The Forge King

by Jovee Winters

  But mine was a proud god of death, and I might be here for an eternity before he mustered up the courage. I shoveled a kelp cake into my mouth, masticating patiently as he worked up the nerve to finally admit I’d been right.

  He grunted and shoved his fingers back through his hair, starting to pace before me, tossing me a glance now and then, before opening his mouth, snapping it shut, and pacing some more. Oh yes, he was in quite the foul mood.

  I rubbed at my nose to hide my grin as I swallowed the delicacy. My movement must have been all the encouragement he needed. Twirling on his feet like the dark whirling dervish that he was, he pointed at me as he fixed a frustrated look upon his handsome face.

  “You knew he’d do that, didn’t you?” he asked with a touch of accusation in his tone, but he gentled his words by giving me a lopsided grin. In it, he said, I’m sorry. You were right, my pet, and I was so wrong. So very, very wrong. Where would I ever be in this life without you?

  Okay, maybe most of that wasn’t true. But a girl could pretend. Letting my grin stretch even wider, I gave him a noncommittal shrug and a muffled “hrm.”

  “Caly,” he growled and prowled his way over toward me like the predatory beast he was.

  My heart quickened, and my thighs grew weak. He’d used me well today. Very, very well. I was still purring like a contented kitten thinking about it, but I wasn’t going to lie and say I wasn’t also feeling quite smug, because I had told him so.

  Kneeling down, he stared up at me through his thick, dark lashes. One of his hands landed gently on my rhythmic leg, stilling my movement, a form of possessive claiming I found absolutely thrilling and always made my blood boil.

  His was the only hand I’d allow such liberties. Anyone else, and they’d be missing a couple of digits.

  But when I turned to look at him and noted the red marks around his throat from where Hephaestus had shoved him into a wall, I felt a thrill of a different kind. A dangerous one. A reckless one. One that wanted to hurt and maim and destroy for daring to harm even a tiny hair upon the head of that which was mine.

  Suddenly, I was no longer feeling quite so smug, and I reached out a hand to frame his whisker-dusted cheek and lightly traced my pinky along the angriest red mark right at the corner of his jaw.

  His long, lovely lashes fluttered swiftly shut like a paint stroke upon stretched canvas as he leaned into me. I still sometimes couldn’t believe that after everything that’d been done to us, we’d found our way back to one another.

  And I would absolutely kill to keep him safe.

  His nostrils flared as he opened his star-dusted dark, dark eyes and held mine fast. Hades had always had an uncanny ability to see right through me, to the deepest, darkest parts of me. And though he didn’t judge me for it, he did make an honest woman out of me, forcing me to be infinitely better than I’d be otherwise.

  “You will hurt him,” he stated simply.

  I shrugged. “I want to kill him.”

  “Caly—” he growled, and I shook my head.

  “But…” I inhaled deeply, gently scratching his cheek one last time before pulling my hand back. “Friends don’t kill the mates of other friends.”

  He chuckled. “Gods, woman. The way your mind thinks is positively medieval.”

  “Yes, well…”

  I chuckled huskily as I leaned into him, the octopi tentacles of my hair reached for his face, framing it in their suction grip, and he shuddered from pleasure—my darkness loved all the facets of me, even the more disturbing ones.

  “You love me for it,” I breathed against his full dark-red lips.

  His mouth feathered over mine as he whispered, “Mm, I do.”

  I kissed him, wishing we had so much more time than what we did. But we’d been tasked with helping to straighten out what had been destroyed in the curse, and the truth was, I missed my Dite, most desperately.

  She wasn’t the same woman I remembered. It wasn’t as if she weren’t there. Dite was there, physically. But mentally, she was far, far away from where she’d once been.

  She was a goddess who’d lost her way. And every day, she faded just a bit more. She was now little more than wispy streaks of color on a canvas of depressing gray. And more often than not, she spent every afternoon roaming the banks of the River Lethe, as restless as the spirits that eternally haunted it. Even the goddess Lethe herself had noticed, and that was saying something considering Lethe could barely remember what day it was, let alone who we were, from one second to the next.

