3. Caspian

I had Medusa crushed in my arms. I was worried about Pax. I didn't know where Dionysus went, but Pax grabbed him when he disappeared and went with him. Benji couldn't follow because he didn't know where they were going. And Benji was a hot mess anyway, because Medusa was upset. So was I.

Pax wasn't a shifter, so I knew deep down he was in the best position to leave, but that didn't have to mean I liked it. I was still getting used to all these gods in my living room. My phone rang and when I looked down, it was Father Nathan. He was closer with Pax than with me, but he also knew I ran his town.

"Hey," I said.

"I can't thank you enough for finding Oberon, but where are the rest of them? You said you were getting them all out. Do they need a place? I can open the church if you let them know I'm not like the Coalition."

"Thanks for the offer. Most of them are home looking for their families or here with me. We're going to take them down. All of them. If you want to release the documents we sent, now is the time."

"I'm not exactly sure what you did, but I know Oberon was in New Eden Asylum and so does Oberon. But it's like the place never existed. I even tried hacking into some places I've previously found information and it's gone.

"It can't be them deleting it because some of the databases I'd gotten into were people watching them trying to take them down. They wouldn't have deleted what they had. I don't think the Coalition is as good as me to get in there and it plays in their favor to say dangerous supernaturals broke out of their facility. They could rile everyone up."

"That was a new member of my team, but I actually need more information about that. It'll make you question everything if you meet her. You might be the only outsider I trust on the mountain, but what we're doing is very dangerous. Focus on getting that information out in a way that can't be traced back to you and healing Oberon."

Supernaturals usually lived in the commune up the mountain and the humans lived at the bottom. The humans were good people, and Father Nathan vouched for Oberon. We got to know him in New Eden and he was a decent guy. He wouldn't expose us.

But first things first.

"How did Persephone erase all traces of New Eden Asylum? Even secret databases only my hacker priest friend knew about are gone."

Persephone just grinned at me and Hades puffed up his chest with pride. Those two were unsettling. Persephone wasn't some shrinking kidnapped god. Something told me she was dangerous as fuck and Hades let her do whatever she wanted.

"How are you on your Greek gods?" Hephaestus asked.

"Obviously not as good as we thought," Benji said.

"Persephone's story got changed over time, but the truth is there," Hades said.

"My mother originally named me Kore. It means maiden . I think she intended me to work by her side as a forever virgin. My father is Zeus and the stories of him being a rapist are true. He didn't care if you were family or even his daughter. I ran away to the Underworld after that and found myself. I found Hades, too.

"Zeus and my mother pitched a fit about me coming home, but I wanted nothing to do with either of them after that. My mother caused a blight, and the Underworld was getting overwhelmed with souls of people who died of starvation to get me to come home. So, we lied about the pomegranate seeds to appease her and so I could come back to the Underworld.

"When I got to the Underworld, I changed my name to Persephone. Do you know what it means? It means the destroyer. I'm a God of Spring, but I'm also a God of Rebirth. Sometimes, to regrow crops, you have to burn the field.

"There are a lot of fun loopholes to my magic that I've discovered over the years. Something can't be reborn unless you kill something else. Getting rid of the Coalition means a new era of human and supernatural relations being born. Technically, if I deleted all the data pertaining to New Eden, the leader of the Coalition is going to look like a raging lunatic when he starts ranting about dangerous supernaturals murdering everyone and breaking out of a facility that doesn't exist. It would help with the rebirth."

Kat, Jezebel, and Calamity all started hooting and laughing.

"Listen, I know you're a god and you run an entire realm of the dead, but the best thing you ever did was doing right by this one when she needed you and winning her love. She's a keeper," Kat said.

Persephone preened and Hades looked like he was the luckiest man alive, even though they'd been together that long. Hephaestus just rolled his eyes.

"Don't get him started. He's written epic sagas, sonnets, couplets, stories, and some fanfiction about how much he loves her and it's all terrible."

"Are we sure that's a good idea?" I asked. "I get how bad it's going to look for Hannibal, but it silences every living victim of that place. No one can talk about what was done to them there."

I wanted Medusa to get her revenge on her terms. I didn't know about this whole fury thing, but whether she wanted to go on a killing spree turning them all to stone or just tell the whole world about what they did to her, I'd have her back.

"No, this is good," Medusa said. "I lived through the eras where it was the victim's fault and if you made a big deal about it, they painted you as hysterical and locked you up or burnt you as a witch. I just get vibes off Hannibal and the rest of the Coalition that they'd spin anything we said in a way that seriously pissed me off. I think it would be poetic to let Hannibal look like the hysterical one."

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"You just don't know because you're a man," Jezebel groaned. "I was getting stalked by some Duke ages ago and I made a big deal about it. I fled the country before they could punish me for that because he painted me as insane. I'd never lose my shit over a man like that."

"I lose my shit over men all the time," Benji moaned. "Have you seen Cas and Pax?"

"Not like how she's talking about. You're adorable about it, not a menace. It's the one time you're not a menace," I said.

"Where do you think Dionysus went? Pax snuck a ride," Benji asked.

"Probably to unleash the Mad God on Athena until she tells the truth. Everything this time. Can't say she doesn't have it coming. He was a terror when Hera cursed him and he remembers everything he did. Sorry, aside from Persephone, you got stuck with the misfit gods the other gods either don't want or have a beef with," Hephaestus said.

" I want you," Medusa said.

Frankly, I did, too. I wouldn't have found our mate without them, and we couldn't even be with her without Hephaestus and his glasses. They all got everyone where they wanted to be after New Eden fell, and now that I knew my mate was okay with it, Persephone's plan was pretty genius.

Dionysus better rein in the Mad God while he had Pax, though.