Seven days trickle by, and I still don't see Hades. Although Selene repeatedly told me that I shouldn't worry about his absence, that Hades was just like this and that I had done nothing wrong, a small part of me continued to worry that I had to have done something to upset him. Every time my thoughts traipsed down that path, an even bigger part of me just ached, and I wasn't sure why. And the longer Hades stayed absent, the bigger that part got.

"Winter Solstice." Was the rude awakening that woke me up one morning, courtesy of my new least-favourite person: Zola. The barked words were quickly followed up by an equally bitter, "Get out of bed before I box your ears, you lazy wench."

I won't deny it; I was a good girl, and got out of bed as soon as she said that. But Zola then discovered that I was a lot faster than I looked when I sprinted to the bathroom, locked the door and turned a deaf ear to her banshee-like shrieks.

"Evie!" Zola batters down the door, her heavy Italian accent thickening with frustration. "Get out here now, you insolent child!"

"Okay. First of all Z," I call out, lounging fully clothed in my jacuzzi. Pluto lazes about at my feet, his dark eyes flickering open and shut as he wavers in and out of consciousness. "I am not a child; I'm turning twenty in thirteen days. Second of all, I don't like your tone or the way that you are talking down to me. So I'm just going to stay in here until you learn to speak to me with some modern-day manners."

Zola growls. I hear a loud thud, sounding suspiciously like her head falling onto the door. "I don't know what Hades sees in you. You are the most resentful child I have ever come across! Back in my day, you would have never been chosen as a wife!"

"Good thing our world has moved on from that hellhole then, isn't it?" I drawl, giggling to myself at my pun. Yes, I'm being pointedly obstructive and annoying, but she's been getting on my nerves for weeks now, and I was still in a foul mood due to my 'Hades deprivation', as Kezia loved to put it.

"Evie Mae Autumn, you get out here right now, or I will tell Hades about your behaviour!"

I bolt upright, cursing quietly when my elbow jars against the edge of the bathtub. Pluto jolts at the unexpected movement, blinking up at me sleepily. "You're going to what?"

Zola obviously mistakes the incredulity in my tone for panic. Her response is lathered with smugness. "That's right! I will call your jailer if you do not obey me."

I roll my eyes, yawning exaggeratedly. "Go ahead. Call my 'jailer' — who, by the way, knows fully well that I am here of my own free will."

Zola hits the door and starts yammering away in Italian. "I did not die to deserve this hell! I am talking to Hades and then I am leaving!"

"Okay." I trace the edges of the bath with my fingers, swinging my legs out of the tub. "While you do that, can I have a bath?"

"Do what you want!" Zola hisses, kicking the door. "You are my responsibility no longer!"

She stomps away. Seconds later, my bedroom door slams shut. I wince slightly as the sound reverberates through the room and slowly lever myself up out of the jacuzzi.

I could have handled that better.

A few minutes of silence pass by, but Zola doesn't return. I grin smugly to myself. Success.

High on my victory, I spin around and decide to run a bath. Tossing all the bubble-bars and aromatic bath soaps that I can find into the running water, I double check that the door is locked, slip out of my clothes and lower myself into the bath.

A small, languid smile stretches across my face as I sink further under the bubbles. The warm water massages my taut muscles, kneading the stress out of my body. I take a deep breath and let my head sink under the water. I didn't even realise I was stressed; so what was I even stressed about? The logical explanation was simple, of course: I was petrified of going to Hades' Winter Solstice party and being forced to face everyone after what had happened at the last 'family' dinner.

Only, I'd already talked to half of them and made peace, so the more I thought about it, the less logical that seemed.

That only left the illogical explanation, but I wasn't sure I even wanted to consider that explanation. Considering it meant thinking about it, and thinking about it meant confirming it, and I wasn't sure I was ever going to be ready to confirm it.

My breath streams past my lips in a flurry of bubbles as I resurface. I rub my eyes, pushing the hair out of my face as I stare blankly up at the ceiling. My life used to be so simple; all I had to worry about was whether I had rambled too much in the essay I'd submitted for my university assessment, or what I was going to have for dinner that night. Now, the word 'complicated' didn't even begin to scratch the surface of my life. I sigh, and cast a wayward glance at the big, black cat lying next to the jacuzzi.

