom. Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.”

“Don’t take it so hard,” Bernie said. “When you’re young everything feels a hundred times worse than it is. I don’t know what happened between you and Beth, but it can’t be so bad.”

Xavier let out a short, humorless laugh and I guessed what he was thinking. He wanted to say, “Well, Mom, my girlfriend was abducted by a demon ex-student of Bryce Hamilton and dragged into Hell on the back of a motorbike and right now we’ve got no idea how to bring her back. So, yeah, actually it is that bad.”

But instead he shifted his weight to look across at her. “Just let it go, Mom,” he said. “This is my problem. I’ll be okay.”

I could see in his eyes that he didn’t want to worry her. My family was already beside themselves; there was no sense in getting Bernie involved. The less she knew, the better for everyone. My disappearance wasn’t an easy thing to explain and not exactly the news you’d want to break to an overprotective parent just before you were due to take your SATs.

“Okay.” Bernie leaned down to kiss his forehead. “But, Xavier, hon …”

“Yeah?” He looked up but couldn’t hold her gaze.

“She’ll be back.” Bernie gave him a knowing smile. “Everything will work out fine.” Then she got up and slipped out the door, closing it softly behind her.

When she was gone, Xavier finally allowed his exhaustion to overcome him. He kicked off his shoes and rolled onto his side. I was glad that soon he would fall into a deep sleep and the torment of feeling so helpless would disappear, at least for a few hours. Just before physical exhaustion took over his body I saw him rummage under his pillow and withdraw something I recognized immediately as one of my cotton knit sweaters. I’d worn it a lot over the summer on cool evenings. It was a pale aqua color and had tiny daisies embroidered around the neckline. He said he liked the way it brought out the auburn streaks in my hair. Xavier pushed his pillow aside and buried his face in my sweater, inhaling deeply. He stayed that way a long time until his breathing changed and became deeper and more regular, and I knew he’d fallen asleep. I sat cross-legged on his bed, watching over him as a mother might over a sick child. I stayed that way until weak beams of predawn light fell over the rumpled bedclothes and Xavier’s eyelids began to flutter.

“Rise and shine, doll face!”

Who did that voice belong to? Xavier wasn’t awake yet and he hadn’t moved or spoken in his sleep. It didn’t sound like him anyway. I looked around me, but Xavier’s room was empty apart from the two of us. A metallic sound like a door opening made me jump and a doorway materialized in the room, a dark figure leaning against the frame. Suddenly I knew what was happening. My two worlds were blurring, which meant I had to act quickly. I had to get back right now or Jake would wonder why I wasn’t waking up. But why was it so hard to tear myself away?

“Sweet dreams, my love,” I whispered to Xavier. I bent down to press my specter mouth against his forehead. I didn’t know whether he felt anything or not, but he stirred in his sleep and mumbled my name. I saw that his face had cleared and he looked more peaceful. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

I forced myself to return to my body and blinked away the sleep to see Jake watching me intently. He was dressed in a fitted suit jacket over skinny jeans and looked slightly rumpled. The sting of disappointment always followed my return to Hades, but with Jake there it was even worse. I couldn’t summon the energy to drag myself out of bed and face another day as bleak as the last. So I decided to stay curled under the covers, at least until Hanna came to coax me out. Jake seemed undeterred by my lack of response.

“I didn’t realize you were still asleep. I only dropped by to give you this token of my affection.”

I groaned and rolled over.

Jake casually tossed a long-stemmed rose on the pillow.

“Could you be any more clichéd?”

He feigned indignation. “You really shouldn’t insult me. That’s no way to talk to your other half.”

“You’re not my other half! We are nothing except enemies,” I said.

Jake put one hand across his heart. “Now, that hurts.”

“Is there something you want?” I demanded angrily. I couldn’t believe I had cut short my visit for this.

“Someone’s in a foul mood,” Jake commented.

“I wonder why?” Sarcasm was hard to avoid when he was being deliberately obtuse.

Jake laughed softly, his bright eyes boring into mine. He slid closer to me so fast that I barely noticed the movement until he was bent over me, dark hair falling over his shoulders. His face was beautiful in the dim light, his features refined. I was surprised at my ability to register his beauty while at the same time hate him with as much strength as there was left in my body. His bloodless lips parted, and I heard him breathing fast. His black eyes slid over my body, but instead of leering as I expected, he frowned.

