The next week passes in a blur, a collage made up of disjointed, cut up memories. What I could remember from those seven days were moments doused in fog, as if I could never really tell whether I was awake or asleep. I remember feeling hot and cold all at the same time, feeling like someone was sawing me in half from my stomach, while simultaneously wanting to puke my guts out.

I can remember having several bedside visitors too. Calla was a constant one, as was Kezia, when she wasn't berating Calla for not doing exactly what she ordered the more softly-spoken woman to do. Selene and Axel visited a few times, as did Minnie. I have faint memories of Selene apologising to me, gripping my hand tightly and asking me to come back. I can't remember what she said after that though, because that was when the fog clouded the memory.

Spencer came, only once, but I remember that conversation extremely well.

Like all my other memories, the edges were tinged with uncertainty; I still wasn't even sure it was a memory, or just an incredibly realistic dream. Spencer had come into my room quietly, a grim look on his face, and shut the door softly behind him. Without taking his eyes off me, he walked all around my bed to sit down on the chair at the head of my bed. As soon as he sat down, his whole demeanour collapsed; his shoulders tightened, his head fell into his hands and his slender fingers tugged his blonde hair erratically.

"What the hell have we done?" He groaned, his words muffled by his hands. "We've messed up so badly, E, god."

Spencer then looked up, and I can remember how red and stormy his usually bright blue eyes were.

"Just wake up, Evie, please. We'll explain everything to you, I promise, just please, please wake up. Don't let this thing kill you. Please. You don't know how much you mean to everyone."

"No, she does not." A low voice suddenly said, startling Spencer. He looked up just as an extremely morose Hades appeared at the foot of my bed.

Spencer leapt to his feet. Pure rage thundered in his gaze. "What the hell have you done to her, Hades? What were you thinking, giving her an aphrodisiac? You know how deadly those things are to humans when they're that undiluted. She could have died; she's dying right now! What were you thinking was going to happen? She was—"

"I did not give it to her."

"What?" Spencer spat, still mid-tirade.

"The aphrodisiac." Hades said, his voice strained. "I did not give it to her, nor did I force her to take it. Do you really think that I would be that blind-sighted? You and I both know the consequences of that course of action."

"Well then..." Spencer trailed off. He cast his gaze away and fell back onto the chair heavily. He rubbed his face tiredly. "Who would be so stupid as to do this to her? Why would they do this?"

"I do not know." Was Hades' quiet reply. He glanced down at me and let out a frustrated sigh.

Spencer looked up at him, confusion etched on his face. "What's wrong?"

"Are you really asking that question Dionysus?" Hades asked sharply. Spencer winced a little at Hades' tone. "You are quite aware of the prophecy underpinning this all. My one chance to see it through has been jeopardised, and I do not even know who by. And Evie..." Hades cut himself off, looking away.

Spencer let out a long breath and stood up. He placed a firm hand on Hades' shoulder and waited until the older god looked him in the eye.

"You don't know that, Hades. Now, you and I both know that we haven't exactly seen eye to eye in the past, but I care about Evie. And if I'm being completely honest, I haven't seen her happier than she is right now, and I know that's not because she has a fetish for hanging out with the otherwise deceased. She was clearly in her element that night, and I've never seen her look at anybody the way she looks at you. As much as it pains me to say this, she obviously cares for you more than anybody, maybe even Evie, realises, and I know how you feel about her. So stop looking at your glass half empty for once and hope for the best. Zeus might be more understanding than you think."

"Zeus might be known for some things, but he is not known for letting the obligations of agreements be broken." Hades replied, his tone bitter. "There is no chance he will overlook this."

My memory faded after that, so I never got to hear the end of their confusing conversation.

Hades visited once more, and even though it's one of the memories that I'm the most unsure of, it's the one that I remember the clearest. He stood by my bedside for what felt like hours, just staring down at my slumbering form. His expression, usually so reserved, wavered through an array of emotions as he watched me; from confusion, to frustration, to anger, before finally settling on something that sent shudders right through my soul.

Pure, heartbroken anguish.

