"Evie?" Hades touches my elbow, attempting to pull me forward. I don't budge.

"No." I stare straight ahead, wide-eyed in horror. Pure ice pulses through my veins, freezing me to the spot and eradicating all semblance of movement from my muscles.

"Evie." My name is said a second time, this time by a different person. The sound of my name tumbling off their lips is like a stab in the back. I stagger, my knees struggling to keep me standing.

I lick my lips several times and point a quivering hand at them. "No. No. This isn't happening. Please tell me this isn't happening."

Not a single one of them says a word, guilt clear on their faces. Selene. Axel. Minnie. Olly. Spencer. Even Leia stands behind Spencer. Every single person I've ever known, or come to love, since the death of my family stands right before me, in a situation that I'm not sure I want to believe. All of a sudden the floor feels like it's being pulled out from underneath me, slowly dissipating into thin air and dropping me screaming into an abyss of oblivion. Stumbling back, I grab onto the nearest thing to me — which just so happens to be Hades — and stare at them, my heart thudding against my ribcage.

No.

"You." I point at Spencer. "You—you're dead. How are you here? You can't be here. You're dead."

"Evie..." He steps forward, his face twisted with remorse. I step back, and pain flashes through his eyes. "E, please, I can explain."

"No. Stop it. Just stop it." I shake my head, my mind refusing to let itself accept the facts being presented to it. "Why are you here?"

"Evie." Hades finally speaks up, forcing me to look at him. He gives me a pointed look. "Who did I say we were meeting?"

"You—your family. The other gods." I shake my head again, feeling like it's full of cotton wool. "But that would mean... no. No. That's not right. It can't be right. That means that—" I look back at Spencer, my family, and my heart sinks. "No."

"Evie—" Spencer tries again.

"No. Stop it." Shaking my head repetitively now, I cross my arms over my chest. My breathing intensifies. My whole body starts shaking uncontrollably, my head spinning as the world tilts on its axis. "This doesn't make any sense. You were dead, Spencer. You died. How are you standing in front of me?"

"You know why Evie." He says quietly. "I'm sorry you had to find out this way, I really am. I told him you weren't ready, but unfortunately he," He glares hotly at Hades. "Didn't listen to me."

Hades narrows his eyes slightly at Spencer. The temperature in the room drops.

"But you died." I say weakly, tears pricking at the corners of my eyes. "I watched you die."

"You watched my mortal body die." Spencer explains, his words twisted with bitterness. "But not my true form. I can't die that easily in my true form. You know that."

I swallow and shakily glance over at my foster family. They all meet my gaze with expressions that vary in degrees of solemnity. Selene even has the audacity to look apologetic. But they still remain silent.

"So you're all gods." I state. Silence. I nod several times, my arms tightening across my chest. It feels like that's my only protection against the swarm of lies surrounding me. "Who are you really, then? Hades prefers his Greek name, and I bet you all do too. So stop standing there saying nothing and tell me."

"Artemis." Selene says, shooting me a remorseful smile.

"Apollo." Axel adds on. I laugh sardonically. Of course. How did I not realise?

"Athena." Minnie sighs, suddenly looking much older. "I'm sorry, Evie. We weren't trying to deceive you. It was all for your well-being, I promise."

"Sure it was. Forgive me if I don't believe you." I retort. I look at Spencer, speaking sharply. "And who are you? Dionysus?"

He somehow manages to grin in the situation. "How did you guess?"

"Unbelievable." I snort, gripping my arms so tightly that I can practically feel my skin bruising. "I'm sorry. This is just—"

My sentence dies in my throat when I look over at Hades. He meets my gaze, his expression as emotionless as ever. I shake my head again, slowly backing up.

"I'm sorry. I can't do this. I have to... I have to go."

Before anyone has a chance to stop me, I walk out of the room as fast as I can, my breathing erratic. Even without looking at them, I know that every single person in that room is watching me as I run out with my tail between my legs. But I couldn't care less. All that flashes through my mind is the faces that I thought I knew; all that I could hear was the lies they'd been telling me half of my life. They all probably thought it was hilarious, pushing me to pursue my obsession with Greek mythology, all the while knowing that I was just learning all about them. It was the worst kind of narcissistic complex, and they had all encouraged it.

