Hades Rewound (Hades Series #2)

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Nineteen

The next morning, I wake up in the best and smuggest of moods.

I'm not entirely sure why I was so cheery in the first place; the last time Hades and I had made a deal similar to the one we finalised yesterday, he ignored me for three weeks and then had an explosive argument with me. Given his track record since we rescued him from Poseidon, and the fact that he's been avoiding me more than he's been willingly wanting to be in my presence, the likelihood that he's actually going to go through with the deal and help me is almost next to nothing.

Yet still, I wake up with a smile on my face, and a feeling in my gut that maybe, just maybe, that deal might have changed everything. And that feeling is so strange, so much like a warm golden beacon in a world that had slowly become as dark as the deepest corners of an inescapable cave, that I couldn't help clinging onto it like a starved man who's happened upon a fruitful banana tree in the barren desert. Except, I'm a starved Evie who's happened upon the smallest shoot of glimmering hope.

Of course, I'm not stupid. I've learnt over the past three weeks that I can't be hasty, or push Hades too quickly; the last time I did that, the explosion was so big that the palace staff still gossip behind my back and shoot me wary looks when they think I'm not paying attention.

No, this time I'm being a little more diligent. Hades' walls are still sky high, he's still trying to protect himself with an icy and - what he thinks - terrifying demeanor, and because of that, he's as skittish as a deer. I'm still surprised as it is that he agreed to play poker against me, and to be honest, completely and utterly bewildered as to how I actually beat him - seeing as I'm 75% sure he held back in the last hand - and I don't want to ruin all the progress I've made in the past week. So this time, I don't scour the palace for him like I used to. This time, I gather up my notes and head to the library in the silent hope that Hades will uphold his end of the bargain and turn up as well.

Because, if there's one thing that I've learnt about Hades in all the time I've known him, it's that he always, no matter whether he's got his whole memory or not, keeps his word.

I clutch my notes closer to my chest with one hand and peer around the library, holding the door open with the other. There's no sign of Hades anywhere yet, but like always, I'm determined to give him the benefit of the doubt. He's probably still just grouchy that I actually beat him at poker; he's even worse than me when it comes to losing, I swear.

I grin to myself a little when I think about all the - what I can only describe as - temper tantrums he's thrown in the past when I've beaten him at cards. Those nights always ended in the most hilarious fashion; usually either with me teasing Hades for the pout on his face or Hades pushing me off the bed because I'm laughing too hard.

Then, I make the mistake of thinking how much things have changed since then, and a feeling of melancholy rushes through me, wiping the grin off my face. I drop my stack of notes on my couch and head towards the bookshelves again, my mouth set in a firm line. Stupid Evie, stupid; why did you have to go and think about that? I take a deep breath, sweeping the melancholic thoughts out of my mind like gnarled cobwebs and instead force myself to focus on the present. The sooner Hades turns up, the sooner we can figure out what's wrong with him. And the sooner we do that, the sooner we can figure out a way to return his memory and restore everything to normal.

Just as I'm in the process of removing a book from a shelf I haven't perused yet, something glints out of the corner of my vision, catching my eye. I pause and swivel around slowly. My breath catches in my throat when I realise what snagged my attention, and all my previous thoughts of researching Hades' amnesia fly out the window. I drop the book down on my pile of notes as I walk past the couch and squeeze between the two bookshelves that mark the entrance to the music room. A small smile creeps onto my lips as I look around the forgotten room, my hand unconsciously pulling on the end my braid as all the memories that have been created in here resurface in a rushing waterfall.