Chapter Twenty-Three

Simeon wished that he was one of the fancy vamps. The kind of vampire who had telepathy. Emily squeezed his hand, and he squeezed hers back, letting her feel the keycard in his palm. As Circe led them to the elevator in back of her room, he looked for a keypad, but there was none, just an old pulley and lever system. “This is ancient. This is older than the building,” he gasped. “How did—”

“It’s a replica, of course,” Circe said sharply. She got in behind them and closed the grate. “Now, Mr...?”

“Crow. Simeon.”

Circe pulled a lever, and the elevator creaked slowly upward.

He could hear Emily’s heart pounding as she discreetly stepped back into her heels. This would be a horrible place to have their cover blown. Or for Circe to have any kind of control over them. One push of a button would leave them trapped between floors.

“Mr. Crow, how have you enjoyed your time in Vegas?”

“Hm? Oh, it’s been a treat.”

“Your lovely lady was telling me how much you enjoyed the showgirls.”

Great. Emily’s going to get me turned into a pig. “Well, what’s not to love? Of course, some of them are all looks—but you.” He stared at her with a smoldering gaze, the kind vampires seem to acquire the second they’re turned. “You’re the whole package. A goddess.”

Circe started, but there was a faint blush on her cheeks. “I’m not so sure that Emily appreciates such comments. Here we are. The Garden.”

The Garden. She was a Goddess of Spring. Spring specifically.

“She’s here,” she breathed the words rather than speaking them, knowing Simeon would hear her.

“You must have a fantastic gardener!” Simeon said loudly, stepping out into a world of pink and purple flowers, many of them exotic.

“Yes. Let me give you a tour, Mr. Crow. Emily, why don’t you sit in the lounge for a few minutes?” Circe winked.

Emily nodded.

“Ooh, but first.” Simeon pushed Emily back under the pretext of gathering her in his arms for a long, passionate kiss. “Why isn’t she loopy?” he hissed, lips pressed to hers.

“Dust her.” Emily hissed back.

Simeon reached into his pocket as they parted. “Sorry about that. This is sort of a naughty holiday. Gotta kiss my girl wherever I can. How does your husband feel about you being such a sex symbol, Circe?”

“I’m not married. Women in my line devote ourselves to—a higher love.”

“Like love for a goddess?” Simeon asked.

Circe’s smooth face suddenly twisted, eyes burning with anger. Her mouth opened as if to scream for backup, or maybe to hex them all into pork products. It didn’t matter. Instead, she swallowed a mouthful of Lethe’s Dust as Simeon blew it directly into her face. She started coughing and gagging, shaking her head and stumbling around the flower-packed prison.

Emily popped open her purse. The crystal for Mnemosyne was still glowing bright, but now it wasn’t golden yellow, but a blinding white.

“Where’s Mnemosyne? Here? In this garden?” she demanded, stepping forward as Circe reeled and finally fell onto a padded loveseat.

“How dare you.” She gave her attackers an angry glare that melted slowly into blankness.

“Hello?” Simeon snapped his fingers in front of her face. “Circe? You in there?”

“What have you done?”

They whirled as one, finding themselves suddenly face-to-face with a powerfully built woman with a green, glowing aura.

“Ohhh. So that’s what Zag meant by stacked redhead,” Emily breathed, eyes wide.

“Hey, Mem. How’s tricks?” Simeon smiled at the Titaness as if he’d been expecting her all along.

Simeon liked to play far too much. Subtle was better. Subtle, then strike. “Where’s Persephone?” Emily demanded, hand sliding to her leg.

“What? How do you... Hades. He finally found someone with brains.”

“True.”

“Well, if you think dealing with Hades is scary, just wait until I introduce you to—”

“If you summon Zeus, I’ll fillet your priestess,” Simeon added, fangs out, one hand around the semi-conscious Circe.