“I don’t like to see you so sad,” he murmured. “Why won’t you let me make you happy?” I looked at him with surprise. Not only did Jake persist in invading my personal space whatever the hour, his insistence on describing the two of us as a potential couple was becoming disturbing. “I know you haven’t developed an emotional attachment toward me just yet, but I think we can work on it. I was thinking it might help if we took our relationship to the next level …,” he trailed off meaningfully. “We both have needs, after all.”

“Don’t even suggest it,” I warned, sitting up and glaring at him. “Don’t you dare.”

“Why not? It’s a perfectly natural expectation. Besides, it might improve your mood.” He rubbed his thumbs in slow circles up and down my arms. “My skills are legendary. You don’t even have to do anything. I’ll take care of you.”

“Are you delusional? I am not having sex with you,” I said in disgust. “Besides, why do you need that from me? Don’t you have your call girls on speed dial?”

“Bethany, my dear, I am not asking for sex. That’s not what I’m about. I can have that anytime. I want to make love to you.”

“Stop saying that stuff and get away from me.”

“I know you find me attractive. That much I remember.”

“That was a long time ago, before I knew what you are.” I looked away, barely attempting to hide my contempt.

Jake straightened and glared at me. “I’d hoped we could come to a mutual arrangement, but now I see you might need an incentive to help change your mind.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means I need to find a more creative approach.” There was an underlying threat in his words that frightened me, but I wasn’t about to let him know that.

“Don’t bother. It won’t make any difference.”

“We’ll see.” My conversations with Jake always seemed to go the same way. He started by propositioning me with something and when I fended him off, he turned vindictive. We seemed to go around in circles. It was time to try a different strategy.

“Too much would have to change for me to even consider it,” I added. I hated that I was getting caught up in his manipulative games, but I had no other choice.

Jake’s face lit up with anticipation.

“Such as?”

“For starters you’d have to start respecting my privacy. I hate the way you barge in here unannounced whenever you feel like it. I would like a key to my own room. If you want to see me, you need to ask first.”

“Fine. Consider it done. What else?”

“I want to be able to move around freely.”

“Beth, you don’t seem to understand how dangerous it is out there. But I can tell the hotel staff to back off. See? I can compromise.” He trailed a finger along my bottom lip and smirked, pleased with the new developments.

“There’s one more thing. I want to go back — just for an hour. I need to tell my family and Xavier that I’m all right.”

Jake laughed. “What kind of idiot do you take me for?”

“So you don’t trust me?”

“Let’s not play games. We both know each other too well and you’re no good at lying anyhow.”

I noticed a shift in his countenance and knew I shouldn’t have mentioned Xavier. It always set him off.

“Have you noticed that time’s passing and nothing’s happening?” Jake asked. “I don’t see a rescue team on the horizon. Want to know why? Because it’s an impossible mission. It might take them centuries to crack the right portal, if they ever do. By that time, Xavier will be nothing but a maggot-ridden pile in the ground. So you see, Beth, you don’t have a choice. If I were you I’d seize the day, make the most of the opportunities in front of you. Everything down here is yours for the taking. I’m offering you a chance to be queen of Hades. Everyone would bow down to you. Think about it, that’s all I’m asking.”

My stomach twisted into a knot. I didn’t know how long I could hold out against Jake. He was so unscrupulous. I had no idea what tactic he’d spring on me next. He’d been around too long for me to have any hope of outsmarting him. I just had to make sure he didn’t get into my head. It was my only weapon. I had to stay true to myself and remain spiritually stronger than him. I closed my eyes and focused on inviting positive thoughts.

I tried to visualize how my release from Hades might come about. I imagined Gabriel and Ivy storming through the gates of Hell and carrying me to safety. Their enveloping wings, soft as satin yet powerful enough to crush through walls, would shield me. I imagined Xavier with them, only transformed as an angel so that he had his own beating wings. They reared behind him vibrating with his power. Xavier was glorious in the form of an immortal. Any man who saw him would pledge his undying loyalty. The vision of the three of them, glowing agents of Heaven coming for me, was the only thing that worked to calm my fears.

On the downside, it made me painfully aware of my own wings, bound tight beneath my clothing. I’d been so caught up in my troubles that I’d neglected to think about them. I wriggled uncomfortably, longing to set them free. Jake regarded me with a suspicious gaze.

“You will succumb to me, Bethany,” he said, sweeping toward the door. “It’s only a matter of time.”