Dancing with Demons

"What do you mean she's not here!" Arei had the Embassy guard lifted off the ground by the front of his shirt.

Poseidon lowed his phone as Peg came running from down the hallway. "He's telling you the truth son." He turned his attention to his other son. "What have you found out?"

"The tags from the SUV's that took her were traced back to this address. It should come as little surprise it's DeMarco property." Peg said as he handed his dad a thin file.

Poseidon pursed his lips as he flipped through the file. "I see... Well, it's a good thing we have someone on our side to give us access... whether he remains on our side or not..." He handed the file to Arei as he approached them. "One final stop them we'll rescue Jos." With a snap, they were back at the werewolf palace.

Russ stepped forward with Jaden close behind him clinging nervously to his sleeve. "Have you found her?"

Poseidon shook his head as his gaze moved to Drake who was sitting beside the other wolf girl, obviously trying to comfort her. He arched his bow at the young vampire. "Ready to go home, kid?"

Drake's brows knitted. "What do you mean?"

Poseidon's brow lifted farther. "Do you mean to tell me you didn't recognize your mother's men?"

Arei growled from beside Poseidon as he took wide, determined steps toward the vampire. "If you know something you better say it!" Arei bit out with barely restrained rage.

Drake held up his hands in surrender. "Wait, save your anger for my mother. I already told Jos before she was taken, I'm more than willing to help out against my mother and the entire clan if I must. Besides, I wasn't there when they showed up to take her. I was in town taking care of some business."

Arei's lip snarled. "And what business was that?" He was toe to toe with the young vampire now.

Drake swallowed hard as his eyes moved nervously from Arei to April. He let out a sigh as he ran a hand through his hair. "If you must know... I was looking at property that's for sale here on this side of the island..."

Poseidon smiled knowingly as his gaze moved between the wolf girl and the vampire. He patted Arei's shoulder. "Let's get going. It's hard to tell what they have planned for Jos." He held his hand out to Drake. "Grab my hand and thank of home, Dorothy."

As soon as Drake's hand came in contact with Poseidon's, the three men disappeared. Drake looked around the mansion grounds, smelling blood in the air. "Shouldn't we have brought back up or something? A direct attack on this place will only lead... to... death..." His eye sharpened in the faint morning light as his words trailed off. His head jerked around to Arei and Poseidon. "Somethings happened! I smell blood and... death..."

"Jos!" Arei pushed Drake aside as he ran forward.

"Wait!" Drake tried to catch hold of the massive man, but it was too late. He'd already shot across the lawn. Drake let out a huffed sigh.

Poseidon patted his shoulder as he began to follow Arei.

Drake rushed after him. "You gotta listen. It's not just one or two, it's-" His words cut off as the front lawn just past the staff house came into view. There was a trail of ink and blood leading from the staff house to the main entrance of the manor, a trail of bodies littering the way.

Poseidon let out a heavy breath as he watched Arei crumple to the ground beside a very familiar body. The similar situation of all those years ago with Pellas rushed back to him. "Do you have your cell phone? We'll need clean-up and possibly backup. We'll need to get this dealt with before THEY show up again..." His eyes searched the skies around them as thunderheads began to roll in and a light rain splattered down. Poseidon pulled his own phone from his pocket and sent a quick message before heading over to his son. His eyes scanned the ground around them. It was hard to tell how much of the blood was hers and how much of it was from all the other bodies littering the lawn. He bent and pressed his fingers against her throat.

"Mattie, answer your phone!" Drake yelled from across the yard. "He's not answering! I'm going in to see if... if he's here." Drake said as he ran toward the front doors, avoiding bodies as he did.

Poseidon set back as he shook his head. "This isn't good... not at all." His eyes moved from the door back to Arei who lifted Jos's limp body into his trembling arms. It broke the Sea God's heart to watch his son cry hysterically into her matted, silver hair... but there was nothing he could do... There was no pulse...