  We’d had Dite in our care for near a week now. She’d come to us one night, dripping wet, looking like a broken flower as rain had trekked down the planes of her stunning face like a river of endless tears.

  I’d not asked her for an explanation as to why she’d vanished from us all without a word for almost a month, or even why she’d suddenly reappeared. I’d simply opened my arms to her, and she’d fallen into them willingly.

  I’d heard the rumors, of course, that she’d left a wake of broken hearts behind her. For Dite to sleep with anyone other than a god could quite literally kill them from the pleasure of having and knowing her body if she didn’t shield them from the fullness of her majesty, and the fact that my kindhearted friend didn’t seem to care about the consequences of her actions spoke volumes. I wasn’t all that hung up about the loss, to be honest. What were a few silly humans in the grand scheme of things? It was lust, pure and simple, that had driven them to bed her, and if they’d died for that arrogant mistake, well… they died. But for Dites, it had been something else entirely. It was a last-ditch attempt at trying to remember who she was, who she’d been created to be. A wanton and indiscriminate lover of passion and the carnal.

  But I didn’t think it had worked, because she felt more broken now than ever. I wanted to help her, fix her somehow. But she didn’t even wish for my company. I pursed my lips. I’d spoken to Hades this morning of my approaching Hephaestus and seeing whether we couldn’t somehow work out a compromise between him and Dites.

  I’d be damned if I let her fade. Over my dead body. That was completely out of the question. So I’d play matchmaker if I must. Not that I knew what I was doing exactly. Matters of the heart had always been Dite’s domain. But bloody hell, I was desperate. And it seemed to me that what they needed to do more than anything was to have a sit down, forced or no, where they’d talk to one another, really talk and try to get to the bottom of what was really the matter between them.

  And when I’d told Hades of my plan this morning, he’d initially agreed. Until he’d caught sight of the rope, duct tape, chains, and pliers I’d had hidden on my person.

  Apparently, kidnapping a god was a big fat no-no, especially when that god was the professed son of Hera and Zeus. Not that I was afraid, mind you—I’d been dreaming of a day when Zeus and I could have a discussion of minds and I could finally prove to one and all that they only continued to draw breath because I mercifully allowed it.

  But Hades had told me I wasn’t allowed to kidnap gods. And considering I didn’t much care for the Forge God right now, he knew I’d have tossed Hephapotamus to Cerberus for a chew toy first. But nooooooo…. that was apparently “cruel.” Pft.

  He took my hands in his and kissed the cold little fingertips reverently, each and every one, while continuing to hold my gaze. The bastard played me like a fiddle, and he knew it.

  Anger burned in my heart like the buzzing of a disturbed hornets’ nest, but my body was soft and pliable, compliant to his every whim and fancy. I would hate him if it weren’t impossible.

  “I love you,” he whispered softly, and I rolled my eyes.

  “Of course you do.”

  He snorted and repeated the same refrain. “I love you, woman.”

  And that magical tongue of his, whether he moved it over my lady pearl or simply said my name with it, made mush of me, killed the fire within me quite dead.

  I glowered at him, and he winked. Winked. At me. As though I were a dog.
And dammit… why was my heart so pathetic that it should like his silliness quite so much?

  Before Hades, I’d planned to destroy them all. Now I was as soft as balls, squishy and full of pleasurable erogenous zones that he played like a master pianist, plunking out the best parts of me without even breaking a sweat. It was so not fair, and yet I knew I held that same kind of dark power over him as well.

  “I will allow you to seek him out,” he began.

  “Oh, will you?” I dripped sarcasm. “How kind you are.”

  He snorted. “Woman, you drive me mad. I simply mean”—he rolled his shoulders—“that I will not stop you in whatever route you determine would be best. I would only ask one thing.”

  I pursed my lips, not liking the sound of that at all. “And what could you possibly ask of me?” I was annoyed and also highly turned on, as always seemed to be the case with us. Somehow, and I wasn’t quite sure how, my foot was sliding up his calf and headed quite unerringly toward his own pleasure center.