Hades finally sat down gingerly at my side, like he suddenly wasn't sure of himself. After a moment of visible deliberation, he hesitantly reached out and covered my hand with his. He bowed his head.

"Evie," He started, drawing my hand up to his bowed head. His voice was unusually thick, almost like he was choked up with unspent tears. "Wake up. Do not let the aphrodisiac take you away from us. You need to fight it. I care for you, more than you will ever know. I know that night you were possessed by the feelings the aphrodisiac conjured up for you, but I do not care in this moment. All I want is for you to wake up. I do not want to lose you. Please Evie, just wake up."

I do not want to lose you. His words reverberate through me and envelop me in their warm embrace. A chord strikes within me.

You need to fight it.

What do you think I've been doing? I want to shout at him. I'm trying!

Wake up.

I painstakingly try to step forward, wiggle my arms, just move, but the tendrils of fog fight back against me. A scream wells up in me.

I know that night you were possessed by the feelings the aphrodisiac conjured up for you...

But I wasn't! I manage to rip one arm free, then another. I sit up and yell into the sky. Please, you have to hear me!

All I want is for you to wake up.

I desperately claw away at the foggy ivy clinging to my feet, until all of a sudden I'm free. I feel myself slowly rising up out of the fog.

Please Evie, just wake up.

I take a deep breath, push through the final blanket of fog... and open my eyes.

Hades?

"Evie?"

"Calla?" My heart sinks. She's the only one in my room.

Hades is gone.

Calla gasps, her face going white. She leaps to her feet. "You're awake. You're awake!"

"Um. I think so?" I push myself up to a sitting position, wincing a little at the pang that wavers through my chest. "And from your reaction, I get the feeling I've been asleep longer than society dictates is normal. How long was I asleep?"

"Over a week!" She disappears into my bathroom for a moment, before running over to me with a warm towel. She frantically dabs at my forehead. "We thought you were going to die."

"A week?!" I gape at her, pushing the flannel away. "Why?"

Calla tries to wipe my forehead again. She lets out a groan of exasperation when I push away the towel again. "Someone slipped you an aphrodisiac at the ball. Mortals are rarely able to cope with a diluted dosage, but the one you were given wasn't diluted at all. It was like someone intended it for a deity, it was so strong. It almost killed your system; we all thought it had killed you."

"An aphrodisiac?" I frown. "Isn't that..."

"A concoction that emphasises lustful feelings?" Calla settles for handing me a glass of water. I gratefully accept it, drinking greedily. "Yes."

"Oh, god." I glance down at my glass, embarrassment stealing through me. Was that why I suddenly had the guts to admit my feelings to Hades?

"What's the matter?" Calla mistakes my embarrassment for an expression of pain. "Are you feeling sick? Lightheaded? How's your heart rate?" She clamps her shaky fingers around my wrist, feeling for my pulse.

"Calla, I'm fine. Stop fretting." I push her hand away and clear my throat. My gaze awkwardly lowers to my fingers. They clench slightly. "Did... did Hades come to see me at all?"

"Oh, I'm sorry Evie." Calla sighs, squeezing my hand sympathetically. "No, he hasn't. Nobody has seen him since the night of the ball. He's disappeared."

— — —

Calla ordered me to stay in bed for another full week after I woke up that morning. Despite protesting many times to her about my prescribed bed rest at first, I soon realised that I didn't really mind. I didn't completely realise how much the aphrodisiac took out of me until I tried to get out of bed after only a day and almost collapsed on the floor; after that incident, all my protests dried up extremely quickly.

The bedrest, however, was a double-edged sword, because it gave me a lot of time to mull over my actions of that fateful night. And mull over it all I did; to the point where I had to talk myself down from a ledge of hyperventilating about all the 'what ifs'. Even though my courage and bravery of that night was apparently fabricated by the aphrodisiac, a big part of me still felt like every single moment of the ball night was genuine, despite the events of it all still being covered by a hazy mist of uncertainty. After days of agonising deliberation, I finally came to the conclusion that I couldn't have fabricated my feelings for Hades up even if I was hopped up on the strongest aphrodisiac dose in the world. I liked Hades much more than I could have ever thought humanly possible, and the aphrodisiac just helped me to realise that.

