Reaper of Hearts

Chapter Six

"Inanna." Cassidy rolled the name around in her mouth. "Nope. Can't say I recognize it. Can't be me then. It's all a misunderstanding. We good to break this binding and go on our merry ways?"

Thanatos shook his head, staring at her. "You do realize you're talking to the keeper of the underworld. Your literal boss."

Cassidy met the Hades' gaze. "I realize exactly who I am talking to." She answered Thanatos without looking away from Hades. "I also realize he is very wrong. I am not some soul-bound goddess from a dead culture. I'm Cassidy f*****g Archer. Reaper, cupid, dumbass college kid who took a header on some rocks while cliff diving. Not a goddess."

"You can deny it all you want, sweetheart. But the truth is literally written on your skin." Hades leaned back in his chair. "The real question is what to do about you. I make it a habit not to get involved in another pantheon's business. Especially one as ancient as the Sumerian culture."

He gestured at Thanatos. "Get me the reaper who pulled her in. We need to find out exactly what happened. Maybe there's more to this story than we are currently aware of."

Thanatos bowed, striding back to the elevator and disappearing, the traitorous asshole.

"And you, 'Cassidy f*****g Archer'. Have a seat." Hades stood, walking around his desk to a sidebar. "Coffee, tea, something a tad stronger?" There was a clink of glasses and he turned to look at her.

"We eat?" She looked at him, confused. "I mean, I'm dead." She gestured at herself. "I haven't had a coffee in over twenty years."

He leaned back against the bar, eyebrows raised. "You mean you haven't eaten or drank anything since you died, kid?"

"Well, no. I never felt the need to."

"Those must be some bindings. You should've died several times over." He whistled low. "Let me call Persephone in here. We need to look at those tattoos."

"I don't understand. I'm dead. Why would I need sustenance?"

"We all need sustenance. We are energy. Some get it from food, some from emotions, others from sex...so on and so forth." He leaned over and pressed a button to an intercom on the wall. "Persephone, light of my everlasting life, I require your assistance."

He went back to mixing drinks. "Okay kid, how do you take your coffee? If you haven't eaten in twenty years, your mind will explode."

"With two creams, I think." She shrugged. "It's been a long time, and I'm pretty sure I wasn't much of a coffee drinker to begin with."

He nodded, carrying a mug to her. She took it from him, grateful to have something to do with her hands. She took a sip, the heat and bitter flavor exploded across her tongue. Her stomach growled for the first time in decades, and she stared at him over the rim of the cup as she took another burning swallow.

"Slow down kid, you might be dead but that'll still blister."

She stopped. She could feel the hot liquid warming her from the inside and she moaned softly.

"There better be one for me too, lover." Hades already had his hand out, the cute mug with brightly colored flowers looking odd in his grip.

A small woman stepped around Hades, settling herself on the edge of his desk, bare feet swinging. Cassidy hadn't really met many gods, but she expected Persephone to be taller. Instead, she was a pocket-sized princess with golden hair streaked through with greens and pinks. She looked Cassidy over as she sipped her coffee. "What's with the baby goddess?"

Cassidy sighed. It seemed like everyone knew but her.

"Up until about an hour ago, I believe, she was Cassidy f*****g Archer. Somehow this goddess slid under everyone's radar when she ultimately bit the bullet twenty years ago, and has been playing at being a reaper." Hades answered, settling himself back in his chair.

"It wasn't like I was trying to keep from being deported or something. I didn't know I was a goddess. Jury's still out on that." Cassidy shrugged. "Nothing in my life or afterlife pointed to any form of godhood."

Persephone leveled a gaze at her. "Undress."

"What?" Cassidy gripped the coffee cup tighter, glaring at her. "I will do no such thing."

"Yes you will." Persephone slid off the desk and walked up to Cassidy. She reached under the neck of the hoodie and stroked her fingers along Cassidy's throat. "I can feel the magic on you. Binding your powers away."

Cassidy swallowed nervously. "Honestly, this is the most I've been naked in my Afterlife, what with shedding my body earlier and now..."

Persephone laughed. It was a musical sound that put Cassidy at ease. "I'm not trying to sleep with you. I want to see the magic binding you. The only way to do that is to get you naked." She turned to Hades. "Do be a dear and lower the wards so I can take her out of the office. I'm sure she would be more comfortable if she wasn't in public."

Hades waved a hand, "I'll wait here for Thanatos to return with her reaper."

Persephone nodded, and Cassidy took one last long drink of her coffee. She stood, following Persephone through a doorway at the back of the office.

They walked down a long hallway, dim lights barely illuminating their path. "Why is it so dark in here?" Cassidy asked.

"It reminds Hades of home. It took me forever to talk him into setting up shop in Asphodel, he was happy in the Underworld. This way, I don't have to leave him when Mother needs me. I just go help her and come right back here."

They stopped at a door at the end of the hall. Persephone touched a panel and the door slid open. It was a comfortable suite, lighter than Cassidy expected. She followed Persephone inside.

"Alright, time to get naked!" Persephone draped herself across a creamy leather couch, "Show me those tatts."

"Thanks for making it awkward." Cassidy muttered, pulling the hoodie off. She slid out of the jeans and turned to face Persephone.

She studied Cassidy for a few moments before getting up. Her hands were warm on Cassidy's skin as she traced the outline of runes across her arms and torso.

"Damn." Persephone stepped back. "I hope you're an exhibitionist." She met Cassidy's searching gaze. "Erishkigal did a number on you. Apparently every time you incarnate throughout the multiverse, little bits of your cosmic energy gets siphoned. Erishkigal must be using your energy for something. And if that's the case, we need to break this binding immediately. Because anything Erishkigal gets up to is usually bad news."

"Like, how bad?" Cassidy asked softly.

"Like universally bad. Like the end of the multiverse bad. Like death and a reign of terror, cataclysmic bad."