Beneath

Chapter Twenty:

"You're late." I pulled my jacket around my shoulders as the salty ocean breeze whipped strands of hair across my face, souls shifting restlessly in front of me. Hermes kicked at a sandbank and Poseidon smiled, trident gleaming gold and bronze in the early morning light.

"There was some discussion after you left last night about whether or not it was a good idea to help you after your little display of power."

"And yet, you're both here." I gazed down at the tablet as more souls joined the line though, compared with other mornings, the load today was light.

"Thank Hermes for it," Poseidon said. "I was in favor of letting you drown," he said, smiling. "Metaphorically speaking, of course. You're becoming more powerful every day, which makes both of us a little leery. Hades' gifts are impressive, mind, but you're poised to become something else entirely."

"You control the oceans, tides, storms and all marine life within each, and you're worried about me having the ability to poof people places whenever I feel like it? I thought you'd be giddy at the prospect."

The first boat approached the dock, water churning and frothing in its wake and I glanced from it to the lines and back again, tapping my foot impatiently as Hermes leaned against a salt-flecked boulder, inspecting his fingernails.

"Did you agree to be Hades'?"

I bristled at Hermes' casual tone. "That's none of your goddamned business," I said, motioning the first soul forward. "Meghan Barns, Elysium. I don't see the point in asking me that in the first place, other than to be a nosy git, as usual," I continued as Horace helped her onto the dock.

"If you had, it would explain why your gifts were suddenly heightened to reflect the change in status. Watch it," Poseidon hissed, flashing his weapon at a soul who careened into him, half-crawling his way towards the line for Tartarus.

"I don't feel it's necessary to answer that inane question. I'm here, that's all that should matter. Thomas Cinna, Tartarus."

"So, it doesn't matter to you that you banished your boyfriend without a second thought?"

"If my boyfriend trusted me a little more, I wouldn't have had to do that in the first place. As long as he's in Greece, far away from here, I can do what I need to without interference on his part, which is a good thing. And we can't be anything else until he deals with his feelings for Persephone. Daphne Clark, Elysium."

"He knows how he feels about you, or he'd be back here right now, making your life Hell for sending him away. The fact that he's leaving you alone at all says a lot," Hermes said pointedly.

"Are the two of you going to help, or just stand here, talking my ear off?"

"We're keeping you company," Poseidon said, sending a stream of white-hot light towards the sand, which burst to life in a brilliant display of gritty, crystalline glass spikes. "You're doing just fine, by the way, not that I had any doubt about it."

"So, Hades was right, and you guys really are nothing more than distractions."

"If we hadn't told Fiery Britches that we'd help you, he'd be here now in all his emo glory, and whether or not you accepted him, he needs to learn to treat you as his equal, not just some woman he's banging in exchange for assistance with the souls."

"Finnick Day, Elysium. You know," I said, turning towards Poseidon thoughtfully. "You can be a right haughty bastard most of the time, but once in a while, you completely surprise me. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you actually cared about me."

He smiled. "I won't tell you that you're like a little sister to me, or that your presence here makes the Underworld a more pleasant place to be because that's all mushy stuff, but-"