“And I wouldn’t do that. You’re not a popular goddess. You’re kind of the old guard, one the forgotten. Most of your siblings are in Tartarus or completely absent from the mortal or celestial plane,” Emily slowly retrieved an iron dagger from her thigh holster.

Mnemosyne froze, mouth partially open.

“All that holds you to this plane is your order of loyal little minions, messing with people’s minds to power you. And why do they power you?” Simeon bobbed Circe’s head around as if making her talk, a living, vacant-eyed puppet. “So you can trap Persephone, the one girl Zeus couldn’t get his leg over.”

“You don’t know anything.”

“We know you’re sleeping with a married man who killed your sister and wants to fuck his own daughter. And I get that in the world of gods and goddesses, incest isn’t a thing, that you’re all super ethereal beings and stuff... But she doesn’t want him. She wants Hades. Hades loves her. He’s waited faithfully for her all this time. Can you say that about Zeus?” Emily challenged, her knife now firmly in her palm.

“I... Hera has always been his biggest regret, but she’s the mother of Hephaestus and Ares. If he turns against her, his sons will unleash war, and Heph will refuse to work for him,” Mem stammered.

“Okay. So don’t ask him to turn against Hera. Free Seph. Walk away.” Simeon kept a hold of Circe but cocked his head. “You might not have a choice. You look a little pale, Mem.”

Emily watched as Mem held her arms out in front of her, blanching as her aura faded and her hands began to vanish, starting at the fingers. “See how fast it happens?” she whispered. “This little pocket of people... People enslaved and trapped—they were all that was keeping you here.”

“There are others. Other guests in the hotel...” Her voice was faint. Desperate.

“I don’t know, but when you poof off this mortal coil, maybe they’ll finally wake up and go home—if they have a home left.”

“Do the right thing before you leave. You don’t know where you’re going to end up. If you zap back to Tartarus, you’re going to have a long, long eternity. Probably being digested and shat out by something they keep in the backroom,” Simeon threatened.

Emily joined in with savage satisfaction. “Hades has had a thousand mortal years to miss his bride and think about what he’d do to the people who kept her from him. I don’t know what he’s got planned, but I know it’ll be spectacularly horrific.”

Mem seemed to unravel faster, the coil of gauzy green toga she wore seeming to unwind and vanish as if someone were pulling a thread into the ether. “You don’t understand. Zeus is brilliant. He has to have Persephone. Only two gods can create a new god. All the others... they’re being forgotten. Moved away from. Persephone will bear him a son who will be the new herald of Olympus, one that will bring civilization back to us!”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake. It will not. If he wanted to get some goddess pregnant, what’s wrong with you?”

“We only produce girls.”

“Excuse me, hello? Have you not been watching the news? Women rule. Literally. Like, all around the world, on the stage, in books.” Emily slapped her forehead with her free hand.

“Wanting to make some Greek mythology messiah is just an excuse. You know that in your heart, because if there were to be a big new god that everyone worships, what would happen to Zeus?” Simeon asked.

Mem said nothing.

“He’d never let anyone take his power. He killed your sister, just because she was going to have a son that could overthrow him. Thank goodness their child turned out to be a girl, Athena, or what do you think he would have done?” Emily walked forward, face twisted in disgust. “He would have had a child just to kill it. If Persephone had been a son, he probably would have killed her, too, because she’s rebellious. Can’t be controlled.” Her voice was shaking now. “Hades never tried to control her. Only save her. Listen to her. Make her happy. They had a happy family. Where are your kids, Mem?”

There was a shattering wail as Mem’s lower body whisked away, green wisps flying apart. “Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t. Only Zeus has the key to her half of this floor.”

“You’re a fucking Titan! You could level the goddamned building!” Simeon roared.

With another long, desperate howl, the Titaness vanished.

“Well. She could have.” Emily sighed. “If she were still here.”

“Oh, my God. That was some New Year’s Eve Party. New rule for 1970! Never, ever drink three sidecars on top of champagne.”

