42. Orcus

Over an Hour Later…

"Well, that was entertaining,"Helia says as Reaper and I step outside for some fresh air.

Flame is still inside with Alina and her sister, the two females deep in conversation about everything that's happened.

"I told you that you wouldn't be needed," Reaper drawls.

"Who do you think controlled the Village Protectors and kept them from hearing the fight?" she asks, arching a brow.

"I thought you didn't concern yourself with human affairs," I shoot back.

She shrugs. "Someone suggested that superior beings are morally obligated to handle human affairs in certain situations. I decided this might be one of those situations."

"Helia just wanted to teach some Nightingale Village Protectors a lesson after learning what they did to one of her mates," Cain interjects as he steps forward, his hands in the pockets of his dress slacks. "I basically just watched her work."

"He didn't want to dirty his expensive clothes," Helia returns.

But I'm still caught up on what Cain just said about her mates. "Your mates are from the same village as Alina?"

"Not only are they from the same village, but they were also selected for the same Monsters Night," she replies. "Perhaps that helps you understand why I needed to delay our meeting."

It does, I think.

"And maybe it also gives insight into why I requested a dinner," she adds, her lips curling. "Bartholomew and Miranda have been worried about Alina. I wanted to calm those concerns by showing them she's safe."

Bartholomew and Miranda?Alina asks into my mind. Did I hear that right?

I must have repeated the names in my thoughts, thus allowing Alina to catch that part of the conversation. Queen Helia just mentioned them. Apparently, they're her new mates.

Surprise trickles through our bond. Really?

Do you want proof?I ask, curious. Because I can demand it.

Her amusement shines through with a hint of exhaustion. Honestly, I just want a nap.

Hmm. Back at our cabin? In the tower? Or… would you like to go home?

She doesn't immediately respond, her mind processing her options. Then she chooses the one that warms my heart the most. Home, please.

"We may need to postpone that dinner," I tell Helia. "Our mate says she wants to go home."

Reaper's lips curl. "Fucking finally. This dimension leaves a lot to be desired."

Helia and Cain just look at him.

"What?" he asks. "No Chicago pizza. New York City looks like a metallic jungle. Your humans use the word monsters in reference to supernaturals in this realm. Which is fucking rude, by the way. And you have all these rules that just don't make any sense. Keep the dark soul alive. Stop stealing cupcakes. Don't shadow into the dungeon to torture humans. Blah, blah, blah."

The not-so-great feminine tone Reaper used on all those rules has my lips twitching at the sides. He's clearly trying to imitate Helia.

"Say what you want about our dimension, but you found your mate here," Helia reminds him, yet her eyes are on me while she says it. "And all those Omegas are here, too. Assuming I understood that conversation right, anyway."

She was obviously eavesdropping when I gave Reaper and Flame an update after returning to this dimension.

"Well?" Reaper prompted the moment I appeared.

"As I expected, Ares felt my arrival," I said. "He's taken Demeter into custody and is handling the imprisonment of her soul." That was his primary role as the Warden of the Mythos Fae Dungeon. "I think he was excited to have something to do."

Of course, his interest was almost immediately piqued by the Omega scent covering both me and Demeter. Which naturally led to a conversation about the new dimension.

I informed Reaper and Flame of the development and ended with, "A Mythos Fae liaison will need to be appointed. The Alphas are going to want to hunt down the missing Omegas."

"What about the ones from Demeter's garden here?" Flame asked, referring to the handful of scared humans he found huddled in another room.

"The appointed liaison will be managing that." It'll require several delicate conversations, similar to the ones I've had with Alina. Only, these Omegas will likely be taken to the Mythos Fae Realm for their introduction.

"A Mythos Fae will be in touch," I tell Helia now. "I don't know who it will be, but I imagine the new liaison will be decided very soon."

"And he or she will be coming here?"

I nod. "I gave someone instructions." That someone being Ares. He would have followed me back, but he can't leave the dungeon.

"Then I suppose I'll stay here to greet the new arrival," Helia replies.

I'm about to say that I'll check in with Ares on our way back—since we'll be heading through the dungeon again—when I feel the arrival of another Mythos Fae.

Helia must sense it as well because her eyebrow wings upward again. "That was quick."

Yes,I think, my eyes narrowing. Too quick.

Reaper stiffens beside me, suddenly on alert. Likely because he can sense my mounting unease.

I know that aura. I turn to head inside, the presence near my Omega.

But Alina doesn't appear to be in any distress.

Actually, she seems… calm. Too calm.

Alina?I breathe into her mind.

I'm fine,she promises me.

Still, I can't help taking on my Alpha form as I prowl toward her. My wings, both of which are fully functional again, take on an ethereal state, similar to when I first arrived in this realm. Usually, I prefer to let them free—which requires losing my shirt. But something about this aura has me feeling… less on edge. More soothed.

There's only one being in the world who has ever made me feel that way.

"Mother," I breathe as I round the corner and see her standing beside my mate.

It's not her soul reincarnated, but her. Rhea. The Omega Goddess who birthed me and Hades.

