Total pages in book: 100
Estimated words: 115933 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 580(@200wpm)___ 464(@250wpm)___ 386(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115933 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 580(@200wpm)___ 464(@250wpm)___ 386(@300wpm)
Taking a deep breath again, I began. “Ac-according to the ancient G-Greeks, there were th-three god brothers: Zeus, P-Poseidon, and H-Hades. They overthrew their f-father, the ruling g-god Cr-Cronus, in a battle. They d-drew lots to decide what domains th-they would each take ch-charge of, now that Cronus’d b-been ex-exiled.”
Mae nestled closer. “What happened next?”
“Z-Zeus got the p-power of the sky, P-Poseidon of the water, and H-Hades of the underworld—not the j-job any of them r-really w-wanted.” I pointed to the picture of the underworld: dark rivers, fire-ridden levels, morbid as fuck pictures of demons.
“So the underworld is like Hell? Hades was given Hell? How unfortunate.”
I huffed a silent laugh at the way she spoke, like some old-world novel shit with a slight edge of good ol’ Texan twang. “Yes and n-no.”
“How is it different?”
“Underworld h-holds the entrance to ev-everything, all the r-routes that the soul can take at d-death. When a p-person dies, they g-go to the underworld where they’ll b-be judged on their lives and s-s-sent to either the Elysian F-Fields, which is like h-heaven, I sup-suppose. The river of for-forgetfulness, Lethe, where a soul d-drinks to forget their l-life, enabling them to be re-reborn. Or if a soul has l-lived a b-bad life, they’d be sent to T-Tartarus, which is like what y-you think of as Hell, the worst p-place p-possible. Hades r-rules over the whole thing, m-making sure it all g-goes r-right.”
Mae was quiet. I wondered if it was all too much for her to understand again, when she said, “That river on the picture is called the River Styx, yes? It is your club name.”
“That’s right.”
She sat up, studied the large river, then her wolf eyes bored into mine. “If Lethe is the river of forgetfulness, what is the river Styx for?”
I blew out a pent-up breath. “Hate.”
Mae ran her finger over my injured cheek, sorrow in her expression. “They represent such sad things.”
I placed my hand on top of hers, stilling them on my cheeks. “Yeah, b-babe, they d-do. Life’s h-hard. D-Death’s even harder. No use su-sugar coatin’ that sh-shit.”
“Why would your club want to be named after the sorrowful part of the story, the misfortunate—why not after the sky god or water god?”
Her face grew excited, then hopeful. Thought she’d found us a better path, found us redemption—it was foreign to anything I’d heard in a long fuckin’ time. No use though.
“The m-mother chapter—the f-first cl-club—of Hades Hangmen was f-founded h-here in Austin. My granddaddy was f-founding member. He f-fought in Vee-Vietnam. The war f-fucked him up g-good. Couldn’t c-cope with life wh-when he came b-back. Only th-thing he knew was killing and r-riding H-Harleys. Couldn’t hold a j-job for shit. H-he and more vets l-like him created this MC. Been my f-family’s way ever s-since. D-don’t know no different.”
I could see in her face she still didn’t get it. “B-babe, the vets saw sh-shit in that war that k-kept them from sleeping at n-night. Th-they did things that h-had them dreading d-death. No sky god, w-water god, or any god coulda p-pulled them outta that living h-hell. They w-were seen as murderers, r-r-rapists, kid k-killers when they came back to the US. When f-folks h-heard what the war made ’em d-do, they were cast out, r-rejected. Just like H-Hades was. You l-live in hell long enough, b-babe, you b-become a sinner too. Why try and b-be good when f-folks already decided you’re too f-far gone to b-be saved?”
She sighed and placed her hand on my bare chest. “You are not as evil as you think, Styx. You are a good man.”
I wanted to believe it, to agree, but she deserved the truth. “Yeah, b-babe, I’m evil. I’ve s-sinned more than you’d b-believe.” I ran my hands down my face. “Truth t-time. I’m bad… p-p-poisoned to my fuckin’ damned s-soul.”
Mae’s expression went blank and she pulled away from my arm. Abruptly, she stood up and I thought she was gonna run. My jaw clenched, bracing for it but instead she stared at the picture, her back to me, her black long black hair blowing in the breeze.
Goddamn beautiful.
Turning, Mae stepped in between my legs and stared down. I saw her fingers twitch as she chewed on her full bottom lip, then she raised her hand and gently ran her fingers through my hair.
I leaned into her hand. Twenty-six years old and a single touch was gonna make me blow in my jeans. “B-babe—”
“You should not be named after hate, Styx.”
“I-I’ve done some f-fucked-up shit. Honestly, I a-ain’t gonna change. I’m d-damned. I’ve made p-peace with it.”
Mae just stared at me and kept running that tiny hand through my long hair. “You have been nothing but kind to me.”
Swallowing, I rasped, “Only you.”
“Why only me?” she asked, frowning.
I shrugged, reached for her hand, and threaded it through mine. As I looked up at her twitchin’ nose, I pressed a kiss on the center of her palm. “C-can’t be askin’ sh-shit like th-that.”
“Why not?” she whispered as she watched me caress her hand.
“B-because I don’t have a f-fuckin’ an-answer. Never like th-this with n-no one… but I am with y-you.”
With a sigh, I let my head fall to her flat stomach. Dropping her hand, I gripped her tightly around the waist. I kept a tight hold. The way that felt floored me, fuckin’ first round knockout floored me. I felt her relax into my hold and her fingers touched my head.
“I’ll l-lay it on th-the line for you, Mae. I k-kill people. I-I even like it, a-and”—here comes the final death blow—”I’ll d-do it a-again and again. Have to in th-this life.”
Her breath grew faster and she gripped my wrist so damn tight. On shaky legs, Mae stood up and I dropped my hands from her face. She walked to the mural again, leaving me on the bench and ran her hand over Persephone’s face.
“I already know many things about you, Styx. I have neither been deaf nor blind to the goings-on here. But you cannot drive me away.”