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Chapter XX: Hades
CHAPTER XX
HADES
Hades saw Persephone to work at Alexandria Tower, which was harder than he expected given the night they’d had. It was evident Persephone was exhausted, and though Hades was used to not sleeping, even he felt drained.
He returned to the Underworld and went in search of Hecate, finding her in her cottage.
“Is that blood?” he asked, because whatever was in the jar at the center of her table definitely looked like blood.
“It is,” she said simply. “Do you want it?”
“I most definitely do not want a jar of blood, Hecate.”
“It’s your brother’s,” she said, her voice taking on an enticing tone.
“My brother?”
“From the castration,” she said.
“I see Lara’s story filled you with rage,” he said.
“As it should you,” she said.
It did. The only thing he struggled to forgive was what she’d done to Persephone.
Hades picked up the jar for a closer look, noting that two shriveled testicles also floated in the mixture.
“Hecate,” Hades said, setting the jar down again. “What are you going to do with this?”
“Keep it,” she said. Her back was still to him as she packed small bags with herbs to make tea.
“As a trophy?” Hades inquired.
“You know the dangers of god blood,” she said.
“There’s more than blood in that jar, Hecate,” he said.
“I’m aware,” she said, turning to face him. “They are also dangerous, whether attached to his body or not.”
Hades knew the dangers. God blood was also called ichor, and it was poisonous to mortals. If it managed to drop to the earth, it had the potential to create other divine creatures or even divine herbs. Really, the possibilities were endless and unknown.
Testicles had the same power, though they often gave birth to gods or goddesses.
“Here,” the goddess said, handing him some tea bags. Hades studied the pouches and then lifted one to his nose to smell.
“What is it?”
“It should help you and Persephone sleep,” she said.
Hades frowned and then set the tea aside.
“What’s wrong?” Hecate asked.
“Nothing,” he said and shoved his hands in his pockets.
“Do not nothing me,” she said. “Tell me what happened just now in that little brain of yours.”
Hades narrowed his eyes on Hecate, arching a brow, but he couldn’t maintain the guise of frustration for too long. The burden of Persephone’s nightmares was too much.
“I worried over her sleep when I think I should have worried over her nightmares,” Hades said. “I do not know what else to do to help her. Pirithous haunts her, and there is no pattern or consistency. Some nights, she wakes me up. Other nights, I’m afraid to sleep for fear I won’t be able to help her. But last night, I tried and…”
His voice trailed off and he swallowed, unable to continue.
“You cannot help her confront a nightmare, Hades,” Hecate said softly.
He ground his teeth.
“She should not even have to face this,” he said. “She should have been safe where she worked.”
“I do not disagree,” she said. “Such is the world for women in a society dominated by men, even for those of us with great power.”
“It must end.”
It was all he could think to say.
“As all things must,” she said, and then she picked up the tea and handed it back to him. “Perhaps you should speak with Hypnos about Persephone.”
Hades stiffened. “Hypnos is an asshole.”
He was certainly not at all like his brother, Thanatos.
“He is an asshole to you.”
“He’s only nice to you because you bring him mushrooms,” Hades said.
She crossed her arms and lifted her chin. “Do not critique my methods,” she said. “At least I manage to get what I want.”
Hades’s brows furrowed. “What do you want from Hypnos?”
“Use of the Oneiroi, of course,” she said.
The Oneiroi were winged daimons who sometimes invaded dreams. If Hecate was asking for them, she was likely haunting a few unfortunate souls.
Hades just used Hermes for that.
“If you wish to help Persephone, then he is worth a visit,” she said. “But do not go without an offering.”
Hades sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose hard. This was fucking ridiculous. Hypnos lived in his realm. That should be enough of an offering.
“It would be if he actually liked it here,” Hecate said.
That was not Hades’s fault. Hypnos was the one who agreed to help Hera put Zeus to sleep the last time she tried to overthrow him, which was how he ended up as a resident of the Underworld.
“Do not be so difficult,” Hecate said. “Think of Persephone.”
“I always think of Persephone.”
“Then stop pouting and find the God of Sleep a gift.”
Hades rolled his eyes and sighed. “Fine. I’ll get him a gods-damned gift.”
Hecate smiled. “That’s a good boy.”
Hades didn’t even honor her response with a glare and vanished.
Hades stared out the icy window of his office at Iniquity. The snow was falling so heavily, the city was hardly visible. He had come to accept feeling dread every time he came to the Upperworld and witnessed how far this storm had progressed, but today felt different—something was off. He could feel it in the air around him, a sense of impending doom.
It was not as if he hadn’t had similar feelings, and that was what worried him the most as he studied the world that had become Demeter’s battlefield. Something terrible was coming.
“Hades?”
He turned and faced Ilias, who had managed to enter his office without his notice, which was just as unnerving.
He was hardly ever this distracted.
Ilias did not seem comfortable with the fact either, his expression concerned.
“Are you all right?”
Hades did not answer and instead asked, “What do you have on Lara Sotir?”