She turns toward me, her long brown hair braided with golden ribbons down her back. "My son," she says, tears pricking her eyes. "You found them. You found the Omegas."

I rush forward to pull her into a hug, my arms shaking as I feel her embrace me in kind.

She's alive. My mother's alive.

Alina's emotions trickle into me, her heart exploding at the sight of me seeing my mother for the first time in over two thousand years. She can feel what I'm feeling and hear what I'm thinking. Just as I know she can see the memories in my mind, including the day I lost my mother.

Despair unlike anything I've ever felt before plundered my soul. It was a sensation I never wanted to experience again.

Yet I did.

Last night—since it's nearly morning now—when I thought I lost my mate.

But not only is Alina okay, my mother is, too. "Where have you been?"

"Hiding," she whispers. "Waiting."

"Why?" I ask, flabbergasted. "Why didn't you come to us? Why didn't you tell us?"

"I tried," she replies. "But this dimension is so different from our own. And I couldn't risk returning without Demeter noticing. So I stayed, hid, and did my best to guard them all in my own way."

"So you've been here," I realize. "In this realm."

She tilts her head back and forth. "Sort of. I've been… all over." It's a cryptic response. "But I felt your brother recently, and I knew either he or you would come. And now that you have, the true hunt can begin."

"What?"

"There are so many more Omegas here," she tells me. "Thousands of them, my son." She turns then, her eyes landing on someone behind me. "Hello, Queen Helia."

"Rhea," she returns, a note of familiarity in her tone. "I should have known you had something to do with this."

My mother simply smiles. "I suppose you won't mind me being the liaison between dimensions?"

"Like I could stop you from coming and going even if I wanted to," Helia drawls.

"My thoughts precisely," my mother muses, mischief dancing in her eyes. "Well, I have a lot of work to do. And so do you." That last part is for me because she's looking at me once more. "Your Omega is pregnant, Orcus. She needs a nest. Why are you still here?"

Leave it to my mother to go two thousand years without a word, just to turn around and make demands of me within minutes of seeing each other again.

Of course, this is a demand I very much want to follow.

Whatever the story is between her and Helia, I'll discover it later.

For now, I have a mate to protect and to cherish.

As well as a brother to update, I think, exhausted already.

I'll meet with him after I secure Alina in a new nest.

"Can Sera come with us?" Alina asks, her gaze hopeful.

Only it's not me she's addressing, but my mother.

"Of course, dear. If that's what Serapina desires?" Her dark eyes—the same color as my own—go to the petite blonde female curled up into Alina's side. "Would you like to go with your sister?"

Serapina nods. "Yes, please."

My mother smiles again. "Good choice." Her focus returns to me. "Well, don't just stand there, Orcus. Your mate just ripped herself out of an intense binding spell and forced Demeter to lose her human shell. Create a portal and take her home."

Cain snorts behind me.

Which promptly earns my mother's attention. "Don't even get me started on you, Dream Eater. You have a new mate at home, and you're here doing what exactly? Planning who will take over as the new Village Viscount?"

He takes a step back as my mother moves toward him, his expression holding a touch of dismay.

Yeah, my Omega mother has that effect on Alphas, too, I think at him. Not that he can hear me. Besides, he's a bit too busy trying to avoid my mother's finger that she's now waving in his direction.

"Just pick one of your friends—not a human, but a monster—and overhaul the hierarchy," she goes on. "Demeter chose a man because only men seem to have power in this realm. Imagine how different your world would be if women were in charge, hmm?"

He blinks and clears his throat. "I'll… take that under advisement."

Helia huffs. "Goddess has a point, Cain. Maybe pass that point on to Scarlett's father."

He doesn't agree out loud, but nods, probably to get both women off his case.

"As entertaining as this has been, I'm ready to go," Reaper says as he plucks our mate off the ground. "Make the portal, Orcus. Our pet needs orgasms, cupcakes, and rest."

Flame smirks.

Serapina looks a tad alarmed but slowly stands.

Alina just stares at Reaper and gives him a small smile. "A cupcake actually sounds pretty good right now."

"I know," he murmurs.

That tone suggests it's not the cupcake he's referring to, but the process of earning the cupcake that appeals to him. Since he seems to use them as a way to thank her after giving her pleasure.

Flame joins them, his fingers combing through Alina's hair. "How about a warm bath, too?" he offers her. "I'll brush you afterward."

Her cheeks turn pink. "Okay."

He leans in to run his nose along her jaw, then whispers something in her ear that has her skin reddening even more.

My lips curl at the display of care, my inner Alpha pleased.

Our mate is alive.

Our future child is okay.

And soon, all of us will be safe.

"Good luck," I tell Helia and Cain. Because if my mother is the new liaison between the dimensions, they're going to need it.

Rather than wait for them to reply, I open a mirrorlike door and step through it. Once I'm sure it's safe, I signal for the others to follow.

Then I lead our mate to the Netherworld Kingdom.

Where she'll be able to create a new nest.

In our forever home.