Chapter Forty

“Iknew he was up to something, I just didn’t think he actually had the balls to really do anything,” Hades said lazily.

I snapped my head around, the swish of my hair brushing against my cheek as I locked eyes with Hades. He strolled toward me, the faint sound of his footsteps echoing on the pristine marble. His hands casually rested in his pockets, a hint of mischief in his gaze. Ember timidly trailed behind him, her fingers tightly gripping his arm.

“You knew about this?” I snarled, my voice laced with anger, as I forcefully flung my scythe in his direction. With lightning reflexes, he swiftly snatched it from the air, his face inching closer to mine. The pungent scent of fire tingled my nostrils as his breath brushed against my skin, his low chuckle resonating beneath the fabric of my hood.

“Easy there, Thanatos,” Hades said, his voice dripping with amusement. “No need to get all worked up. I may have known about my son trying to leave the Underworld with Juniper’s help, but it was Ember’s idea to let it play out.”

Ember blushed and tugged at Hades’ arm. “Well, uh... yes. I thought it would be an excellent opportunity for us to shake things up a bit.” She pulled on the sleeve of her dress.

I narrowed my eyes, trying to suppress the flicker of curiosity amidst my irritation. “And what exactly are you wanting to ‘shake up?’ My mate is missing!”

Hades grinned mischievously and gestured toward the portal. “We’re going to pay a visit to the mortal world. It has been too long since I have been involved in something exciting, and I think it”s time to set another strip club on fire.”

My brows furrowed in disbelief. I felt deceived and realized that my mate was in the middle of this fucking plan.

I forcefully drove my scythe into the cold, smooth marble steps, the sound of cracking reverberating through the grand palace courtyard. The sheer force of my strike sent tremors up my arm, a mix of frustration and anger fueling my actions. I spoke through gritted teeth, my voice dripping with disappointment and betrayal, “You knew well that I vehemently opposed involving my mate in this, yet you defied my wishes! What if it was your mate taken from you?”

Ember flinched, but stepped forward, thrusting her chest out. ”If you recall, there was a time when I was taken as well.” And I had to stand up on my own. And Juniper needs this too. She’s always felt like the wallflower. She wants to help, and I think she’s holding back her bonding because she wants to prove something. “This will be faster than waiting on Hera, anyway. Don’t you want her to start living?”

I reached up under my hood, my fingers tangling in my tangled hair. In the process, my hood slipped from my head, landing softly on my shoulders. Ember’s gasp hit my ears, but in that moment, I couldn’t give a damn about my bare face, exposed for all to see. My rage burned like a wildfire. The world felt suffocating, every fabric too tight against my skin, every sound too loud, every scent too overwhelming. It was all just too damn much.

I needed her.

“I’m getting her back. I’m bringing her home. To me. I’ll force bond with her. She cannot do this to me, defy me, leave me!” As bolts of lightning cracked through the darkened sky, the ominous black and crimson clouds rolled in, intensifying the wrath that consumed me. The ground quivered beneath our feet, echoing the tremors of the moment.

Hades took a step back, his amusement fading into concern.

“Thanatos, calm yourself,” he said in a low, steady voice. “I understand your anger but let us not forget that Juniper is her own person. She has her own desires and ambitions.”

Ember stepped forward, placing a hand on my arm. “Juniper is not trying to defy you or leave you,” she explained gently. “And the girls and I know Juniper wants this. She wants an opportunity to prove herself, to find her own path in this realm. To feel useful.”

I looked at Ember, eyes blazing with intensity. “But she is my mate. She belongs to me. I am supposed to protect her.”

Ember sighed softly and moved closer to me. “And you will protect her, Thanatos. But you must also trust her. Trust that she knows what she needs and what she can handle. We cannot keep her locked away in the Underworld forever. Besides, Loki seems to know where to go, and Juniper can tell us who this person is.”

The grip on my scythe tightened, my knuckles turning white. “I just... I fear for her safety, Ember,” I admitted, my voice barely a whisper. “I cannot bear the thought of losing her.”

Ember’s eyes softened as she reached up to cup my face in her hands. “I understand and she knows that too,” she mumbled. “But sometimes, we have to take risks in order to grow and discover ourselves. Juniper deserves that chance since she hasn’t done that before, even if it means venturing into the mortal realm and showing us all who we are looking for.”

I sighed heavily, feeling the weight of the world on my shoulders. “Fine,” I relented begrudgingly. “But we are all following them, watching over her every step of the way. If anything happens-- “

Hades interrupts, his hand came to his mouth to clear his throat, “I’ll kick my son’s ass myself. Not that he isn’t already in a massive pile of shit of trouble.”

I housed Hades and Ember through my veil of death. We followed and listened to every conversation Loki and my mate held.

Juniper knew this was all going to be a bad idea. I could feel it radiating off of her, yet she trusted the little shit, Loki, and now she was going to pay for it. Yet she felt so inclined, so eager to find out who this deity was to help. She went along with it. Now she was at the mercy of fucking Medusa.