“Circe lives,” Simeon said drily, returning to the slumped figure now holding her head in her hands.

“Circe? Who’s Circe?”

“Aren’t you?” Emily asked, hurrying over to the woman.

She lifted her head, and Emily tried not to scream in shock. The stunning singer, who had appeared to be a sinfully sexy thirty, was now clearly in her seventies. Her hair was rapidly graying and thinning as her face sagged and wrinkled. She was still beautiful, but there was no resemblance to the chanteuse who had charmed her audience downstairs.

“I’m Susan. Susan... That’s funny. Wow, I must have really tied one on!”

“One million or so,” Simeon hoisted her to her feet, shaking his head. “Where do you live, Susan?”

“McCallister, Ohio.”

“Right. I’m going to need you to do something for me, all right, dearie?”

“I love this dress. Is this mine?” Susan seemed to be having trouble focusing.

“Susan! I want you to take this keycard, walk through the hotel, and open every door. Then tell anyone you find that they need to leave. Right now. Can you do that for me?” Simeon asked in a patient, soothing voice.

Susan nodded and took the card he held out. “This is a key? Don’t be silly. Is this another one of Joe’s jokes?”

Simeon pinched the bridge of his nose. “This is going to take a while.”

“You stay on the fifth floor and out of the sun. I’ll walk Susan out and sweep the building,” Emily volunteered. “You have to find a way to get Seph out of that side of the building—whatever that means. Break down a door. Use vampire strength.”

“Or... do you think it’s safe to call her husband?”

Emily smiled. “Oh. Oh, God. Yes. Fast. I’ll get the people out just in case he feels like burning this prison to the ground.”

“That’s wise. Pick up our luggage on the way?”

“Got it.”

“Come to my location. Okay?”

Silence met his declaration. “It... It was as easy as that?” Hades’ voice broke. “You found her in a week... And I ... I failed for so—”

“Shut up. No, I don’t care if you fry me up and dip me in tartar sauce, shut up. You didn’t find her because you didn’t think of how your brother would thwart a vow that a god can’t break, and you didn’t think anyone he betrayed would be stupid enough to trust him again. I didn’t find her alone. I found her because everyone with any sort of power back home helped me, and because I had Emily Van Helsing. She makes me think on my feet. She sees what I don’t. She’s my perfect partner, and if you get your wife back, I want you to give her... I want you to give Emily whatever gift she wants. You told me I could have a boon. Anything I wished. Give my wish to her.”

“All right.”

The voice didn’t come from the phone, but from behind him.

Simeon whirled and saw Hades standing there, resplendent in his King of Hell suit, long flowing black robes, silver and bone crown, staff that looked like it might have the power to kill just by touching you.

“Dressed up pretty for her, I see.”

“She said I look good in black,” Hades whispered, eyes overflowing. “I didn’t tell the kids. In case... In case. If this goes wrong, I don't want to break their hearts all over again.”

“I get it, mate. Let's figure out how to get her.” Simeon handed him the second keycard, the one taken from Circe. “She said only Zeus can open her door.”

Blue flames shot out of Hades’ body, a concentrated burst that set the bar on fire. “What evil is this?”

“Look, whatever happened, you can’t undo it.” Simeon reached into his pocket. “This is Seph’s scrying crystal. Zag helped us make it. It’s starting to shimmer. See? Because Mnemosyne’s power is no longer distorting reality and hiding her.”

“You... You used mortal witchcraft?”

“I did.”

“I wanted to ask Hecate to assist me, but Hecate has vanished, both from the Olympian realm, and the mortal one!”

“Not surprised. Wasn’t there trouble between her and Zeus?”

“He stole the form of her lover Morpheus and forced himself upon her that way, creating a monstrous horde of daughters—the empousa.”

“He has a thing for taking other people’s forms to get his rocks off. Can’t you lot do something about that?”

