Chapter XV: Hades

CHAPTER XV

HADES

Hades heard Persephone take a sharp breath, and his head snapped in the direction of the bed where he found her sitting up, looking wide-eyed and confused until she met his gaze and relaxed.

Before he could ask what had startled her, she spoke. “Did you sleep at all?”

“No,” he said.

He’d lain beside her for a few hours after they had sex but never drifted off, so he rose and dressed and waited for her to rise. He was eager for her to get ready for work because he wanted to take her to Alexandria Tower and show her the floor he hoped she would agree to use for her work on The Advocate. There were enough offices for everyone in her employ, at the moment Helen, Leuce, and Sybil.

He felt ridiculous that he had not offered it before, though there were times when Persephone was so independent, he wasn’t sure how or when to help her. She certainly would never ask.

“Nightmare?” he asked, worry twisting deep in his gut.

If she had dreamed of Pirithous, he was sure his actions had triggered her. He had been too much last night.

“No,” she said, shaking her head. “I…thought I overslept.”

He wasn’t sure he believed her, but perhaps that was his own fear speaking.

He finished the last of his drink, leaving his glass behind, and went to her. She held his gaze as he approached. She was like a siren in a sea of black silk—one look, one call, and he bent to her will.

“Why didn’t you sleep?” she asked as he caressed her cheek.

“I didn’t feel like sleeping,” he said.

The longer he lived, the less he needed. It did not help, however, that the majority of the business he conducted happened in the dead of night.

“I thought you would be exhausted.” Her eyes flashed and she sounded a little cross.

He smiled, amused. “I didn’t say I wasn’t tired.”

He smoothed his thumb over her bottom lip, and she took it between her teeth and then sucked it into her mouth.

Fuck.

He was trying to be good, but he found himself twisting his hand in her hair, dragging her face closer to him, level with his cock. He considered ordering her to take it out, to suck him until he came in her mouth, but something about it didn’t seem right, so he just held her there, aching.

She released his thumb and frowned. “Why are you holding back?”

“Oh, darling,” he said, voice rumbling. “If you only knew.”

“I would like to,” she said and dropped her blanket, exposing her breasts.

He wanted to groan—perhaps he did. He didn’t really know because his ears were ringing, and he was doing everything in his power not to fuck her again like he did last night.

She had work, and while that usually wouldn’t matter to him, it did today.

“I will keep that in mind,” he said, his voice quiet and even. He wished she knew how difficult it was to speak each word in the face of her beauty, in the face of her temptation. “For now, I’d like you to get dressed. I have a surprise for you.”

“What could be more of a surprise than what’s going on in that head of yours?”

He laughed and kissed her nose. “Dress. I will wait for you.”

He released her and stepped away, heading for the door.

“You don’t have to wait outside,” Persephone said, sounding confused by his actions. Obviously, this was unusual for him, but his usual would include following her into the bath to fuck her against the wall.

It was better this way. She could get ready in peace.

He paused at the door and looked back at her, and he hoped she could see how difficult this was for him rather than feeling it was rejection. She would understand later.

“Yes, I do,” he said and stepped into the hall.

He waited there like an idiot while she showered, which felt like a completely different type of torture. He found himself leaning his head against the marbled wall to cool his heated face as he thought about her on the other side.

“Are you all right, my lord?”

Hades opened his eyes to find a spirit standing at the end of his hallway. He employed many of them in the Underworld. They were different from souls, as they were not dead, and they had minor power and influence over very specific emotions. Aletheia, who stared at him with wide eyes verging on terror, was the spirit of truth and sincerity. Of all the spirits who resided here, her influence was probably the least threatening.

“I am fine,” he told her.

She hesitated as if she did not know what to say and then managed, “May I get you anything?”

A bucket of cold water, he thought. “No, Aletheia.”

Her eyes grew even wider when he spoke her name.

“Thank you.”

The spirit nodded and then wandered off, as pale as a ghost.

Hades considered teleporting to the baths to dunk himself in one of the pools, but instead, he remained and waited until Persephone emerged from their room, dressed in the most complicated outfit he’d ever seen.

Why were there so many layers?

“What?” Persephone asked, clearly feeling self-conscious beneath his gaze.

“I’m trying to assess how long it will take me to undress you.”

She arched a brow. “Isn’t that why you stepped out of the room?”

“I’m merely planning ahead.”

For later…when it wouldn’t feel so wrong to take her.