“I can’t believe it!” Ember hissed. “Medusa is behind all this?”

While in the veil of death, no one can hear or see us. Ember’s commentary was both entertaining yet angering at the same time. On more than one occasion, I wanted to lift the veil, grab my mate, pull her to my side, and hold her close to me. However, Hades constantly reminded me to stay put so that we could reveal all the evidence.

Medusa was indeed the matchmaker, the owner of the strip club and the human trafficking bitch that would answer to all of us. The more she talked, the more she spilled, and we couldn’t capture her, not yet. Not when she continued to give out more information than we could ever have fathomed.

“How the hell did you get a seer?” Loki’s brow rose in surprise.

Medusa cackled and tucked a strand of hair behind Juniper’s ear.

I swear to Rhea if she draws blood —

“It was quite simple, really. Seers really like stones, really shiny ones. All I had to do was get a warlock to cast a capturing spell on it and when they touched it— “she smiled “—it trapped them within the stone. They will do just about anything to be released.”

Loki’s fists tightened. I felt sorry for the bastard. Even his parents were fucking disappointed in him. Their own son didn’t feel like they could go to them for help, but this bitch somehow got to Loki. Got under his skin, got word to him that she would take his future mate away from him.

How did this woman do it, and what the hell were her motives?

“Be a good birdie and leave. And remember our agreement, Loki. Otherwise, I will go back on mine.”

My mate appeared to be hovering mid-air but now that I know it is Medusa, she was most likely coiled with in her tail. Medusa slithered further back of the room, my mate still wrapped in her coil.

“Loki don’t let her do this! You’re better than this,” Juniper pleaded.

Loki clears his throat. “What are you planning on doing to her?”

Medusa turned and gave a menacing smile. “Send her to another auction across the country, of course. Let Thanatos have to hunt her down again. First, I’ll have someone wipe her memory though. Can’t have her remembering anything.” She patted Juniper’s head.

“You said you wouldn’t hurt her!” Loki shouted.

Medusa giggled. “I know, I said I wouldn’t. I didn’t promise someone else wouldn’t, though.”

Loki’s eyes blazed with fury as he lunged forward, his powers surging through him. But before he could reach Medusa, Hades, Ember, and I materialized in the room, our presence finally revealed to the mortal world.

“Enough,” Hades growled, his voice resonating with an otherworldly weight. The air in the room grew suffocatingly hot, as wisps of smoke curled from the melting wax, cascading down the candles and leaving a pungent scent of scorched wood into the air. The molten wax dripped relentlessly, creating sizzling sounds as it splattered onto the floors, staining them with dark, glistening trails.

Juniper whimpered and my shadows immediately went around her exposed neck and cheek to calm her.

Medusa’s eyes widened in fear and whatever camouflages she had hidden herself with fell. It must have been the fear or shock of all the gods in the room who were much more powerful than a minor deity surrounding her knocked her off guard.

As the camouflage fell, her legs formed together, deep green scales appeared on her body and she slithered across the floor and tightened around the invisible barrier that originally looked like magic holding my mate in an odd ramrod straight angle.

Fucking Tartarus, my mate was tightly coiled in the snakes’ body.

Medusa’s shock caused her to stumble backward, her snakes hissing and writhing in alarm beneath her wig. “Hades—Thanatos—What are you doing here? This is impossible. I should have known you were coming!” she hissed.

“Funny about seers,” I said. “They cannot see death coming when they hide beneath its veil.”

Ember stepped forward, a snarl of her wolf coming to the surface as she shifted into a large alpha form and stood in front of her son.

“We’ve been watching, Medusa,” I said, my voice dripping with menace. “And we won’t let you take Juniper. Not now, not ever.”

Medusa’s bravado faltered as she glanced between us and Loki. She realized her plan had backfired spectacularly; she had underestimated the power and determination of the gods. Panic welled up within her as her breathing grew rapid, and she stumbled backward, trying to distance herself from the wrathful figures before her.

Loki, his eyes blazed with fury, stepped forward again. “You can’t hurt Juniper, and neither my future mate nor anyone else,” he growled, his voice a low, dangerous snarl. “Where is the seer stone?”

Hades’ gaze narrowed on Medusa, his voice icy as he spoke. “Your crimes will not go unpunished. You have violated the sacred bonds of the gods and threatened the safety if humans, supernaturals, future mate of a god, and took the life of a seer. All punishable by death.”

Ember, in her wolf form, prowled closer to Medusa, her hackles raised. She let out a low warning growl that reverberated through the room, causing Medusa’s snakes to writhe and her snakes hiss in fear beneath her wig.

I stepped forward, my scythe gleamed with deadly intent. “You will release Juniper immediately,” I commanded, my voice laced with an otherworldly chill. My shadows crept around Medusa, her wig tilting, finally tipping on the side of her head and falling off her shoulders.

The black and green snakes on her head reared back, opening their mouths, hissing with fear. The hold on Juniper lessened. It was so tight that I failed to see that it was squeezing the life out of her and she barely could breathe.