“Oh, I have a very, very, good plan for that,” Hades said, and the way he smiled made Simeon want to forget he’d asked. Hades took the crystal vial and held it in front of him. “Take me to my love!” he commanded.

“No. You just... You just walk around until the light gets stronger. And she’s on this floor, mate. If we just go out this door. If you’ll just put that fire out first...” Simeon gestured to the bar that was rapidly turning to ash.

“Right. Don’t want to burn the building down until after I get Seph out,” Hades chuckled nervously, waved his hand at the fire, and held the vial aloft. “This way!” he shouted.

“That way,” Simeon agreed, smothering a sigh and letting himself smile. T his is going to be one of the greatest reunions in history—and I helped.

Wish Emily could see it with me.

“Hades?” Emily blinked in surprise as she put a gaggle of confused senior citizens and a few decades’ worth of luggage on a late afternoon bus in front of Caesar’s Magic Parlor. A man in long, swaying dark robes and a black helm was striding into The Lotus Room.

“Ah! A scholar of mythology! I am indeed dressed as Hades, Lord of the Underworld!”

He’s just some guy coming for the costume party.

He’s here pretty early.

Her stomach prickled. She’d been reading up on Zeus during their moments of restless waiting this week. It was always wise to be informed. There were millions of versions of myths about the king of the Greek gods, but two things remained constant. He was always looking for a new conquest—and he wasn’t above using trickery, even shapeshifting, to get what he wanted.

He’s dressed as Hades. Last ditch effort to confuse Persephone into sleeping with him. I’m so sick I could vomit on him, lightning bolts be damned.

“They just emptied the place out. Something went wrong in the kitchen. I’m only here because Circe thought I might make a nice surprise for one of her special guests tonight. I’m staying on the fifth floor, in The Garden. “

“Hm?” Zeus flipped open his visor, revealing a handsome, heroic face, the classic definition of bronzed, tall, dark, and handsome. “I’m the only special guest.”

“Oh! You must be Mr. Z! She told me that you’ve been unlucky in love, but that was going to change tonight. Probably.”

“Definitely,” Zeus ground out. His eyes roved over her. “You’d be a nice warm-up. Or a good consolation prize. Or a victory lap.” He let out a loud, braying laugh. “Yes. A victory lap!”

“Whatever you say, baby. Tell me about your troubles. Emmy’s a real good listener,” she purred, taking his arm.

Zeus sighed, and they walked inside. If he noticed the deserted nature of the place, he ignored it in favor of staring down her low-cut dress.

“Oh, it’s this girl. I had her first, and my brother interfered. She should have been with me. She was mine. Rightfully mine.”

“You proposed to her first or something?”

“Or something. Anyway, her mother got involved, my brother got involved... It was a long time ago, but... Well. My power started weakening—in the family business. And I knew it was because of her. I was distracted, you see. I always accomplish my goals, you see. I’m never thwarted. Never.”

“Oooh. Powerful.” Emily kept nodding, clinging to his arm lest he suddenly vanish.

Zeus walked through the place like he owned it, heading to the stairwell and beginning to climb. “I won’t bore you with the details, but let’s just say I had an empire. A business empire. And when my brother got involved, things started to fail.”

Well, yeah, in the early 1000s, Europe became the hotspot. Christianity soared.

Oh my God. Does this idiot actually think the entire Greek pantheon lost popularity because he didn’t get to bang Persephone??

“It was the first chink in my armor, the first defeat I’d ever had. She’s my ticket back to power.”

“So she’s not with your brother anymore?”

“She hasn’t seen him in a long time. She’s not over him, exactly, but tonight, I’m going to make her forget all about him.”

“She forgot about me?” Hades hesitated outside a plain gray door. It was made to look as basic and unimportant as possible.

The best place to hide a treasure is in something worthless, Simeon thought as he tried to turn the handle of the door marked “Linens” and instead found himself knocked backwards by a powerful electrical zap.