He took her hand and pulled her against him, teleporting to Alexandria Tower. When they arrived, he released Persephone, and she looked around in silence for a few minutes. It wasn’t until he heard her clear her throat that he realized this place was making her emotional.

“Why are we at Alexandria Tower?”

He felt a rush of panic and then realized why she was struggling. This place reminded her of Lexa.

Fuck, he should have been more discerning. The least he could have done was prepare her for her return here, but he hadn’t thought about it at all. Now he feared she would reject his idea outright. Still, he had to try.

“I would like for you to office here,” he said.

It was the perfect place. He owned the building and every business that operated out of it, including the Cypress Foundation, which he hoped to see Persephone become more involved with. Being so close to Katerina would ensure collaboration. What mattered most, though, was that Persephone didn’t see it as some kind of prison.

She met his gaze and seemed more surprised than anything. He couldn’t tell if that was a good sign or not.

“Is this because of yesterday?”

“That is one reason. It will also be convenient. I’d like your input as we continue the Halcyon Project, and I imagine your work with The Advocate will lead to other ideas.”

“Are you asking me to work with Katerina?”

“Yes. You are to be queen of my realm and empire. It’s only fitting that this foundation begins to benefit your passions as well.”

Her silence worried him, and he watched as she made a circle around the room.

“You are opposed?” he asked, unable to help it. He needed to know what she was thinking.

“No,” she said quickly and then turned fully to face him. “Thank you. I can’t wait to tell Helen and Leuce.”

Relief flooded him.

“Selfishly, I will be glad to have you close.”

“You rarely work here,” Persephone said.

“As of today,” he said, stepping closer, “this is my favorite office.”

“Lord Hades, I must inform you that I am here to work,” she said. Her voice was low, her smell intoxicating, and as she spoke, she looked at his mouth.

“Of course,” he said, guiding a strand of her hair behind her ear. “But you will need breaks and lunch, and I look forward to filling that time.”

“Isn’t the point of a break not to do anything?”

“I didn’t say I’d make you work.”

He held her close and leaned in to kiss her, but before he could, he felt Katerina approach. She cleared her throat as a way of announcing herself. Hades couldn’t decide if he found that annoying or courteous. He released his hold on Persephone, who chose to take a step away from him, which he found irritating.

Perhaps he needed to remind her that they did not have to abide by the same kind of rules as others. He would show as much affection as he wished, which included fucking her in his office.

“My Lady Persephone!” Katerina said, full of her usual sunshine and dressed like it too. She bowed respectfully, and Persephone smiled.

“Katerina, a pleasure,” she said.

“I apologize for the intrusion,” Katerina said, glancing at him before returning to Persephone. Still, in that one look, he knew whatever Katerina had to tell him wasn’t exactly the best news. Fuck. His mind went straight to the prophecy she’d given him at the park—had it changed? “As soon as I heard Hades had arrived, I knew I would have to catch him before he vanished.”

“I will be along shortly, Katerina,” Hades said.

She looked at him and smiled, but that same brightness didn’t touch her eyes, which only made him dread what she had to say more. “Of course,” she said and then looked at Persephone. “We’re honored to have you here, my lady.”

When she left, Persephone looked at Hades.

“What was that about?” she asked. Apparently, Katerina’s concerns hadn’t escaped Persephone’s notice either.

“I will tell you later,” he said, after he figured it out.

“Just as you were going to tell me where you had been the other night?” she challenged.

He narrowed his eyes. “I told you I was bargaining with monsters.”

“A nonanswer if there ever was one.”

He let out a frustrated sigh.

“I do not wish to keep things from you. I just do not know what to burden you with in your grief.”

She hesitated and then said, “I am not angry with you. I was joking, mostly.”

“Mostly,” he said with an incredulous laugh.

She was mostly joking, mostly content, mostly angry. He supposed he had to be okay with that because he was also only telling her mostly everything.

“We’ll talk tonight,” he said. It was the only thing he could promise for now because he needed to figure out what Katerina had to say, and she needed to work.

He held her gaze a moment longer, his stomach tightening. He’d have liked to kiss her, to do something other than stand here like an idiot. But if he started, he wouldn’t stop, so he took a step away and headed down the hallway. He felt her gaze on his back until he turned the corner and found himself in Katerina’s office.

“What is it?” he asked as he closed the door.

