Free The Underworld (The Atlas Series Book 3) by Becca C. Smith Page A

Jack…the devastation in her eyes when Kala had shot him…
    It somehow bonded them in that moment, something Kala never thought would happen. Slowly, Kala nodded. “Thanks for telling me.”
    Penny forced the wisp of a smile. “Of course.” Sighing deeply, Penny switched back to her familiar colder tone, distancing herself from Kala. “Good luck on your mission.”
    “Thanks,” Kala responded.
    As she watched Penny walk away, Kala stood in place, determination washing over her. Kala had one more goal when she entered the Underworld.
    She was going to find Jack and bring him home.
    An hour later they were standing on a military loading dock ready to depart. Kala surveyed General Clifton’s ship, or, more accurately, his super-submarine. That was the only way she could describe it. As she was recently a part of the Clifton/Turner elite unit, Kala was used to seeing technology beyond what the public knew existed, but even this ship blew her mind. Clifton called it the XV-4250. She never knew the reasoning behind the naming of all Turner and Clifton’s gadgets, but Kala was sure it had been cataloged in a very specific way. The two of them didn’t do anything by accident . The stealth plane Kala’s old crew used was an XV-350, so she figured the XV must stand for something.
    Entering through the top hatch, Kala climbed down a metal ladder that led to the belly of the beast. The interior of the sub was made from the same undetectable black metal as the Compound’s walls. Kala wondered if this applied to gods? Would Oceanus see them coming from a mile away? Probably. But at this point it was up to Zeus to hold off his uncle.
    The entire control center was holographic, which Kala had limited experience with. Derek seemed more adept to it, probably because he’d had free run of Turner’s personal Cog for the last week. As amazing as Kala thought having supernatural powers was, on some levels Turner and Clifton had the gods beat when it came to their gadgets and devices.
    There were six of them on board: Zeus, Rotoph, Ashliel, Talan, Derek and Kala. Zeus appeared confident on the surface that he’d be able to break the protection spells hiding Hades, but Kala sensed he was a little wary of the idea as well. However, after Rotoph volunteered to help Zeus after he was finished breaking the teleportation spell, Zeus appeared to relax a little. The Olympian would never admit he needed help, but it was obvious he was relieved to have it.
    Kala didn’t know what to expect. Being at the bottom of the ocean was already an unnerving concept, let alone the thought of some ancient Titan attacking them.
    Only Ashliel had been the surprise tag-along. But someone needed to run the sub and he seemed to have the same knack for computers and technology as Hephaestus. Zeus didn’t want Ashliel on board though, arguing that he felt outnumbered and that Hephaestus might be able to help him break the protections spells. In the end, however, they both agreed that Hephaestus needed to stay on land to keep a handle on the Grigori. Zeus didn’t want to lose his new allies. If no other Olympian was above ground to remind the Grigori who had rescued them, Zeus was afraid they’d abandon his cause. Then he mumbled something about angels and Malaks being flakey and Ashliel volunteered to come.
    Kala was starting to like the Grigori. So far, Kala’s experience with the Grigori had been two types: the calm, reasonable type like her father, Talan and Antel; and the rebellious fire and brimstone type, like Rotoph. She felt Ashliel was somewhere in between. He definitely had a cool and collected side, but every once in while Ashliel would verbally take Rotoph down a notch and put him in his place. It was entertaining, and that kind of wit always impressed Kala.
    She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Her motion sickness had kicked in the moment she stepped foot on board the vessel. Being underwater, she couldn’t exactly look out at the