“Not at heart. She never gave in to his advances, Mem as good as said. Everyone here was in some sort of loop. I think—based on something I heard one guest say—that everyone thinks they’ve just been here for about a week. So Seph thinks she’s been here a week, but she might be confused as to who she really is. Others certainly were. But if you give her this,” Simeon reached into his pocket and pulled out the flask of Lethe’s Nectar and the pouch of Lethe’s Dust, “it should help her bounce back. Plus, when she sees you, and now that Mem and her cronies are gone, their power over her will be gone too. It worked pretty fast on the others.”

“But they were only here for a mortal lifespan, not a thousand years, yes.”

“Oi, someone’s coming up the stairs. Two people.” Simeon suddenly grabbed Hades’ arm and pulled him back down the hall, into The Garden. “Em is talking to someone.”

Hades fell silent, but his body tensed, then shook. Balls of flame danced in his palms. “I know that voice.”

“So, do you think the costume is going to help win her over?” Emily said in an exaggeratedly loud voice.

“Erm. Yes. She has a thing for Greek mythology. Particularly that second-class dolt, Hades.”

Simeon watched the door to the stairwell swing open after a string of beeps. The stairwell doors were activated by keycard, but he hadn’t seen the door leading to the fifth floor. Based on the noises, it must have an access code.

Hades made a noise like a wounded tiger, a smothered growl as he saw Zeus emerge—dressed in a nearly identical outfit, although in place of his crown, Zeus wore a full helm, the visor pulled closed.

That’s low, even for him, Simeon thought.

“Can I meet her? I’ll let you two carry on, and I’ll go hang out with Circe and the others until you’re ready for your ‘victory lap,’” Emily giggled and batted her lashes.

“You know... I think I’ll go in alone. She’s a little skittish at times.”

“All right, see you later.” Emily turned and sauntered away, her eyes lighting up when she saw Simeon opening the door of the lounge a fraction.

Simeon prayed Zeus wouldn’t turn around. Fortunately, all his blood was flowing south, and he eagerly pulled a special gilt-edged card from the folds of his cloak, lifted the plastic sign that read “Linens” on the door, and fed the card into it. With a shimmer of electricity, the edge of the door seemed to glow and then swing inward.

Hades pushed past him, knocking him to his knees and materializing behind his brother at the end of the hall.

“Party’s starting,” Simeon grunted, getting to his feet. Emily pulled him up as she reached him, and as one, they turned and raced toward the duo at the end of the hall.

“You bastard!” Hades roared, tackling Zeus from behind. “Persephone! I’m coming, honey!”

The sound of shattering glass stopped Simeon in his tracks.

First one ornate crystal vase, then another, and another was hurled from the inside of the room. “I know who you are now!” a feminine voice, quaking with rage and filled with tears, howled.

“I’m dialing two and three,” Simeon hissed as Zeus got to his feet. “I think we need godly backup.”

“I’m going to slice the tendons in his legs,” Emily said in a cool, factual tone, kicked off her heels for the second time that afternoon, and raced to join the fray.

Hades sat back on his heels, heart pounding so hard that he was afraid it would break his ribs.

“Seph?” he whispered.

She was there, in front of him, shaking and sobbing as she held an armful of vases. Remains of cut flowers lay behind her in what seemed to be a dimly lit bar.

She didn’t answer him, looking at Zeus, now without his helmet, lying on his back with tiny cuts all over his face.

“Persephone? My love?” The last words were a tiny whisper.

What if she’s not my love anymore? I failed her. I didn’t find her. I didn’t ride Zeus harder, didn’t investigate like I should have. Should have let the world die and wither to find her, the ill unable to die, the living starving in a matter of days...

Even as he thought it, Hades knew he couldn’t have subjected their children to that sort of life, the guilt of knowing they destroyed so many innocents for the sake of one great love.

“Excuse me.”

