by S. E. Babin
"Why won't you let me protect you?"
"This might go over really well." I was lying through my pearly white teeth.
"You totally suck at this," my husband said through his clenched jaw.
"Yes, well, I have to keep lying to myself if I'm going to get through this."
"Your friend is an asshat," he muttered.
"I do not disagree with you."
Speaking of the asshat, he was leaning back against one of the massive marble pillars watching Artemis pile her plate high with food. Soon enough she would have to be wary of the offerings of the gods. Some foods, like ambrosia, could bind a mortal to Olympus. She knew this, which is why I suspected she was eating like a man about to run a marathon. I envied her right now. Soon enough she wouldn't have to deal with all of this crap. Not that she was very happy about it, but maybe when she was back on Earth she could see this from a different perspective. We didn't often mess with mortals too much anymore and now, with Zeus gone, she would probably be able to live her life relatively free of drama.
Much unlike my life was about to be in a few hours.
A woman dressed in servant's garb approached Hermes, bowed, and whispered something furtive. His gaze narrowed and he quickly left the hall. I didn’t want to follow him, but my spidey senses were tingling, so I gave Hades' arm a quick squeeze, cloaked myself and slipped out of the room behind him.
His steps were swift and assured, but his shoulders were even more set with tension. He turned into a seldom used room and just as the door was slipping closed, I was able to squeeze in. Thank the gods my stomach wasn't enormous yet.
I was not prepared for who awaited him there and just as I was about to screech my rage, I caught myself, took a slow and shaky quiet breath and waited to see what would happen.
My former best guy friend stood there.
The one I hadn't seen in so many months when the truth came out about his nature and he abandoned me.
Keto.
The daemon. Servant of the Heavens.
Probably never a real friend of mine.
Jerk.
He looked the same. Olive skin, hawkish nose, lean build. Except for the wings. I still wasn't used to seeing those things in their full glory. Black and streaked with new color, they trailed down to the floor. Absolutely beautiful.
Hermes stood before him now, his posture relaxed but his arms crossed against his chest. "Long time no see," he greeted Keto.
Keto frowned. "You cannot go through with this." No hello, no pretense. Zero humor in his voice.
"How did you know?"
Keto shook his head. "Does it matter how I know? Or does it matter that you are about to begin a massive war?"
"This isn't any of your concern."
Keto looked like he was about to facepalm himself. "This is everyone's concern!" he roared. "You think you can escape everything this way? Do you honestly think this is what needs to be done to bring peace?" He stopped for a moment and his gaze lit on a spot in the room. The exact spot where I was standing.
Well...crap.
A smirk lit his face. "Do you for one moment believe this is the right thing to do to Abby?"
I crossed my arms and glared at him. He asked the very question I've been wanting to. Jerk.
"Abby is destined to unite all of us."
Keto nodded. "But a prophecy can't be forced."
"I'm not forcing anything. I am called to do this." He ran a trembling hand over his face.
"By whom?" Keto questioned. "You are intelligent enough to be aware of those who meddle in these affairs. In fact, you've already experienced it once with the Fates. Do you truly believe a benevolent force is driving you to do something this insane?"
At that Hermes laughed, a genuinely amused sound. "If you're trying to reason with me this way, it won't work. Do you truly believe Abby believed a benevolent force was driving her every single time she made a completely asinine decision?"
Ouch.
Keto looked away from me then, thankfully. "Abby was driven by her heart, Hermes. At first there was some selfishness, but as she grew, that faded away and became something akin to genuine goodness. Something few of us possess."
"This is better for everyone," Hermes said stubbornly.
"No," the daemon said gently. "This is better for you."
Hermes spun on his heel and left the room. Once he was gone, Keto sank down into one of the large chairs in the corner.
"You can uncloak yourself, Abs. I know you're there."
I let my magic fall. "I'm surprised to see you."
He let out a bitter laugh. "This is my last ditch effort to save all of you from making a monumentally stupid mistake."
I took the other chair beside him. "I seem to remember you didn't think many of my plans were good ideas. And look where we are today."
He let out a ragged laugh. "I'm not so sure you're a great example of the point I'm trying to prove, Abby. You bumbled through everything, managed to kill the King of the Gods, and now you're about to upset the balance of power. Again. For the second time. In record time. We haven't had a change of rule in millennia and now you have single handedly made it happen. Twice. In less than a godforsaken year!"