Despite the fact that the woman claimed to have no association with Triad or another organized divine hate group, Hades was not so certain he believed that. New gods. A rebirth. Lemming.
They were words Lara and Harmonia’s attackers had used. It could not be a coincidence that they shared a common language. He suspected they were part of the same group or at least consuming the same propaganda. Whatever the case, the goal seemed clear—to overthrow the ruling gods.
It was not unusual for mortals or other gods to plot against the Olympians, but this time seemed different. The world seemed chaotic and unstable. With Demeter’s unnatural storm, blatant attacks on the favored and the divine with weapons that could actually wound them, and the god-killing ophiotaurus on the loose, Hades worried over what might be next. Death, certainly, but there were worse things.
Ilias handed Hades a thin file. He opened it to find a picture of Lara Sotir and a man walking down a street in New Athens. A second one showed them entering a hotel.
“The man Lara is with in those photos is a demigod named Kai,” Ilias said. “He is the son of Triton and a member of Triad.”
It seemed overthrowing the gods was a family affair, as Triton was also the son of Poseidon.
There were two more photos in the file, one of Lara at a recent protest calling for an end to the winter storm and another with Kai.
Hades stared at the demigod. He could see parts of Theseus in his face, not so much in his features but his expression. There was a glint of hatred and haughtiness in his eyes. This was a man who believed he was owed the world, likely to make up for the fact that he lacked the power of his father and grandfather.
It was an entitlement Poseidon possessed as well, and it was clear he continued to pass on the belief.
There was a knock at the door, and Hades met Ilias’s gaze before nodding. The satyr crossed the room and answered the door to Theseus.
Hades closed the file.
“Ilias,” he said. “Leave us.”
The satyr bowed and pushed past Theseus, knocking into his shoulder. The demigod smirked, but Hades was not impressed or surprised. Theseus moved through life unaffected by his impact on others, caring only for himself.
Hades moved behind his desk, wanting something between him and his corrupt nephew.
“You have impeccable timing,” Hades said.
“My ears were burning,” Theseus replied.
“Then word must have reached you about Harmonia and Adonis.”
“There have been rumors. I take it you have assumed my involvement.”
“Have you come to deny it?”
“I have,” he said, his gaze unwavering. “It was not Triad.”
“If not Triad, then Impious all the same.”
“I cannot be responsible for all Impious or their impulsive decisions.”
“I would not call their decision to kill Adonis and harm Harmonia impulsive. They seem rather organized.”
“Perhaps organized but not strategic,” said Theseus. “Would you really expect me to coordinate something so sloppy?”
Hades stared. “Is that why you’re here? You’re insulted that I would assume you are responsible for these attacks because they are not sophisticated enough?”
Theseus shrugged. “You may word it however you wish,” he said. “But I did not order those attacks.”
“You did not order them, but have you denounced them?”
Theseus did not respond.
“Are you hopeful it will have the desired effect and spur Aphrodite into a rage?”
Theseus glanced out the window and then looked back at Hades. “I do not think I need her rage to prove the wrath of the gods. Your future mother-in-law is illustrating the point perfectly well.”
They stared at one another for a moment, and Hades stiffened, sensing Persephone’s magic. In the next second, she appeared behind Theseus, looking almost dazed until her eyes met his and then slid to Theseus.
Hades fought the urge to go to her, to shield her from him. If he’d had his way, Theseus would never have met her.
“Darling,” Hades said, his tone both questioning and concerned.
Theseus turned to look at her, and Hades curled his fingers into fists.
“So you are the lovely Lady Persephone,” Theseus said, and a shock of rage heated Hades’s skin as the demigod looked her up and down.
“Theseus I think you should leave,” Hades said, his voice almost quaking, a hint at his fury.
“Of course,” the demigod said, nodding at Hades. “I am late for a meeting anyway.” As he exited, he stopped in front of Persephone and held out his hand. “Pleased to make your acquaintance, my lady.”
She did not move to place her hand in his, and Hades was glad for it. He was not certain what he would have done, and he did not trust any reason why Theseus might want to touch her. Could he clean thoughts, memories, perhaps even dreams with a simple touch? His powers were unknown to Hades.
Theseus dropped his hand and chuckled. “You are probably right to not shake my hand. Have a good day, my lady.”
As soon as he left, Hades came out from behind the desk.
“Are you well?” he asked immediately.
Persephone was looking at the door when she turned to meet his gaze. “Do you know that man?”
“As well as I know any enemy,” Hades said.
“Enemy?”
He nodded toward the closed door where the demigod had disappeared. “That man is the leader of Triad,” he said, but he did not wish to discuss Theseus now. She had obviously left work for a reason, and as soon as she had manifested in his office, he had known something was wrong. He tipped her head back. “Tell me.”
“The news,” she said. “There’s been a horrible accident.”
Hades swallowed hard. He had been waiting for this—for Demeter’s storm to cause the devastation that would lead Persephone to realize she couldn’t continue to be with him.
Was this it? Was this the end?
“Come,” he said and took her by the hand. “We will greet them at the gates.”