Katerina glanced around, as if she were anxious to speak. It was not as if anyone could hear them in her office, but the walls were all glass.

“I had a dream about the ophiotaurus,” she said.

Hades was quiet for a moment and then asked, “And how do dreams work for you?”

All oracles were different. Dreams were said to be the only peek gods and mortals had into the minds of the Fates. Sometimes their dreams foretold the future exactly as it would unfold; sometimes they were warnings for what might come to pass, but the details were still malleable; sometimes they were simply fears. A good oracle could tell the difference, and since Hades knew Katerina was a good oracle, it likely wasn’t just a fear.

“I have never dreamed something that did not come to pass,” she answered.

Hades felt like something heavy had settled in the bottom of his stomach.

“Tell me,” he said.

She shook her head. “This creature, the ophiotaurus. Its death is the catalyst to a battle that rages for years, and by the end, the world will split in two.”

“But what did you see?” he asked.

“Fire in all directions and bodies burning within it,” she said. “There was nothing left of this world as we know it, as if…we had gone back to the dawn of the earth.”

“Did you recognize any of the bodies?” he asked.

He knew she had because she wasn’t giving him the details that mattered, and what mattered was who was in the fire.

“Hades,” she whispered, her eyes glassy with tears.

“Did you see Persephone?” he asked.

She shook her head, and it was like he could breathe again, unlike Katerina, who seemed to have frozen. “I saw you.”

Hades had never considered how it would feel to face his own death, but he imagined this was as close as he would get—a prophetic dream from an oracle who was never wrong.

“Anyone else?” he asked.

She swallowed. “I…I couldn’t look beyond you. Perhaps other oracles have had similar dreams.”

Hades nodded, his mind scattered.

“So the ophiotaurus is the catalyst to this end?” he asked. “Do you mean to say that whoever slays it has the power to bring about this end?”

“You know how this works, Hades,” she said.

She could only give him the words and the visions. It was up to him to figure out what they meant and how to stop them.

He hated this game.

“Fucking Fates!” He lashed out, punching one of the glass walls. It cracked beneath his fist.

To her credit, Katerina did not even flinch, and after a moment, she said in a very quiet tone, “I’ll inform Ivy. She can have it fixed by the end of the day.”

Hades swallowed hard and nodded. “Thank you for the information, Katerina.”

A few tears streamed down her cheeks. She had obviously not liked giving him the news any more than he liked receiving it.

Hades left her office, returning to Persephone’s floor. What he needed right now was the comfort of her presence, but a sudden, strange smell filled his senses, halting him in his tracks. It was cooling and almost…medicinal.

It was laurel.

Hades froze.

Fuck.

He hurried down the hall to where he had manifested with Persephone earlier to find her gone and the smell of Apollo’s magic lingering in the air.

The God of Music had taken her.

“Ivy,” he said.

“My lord!” she said cheerfully, oblivious to his frustration. “I did not know you were here!”

“Send Zofie up,” he snapped.

“Right away, my lord,” she said.

He had summoned Zofie to the tower this morning to act as security, but she had not seemed so necessary since he was near. He supposed he was wrong.

Hades paced in the room outside Persephone’s new set of offices, frustrated.

Despite giving her space to work here, he could not protect her from everything, and one of those things was Apollo.

Did the god realize how much danger threatened Persephone?

He should.

After all, he had been the one to perform Adonis’s autopsy. He had been the one to experience Harmonia’s attack secondhand. He had to understand that whisking her away to play companion at this time was not in her best interest.

While he could follow Apollo’s magic and snatch her away from the God of Music, Hades also knew that the two had a bargain, a contract in place that Persephone had to honor.

He hated it.

She should have gotten out when he’d given her the chance, and he could not understand why she hadn’t.

When would she learn she could not change people? Apollo would eventually disappoint her just as Hades would, he was certain.

The elevator announced its arrival with an annoying beep, and Hades looked up to see Zofie as the doors opened.

Before she could step onto the floor, Hades spoke. “Persephone’s at the Palaestra of Delphi with Apollo.” He knew because he could track the stones in her engagement ring. Each had a unique energy, and he could sense it no matter how far she went. “You must go and keep watch, even if you do not make yourself known to her.”

The Amazon’s eyes widened. “I…I did not know. I am so—”

“Don’t be sorry. Just go,” he ordered.