***

Jos searched the ethereal features of the man who carried her. She lifted a hand to touch his ghost-like skin but gasped when she realized her own hand looked similar. "What's going on? Who are you? Where are you taking me?" She asked as she struggled against his hold.

Thanatos held her without struggle. "I mean you no harm." He grinned down at her. "I'd think by now you'd know who I was. We've met on enough occasions... though you may not remember them well." He nodded to their surroundings. "We are now in the underworld."

Jos gasped. "The underworld? Am... am I dead?" She asked as she studied her ghostly hand.

Thanatos chuckled as he watched her. "At present?" His teasing ended but his smile remained. "Your body is still where you were when you collapsed. This is merely your soul."

Jos continued studying her hand as she moved it back and forth, watching it turn to mist as she did. "Correct me if I'm wrong but... there's no return from here right?" Her curious eyes met his. "And you are the... the god of death?"

He nodded with a gentle smile. "Yes, and you have given Keres and I much work this night."

Jos bit her bottom lip. "Sorry about that..."

He arched a brow, one corner of his lips lifting. "Are you though?"

She nodded. "I really am... I really did try, ya know..." She glanced away with an embarrassed smile. "But it seems like regardless of what I do... where I'm at, who I'm with... bad things happen." She frowned as she thought over the events of the night. She'd taken nearly as much damage as she'd dished out, fueled only by her anger. "I... well... I didn't think past my anger, I suppose..."

He nodded. "Yes, that was obvious..." He let out a sigh as they neared the gates to Tartarus. When her stunned eyes met his, he chuckled and set her down on her feet. "Stay close to me at all times, understand."

Jos nodded as she tried to fidget with her hands but found the task impossible in her current state. "Um...I... I understand if... or rather did... I die tonight. I suffered several potentially fatal injuries... but wh-why am I HERE?"

The corner of his lips raised. "Well, I simply wish to introduce you to some... fans of yours."

"Fans?" She asked, her brows raised in confusion.

He led her farther into the dark, yet surprisingly well-decorated depth. "You see some of my siblings and I were born and raised most of our lives here... that is until one day one of the Olympian gods set a trap for us all and imprisoned our essence in a box." He spoke softly as he guided her downward still, farther into the dark labyrinth. He sent her a knowing smile. "I bet you can guess which god it was."

Jos rolled her eyes. "Let me guess, Zeus?"

He nodded, holding her gaze. "You guess correctly."

She tilted her head. "But how did he trap you all in one box?"

Thanatos frowned. "It was a spell that trapped our essence more than our physical forms... though as you can tell our physical forms leave much to be desired." He held his hand out for her as they neared a narrow ledge. "His plan was to set us loose on mankind, enraged that Prometheus had stolen fire from his hearth and given it to man."

"And did he, set you lose that is?"

"Indeed, in a roundabout way. He gifted the box to a beautiful maiden name Pandora, and she eventually unleashed us... Though I'm not sure you would give that credit to Zeus or Hera." He sent her a wink. "Either way, we enjoyed the freedoms provided there. Over the years to follow Zeus got irritated at the chaos that was caused by my siblings' release and one by one tricked, bartered, and forced my siblings and me back into the pits of Tartarus. I myself do not mind it here, nor do I mind my job too terribly. In truth, Hades does not interfere much where we are involved... but my siblings wish to move freely between the underworld and the land of the living."

Jos nodded. "Understandable... but what does all this have to do with me?"

He stopped in front of an enormous metal door that reached over thirty feet tall. He pulled it open and held it open for her with a kind smile. "Because, you child, have been the first to challenge Zeus's rule in several centuries."

Jos swallowed, feeling uneasy for the first time in the presence of the beautiful, ethereal man. "I... I'm only one person. What do they hope to gain from me?"

His smile widened. "You are one girl with powers and the support of several other equally powerful beings. With you as an ally, we could very well see that Zeus finally gets what he has had coming to him from the second he declared himself the God of gods." When she continued to stand frozen in place, he bowed slightly and extended his hand toward the dark depths beyond the door. "This way, please. They eagerly away your arrival... and they are not a patient lot."