That realisation made me smile so big that Kezia actually dunked my head in the bath several times because she thought I was still 'high on Aphrodites' finest'. She only stopped because she realised that she actually kind of drowned me a little bit.

Once I was finally able to walk around without my legs collapsing out from underneath me, I spent every waking minute trying to find Hades. Call me obsessed, but I wanted to find him and confront him, not only about what happened that night but about his latest vanishing stunt, which was hurting me more than I could admit.

The trouble of it all, though, was that Hades' current vanishing act was so effective that even his own staff didn't know where he was. I searched every single corner of the palace that I physically could, berated every single staff member that I could without being beaten, and even tracked down Cerberus to ask him if he knew where his master was. It was all to no avail, though. Not a single soul had seen Hades since the night of the ball, had even heard a breadth of his whereabouts.

I'd be lying if I said that didn't scare me just a little. Or, a lot. Because the more time that rolled by without a sighting of Hades, the more I had to acknowledge that the heartbreaking seed of doubt that had taken root in the back of my mind might actually be true: that the events of that night were a dream, and Hades didn't feel the same way about me

After three days of watching my frantic searches, Calla had finally had enough, and broke the seal of silence between us.

"Evie, what's going on?" Calla stands in the doorway of my bedroom with folded arms, physically barring me from embarking on another of my frenetic searches.

I huff at her, childish frustration pushing me to mirror her position. "What do you mean, Calla?"

Calla gives me a look. "Don't play dumb with me, Evie. You know exactly what I mean."

Surprise steals through me at her tone. I raise my eyebrows at her. "Calla, as your caring friend, I have to say, you've been hanging out with Kezia for far too long now. She's made you sassy and scary. I don't like it. I preferred it when you were nice and friendly."

"I'm still nice and friendly. But you're still avoiding the question."

"You're not nice and friendly. You're mean." I pout childishly. Calla flicks me in the forehead. I yelp in pain. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry, I take it back! You're not mean, you're a wonderful human being!"

"Evie." Calla physically walks me over to my bed and sits me down. She looks me deep in the eye. "What you're doing isn't healthy for a normal person, let alone someone in your condition. Something is clearly upsetting you, and as your friend and stand-in nurse, I won't let you leave until you tell me what's going on."

I stay silent for several beats. My fingers run through the soft fluff of Pluto's tail, who's sleeping quietly behind us. "I'm not upset."

"Sure. And I'm not dead." Calla deadpans. I raise an eyebrow at her. She shrugs and folds her hands in her lap, her eyes wide and demure. "I'm sorry Miss Autumn, but sassy and scary Calla won't leave until she has what she wants."

"And what will sassy and scary Calla do if I continue to tell her I'm not upset?"

Calla smiles. "Call in even sassier and scarier reinforcements who are known for dabbling in witchcraft."

I wince and hold my hands up in defeat. "Alright, fine, I'll talk. You really want to know what's upsetting me? I'm terrified. I've just woken up from a coma, after quite possibly fighting off death, and taken over a week to recover from that fight. And now that I'm feeling better, I want to talk to the one person who gave me reason to even begin fighting, and that one person has disappeared so effectively that he's hidden from dead people! And I can't help but read into that narrative, because the last thing I told him was kind of world-shattering, and the fact that he is now avoiding me is making me all too aware of a reality that I'm not willing to accept."

"You're worried about Hades?" Calla frowns in confusion. "Why? Because of what happened at the ball?"

I nod. Calla's confusion grows. She tilts her head to the side as she tries to understand it all.

"But the reason you acted that way was because of the aphrodisiac. Why would you be upset about Hades? I'm sure he understands that your actions were heavily influenced by something out of your control."

"Oh, Calla." I bury my face in my hands, my cheeks burning red. "You're really going to make me say it, aren't you?"

"What?" She blinks. "Make you say what, Evie?"