Emily, the vampire hunter, was suddenly kneeling beside him. His startled brother blinked at the pretty woman with her strawberry blonde hair and her perfect, toned figure. A good distraction—when his brother was concussed. Seph was still raining blows on Zeus, heavy vases creating a hailstorm of glass.

The little mortal winced, grabbed his brother by the knee—and then two sharp slashes filled the hallway with screams and splatters of golden ichor.

“Bitch!” Zeus roared.

“If you move over, Hades, I can do the other leg,” Emily said, ignoring the screaming and flailing. “But I would move fast to contain him because—”

“Mom? Mom!”

Persephone’s head jerked up, and she dropped the rest of her glassware.

“Babies?” she whispered.

Milly and Zag ran, twin blurs of dark hair, one in a chic charcoal suit and watercolor scarf, the other in archaic brimstone-stained armor.

“Kids! How did you—” Hades didn’t finish the sentence. Zagreus towered over his fallen uncle, sword slamming into his middle and pinning Zeus to the floor like an insect on an entomologist’s board. Milly tackled her mother, and the two of them rocked in a spinning, sobbing hug that sent tears streaming from his own eyes.

“You fools. Fool then to steal her from me, fool now to keep me from—” Zeus never got to finish his sentence.

Hades’ hands latched around his throat. “I will have an eternity to talk about who the fool is, Zeus. But I won’t be visiting you for the first few millennia. I have a lot of catching up to do with my wife and children. I’d say that I feel bad for yours as they won’t see you for several thousand years—immortal years, mind you, but you’re a horrible husband and father, and I don’t think they’ll mind. Hera, Heph, Ares, and Athena— hell, any of your siblings or offspring will be able to run Olympus better than you. Seph—I’ll be right back.”

There was a loud pop and a blue flash in the hall.

“Where did he go?” Simeon demanded.

“To the Cell.” Zagreus wiped his sword off on his tunic and put it back in his scabbard before wrapping his arms around his mother and sister, Persephone sandwiched between her weeping children.

“Cell?”

“The Cell. Big C. Dad’s been preparing a place for whoever stole Mom from us for years. I’m not even allowed in. But if you’ve ever thought about what would happen if a guy had a thousand years to think of revenge for the woman he loves most in the universe—yeah, multiply it by a million, and that’s where Zeus gets to hang out. It makes Tartarus look like a nice, peaceful resort.”

“Oh!” Persephone gasped, eyes flickering open and taking in her son’s words.

“Oh, don’t worry, Mom. The rest of the Underworld looks great. Dad got your orchids to take root. There’s a bowling alley in every subdivision, and the Muses are helping with some theaters.”

“You’d be proud of him. He never stopped looking. Never stopped trying.”

Persephone clutched her children closer but said nothing.

Emily watched the mother embracing her children.

“You get a wish, Huntress,” Simeon said softly. “Dunno if it’s possible, but couldn’t hurt to ask. You could have time turned back. Could have a prayer answered.”

“I know. So could you.”

“Ah. I could. You go first,” Simeon insisted, then fell silent, holding her hand in a tight grip.

“I’m sorry I was gone so long,” Seph whispered, kissing each child on the forehead as they nestled together on a long leather booth seat. “I didn’t know... I knew something was wrong, but I felt as though I’d only been gone a little while. You keep saying ‘a thousand years.’ Was it really...?”

“A thousand mortal years, Mom. That’s all.” Zag hugged her again.

“You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to. We know you’re safe—I mean, in one way. And Zeus couldn’t touch you. Dad thought he had something to do with it, so he made Zeus swear on the Styx that he would never lay an unwanted hand on you.” Milly bit her lip. “He... Are you...”

“I’ve been... I’ve been working in taverns and pubs and bars and clubs... Forever. It feels like forever.”

Emily turned as a shadow slipped over her.

Hades. Back. Standing behind her and Simeon as if he were afraid to see his own beloved Seph.

Maybe he is. Maybe he’s afraid she hates him for not finding her faster. Or fell out of love. A thousand years is a long time, I don’t care if you are a god.