Juniper took in a breath and shoved the bounds of Medusa’s body away from her, stumbling away from the tail.

My wings beat forcefully and created a rush of air that propelled Medusa backwards. As Loki transformed into a raven, the sound of his feathers rustling filled the room. His sharp claws extended, gripping tightly around Medusa’s neck. Medusa’s body reacted, her body coiling around Loki to crush him. This triggered Ember’s maternal instincts.

I ran to Juniper to get her out of the line of the fight. She willingly fell into my arms and I pulled her across the room. Ember’s snarling, her fangs ripping into the meat of Medusa’s body, made Juniper flinch and she buried her face into my cloak.

Hades sighed, pinching his nose as he watched his mate and son rip into Medusa. “This is going to make a bloody mess.” A crack echoed into the room from a broken desk and a blood-curdling scream came from Medusa.

The coil let go of Loki, and he hopped away in his large raven form and stood beside his father. Ember snarled again, her white fur soaked with blood as she stalked away from the wound she inflicted on Medusa’s side.

“Where is the stone, Medusa?” Hades stood over her.

Her snakes in her hair were lifeless on the floor. “I won’t tell,” she rasped. “Not unless you spare my life.”

Hades tsked and squatted down in front of her. “That really isn’t up to me now, is it? You were the one that fucked with his mate, so beg him.”

Her head turned to me. There was no pleading in her eyes.

“I won’t tell you where it is unless you spare me,” she repeated.

My wings rose in warning, my scythe flickered from a nearby lamp.

Hades chuckled darkly. “Trial it is, then. Hope you have heard what happened to Demeter, because that is going to end up with you.”

Medusa’s eyes widened for a moment until Hades” demons arrived in the doorway. “Have her locked up until she’s judged.”

Juniper clutched hold of me and when I looked down to see her gaze, she wasn’t looking up at me. I could feel the heat of her face and the wetness pooling on her cheeks.

“As for you,” Hades nodded to Loki who had turned back into his human form. “You’re grounded until you are at least two hundred.”

Ember who had shifted back into her human-like form, ran to her son and gripped him. “You should have come to us. We would have helped. Why didn’t you come to us?” She cried out. Loki, trying to hold back his tears, choked.

“I was going to!” Loki defended himself. “I thought she was going to be put in a strip club again and I was going to rescue her and bring her back, but then the thought of someone hurting her, touching her–shit, it pissed me off. I didn’t mean for all this shit to happen. I’m so fucking sorry.” He shook his head. “Then I was going to tell you what Medusa was doing. I swear it.”

Hades frowned and put his hand on Loki’s shoulder. “We help each other. We don’t do things alone, Loki. Have you ever seen me do missions like this by myself? It was foolish. It proves to me you are still not ready to run around Earth by yourself. Just because you look older means nothing.” Hades growled.

Juniper’s cheeks went crimson and nodded. “I’m so sorry too,” she said. “I just wanted to prove–”

“Shh, it”s alright,” I said. “We will talk about this later. I’m glad you are safe. But you will not do this again, will you? You will never leave my side.”

Juniper’s eyes grew wide and nodded. “Never again. I learned my lesson.” She throws her two fingers up. “Scouts honor.”

“I do not know this meaning.” I shook my head.

“I’m swearing I won’t leave your side anymore. I won’t jump portals or follow anyone anywhere.”

I hummed and nodded. I still wouldn’t let her out of my sight. I would bond with her–and soon.

Loki cleared his throat, interrupting us. “Juniper, Thanatos, I’m really sorry. I–really was planning on rescuing you. I never wanted any harm to come to you. I couldn’t let my future mate not be born. And then--she pissed me off, saying someone else could hurt you. I just snapped, thinking about mom and you going back to that place. I just–I couldn’t go through with it. I couldn’t let you go there, even after all my planning.”

My fingers dug into my mate’s waist to keep her to me, but she pried my fingers away from her waist. She patted my chest and walked forward, but I pulled her back.

“Mine. Stay away from her,” I snarled.

I could feel Juniper’s eyes roll even being behind her, but I didn’t care.

“It”s okay, Loki. You are still young, you didn’t know. But–your parents are older, wiser. They are there to help. And, even if you told me the real reason you were taking me here, I would have come anyway.” She shrugged her shoulders.

“You would have?” Loki”s eyes filled with unshed tears.

Even if he looked older in his body, his eyes gave him away.

Fuck, she better not fucking hug him.

She reached out to hug him and I pulled her back.

Mine.

“Thanatos,” she whispered back at me. “Just a brief hug to reassure him, please?”

I shook my head, burning my head into her shoulder. He almost gave away my mate.

“Pretty please Bone Daddy?” she whispered. “I won’t ask for anything else.”

My head rose, and I stared into her eyes. “I will give you whatever you wish, even if you want to hug the little bastard. But only for three seconds.” I held up three fingers. “Then you’re mine again.”

She smiled and pressed a quick kiss to my lips. “Kay.”