"The aphrodisiac doesn't make up feelings."

"What?"

"The aphrodisiac doesn't make up feelings." I repeat, lifting my head up out of my hands. Calla stares at me.

"What are you saying, Evie?"

"I care about Hades!" I burst out. Calla's eyes widen to the side of saucers. "I really care about him, okay? Yes, I was under the influence of the aphrodisiac, but all it did was give me the confidence to actually kiss him! It didn't make up my feelings for him. It just pushed me to act on them."

Calla doesn't say anything for a painfully long time. A smile slowly stretches across her face.

"What?" I eye her warily. "What's going on, Calla? Why have you got such a weird look on your face?"

"I don't believe this." She whispers, clapping her hands together. "This changes everything!"

She runs from the room without another word. I stare after her in bewilderment.

"What just happened?"

My room deigns not to respond. I groan, falling back against Pluto and burying my face in his side.

"Why is it, Pluto, that everybody in the damned palace loves to run out of the room the moment they've dropped a bombshell of confusion?" I mumble into his fur.

Pluto doesn't reply, too wrapped up in his slumber to hear my question.

I sigh and roll onto my back, wiping away the tears I didn't know had escaped. I shouldn't be this upset over it all, every single logical and rational part of me knew that. Hades had ignored me for a large portion of my time down here, and he had told me himself that he wasn't afraid to keep secrets from me, even if he thought he was protecting me. Even if what he had told me the night of the ball was true, and that he would try to change the way he treated me, I shouldn't be surprised that he had followed through with that promise. If anything, his behaviour over the past three months should have taught me that I couldn't predict his behaviour.

Yet despite all that, I couldn't ignore the fact that my entire being ached for Hades to just stop ignoring me and talk to me; not just because of my ever-deepening feelings for Hades himself, but also for the truth, so I could finally understand why there were so many secrets surrounding the god of the Underworld.

And even though I refused to acknowledge it, I knew that deep down I just couldn't give up until I knew. Even if it destroyed me in the process.

"Evie?" A face appears in the middle of my vision, and I have to blink several times before it comes into focus.

"Spencer?" I jolt upright and stare at him. "What are you doing here?"

He doesn't reply, choosing instead to pick up a pillow and smack me across the face with it.

"Ow! What the hell, Spencer?!"

"What the hell 'Spencer'? What about what the hell Evie?" Spencer demands, hitting me again. "What's gotten into you? First of all, thanks for the heads up that you're, you know, alive, and second of all, you haven't moved for almost an entire day! I think Pluto is close to throwing himself into the Styx just to get away from the depressing air in this room!"

I glare and roll away from him. "I'm not in the mood, Spencer. And how do you know I've been lying here all day? Have you been watching me this whole time? That's downright creepy."

Spencer skips around the bed to crouch in front of me. He leans his arms against the side of the bed, his eyes crinkled with concern. "Seriously, Evie. Why are you acting like this? This kind of crap only happens in those stupid movies you made me watch, not in real life. So cut the crap and talk."

I sigh, slowly propping myself up. I scowl at him. "Why are you here, Spencer? Can't you see that I'm wallowing in my sadness? There's a reason I'm losing myself in my thoughts: it takes away the pain."

"You're such a drama queen. I hate to break it to you E, but you're a human being, not a whimpering Disney princess." Spencer chastises. He shakes his head at me, a wry smile turning up his lips. "Your maid is somewhat of a gossiper, so I heard through the godly grapevine that you're not exactly the happiest person alive in the Underworld. So you best tell me what's really going on, because last I heard you were sleeping deeper than Sleeping Beauty, and you're acting mighty sassy for a person supposedly in a coma."

"Did you hear through this godly grapevine what the reason behind my coma was?" I ask quietly, and he nods. "Well, Spence, this might come as a surprise to you, but that aphrodisiac gave me the push I needed to make my feelings clear to Hades. And Hades is currently ignoring me. Hence the sadness."

"Feelings?" Spencer arches an eyebrow at me. "E, you're in love with him, don't you lie to me."