Monster Whisperer - J.B. Trepagnier Page 0,15

After you,” he said, holding the door open.

I stepped through the door and got my first look at what an Underworld fighting arena looked like. It looked a lot like what I’d seen in movies and television shows about ancient Greece or Rome. It was enormous, and the seats weren’t as packed as what I saw in the movies. Sure, there were many people there, and they were yelling and screaming to see blood spilled, but this wasn’t the entire Underworld. It couldn’t be. There were too many empty seats.

Hades’ box was pretty plush, but that wasn’t what I was paying attention to. Across the arena was a similar box with the same purple curtains. I could make out people, but they were so far away they looked like faceless blobs. It was just Hades, Cerberus, and me in his box. The other box looked packed.

“Who is that in the other box?”

“Demeter and her cronies. She’s getting rich off these fights, and she’s got a personal vendetta against Kimon, Pavlina, Tryphon, and Demos. They are well-loved down here, even Demos. People would start asking questions if she came at them directly. She wants to watch them die in person.”

“What did they do to her? It seems like she’s got a beef with everyone down here.”

“They were Persephone’s personal bodyguards. They escorted her to the gates of the Underworld for what was supposed to be a normal visit with her mother. It seemed like it would be. Demeter was icy like usual, but they had no reason to suspect anything was wrong. Demeter waited until they were back home to send her army through and show my wife with a dagger at her throat.”

“Would Demeter really kill her daughter because she doesn’t want to leave you?”

Hades threw back his head and laughed.

“We’re Gods, River. Humans used to worship us and sacrifice to us. Gods don’t like it when anyone loves another person more than they love them. That includes their offspring. Poseidon created Tryphon, and yes, he used to kill the wicked, but Poseidon also used him to wreak havoc on towns that didn’t pay proper tribute to him or insulted him. Tryphon hated being used like that. Don’t get me wrong. He loves to eat wicked people any day of the week, but he had a colossal problem taking out entire villages just to prove a point.”

“I think he’s hitting on me. I think they all are except Demos, who hates me.”

Hades didn’t get a chance to answer. A man stood in the center of the arena and waved his hands to quiet the crowd.

“We have something special for you tonight, folks. We have Kimon, the undefeated minotaur from the labyrinth up against Porphyrion, the King of the Giants. Place your bets well. Will Kimon remain undefeated, or will he be slain as Theseus slew him in the labyrinth?”

“Hades, what happens if you die here and you’re technically already dead?”

“You go to the deepest level of Tartarus, where the Titans are kept, for eternal torture. Not even I can get them out. It’s too dangerous. If you think what Demeter is doing here is wrong, none of the other realms would be safe if the Titans got out.”

“Let’s bring out our challenger! Come out, Porphyrion!”

I thought the basketball player I briefly dated in college was a giant, but I’d never been kidnapped to the Underworld and seen a giant from mythology before. This giant was at least twenty feet tall and ugly as sin. It looked like someone smashed his face with a big hammer, and he was ripped with muscle. I didn’t know what he usually wore in the Underworld, but right now, he was wearing a loincloth and carrying two giant clubs with wicked looking spikes on the end.

I thought Kimon was huge, but he looked tiny next to this giant king. Kimon had two swords in his hand, and he already told me he needed something in his cell to service his blades. I swear, if he ended up in Tartarus with the Titans, I would find a way to get him back. I mean, the monster called me baby bird and wanted to snuggle.

I couldn’t see their faces from here, but they were both just standing there staring at each other like they didn’t want to do this. Had they been friends before all this happened? How many friends had Kimon, Pavlina, Tryphon, and Demos been forced to kill in this ring? No wonder Demos was