Free Medusa's Desire (The Fate of Eros #1) (The Fate of Eros Series) by E.B. Black

it!"
    Euryale's shrilly scream sent a coyote scampering in the opposite direction.
    "I don't want this life anymore!" Medusa shouted.
    She could hear the hysteria in her voice and knew that it could only be adrenaline that was allowing her to tilt her sister's face slowly in her direction, but just as their gazes were about to meet, an invisible string sent Medusa's neck snapping in the opposite direction. She fought it, but it held her there until Euryale was able to squirm out from under her.
    What had done this? Medusa could only think of one possibility. It must have been Athena working with the Fates. She couldn't die until they cut her string. Athena had told Medusa that she would wait in torment for the day it would end. She hadn't realized that meant more than fearing her death; it meant experiencing pain both inside and out without the relief of being able to commit suicide. She could probably only be killed by the hand of another and maybe only by the man or woman Athena chose to kill her. She hated being at the goddess' mercy. Her sisters asked her what was wrong, but she shrugged them off and eventually convinced them that it was only a temporary moment of insanity.
    Medusa tried to find meaning in what small amount of life she had left. She knew she needed to get away from her sisters to do so, so she spent time with the only creatures that dared to look at her: ghosts. She missed the feeling of being wrapped in the arms of another human, but ghosts had no substance and therefore couldn't help her. The lack of substance was why they were immune to her. Their powers only turned flesh into stone and trapped the souls inside the statues. Without a body, they were free.
    Hermes' winged shoes flapped above her head as she reached the silky shore of Acheron, where he dropped off a load of ghosts he carried in a net that looked like it was made out of wisps. It disappeared and the ghosts dispersed. Most of them held a drachma between their lips as they paced back and forth on the silky shore of the gently flowing river in front of them. Others mumbled to themselves nervously, gesturing dramatically with their hands, and discussing the events of their death with themselves. One held a sword-he must have been buried with it because money and trinkets that lay in one's grave were the only things ghosts were allowed to hold. He thrust it wildly in front of him.
    One was a short, curly-haired woman who was around the age Medusa had been when she first came into the underworld. Her eyes were large as she stared into the mist that Charon would appear from, paddling his boat that he used to ferry them across the shore.
    As Medusa approached the woman, a tall gangly man dipped his foot towards the water. He looked as if he were testing it and thinking about swimming across. He had no drachma in his mouth, which meant he didn't have the means to pay Charon for a ride when he appeared. His family must have been too poor to afford to put the piece in his mouth when he was buried.
    As soon as his foot touched the water, he collapsed and went into a series of convulsions. The other ghosts paced around him, ignoring him as he screamed and clutched his foot. The mist from the river gently landed on him and relief slowly crept across his face. He looked brighter somehow as well, as if he'd taken a bath.
    The river was a barrier to keep the wrong people out. It held the pain of the entire world in it, so if you touched it, you felt the grief of all the world at once, but the peace of everyone was held in the mist.
    Medusa heard the girl mumbling once she was within ears' reach.
    "If only I had noticed the rash before I kissed him. Maybe I wouldn't have gotten sick." She thrust one finger into the air. "Surely Hades will take pity on me when I explain the whole thing to him and give me a second chance. I've always been a good person and how was I to know that my first love would lead to my death?" She laughed crazily.
    "You've been in