Abducted (Hades and Persephone #1) by Bella Klaus

Author:Bella Klaus
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-05-24T16:00:00+00:00

I thought we would train the next morning, but Captain Caria transported us to a cobblestone road that led toward a medieval village of timber-framed houses with people and animals crowding the streets. It would have looked like something out of a Disney cartoon if it hadn’t been surrounded by a river of lava and situated beneath a fiery sky.

Smoke and brimstone filled my nostrils, combined with the scent of animals and body odor and feces.

My nose wrinkled. “Where are we?”

She turned to me, the corner of her mouth curling into a wicked smile that reminded me of Hades. “I’ll give you one guess.”

Annoyance tightened my skin. Sarcasm wasn’t so charming when it was delivered by her. “I know we’re in Hell,” I said, my words clipped. “How about you explain where exactly we’re going and who we’re about to see?”

“Jeanne Lorraine is one of the most powerful seers who ever lived.” Captain Caria marched ahead, increasing the distance between us with every long stride.

“So she can tell us if I’m Persephone?” I jogged behind her, cursing at how my heels wobbled in the cobblestones.

Captain Caria inclined her head.

“Why didn’t anyone contact her before?”

“Madame Lorraine’s gift operates mostly on touch.”

As we reached the first few houses in the village, my foot caught on something soft that hissed before scuttling away. I turned to see what I’d tripped over but whatever it was disappeared beneath the door of a cottage, making its inhabitants scream.

The captain paused in front of a one-story cottage and knocked.

I caught up with her in a few steps and rubbed the remnants of Hades’ massage oil into the sides of my dress. People wearing tunics and homespun clothes slowed around us to stare. I snatched my gaze away from their miserable faces, trying not to feel bad for their predicaments.

“How is Hell arranged?” I leaned into her side. “Does everyone know they’re dead?”

“More or less,” she muttered. “This part of the Fifth Faction is the Asphodel Meadows, a cluster of villages that reflect different cultures and periods of time. When a new soul arrives, it’s drawn to the era it finds most familiar.”

“How do they get punished?” I asked.

“These are the souls of those who committed acts of lesser evil—the lazy, the selfish, and those prone to gossip. Their punishment is an eternity of hunger, discomfort, poverty.”

Heavy footsteps sounded from inside, and my breathing turned shallow. “I don’t see any demons.”

She nodded toward a large man wearing the armor of a guard. “There’s one.” Then she pointed at a rotund woman pushing a trolley basket of bread. “And there’s another.”

“What do they do?”

Captain Caria raised a shoulder. “Low-level demons work under a liege lord, policing the villages and distributing food to the worthy. They also round up rule breakers and imprison them in the lord’s dungeon.”

My mind conjured up the image of a torture chamber, and I shuddered. “What if they escape?”

The door opened, and the tallest, most skeletal looking woman stood in the doorway.

I tilted my head up to meet her eyes, but the frame obscured the top half of her face.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.