“I was usually alone, or with one or two other women. One’s name was Mem, and she seemed so familiar. I believe she was an aunt of mine... No, I know who she was now, and it doesn’t matter what she told me.” Seph rubbed a weary hand across her brow. “My story changed location, but never pattern. I was a serving girl. I served mead, or grog, or ale, or fine wine—whatever the customer asked. Each night, the same customer. A handsome, charming customer. He would see me for several nights in a row, always pleading his suit, offering marriage, offering to take me away from this life. Sometimes life was hard—hard enough to make me want to leave with anyone, for any hope of a different future.”

Behind her, Emily heard Hades choke down a sob.

“And sometimes it was so amazing, riches, flowers, jewels, everything the world had to offer, laid at my feet. But the choice was always mine to make, and the condition was always the same. I had to go with the handsome man. He had a million different names but always the same face. I know that now, but... Things seemed to reset. Hard weeks ended, and I had hope again.”

“Mnemosyne’s power couldn’t last more than a week or two, Mom, not in the mortal realm. People could live the same weeks over and over again, but what they would recall, what they would remember... Well, you probably only remembered a week or two at a time until Dad saved you.”

“I didn’t save you, Seph. I tried, but... I couldn’t do it alone. It was these two who finally tracked you down, and I was only here at the end.” Hades pushed past Emily and Simeon to go and kneel before his wife.

It was an odd sight, the dark, pale Lord of the Dead in long robes, black cloak, and abbreviated armor of chest plate and greeves, kneeling in front of Seph, who was wearing a soft white shirt with flowing sleeves and pale pink lounge pants.

“I understand if you no longer wish to be my wife. Or queen. I couldn’t save you. I should have hunted Zeus down and beaten it out of him. He was always one I suspected, but he covered his tracks too well, and I chased so many false leads. There were the children to raise, and the dead... The dead never stopped coming. I loved you more than anything—I love you now, more than anything, but I didn’t... I don’t know.” Hades’ eyes overflowed as he looked up at her. “I made so many mistakes. So brokenhearted and helpless. So stupid!” he pounded his hand onto his knee, and flames spurted from his fist.

“Dad! That’s not true! Mom, don’t listen to him. He never slept, he barely ate, no one could have tried harder—” Milly protested.

Zag took up the cry, “Armies of the dead, ghosts, mortals, demons—all of them were looking for you, reporting back every hour on the hour for centuries! And now we know why none could find you. Even if they had seen you, Mnemosyne wouldn’t have allowed them to keep the memory of it. It’s not his fault!”

“A human of twenty-odd years and a cursed vampire, the last of Lilith’s spawn... They did it in a week.”

“With help from dozens of others, including you!” Emily spoke up.

“I should have known Mnemosyne was behind this. I should have known!”

“You thought she was in Tartarus with the rest. You checked, and sometimes she was, and sometimes she wasn’t—or at least that’s what you were told, what you saw. Aren’t there beasties down there who have ties to Zeus?” Simeon suggested.

“Pretty much the entire population of Tartarus,” Zag muttered.

“Who’s to say that you won’t find more deceptions were in place, more tricks and traps than you could imagine to fool you?”

“Yes! And the only reason we were successful after so long is because you exhausted so many possibilities, and we pulled together resources that a god wouldn’t think of. Seph was hidden in the mortal world. That’s somewhere we know well, and you don’t,” Emily crossed her arms across her chest. “Not to mention, you threatened to take away the man I love and a bunch of innocent people I care about. You’re a nice guy—you don’t like to make threats like that, but when you do—well, they work!”

“If you were the kind of guy who was always threatening people, Mom wouldn’t have fallen in love with you,” Milly pointed out in a gentle voice.

Hades swallowed once and nodded at his children and his accomplices. “All of you are so kind. But the only words that matter are Seph’s. She’s the one I failed to protect or find fast enough.”

