monsters if I went down there and tried to talk to them?
“Should I go down there and see what they need?”
“No!” Demos barked. “Not until you can bring them some sort of news that will overrule their suspicions when they can’t figure out what you are. You walk in, and they find out you can hear them when only monsters can hear each other, they’ll be more afraid than when they had a demigod after them. They won’t understand it, and they are already afraid. They’ll rip you apart.”
I had no idea big, scary monsters could fear a woman my size just because I could speak for them, but this wasn’t a normal situation. I had an unkillable phoenix afraid of me for a hot minute. Demos seemed a little protective of me now and had gotten over his shit, but he was right. There were all manner of monsters in that pit who could react badly to me.
“I still don’t want you leaving with Demeter, River. There are so many things that could go wrong.”
“You forget Hephaestus’s rules about his forge, Demos,” Pavlina said. “They allow in only one person at a time, and he won’t break that for Demeter. She can pitch any bitch fit she wants. Hephaestus is a hard ass. He’ll kick her ass straight back to Olympus.”
“No, you forget something, Pavlina. A weapon forged by Hephaestus killed almost every monster down here. Hephaestus could be totally down with all of this. He could have a problem with monsters and want us all gone.”
“Or he’s sick of doing favors for needy demigods and those in Olympus, and Demeter lied to him about the collars. We have to find out one way or another, and this is the only way,” Kimon said.
“My pet hasn’t backed down from Hades. We all saw her set his trousers on fire. She’s got tricks up her sleeve, too, that Demeter and Hephaestus don’t know about.”
Why was Demos on my side suddenly? His reaction to my fire was pretty extreme. I would have thought he would want to get rid of me by any means possible. I wanted to win Demos over, but I thought it would take time. What exactly had I done? I wasn’t complaining, but he needed to let me do this.
“Y’all, I’m doing this no matter what. So, tell me everything you know about Hephaestus that I might not have been taught in college.”
Chapter 35
River
W
e spent the next few days with them telling me everything I didn’t learn in Greek Mythology 101 about Demeter and Hephaestus. They knew more about Demeter than they did about Hephaestus. Hephaestus was some mysterious God who lived in a volcano and made weapons. They knew he married Aphrodite, and she cheated on him with Ares. They knew he got some epic revenge, but they knew nothing about what he was like.
Sure, I was scared. There were so many ways this could go wrong. Demos didn’t want me to go, but there was some truth to his statement. Hephaestus could be on Demeter’s side. I had to approach this very carefully. I had to find a way to phrase my comments and get a feel for him.
Demeter finally came through the door in a swish of skirts and heels. Hades was behind her scowling, but I could see the worry in his eyes.
“I demand Cerberus go with her.”
“Then, I’d have to babysit two of your pet dogs, Hades. I will not hurt the little human. I have a use for her. I’ll bring her right back.”
I wanted Cerberus to come with me. It would have been nice to have a friend with me, but I also needed Demeter to trust me. I got close enough to her that Hades couldn’t hear me.
“Right now, that stupid dog likes me for some reason. I need Hades to trust me if I’m going to get close enough to kill him. You know men and their dogs. If he thinks the dogs likes me, he’ll trust me.”
“That idiotic mutt hates everyone.”
“Hades tested me by having me treat him. I won the dog’s trust by treating his upset tummy. It couldn’t hurt.”
“Fine. The mutt can come. But I won’t hesitate to kill your pet, Hades. This jail is stifling. I want to leave. You’re allowed to touch my pinky, human dog. You can touch the mutt.”
I took Demeter’s pinky and touched Cerberus’s head. I saw a flash of light, and we appeared in front of a huge, swirling