Squeezing my eyes shut, I fall back against the wall and slowly slide down to the ground, pinching the bridge of my nose. Just like that, I had lost all sense of what's real. From the moment my family died, I had spent my whole life living a perfectly formed lie, and I was struggling to find the fixed points of reality in it. How could I, when I'd been brought up by characters from mythology?

"Evie."

I startle and glance up, wiping the tears off my cheeks. Hades stands before me, his hands shoved into the pockets of his black trench-coat. When he notices the state I'm in, chagrin flashes across his features. Realisation slaps me in the face. Suddenly, everything makes sense.

"It was all you." I whisper. "I ran into you at the airport. And then when Spencer was on the phone... it was you he was talking to, wasn't it? It was you he told I wasn't ready."

Hades nods. I swallow hard and push myself up to my feet.

"Did you plan all of this?" A horrific thought hits me. My heart clenches painfully. "Did you... did you kill my family too?"

"No." Hades tells me. "Of course not. I first noticed you when I helped your parents transition."

"My parents? You saw my parents?" I look at him in horror. "How?"

He sighs, running a hand through his ashen hair. "That is what I do, Evie. I am the Lord of the Dead. I help people transition into their afterlives."

"Then why were you so interested in me? I'm not dead, I'm completely and utterly alive; so why did you fixate on me? Why did you think you had the right to raise me on lies?"

"I cannot tell you."

"Seriously? Seriously?" I laugh humorlessly, throwing my hands up in the air. "Your explanation for all the lies is that you can't tell me? What, are you also going to tell me now that I'm dreaming, or—or—or that I'm overreacting, that I should be taking this all in stride? How does Persephone deal with this, with all the lying and the secrets?"

"She does not." Hades says shortly, his tone so cold that it makes me blink and stop short. "You are not dreaming, nor are you overreacting."

"Well, then why won't you tell me why you decided to control my life, Hades?" I exclaim, gesturing wildly. "I deserve to know why you thought it would be a good idea to have a group of primordial beings raise me like their pet human!"

"I do not act without a good reason, Evie." Hades says seriously. "You may not have the highest opinion of me right now, but I meant it when I say that I am not fond of lying or keeping secrets. I did not lie when we made the deal, did I? Spencer is still alive."

"Because he's a god!" I yell, my tone bordering on hysterical. Hades responds with yet more silence. My words echo through my mind. I pause as a realisation occurs to me. "He's a god. Which means he... he can't die if I break off the deal, can he?"

Hades stills. "No."

"So I could break off the deal."

"Yes." He says impassively. "I was under the impression, however, that you did not break your promises."

"I... I don't." I stammer, leaning my head back against the wall. "But you tricked me into agreeing to your terms. You orchestrated for him to die, right in front of me, so I agreed to your deal. I was tricked into this all along."

"I may have organised the premise of the situation, but I did not orchestrate your reaction. You had every right to say no to me, to let your friend die, but you did not. You sacrificed yourself for him, and that is the reason I offered you the deal in the first place. You are extremely unique, Evie. Not many mortals would actually agree to that deal in the first place."

"That still doesn't change the fact that I was tricked into this, Hades. I may have agreed to your deal, but you can't possibly think that it was a fair one."

Hades lets out a long breath and inclines his head in agreement. "I will admit that the circumstances under which the deal was presented were unfair, and I apologise for that. If you really feel that you cannot stay here for the duration of the deal, then you may leave. I will not stop you."

With that, he turns and starts to walk away. I watch him go in silence. Confusion clouds my mind. I can't ignore the fact that what he did was wrong and unfair, and a small part of me can't help thinking that I should take up his offer without a second thought. It was what I'd been wishing for all along, after all. Besides which, I should be cursing him for being the reason that the only people left alive that I love are gods: gods who are immortal, gods who will outgrow me and gods who will, one day, watch me die.

