Chapter 25

25

The war with the Titans was begun. And Persephone was in a coma.

It was a medically-induced coma, the doctors kept reminding Hades, as if that was supposed to make him feel better.

They said she would wake up any time now. But they’d been saying that for days. And she still hadn’t woken up.

The bullet had entered her chest and gone down into her gut, which was better than if it had traveled toward her heart or lungs, but still—fucking coma.

Hades sat by her hospital bed, her cold little hand lifeless in his. When he wasn’t conferring with his lieutenants, he was here. Sitting on this hard, plastic chair, holding her hand.

Oh, what the great Hades Ubeli had been reduced to. He squeezed his stinging eyes with his thumb and forefinger.

“The doctor said it’s good to talk to you. That hearing familiar voices might help you, I don’t know.” He shook his head, looking out the window at the cold, dreary, rainy day. “Might make you wake up faster. Or that you might still be able to hear my voice or some bullsh?—”

“Anyway,” he leaned forward, giving her hand a squeeze. “I’m not sure if my voice is one you’d be excited to wake up for, all things considered… But I’m all you’ve got.”

None of his Shades had been able to get a beat on Demeter before she slipped out of the city. Which was probably a good thing. Hades didn’t trust himself with her if he ever got his hands on the woman. She put Persephone in this bed. But not only that.

Tell your sister I send my fondest regards. Mine was the last face she ever saw, too.

If Demeter was telling the truth, it hadn’t been Persephone’s father after all who’d killed his sister. And why would she lie? She’d thought it was Hades’s last moment on earth. No, she was telling the truth.

And the more Hades thought about it, the more it made sense.

The Titans had been a smart outfit back in the day. They hadn’t just been brawn, there’d been brains behind the operation as well.

Except that after they got kicked out of New Olympus and retreated to Metropolis, they devolved to being just brawn.

Because Demeter had taken off with her small daughter. And she’d been the brains all along. It was only because she was back that the Titans were able to do the scheming and machinations it took to even attempt to retake their territory in New Olympus.

It had been right under Hades’s nose the entire time and he hadn’t seen it. Demeter was a woman in a traditionally man’s game and she’d used that fact to make everyone underestimate her. Including Hades.

It wasn’t a mistake he’d be making again.

So many mistakes.

“This wasn’t supposed to happen.” Hades let go of Persephone’s hand and shoved his chair back, standing up. “None of this was supposed to happen.” He kicked the chair for good measure.

“I had a plan. I had a plan and you weren’t supposed to be— I was never supposed to…”

He shook his head, then he walked back to her bed and put a finger in her face. “I didn’t ask for this. I’m a simple man. I want simple things. To keep a lid on this city when every godsdamned day some new idiot thinks they are gonna try being a big shot and steal somebody else’s territory. I keep the drug running to a minimum, I see that it stays out of the schools, I make sure Santino treats his girls okay, and gods knows no gun goes in or out of the city without my say-so.”

He got further in Persephone’s face. “And do I do it for the money?” He laughed, pulling back. “What the hell would I do with more money? You see how I live. Money is only good because it gets you power. That’s the only currency I ever cared about. Without me calling the shots, this whole place would go to shit. I know because I tried once, letting someone else take the lead. But I already told you that.”

Hades collapsed on the side of Persephone’s bed. Her slim body was so small, there was plenty of room. “What I didn’t tell you was that it was me that got my sister killed. I should’ve claimed my birthright the day my mother and father were gunned down. But I didn’t.” His voice almost broke on the last word. His deepest fucking shame.

“I let them down and I let Chiara down.” He bent over Persephone’s body and whispered his confession with his forehead to hers. “It’s my fault she died. We hid. For an entire year, we hid away at the Estate. I didn’t continue the work my father had started. I let the Titans run rampant in the city, na?vely thinking they’d leave us alone.”

He shook his head, his voice a bleak whisper. “We were both kids. Teenagers. I thought they’d leave us alone.”

But it hadn’t mattered to Persephone’s mother. Hades should have known any Ubeli would be considered a threat as long as they drew breath.

Hades hadn’t even considered it, though. Because his father lived by a Code. Women and children were left out of it, kept separate from the business. It was Gino Ubeli’s most sacred law.

But he should have known that the Titans had no such scruples. He should have known and, even though he was young, he should have taken up the mantle his father had left behind. He knew the business. His father had begun schooling him from the time he was eleven. All the players knew him well.

They certainly hadn’t minded taking orders from him a year later when he was sixteen. Then again, he hadn’t been a normal sixteen-year-old. After Chiara’s death...

Mom had always said he was a sensitive child. But he’d numbed any sensitive parts he had left and made himself a robot.

He executed men without even the blink of an eye. He felt nothing. And he’d gone on feeling nothing. For so long that it became normal. It was good for business. He could make the ruthless calls without emotion.

“Until you, Persephone,” he whispered, lifting his head and looking up at her. “Please come back to me. Come back to me, Persephone.” He cupped her face roughly. “You have to come back to me. You’ve made me feel again and it scares the shit out of me. I was never supposed to feel this deep ever again. I was never supposed to love anyone?—”

He pressed his lips to hers but they were cold and unmoving underneath his.

“Wake up,” he commanded. “Wake up!” She was always so good at obeying before. Why the fuck not now?

He shook her shoulders in frustration. With great effort, he stopped. What the hell was he doing? He let her go and stood up again, taking a step back. Jesus Christ. He turned his back on her and scraped his hands through his hair.

What the hell was he doing? He was acting crazy.

And he didn’t love her.

He couldn’t.

What was he doing here day after day, hovering over her bed like a lovesick schoolboy? It was because of her that he hadn’t taken action sooner against the Titans.

Again. He’d been lulled into thinking that there was a path forward that could actually lead to peace, when long experience had taught him that brute force and violence was the only language the world understood.

He turned for the door. No, softness had no place in his life.

He opened the door only to find Charon on the other side, his fist raised like he was about to knock.

“What is it?” Hades barked.

Charon looked him up and down. “Brother, are you all right?”

Hades glared at the bigger man even though Charon towered over him. Things had really gone to shit if his second in command thought to question him so intimately. That was not how their relationship worked. Hades gave commands and Charon enacted them. Charon offered wise counsel at times and could play devil’s advocate with the best of them. But never did they ask one another about their personal lives or their fucking feelings.

“Report,” Hades demanded.

Apparently Charon wasn’t giving in that easily, though. “It’s okay to take a minute,” Charon rumbled. “You care for the girl. I see how you are around her and I like what I see.”

Well, now Charon was really starting to piss him off.

“You saw me playing a part,” Hades snapped. “Persephone was always a chess piece for me to play against the Titans. And she served her purpose. She drew Demeter out and now we know who’s the real brains behind the operation. And as an added bonus, wifey dearest made herself a shield and took a bullet for me. I’d say that’s mission accomplished as far as she’s concerned, better than I ever could’ve hoped for. Plus, she’s a great lay, so?—”

“That’s enough,” Charon cut him off, stepping up and getting right in his face. “I know you’re hurting and that’s the only reason I’m not?—”

But then Charon’s head jerked up as something behind Hades’s shoulder caught his eye and he pushed Hades to the side.

“Bella, you’re awake!”