14. Hades

T he beautiful blonde takes a step back, "You had to teleport us here? You can't pick up the phone like a normal dad?"

"Well, I'm not a normal dad and no. Your brother and Hermes conspire against Hades. She wanted you here and I brought you. You're lucky I brought your riffraff with you," Zeus replies, motioning to the men with her.

"Dramatic as always." she sighs.

The one closest to me, takes a step towards Zeus and raises the hammer in his hand as Harper reaches for him.

"Yes, it was rude of my father to bring us here, but if anyone is hitting him it will be me," she states, raising a hand with lightning arcing in it.

"Well, you can settle this later. I wish to speak with my niece," I say, holding out one hand to her as my scythe appears in the other.

Her men don't step back, which I find both annoying and endearing.

"No harm will come to her," I promise, and I mean it. "This is just a chat about a common enemy.

Harper hesitates for a moment before taking my open hand. She smiles at her men and says, "It'll be fine."

"We aren't leaving the party, you will have eyes on us the whole time. I just wish for it to be a private conversation for now," I try to reassure them.

This time the red-head speaks up, "What's the harm in letting us come? She's going to tell us what you say anyway."

"As true as that may be, and I have no doubts about that, it's a little aunt/niece time. My men won't interfere either. If any of you," I point to them all with the end of my scythe, stopping on my brother, "dare interrupt us, my little weapon here will not be for show, and you'll no longer be Demigods."

"‘Little,'" the last of Harper's men mutters, with a half laugh.

My lips tip up into a smile at this.

"Do you understand?" I ask them all. When I'm satisfied that they have answered. I pull Harper away towards a darker corner of the courtyard.

Pyro had the foresight to leave a few of the table and chair sets around the perimeter. So I guide Harper to one.

"Have a seat, my dear, I'm not going to bite," I inform her.

She nods and takes the chair opposite of me.

"And what can I do for you, Lady Hades?" she asks.

I'm impressed by her respectful tone, not the sarcastic one she used with my brother.

"Well, firstly, I apologize for the rude way I had Zeus bring you here without your permission. Secondly, I got a visit from Hermes and I'm impressed with the handy work you did to his face. Only another god can harm a god in that way. He was kind enough to give you the credit you deserve. But I digress, I had you brought here to ask if you'll fight with me. Your idiot brother Ares is once again seeking my throne. I kicked his ass once and he's being a titty baby about it. I figure that he will enlist the aid of some of the other gods that feel I've wronged them over the years. But I'm a peach compared to my twat brothers. So, when I saw Hermes's face, I knew that I wanted you on my side."

"What will this entail?"

"Fighting his army. Protecting my realm and the souls that live there. My men and I did it once before and we almost lost only because we didn't have anyone to watch our back. But this time, I plan for him to come to me in the Underworld. I have souls there that will help me fight, we will need someone with powers as well to fight any other gods that show up."

"When do you need my answer?" Harper asks, her eyes searching for the three she came with.

"Now."

"What? This is crazy! We've only just met and you want us to head to who knows where and fight with you?"

"The Underworld and yes. I have little time to return. If Ares knows that I'm absent, he will attack sooner rather than later. And you can bet that Hermes has told him I was topside. I'll give you a few minutes to discuss this with your men, while I gather mine."

"Yours, how many do you have?" This time, she smiles.

"Four, have you ever heard of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse?" I smirk.

"Oh shit, they are real?" she asks, her hand slapping the table.

"I assure you they are. Would you like to meet them?"

She is speechless as she nods .

"Should we call your men over, first? I don't want them attacking mine."

"That would probably be a smart thing to do," Harper says as she pulls out a cell and types in it. In mere moments, all three men are standing next to her.

I motion for my guys as I hate technology and they lumber over, ending the conversations that they are having with guests.

"Lady Hades, I'd like to introduce you to Stone."

He waves his little hammer at me.

"Phoenix." He is the red-head.

"And Nile." The silent, brooding one.

"Hmm, all demi-gods," I point out.

"Yes, ma'am," Stone speaks up.

"Let me guess, Nile is Posiden's. Did you see your dad here? Stone, is Hephaestus's, the hammer gave it away. Phoenix, are you Ares's? If so, that may complicate things."

"Yes, you are correct," Phoenix speaks up.

"I'll let Harper fill you in, but I would like to introduce you to my men. They are the four horsemen. This is Warrick—aka War, Pyro—aka Pestilence, Drevi—aka Death, and Frank—aka Famine."

Stone starts laughing as I finish my sentence.

"What's so funny?" I demand.

"A horseman named Frank. That's the funniest thing I've heard all day."

"At least I wasn't named after a rock," Frank cracks.