  I had a bowl of fresh carrots all ready for us.

  Heat simmered through his star-dusted eyes before he slowly shook his head. “Focus, female,” he said, voice full of whiskey and grit, and I stuffed down my grin, knowing at least that I’d gotten to him as surely as he always did to me.

  “What?” I snapped like a petulant child being denied her favorite toy.

  He pulled me in for a quick, hard kiss to my forehead before releasing me. And I couldn’t help but sigh like the addlepated lovestruck fool I really was.

  “Remember who we are fighting for and why. She fought like the devil to get us right, and I have no doubt that her constant devotion to our cause somehow made Hephaestus believe there was more between the three of us than she’d let on.”

  “Then he’s a fool,” I spat as fire licked and flamed through my veins, making my skin gleam like molten bronze. “I do not share, not even with best friends.”

  He petted my hand over and over, working his calming influence on me, which he was so very good at, before speaking in that shivery, deep timbre I loved so well. “Of course, we know that. But I knew Hephaestus in the other world, as did you. The influence that his family had on him then is nothing to what they have on him now. They are a cancer. A poison. And…”

  He stopped speaking, and I lifted my brow, waiting. Everything Hades said was true, and a side of me was beginning to remember, with more and more clarity each and every day, the other me, the other time. I recalled that, once, Hephalumph and I had been friendly toward one another. More because of our mutual love of Dite, but still, we could be allies then.

  So I quieted the angry hum that always moved within me now because of the duality of my nature and the awareness of Thalassa, who was still an angry, fiery temptress who was just as besotted with our lover as I was. In truth, I was coming to appreciate her cunning and ruthless qualities. Thalassa, at her core, was truly a monster, but the monster had found a compass, a guide to help her harness her anger into something less destructive and more able to discern when force was warranted and when, on occasion, it was compassion that was needed. I didn’t know whom I’d ultimately wind up being, more Thalassa and less Calypso or the reverse. All I knew was I rather enjoyed the process of re-becoming more than I ever thought I would or could.

  “And…” I prompted, unable to bear the silence any longer.

  His eyes cut to mine, looking troubled and unsure. My brows dropped, and I sat forward on my seat, cocking my head.

  “Has someone threatened you, lover?” I asked silkily, deadly, feeling the rise of the darkness in me at the very thought.

  I’d heard Hephalant’s words to my lover, but they hadn’t felt like an actual threat to me, more like the words of a stark, raving lunatic. However, all Hades would have to do was tell me that I’d been wrong, and I would rain hell down on Olympus.

  He shook his head, continuing to pat my hand and work his magic over me, making me feel less tense with each pass of his calloused palm over my soft flesh.

  “No, no, rest easy, my love. It is only that when I entered Olympus, I heard rumor, was all. From Hermes.”

  “Oh.” I curled my lip. “The boy.”

  Vexing, loathsome child that he was, I didn’t out and out hate him. But he was the absolute worst when it came to gossip, whether right or wrong. Hermes seemed to know it all and took great delight in bandying it about to whoever would listen.

  I plopped hard onto my backrest and flicked my wrist. “And just what did the scamp have to say?”

  Standing, Hades took hold of my arm and lifted me off my seat. Brows dropping in confusion, I went without question, but all Hades wanted was to take my seat for his own. I planted my hands on my broad hips and scowled down at him, ready to drive a water pick through his chest for daring to be so bold, until he patted his thighs for me to sit on. I plopped down onto them with a giddy little squeal and wrapped my arms around his neck. All was forgiven. My octopi hair morphed into sea snakes that began to lick and kiss at his temples, cheeks, and neck as though in “thank you.”

  He chuckled and palmed my lovely rump in his massive hand, and I kicked my feet back and forth. Of all the moments Hades and I had together, I enjoyed the quiet ones the most.

  But then his face and eyes turned serious once more, and he sighed. “If the rumors of Dite are to be believed this time, I think I know why Heph—”

  I curled my nose. “Doesn’t matter. She is not the same woman. Not all of those walking glowsticks remember the other time, and that’s on them. But that Dite and this one aren’t the same, and they can all go hang themselves, for all I care.”