While Hades had hired Zofie to keep Persephone safe, he was starting to think he needed someone who had more than just battle skills. As an Amazon, Zofie had little to no ability to handle magic. He wasn’t even sure she realized she was no match for it and would probably die trying to go up against a god.

But that was the loyalty and dedication of an Amazon, even those who had been exiled.

“Of course,” she said, hesitating a moment before pressing the button for the bottom floor.

There was an awkward pause, and then Hades spoke.

“Teleport, Zofie,” he said.

“Right,” she said and then vanished.

Hades sighed, planting his face in his hands.

“Fuck me,” he said.

“Totally would,” said Hermes, appearing in a flourish of cloudy magic.

Hades let his hands drop and tilted his head. “Why the fanfare?” he said. “You aren’t in public.”

“I wanted to surprise Persephone,” Hermes said. “I don’t think she’s witnessed my…effervescence.”

Hades raised a brow, and Hermes looked around.

“Where is Persephone anyway?”

“Your brother just took her,” Hades said. “Perhaps you should go get her back.”

“Uh, no,” Hermes said. “I had to do a lot of atoning when I stole his cattle. Do you think I want to do it again after stealing Persephone?”

“Did you just compare my wife to cattle?”

“Wife?” Hermes asked, waggling his brows. “Already practicing?”

“Fuck off, Hermes,” Hades growled.

Hades stalked into his office. Ice had begun to stick to the windows, obscuring his view of New Athens, though at this moment, there wasn’t much to see as the city was shrouded in mist and heavy snow.

“Demeter is big mad,” Hermes said.

Hades looked at him in confusion. “Big mad?”

“You know, really mad,” Hermes explained and then shimmied his head and shoulders as he added, “Mad as fuck.”

“Why not just say that instead?”

“Because it isn’t cool, Hades,” Hermes said. “If you’re going to fit in, you need to learn the lingo.”

“Lingo?”

“The language.”

Hades chuckled and Hermes narrowed his eyes.

“I hate you,” he said, crossing his arms over his chest.

They were both quiet for a moment as they looked out at the world. Hades had expected the weather to worsen, but seeing it in real time brought on a greater sense of dread.

“You know who I hate more than you?” Hermes asked.

“I think I can guess,” Hades replied.

Demeter.

“I haven’t seen anything like this since ancient times,” Hermes said.

Not since the Goddess of Harvest had caused a drought after a Thessalian king burned down a grove of her sacred trees. It took the Olympians months of begging to convince her to stop.

Hades was not among those who pleaded with her, uninterested in rewarding her childish behavior. Though that did give him an idea. Could he draw the goddess out by desecrating something sacred to her?

“I wonder what the others think of it,” said Hermes.

By others, he meant the rest of the Olympians.

“I imagine the only two upset at the moment are Athena and Hestia,” Hades said. “The others will not care until their worshippers begin to die.”

Because fewer worshippers meant less power, and that was when they would come after him and Persephone.

“I doubt you came to watch the weather,” said Hades. “Or even to show Persephone your…effervescent magic. So what is it?”

“Do I have to have a reason to visit my best friend?”

“I thought I was your best friend,” Hades said dryly.

“Listen, there’s plenty of me to go around,” Hermes said. “You don’t have to fight.”

Hades turned his head to look at Hermes.

He sighed. “Fine. Aphrodite sent me to inform Persephone that Harmonia was awake.”

“Just Persephone?”

“She specifically said not to involve you,” Hermes said, rubbing the back of his head. “I can already feel the consequences of this one.”

“Would you rather my wrath or hers?” Hades asked.

“Clearly yours,” Hermes said, annoyed, then muttered, “Some friend.”

Hades was relieved to hear that Harmonia was awake but not so happy that Aphrodite was trying to exclude him from any conversations she had with Persephone. They had agreed she could look into the attack, but the part he needed from this was open communication, and he did not appreciate the Goddess of Love trying to fuck that up.

“Harmonia is just the beginning,” said Hades. “There will be other gods.”

Hermes stiffened beside him. “Do you really think they can kill us?”

“I think anything is possible,” Hades said. “Mortals have their own magic.”

It was technology and science, and combined with the power of the gods, they had the potential to be unstoppable.

Adonis and Harmonia were tests, and with each one, they would hone their attacks. It was only a matter of time before someone died, and for the sake of the world, he hoped it wasn’t Aphrodite. If any one of the gods was underestimated in their power, it was Hephaestus. If anything happened to his wife, the world would come to know just how terrible he could be.