But somehow, despite that, when I look at him, all my anger disappears. Left in its place is sympathy: sympathy for the quiet, dark god in front of me. He may have just turned my life upside-down for some secret reason, but I couldn't help feeling sorry for him, and my curiosity wasn't letting me leave that feeling alone. Besides which, Hades was right about one thing: I had made a deal with him, and I never broke my deals unless I had a really good reason to. And even if I did break it, and returned to my old life, there would be nothing waiting for me. My family, all my friends, would be gone. I'd be all alone, all over again. And the thought of that, the thought of having to start all over again, was just that bit more painful than staying.

I sigh, biting my lip. "Wait."

Hades pauses, but doesn't turn around.

"I'm sorry." I blow out my cheeks and take a couple of steps forward. "You're right. I said I never break my deals, and I don't. Me breaking my deals when I say I don't break deals is technically me breaking a deal, and I told you I wouldn't do that. But that's not important."

I take a deep breath, cutting myself off before I ramble on too much.

"What I'm trying to say is, I'll give it a go. Staying down here, I mean. I did make a deal with you, after all."

He turns his head to the side ever so slightly. "If you desire to leave, then you are more than welcome to."

"I don't." I reply, shrugging my shoulders. "Well, I don't think I want to. Not at the moment, anyway. I just said it before because I was... confused, I guess. I tend to think aloud when I'm confused."

I hear him sigh quietly. His shoulder slumps. "I do not want to force you to be here, Evie. I do not want you to be unhappy. I will not make that mistake again."

Mistake? Again? What does he mean by that?

I open my mouth to ask him, but stop. Focus, Evie. "If you don't lie to me, don't keep secrets from me, and treat me like an equal, not a prisoner, then I won't be unhappy. It's only for four months, isn't it?"

"Yes. Four months."

"Then that's how long I'm here for. Four months." I swallow, nodding with what I hope is convincing finality. If I can convince everyone else, then maybe I can convince myself too.

Hades doesn't respond, but I can tell from the small shift in his stance that he heard me. After a few more beats of silence, I walk up to him and hesitantly touch his shoulder.

"I have just one more question. Well, two actually."

He turns, eyebrows raised. "Yes?"

"Can I not go back there? Like, ever again?" I ask timidly, my fingers twisting around themselves. "I don't think I can face going back in there and pretending everything is okay over chicken and peas."

"I can assure you that it would not be over chicken and peas," Hades replies, a hint of bemusement in his tones. "But I am sure they will understand your absence, given the circumstances. What was your other question?"

I clear my throat, trying not to let my voice shake. "Can I... can I see my parents?"

The moment Hades hears my request, surprise flashes across his face; but the emotion is gone just as fleetingly as it came. He shakes his head.

"I am sorry Evie, but I cannot grant that request. While I may be able to excuse you from the dinner, I will not have as much luck for myself. My family will not take well to the host of the dinner leaving."

"Oh." I try not to let the disappointment show on my face. Instead, I hold onto the fact that he didn't outright say no; that there was the possibility that I might be able to see them sometime soon, if not now. "Okay."

"Is that all?" Hades asks. I nod mutely. He inclines his head. "Very well. Calla will come and show you to your room."

Hades disappears as soon as he's finished his sentence, leaving his words to ring all around me as I stand alone in the hallway of the Underworld's palace.

— — —

Much to my chagrin, I didn't see Hades — or any of the other gods — for an entire month following what I dubbed the 'disaster-dinner'. I don't know why that came as such a surprise to me, though. The Underworld wasn't exactly famous for its parties and cheeriness, nor was it exactly a popular holiday destination, so it shouldn't have come as a shock that Spencer, or the twins, or even Minnie hadn't visited.

That still didn't stop their sudden disappearance from hurting, though.

Despite my resentment towards them for lying, I didn't want them permanently severed from my life. All I needed was time to process it all, to try and figure out what the hell my life had become, not complete and utter abandonment; but it seems that Hades had really taken my request to heart. The handful of times I'd seen Spencer and Olly walking through the immense palace in the Underworld, they'd both blanched and quickly ducked round a corner, gone before I managed to catch up with them. And that hurt a lot more than I wanted it to.

