Hades by Alexandra Adornetto Page B

should have
    been.
    “I’m sorry I can’t be human for you,” he drawled. “But you
    have a few irregularities of your own, so I don’t think you
    can sit in judgment.” He released one of my hands, al owing
    his fingers to hover over my retracted wings.
    “At least I have a heart, which is more than I can say for
    you,” I said. “It’s no wonder you don’t feel anything.”
    “That’s where you’re wrong. You make me feel things,
    Beth. That’s why you have to stay. Hel ’s a whole lot brighter
    with you in it.”
    I wrenched my other hand free. “I don’t have to do
    anything. I may be your prisoner, but you have no power
    over my heart. And sooner or later, Jake, you’re going to
    have to accept that.” I turned on my heel to leave.
    “Where do you think you’re going?” Jake demanded.
    “You can’t just wander around here unchaperoned. It’s not
    safe.”
    “We’l see about that.”
    “I real y wish you’d reconsider.”
    “Leave me alone!” I yel ed over my shoulder. “I don’t care
    what you want.”
    “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” In the hal way I found Hanna
    waiting dutiful y.
    “I’m leaving this hel hole,” I announced and headed in the
    direction of the revolving doors. The lobby looked
    unattended so perhaps I wouldn’t be intercepted.
    “Wait, miss!” Hanna cautioned, scuttling alongside me.
    “The prince is right, you don’t want to go out there!”
    I ignored her and flung myself through the revolving doors
    and out into the middle of nowhere. Surprisingly no one
    made any attempt to stop me. There was no plan in my
    mind but that didn’t matter. I wanted to put as much
    distance between Jake and myself as I possibly could. If
    there were portals into this place, those same portals had
    to lead out. I only needed to find one. But as I ran into the
    smoky tunnels Hanna’s words reverberated in my head.
    There is no way out .
    Beyond Hotel Ambrosia the tunnels were deep and dark,
    littered with beer bottles and the burnt-out husks of old cars,
    charred from the inside out. They twisted al around me and
    the people that staggered past seemed caught in a daze,
    completely unaware of my presence. I could tel they were
    condemned souls by the hol ow looks in their eyes. If I could
    find the road we’d taken to get to the hotel, maybe I could
    persuade the door bitches to let me out.
    The deeper I ventured into the tunnels, the more I began
    to notice things, like the strange mist and the smel of
    burning hair that was strong enough to make me cover my
    mouth with my hand. The mist swirled around me,
    marshaling me forward, and once it cleared I saw that I was
    nowhere near Pride, the club through which I had first
    entered. In fact, I had no idea where I was, but I sensed a
    deep evil, like a chil in my blood. For one thing, strangers
    surrounded me. I wasn’t sure what to cal them, but I knew
    they had once been people. There was no way you could
    cal them that now. They looked more like wraiths and they
    walked around aimlessly, vanishing in and out of the dark
    crevices. Their energy was stil present even though they
    looked through vacant eyes and their hands clutched
    uselessly at the air. I focused on the apparition closest to
    me, trying to understand what was happening. It was a man
    smartly dressed in a business suit. He had a neat haircut
    and wore metal-framed glasses. After a few moments a
    woman materialized in front of him along with the domestic
    setting of a kitchen. The whole scene shimmered like a
    mirage, but I had the feeling that for those involved it was
    far more real. A heated discussion erupted between the
    pair. I felt il at ease watching them as if I were intruding on
    a very private moment.
    “No more lies. I know everything,” the woman said.
    “You don’t know what you’re talking about,” the man
    replied in a tremulous voice.
    “I know that I’m leaving you.”
    “Don’t say that.”
    “I’m going to stay with my