Beneath

Chapter Nine:

"No matter how many times you give me those doe-eyes, it won't change my mind about which line you belong in," I said as the girl scowled, stomping away and I sighed, collapsing against the wall. Twelve in one hour. That had to be some sort of record, but I wasn't allowed to relax yet because I still had to get my butt to Portland in time for lunch with my parents.

My parents.

I cringed, knowing they were going to ask questions I wasn't prepared to answer, like 'what are you doing to keep yourself busy these days?' and 'why haven't you called in the past month? Did you forget to pay your cellphone bill?'. I was going to have to make up an excuse again and hope they didn't see straight through the lie.

So. Many. Lies. Lately.

"You can't get attached, no matter how much you might want to."

I stood as Hades rounded the corner, hands tucked into his pockets, and felt a furious blush creep across my cheeks. "If I caved every time a soul begged me to change my mind, I'd never be able to do my job effectively."

"It's not always so easy. When they tell me a particularly sad story about their life, a small part of me wants to give them a second chance at their afterlife, you know? Everyone makes mistakes, right?"

He leaned against the wall, crossing his arms over his chest. "I'll never know what that's like, to have one chance to do the best I can with the life I was given. It's such a human thing, and I'm not human."

"Yes, I know, you tell me this like I'm going to forget. Speaking of 'human', though, what are these frequent back-and-forth trips doing to me?"

"I don't understand the question, and I'm not sure I want to."

I rolled up a sleeve, running my hand across the smooth, pale skin. "Three hours ago, I accidentally stabbed myself with a pair of scissors when I was trying to open a new bag of dog food, and now there's barely a mark there."

"I wish you'd take better care of yourself, Emma."

"You're missing the point. Why do I suddenly have super healing abilities?"

"You're in the land of the dead, which means the rules governing living things is a little different than they would be on earth. Persephone's gardens, for example, only stay in their perfect, healthy state because she wills them to. Or did - now that falls to Demeter and you, I suppose, if you wanted that responsibility."

"Don't you think that might be something you should've mentioned before I came down here?"

He smiled, eyes dancing. "Oh, I'm sorry; here I thought that being nearly invincible to harm was a good thing. My bad."

"I resent being treated like a pack mule." A man appeared, tapping his heels together as iridescent wings retracted into his shoes. "I do have things to do with my day, you know, and in case it escaped your notice, Yule is almost upon us, which means that every Olympian worth their salt will expect a dinner invitation. That's a lot of traveling, Hades!"

Hades cleared his throat and the man glanced over me with hunter-green eyes, did a double-take, and bowed low. "I'm sorry, where are my manners? The name is Hermes, messenger of the gods, and brother to this miserable little git. You're Emma, right?"

"You're throwing a dinner party? And you didn't think to invite me?" I asked Hades, feeling a tad bit miffed. It wasn't like I expected to be welcomed with open arms at his family gatherings, but considering recent information, the oversight on his part stung. "I mean, you don't have to, of course, because I'll probably be with my family then anyways but, hang on, did you wait until I wanted to go home to throw this shindig? That's not nice, Hades!"