  He thinned his lips and stopped moving his hand over my delectable derrière. I squirmed and frowned, wanting him to keep moving, but he shook his head, and I knew he was unhappy.

  Maybe not with me, but unhappy all the same. And that, I did not like.

  “We forgot, too, Caly,” he said softly.

  My spine stiffened, my shoulders went erect, and a thousand hateful words burned the tip of my tongue. But his lovely face remained unmoved. He looked at me with an infinite pool of wisdom and kindness in his eyes, and that was it. That was the look that undid the worst of my intentions each and every time. If I was met with fire, then I could match his flame, but when all I saw was his love, it was like dousing me in glacier waters. I wilted on his lap.

  “You are right,” I whispered dejectedly. “Of course you are.” I sighed deeply. “I hate thinking that I could ever have forgotten you, forgotten us, but I did, to my everlasting shame.”

  “And that is not why I bring this up, my love. I only do it to remind you that while my brothers and sisters in the above are foolish, ignorant children, they are just that… children. They are reckless and naïve and…”

  “Ugly,” I supplied.

  He stopped talking and then laughed, and I smiled because I’d gotten the desired effect out of him I’d been hoping for. I did not like to see my lover sad, by me or by anyone else. And he was heavyhearted now, for Aphrodite, and I would make this right somehow. I’d even bury my need to drive my fist through their faces and smash them into oblivion just because I knew it would please him that I did not do it. Though they absolutely deserved it, especially the jackass and self-appointed king and queen of Olympus themselves.

  I kicked out my long legs, and he rested his chin on the crown of my head, breathing me deeply into his lungs as he wrapped me tightly up in his strong, wonderful arms.

  If I could stay in this moment with him forever, I would. Closing my eyes, I rested my cheek upon his chest and felt the strength of his heart and mine beat back at me like a gentle lullaby. I nuzzled his chest with my nose, feeling like a bloody neutered monster, but I couldn’t find an ounce of regret in that thought, either.

  “Do you remember Ares?” he asked quietly after a long pause.

  Twisting my lips, I sat up. “Yes, of course. Why?”

  He looked down at me, troubled thoughts in his eyes. “I do n
ot claim that I am at all the brightest amongst us. But I am not a fool, either. This curse, something about it has altered not just the timeline but I believe our future history as well.” He cleared his throat, looking as though he did not wish to continue on.

  I went cold all over, cocking my head and staring at him as I waited for him to continue. But the longer he said nothing, the antsier I began to feel. “What are you not saying, Hades?”

  He frowned, scratching at his whiskered jaw. “Only that there are now gods and goddesses in our family tree that were not there before. I have a long, extensive memory. And when Dite gave me the skeleton key, it unlocked the histories of who we were, dating back to the primordials.”

  I dipped my head in acknowledgement. We were the oldest and most powerful of them all, it was true.

  A ghost of a grin kissed his face, there one moment, gone the next. And then he was back to looking ill at ease.

  My spine stiffened. “Please, lover, spit it out. You’ve got me sick with worry here.”

  He squeezed me softly. “Only that there are children among the glittering throng now that weren’t there before. And… some of them belong to…” His brow dropped as he said, “Aphrodite.”

  I frowned. “What? She had no children of her own. She and Hephy wanted their own, to be sure, but—”

  He sighed. “That’s exactly what I’m getting at, Caly. I made a trip into the world of humans recently.”

  “When did you go to the earth realm? Without me?” I asked, affronted.

  He grinned. “You were sleeping so peacefully yesterday morning and I did not wish to interrupt your dreaming. I popped into the library at Alexandria and—”

  “That burned down ages ago.”

  “I did not say I went to today’s Alexandria, Caly. Anyhow, lovely hag fish”—he growled and squeezed an ample amount of my bottom at the same time to lessen the sharpness of his word, mollifying me only slightly—“will you listen to what I’m saying and stop interrupting me?”