The Underworld Crown (Series)

Chapter 8

My vision spun wildly and my stomach lurched. Knowing what was about to happen, I spun on my feet and raced towards the bathroom, knocking into furniture along the way.

"Serena! Are you alright?" Raven called.

I reached the bathroom sink just in time for my stomach to empty itself. My body heaved and I gripped the sink. In an instant, Raven was by my side, grabbing a cloth, wetting it, and dabbing it along my forehead.

"Everything's going to be okay–" Raven halted at the look on my face.

When my stomach finally finished emptying itself and my limbs stopped trembling, I came up for air.

"There's got to be a mistake. I'm not a bad person!" I exclaimed, listening to the fatigue in my body and sliding to the ground, leaning against the cabinet. "Certainly not bad enough for Hades to summon me from Earth and want to kill me for some kind of power ritual!"

Raven was looking at me with deep concern. My nervous energy was at an all-time high – my hands shook badly and the balls of my feet kept bouncing.

Raven hushed me. "Look, if you are different – which I think you might be – Hades wouldn't be able to use your death for his power, anyway. You just have to trust in the fact that you're different and therefore can't be used in the same way."

There was still a cloud of doubt hanging over my head, but it was a small achievement to know at least someone in this hellhole was on my side. "Thank you."

I wasn't completely crazy, and someone – besides me – believed I didn't belong here.

"Maybe it was an accident Hades summoned you? Was there someone else at the séance Hades could have possibly intended on summoning instead...?"

"What? No!" I shouted, surprised by both her question and my instinctive reaction. "We're all just normal teenagers. Sure, perhaps some of them are stupid, but no one is nearly insane enough to end up in Hell!"

"Sorry," Raven said quickly. "I just thought that was a potential option."

"There's no way that any of them have done anything bad," I continued, consoling myself more than anyone else.

Raven nodded understandingly. "Okay, well we can take your friends out of the equation then. But that only leaves the possibility that something about you must seriously intrigue Hades." She ran her eyes over me in suspicion.

I raised my eyebrows. "If you're waiting for me to sprout wings, it's not going to happen."

"Sorry," Raven replied meekly.

"You apologise a lot," I pointed out. Raven smiled sheepishly.

Silence surrounded us. I think Raven was possibly being quiet to let the information she'd told me sink in, or perhaps she figured I'd have a burst of realisation and figure out the reason I was here. Either way, nothing was happening.

Raven stood up to give me some space and proceeded to clean up the mess I'd made. It hit me that if anyone could help me understand how to get out of this situation, it was her. After all, she had said all her relatives had grown up in the Underworld. Hades and Aergia may not have realised it, but they'd just handed me my best chance of escape on a silver platter.

"Aergia said you're the best servant here."

Raven hesitated. "She did," she replied slowly, looking at me curiously.