"Why did I ever agree to the deal, Pluto? Life was so much simpler when I had no idea what the world really entailed."

Pluto blinks an eye lazily at me, but deigns not to respond.

"Evie?" A quiet knock sounds at the door. I freeze. The person on the other side of the door sighs at my silence. "Zola is quite upset. She threatened to throw you down to the Tartarus Pits."

I blush so hard that my bones burn red. "Well, she was being mean to me. Plus, I'm fairly sure she was going to stuff me into a dress that would have made me want to throw myself down there before the end of the night, so I just—"

"Decided to hide in the bathroom?" My embarrassment flourishes into a gigantic, all-consuming red cloud when I hear the amusement in Hades' voice. "I am unsure as to how effective that plan was, Evie."

"Shut up." I grumble childishly, sinking further down into the water. Pluto growls, echoing the frustration stewing within me. "What do you want, Hades? I don't want to talk to you."

Hades is silent for a long time. When he finally speaks, his voice is, once again, emotionless.

I hate his emotionless voice.

"Having this conversation through a door does not seem like the best idea. I will return in fifteen minutes and explain everything, so long as you promise to stop hiding in the bathroom. Does that sound agreeable?"

I swallow. "Okay."

Hades doesn't respond, and I hear my bedroom door shutting quietly a few moments later. As soon the door clicks shut, I leap up out of the water and head straight for the fluffy red towels hanging on the wall. After I dry myself off, I wrap a towel around my middle, open the door slightly and peer cautiously around my bedroom.

It's empty.

I exit the bathroom and scurry over to my wardrobe, shutting the door behind me and quickly slipping on a bra and underpants. Surveying the dresses before me, I place my hands on my hips and pull a face at the hoop skirts and lacy corsets.

Curse Zola and her insufferable Victorian upbringing; she's going to be the death of me.

Hades is already waiting for me when I re-enter my room, fully dressed, his back turned to me as he studies something on the floor. I clear my throat. He turns, watching me with an impassive blue gaze. My heart skips a beat. I comb my fingers through my damp curls and raise my eyebrows.

"I didn't expect you to return."

Hades sighs softly, the sound seeming to drag right through him. Pluto gruffs and appears at the tall man's feet, his tail curling around the god's legs. I stay silent as the large black cat trots over to curl up at my feet, smiling when he starts purring contentedly.

"If you've come here just to ignore me again, I'd really appreciate it if you just left." I speak quietly, hurt scratching at me like a stray claw. "I can deal with your silence a lot better if you're not here to make it blatantly obvious that you're ignoring me. Funnily enough, it's a lot less awkward."

Hades sighs again and leans against the back of the couch. With that one small movement, he suddenly looks extremely and unusually exhausted. That shocks me into silence. I'd never really expected Hades, a god, to look so tired. He'd never looked so human.

My anger ebbs. I stand up and reach for him, but think about it at the last minute and pull back. I clear my throat and fold my arms over my chest.

"What's wrong?"

"First and foremost, I apologise for my unexpected disappearance." Hades begins, giving me a remorseful look. "It is not often that something of great importance comes up, even less so when it requires my undivided attention for so long. I hope you will be reassured to know that I did not rebuff you willingly."

"Okay." I say slowly. I perch on the edge of the bed. "I guess I forgive you for that?"

"You guess?"

"Don't mock me!" I give him a look. Hades chuckles, raising an eyebrow. I sigh. "Okay, yes. I will admit that I was angry at you for ignoring me for over a week, without sending me a message or anything, but if you had super important god business to attend to then I can't exactly get all prissy about it, can I?"

"I understand that you are mad." Hades replies, somehow managing to sound both sincere and vague all at the same time. "I really am sorry, if my apology is worth anything. It was something that I could not ignore."

"You don't have to apologise."

Hades tilts his head to the side. "Why do you say that? Did you not just state that you were upset by my actions?"

I rub my arms, shooting him a small but sheepish smile. "Because I kind of forgave you the moment I saw you."

Something flickers through Hades' gaze, but it's gone as quickly as it came.

