Free Hades by Candice Fox

the other away from Eric. She landed on the pillow and saw him standing there. Her smile disappeared. There was instant silence in the room. Eric’s hands slid under his backside and his eyes scrutinized Hades’ face with the cold calculation of a predator.
    “What’s going on in here?”
    “Nothing.” Eric grinned. “Nothing. We’re sorry. We were just having a bit of fun. We’re sorry, aren’t we, Eden?”
    “Yes.” She nodded.
    Eric took a long breath and let it out quickly. Hades let his eyes travel cautiously to Eden. Her cheeks were red. Hades looked back at Eric.
    “What are you hiding?”
    “What? Nothing.” Eric shook his head. “I’m not hiding anything.”
    “What have you got there?” Hades frowned, pointing at Eric’s hands. The boy shifted awkwardly and brought his hands out from under his backside, waving them around innocently. Eden’s eyes were wild.
    Hades felt a twinge in his heart. There was anger there and yet there was hurt. The children knew what evil he hid under the layers of trash out there in the dump. Eric had been curious enough to work out the science of it, the way the acidic leachate, built up from years of rotting garbage—fed and synthesized and collected as it was by Hades’ unique system of layers and channels—dissolved the bodies buried beneath it. The children knew that this had been meant for them. They knew that Hades was flawed. So there was no reason they should hide things from him. Hadn’t he shown them they could trust him?
    “I don’t want you to hide things from me, Eric,” Hades sighed. “I don’t want either of you to hide things from me. I’m asking you to show me what you’ve got. If you’ve got something you shouldn’t have, then I’ll punish you. But if you keep lying to me you’ll lose my trust. Show me what you’ve got, boy.”
    Eric considered this silently. He looked at Eden for confirmation. Hades bit his tongue. He didn’t feel that there was anything to consider. It seemed for a moment as though Eric was weighing the loss of Hades’ trust against the punishment, judging the worth of each.
    Eventually the boy pulled an object from under him and set it in Hades’ palm. Hades studied the object in his fingers. It seemed to be an animal tail.
    “What is this?”
    “It’s a cat’s tail. I was trying to touch Eden with it. That’s why she was screaming.”
    “Where did you get it?”
    “I’m sorry, Hades.” Eric tried to compose his face into what he thought was remorse but all he achieved was a quizzical frown. “We’re both sorry.”
    That word again. Sorry. It was a learned thing. They thought they could say it and make things better, but they had no conception of what it meant. Eric scratched his brow, shadowing his stony eyes.
    “Where did you get this?”
    “I found it.”
    “No, you didn’t.”
    Eric knotted his fingers together, looking at Eden for support. She remained silent. There was an icy tension in the room.
    “Eden and I found a duckling,” Eric said resignedly. “It’d been attacked by one of the cats. It was dying. The duckling’s parents were there, and they were making a noise like . . . like they were screaming. Eden was upset. There are just so many cats out there because of all the meat in the garbage. They’re all feral, and they’re all unwanted. I just . . .” He cleared his throat. “Eden was so upset, you know, so I just . . .”
    Hades waited. There was no more.
    “Why did you take this?” he asked, weighing the tail in his hand.
    Eric chewed his fingernails.
    “It didn’t suffer,” Eden piped up.
    “Shut up, Eden,” Hades snapped. She jolted. Eric’s eyes searched the carpet, as though the answers were hidden there.
    “Is this the only time you’ve done this?” Hades asked the boy. Eric was still. Hades went to the bed and shoved him aside, reaching under the bed to where he knew Eric kept one of his treasure boxes. He pulled it out and tore off the lid. The children