Hades, on the other hand, I didn't see at all. Not a fleeting glimpse, or a shadow, or even a whisper. He had, for all appearances, completely disappeared into thin air, and become nothing more than the myth fashioned from the mouths of the ancient Greeks. More than once, I almost gave into believing that he was that literary creation, rather than the actual person I had met. Had it not been for the look of terror on Calla's face whenever I so much as suggested doing anything that he might not approve of, I probably would have. For the first time in my life, I was completely and utterly alone, and the more time that passed without a single interaction with the man who had literally turned my life upside-down, the more I started to feel like maybe I had descended into literal hell.

To distract myself, I spent most of my time exploring the palace, with the goal to discover as many rooms as I possibly could. Calla, who had quickly become my one and only friend, found my plight incredibly amusing, particularly the expression of complete bewilderment I made when the room I'd just been exploring disappeared the moment I stepped out of the door.

Then, exactly one month and six days after I made the deal with Hades, I'm sprawled over my couch, lazily watching a movie, when a quiet knock sounds on my door. Frowning, I pause the movie and slowly sit up, staring at the innocent wooden partition. I'd previously told Calla she could just let herself in whenever she arrived, considering she was here almost all the time; it had even taken me almost half an hour to convince her that it was actually fine. But apart from Calla, nobody ever came to see me. My frown deepens.

So who on earth was on the other side of the door?

"Hello?" I cross my room and pull open the door. I stop short when I see the person on the other side. "Oh. Hi."

"Hello." Hades nods, watching me with his usual impassive gaze.

"Um..." I clear my throat, tucking my hair behind my ear and folding my arms over my chest. At least this time, I'm wearing something more decent than my scrappy old penguin pyjamas. As well as being my maidservant, I'd quickly discovered that Calla was also in charge of my wardrobe — something we had quarrelled over several times. At the beginning, she had been near-on determined to stuff me in dresses that had me in a perpetual state of breathlessness and just general pain, but after I finally put my foot down and threatened to strike by walking around butt-naked, she grudgingly gave in and started offering up more modern wardrobe options. As much as I loved Victorian dresses, they were hell to walk around in comfortably — particularly if you'd been exploring a palace as obsessively as I'd been. "Not to be blunt, but I haven't seen you for an entire month. Why are you suddenly talking to me now?"

"I apologise for that." Hades replies sagely. "I have been much busier than anticipated. I did not mean to leave you alone in such an abrupt manner."

"You didn't." I shrug. "Calla's been keeping me company. She's been watching me make a fool out of myself exploring the different corners of the palace. Did you know that there is a room that has one hundred cellos in it? One hundred cellos. I was so bored that I counted them all. But then the room disappeared, and now I've kind of become obsessed with finding the room of one hundred cellos. Did I mention there were one hundred cellos?"

His eyebrows raise. "Calla has been accompanying you?"

"Well, yeah." I look at him, my brow furrowing in confusion. It's almost like he's surprised I befriended the quiet, genteel girl. "Even if she wasn't the only one who's talking to me around here, she's my friend. I think I deserve at least one of those if I'm going to stay sane while I'm down here."

"But she is your maidservant." He still seems genuinely bewildered by what I'm saying.

"And? This is the twenty-first century; even if I did consider her my maidservant, it's basic human decency to be nice to the people helping you." This time I'm the one raising my eyebrows at him. "Besides, she's the only person around here who seems genuinely interested in my well-being. Why wouldn't I want to be friends with her?"

Hades stiffens, his midnight-blue eyes narrowing at the edges. When he speaks, his tone is clipped, as razor-sharp as an icicle. "Again, I apologise for the situation you have been inadvertently placed in."

"It's not your fault. I understand that you have a role to fulfil." I respond lightly, leaning against the doorframe. "Hades, not to be rude, but why exactly are you here?"

"To apologise for my lack of appearance. I am not being a gracious host, so I am here to make up for that."

"Okay." I eye him suspiciously. "What exactly does the god of the Underworld consider an apology?"

"That depends on you."

"On me?" I raise an eyebrow. "Whyy?"