"Very well." He straightens up, transforming into that cold, ethereal god that made me want to run away screaming. "As I doubt Zola is going to return willingly, I will send another maid in to assist you."

I swallow, pinching the skin on my elbow. "Another maid? Do you have an endless stream of them at your beck and call, or something?"

Hades doesn't even blink, my sarcasm not seeming to register with him at all. "Of course I do. I am Hades."

"Is that supposed to be proof?"

"Yes."

The seriousness in his tone surprises a laugh out of me. "Wow. You put the H in humble, don't you?"

Hades merely smiles and disappears from view.

I groan, falling back on my bed and rolling my eyes at my roof. The raindrop chandelier winks back at me, choosing not to reply. I wrinkle my nose up and poke my tongue out the sparkling crystal. Before the chandelier can deign to respond though, Pluto's furry face appears in my vision, glaring down at me with big blue accusatory eyes. I screw my face up at him.

"Oh yes, I can hear you judging me." I accuse. "And I would just like to point out, technically I'm still a teenager. I'm allowed to have tantrums for the next thirteen days!"

Pluto sneezes. If I didn't know better, I'd almost say he's laughing at me. I narrow my eyes at him. "You're a royal pain in my ass, you know that?"

Pluto chuffs and hops up onto my chest. I groan as all the air is punched from my chest, and throw my hands up in the air. Pluto licks his nose and curls up into as tight a ball as he can. My hands fall down onto the bed in defeat.

"You're a useless cat."

Pluto merely purrs in response.

Before I can berate him any further, a timid knock rattles my door. I scowl at the purring black cloud on my chest before calling out, "it's open!"

The door swings open. I look past Pluto's large form to see a small, hunched frame slip through into my room. My jaw drops.

"Calla?"

Calla jumps, staring at me through wide eyes. "Good afternoon, Miss Autumn."

I bolt upright, shoving Pluto off my chest. The large lion-cub hisses at me, cobalt fury clear in his gaze.

"Where in the hell have you been?"

Calla flinches. Her hands shake at her sides. "I requested to be removed from your service, Miss Autumn."

"Why?"

"Because..." Calla hesitates, her voice losing its emotionless edge. "Because I didn't know how to keep my mouth shut, and that—"

She physically clamps her mouth shut, giving me a 'see what I mean?' look.

"That doesn't make any sense." I brush my hair out of my face, trying not to glare at her. "I thought that you were my friend. But then again, friends don't just disappear and act like the other is the black plague, so I guess I was wrong."

"Evie, I'm sorry, I—" Calla stops herself. She straightens up and clasps her hands behind her back. "I'm here to get you ready for the ball."

I can't help but grumble as I rub my face with my hand. "You are one of the most frustrating people I've ever met; and that's saying something, because I know Hades. Why don't you trust me?"

Calla baulks, her dark skin paling. "I—I need to get you ready for the ball. If you could please stand, I will get you ready to put on your dress."

I motion to the lion cub now sleeping on my lap. "Are you willing to disrupt the little god in cat form?"

"Little god in cat form?" Her eyebrows furrow. "What do you mean by that? It does not make sense."

I bite back a laugh at the look of pure confusion on her face. "His name is Pluto, Calla."

"Oh." Realisation dawns on her face. She laughs nervously. "But I need to get you ready for the ball."

"But. Cat."

Calla raises her eyebrows at me. "But pretty dress that will take me at least an hour and a half to put you into."

My eyes narrow.

"I will throw my cat at you if you force me into another one of your death traps, Calla. I refuse to wear anything that was not designed in the 21st century."

"Miss Autumn, I insist." She groans when I jut my jaw out and fold my arms stubbornly. "Well, are you going to let me put you in a dress, or will you threaten to do the whole 'pyjamas or cat attack' again?"

"When did I ever do that? I would never do that to poor Pluto! Have you seen his cute little face?!"

Pluto hisses in agreement.

Calla struggles to hold back a smile. "You threatened me just now."

I start to protest, but think against it. I come up with my next most logical response. "I hate you. And I'm still not wearing one of your dresses."

Calla sighs heavily. "Will you hate me less if I find a dress more suited to your... style?"

I grin. "Now you're talking."