Seph slowly stood. Hades bolted to his feet, too, stepping back with anxiousness shining in his eyes.

“Want to see something?” the rescued queen whispered.

“Of course. Anything.”

Seph reached into her pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. She unfolded it and smoothed it out. “Read it,” she whispered.

Hades nodded, taking the paper and clearing his throat several times.

“What is it, Dad? What’s it say?” Zag demanded.

“It says... It says, ‘His name starts with an H. He calls me Seph.’”

Hades burst into tears and held open his arms. Seph flew into them, leaping up enough that her legs locked around his waist. “You remembered?”

“I remembered that. I remembered something, no matter what they tried to take away. I remembered the sound of your name on my lips, and my name on yours,” she said, voice muffled by her face, buried in his neck. “I never stopped writing it down. They clean the rooms and take the trash, but I would find these notes everywhere. Look.” Seph sprang down and pulled her husband behind her, leading him behind the bar and pulling him to his knees.

Emily craned her neck to see.

“You wrote on the underside of the shelves,” Hades whispered in awe.

“They never cleaned there. I did. This is where the glasses and bottle were kept... I wrote it a hundred times. I would ask people about my past, and I remember they told me a lot of lies. But I knew this much was true.” She clutched the paper in one hand and Hades’ arm in the other. “You kept me safe from Zeus when I was Milly’s age. You kept me safe all this time with that perfect vow on the River Styx. And I knew you’d keep me safe again. That’s what love is. When you know they’ll come for you.”

“You never gave up.” He kissed her cheek.

“I never needed to. Here you are,” she beamed, eyes leaking soft trails down her cheeks. “You never stopped looking.”

“Not until you were found.”

“I’ve missed you so much. This ache in my heart... And I now have the name for it. Such a relief,” she sobbed afresh, collapsing into Hades’ embrace.

“Um. Mom. Dad? We should probably go?” Milly suggested.

“Or at least let you two get someplace without an audience?” Zag added tactfully as his parents’ embrace intensified, leading into a passionate kiss.

“There’s a spiffy little hotel in Pine Ridge that’s fae run. It morphs into whatever you need. You know. Privacy. Pomegranates. A soundtrack of Zeus being disemboweled with a blunt stick. Anything you like,” Simeon suggested.

Hades broke off the kiss but didn’t take his hands off of Seph. “Vampire, you have my car keys. Summon it.”

“Um. That’s a two-seater, your deathliness,” Simeon said hesitantly.

“Oh, it’ll be a minivan this time,” Milly said. “Death rides a pale horse, family size!”

“And I’m going to destroy this building anyway, so a hole in the wall won’t matter much,” Hades said with a careless wave.

“If you say so.”

Emily winced as Simeon touched the button on the remote and the sound of crunching plaster and collapsing walls filled the hotel.

“Pine Ridge?” Hades asked his wife.

Seph nodded. “Anywhere with you, my love. Let the vampire and his bride drive so that we can all be together in the back.”

“Bride?” Emily stammered in surprise. “Oh! No, we’re just... We’ve only been dating for about a week.”

“Well, we’ve been hanging out casually for longer.”

“I knew I had found my soul’s one true love after only days in his company,” Seph said, running a possessive hand over Hades’ lean jaw. “I can see it is the same for the vampire.”

“He doesn’t even have his soul!” Emily blurted, panicked and blushing.

Seph gave Hades a reproachful glare. “Darling, give the helpful vampire back his soul!”

“At once, my queen.”

Emily blinked in surprise as Hades flexed his fingers and something wispy and white plunged out of nowhere and down Simeon’s throat. His entire body glowed for a moment, and then he coughed, pounding his chest.

“Thanks, your... Your Highness?” He bowed to Seph.

“No trouble. Thank you for all you’ve done. I hope Hades promised you both something for your trouble?”

“Of course I did, my love. We’ll discuss it once we leave this accursed place.”