I blinked. "Well when you put it like that, it sounds much worse."
Keto snorted and buried his face in his hands. "I don't even know why I try to reason with anyone here."
I reached over and patted his hand. "Tell me why you're really here."
He peeked between the spaces in his fingers. "I just did."
I shook my head. "Are you in for one more job?"
He rolled his eyes so hard I thought his eyeballs were going to fall out. "This is not Ocean's Eleven."
"Well you certainly aren't Brad Pitt!" I fired back.
His nostrils flared with annoyance.
"Admit you missed me," I told him.
Keto growled and flexed his wings. "You annoy me. Greatly."
I reached over and patted his leg. "Aww. I know."
"You didn't answer my question."
"If I helped you, I would be in a heap of trouble."
"Saying things like a "heap of trouble" remind me of how old you are."
He pinched the space between his brows. "Do you have a plan?"
I scoffed. "Do I have a plan? Please."
"You don't, do you?" One of his dark eyebrows rose.
I lifted a hand and waggled it side to side. "Sort of. It's a plan in progress."
"As everything is with you," he said.
I curled my legs up in the chair and told him what we'd come up with. When I finished, he was shaking his head.
"Too risky." Keto laid out a few new ideas and after we'd finished talking, we had the beginnings of a totally insane plan that was either going to be brilliant or burn us all to a crisp.
I couldn't wait to tell Hades. As I was leaving, I reached down to hug my friend. "I'm glad to know that you always try to talk us out of things, but then help us when we're too stubborn to live."
"Too stupid to live is more like it," he grumbled, but returned my hug.
I grinned at him and left him sitting there in the chair. Part of our plan meant keeping everyone but Hades in the dark. We needed his power to help us see this through. He wasn't going to like it, but I knew him well enough to know he'd recognize it as being our best chance.
As I walked past the great hall, I signaled Hades to join me. Without a word he left the room and fell into step beside me. I gripped his arm and transported us to my old home.
Hades staggered in surprise and blinked as he viewed his surroundings. A wide grin spread across his face. "Well," he murmured, "so this is where most of your legendary exploits took place."
I snorted and swatted his arm. "Shut up."
"Where are all the naked nymphs?" he asked waggling his eyebrows at me.
"Very funny. If you've heard about my exploits, you know how insanely jealous I can be." I stepped up to him and grabbed him by the lapels of his d
ark suit jacket. My lips were inches from his. "Don't make me have to murder you in your sleep, dear husband."
His eyes went molten silver with desire. "Mmm, why does you trying to kill me suddenly seem so sexy?"
I touched his lips with two of my fingers. "Because I look good covered in ichor?"
"Eww. Too much." He swept his lips across mine as I laughed out loud.
I stepped out of his arms. "I need to talk to you."
"Why am I suddenly terrified?"
I ignored that. "Keto was here today."
To my husband's credit, the only reaction was a lift of his brows. "And?"
I told him everything that had transpired and the part we wanted him to play in everything.
When I finished, Hades sat down on the edge of my bed. "Well...I can say a lot to that, but no doesn't appear to be an option, does it?"
I shook my head. "Not if we want to stand a real chance of escaping death."
"Well my dear, I can honestly say that life with you has started off with a real bang."
I batted my eyelashes. "I do so try."
He stared at the blank stone wall in front of him. I could see the thoughts rolling over his face. "It will have to be timed perfectly," he murmured more to himself than me.
"That's where Keto comes in."
"Where is he going to get the disguise to pull this off?"
I shrugged. "No idea, but he's always been the wily sort. I have no doubt he'll come through."
"You are aware this is going to ruin any chance of you and my father ever having a good relationship?"
I shrugged. "Considering he was going to kill me and Baby Draco, I'd say this is a chance I'm willing to take."
Hades snagged me around the waist and pulled me down on top of him. "I love you fiercely, Goddess."
"I love you more," I whispered.
An hour had passed by the time we walked back into the Great Hall. Atlas stood off in the corner by himself. I sauntered over to him and leaned against the wall beside him.
"What's up?" I asked him.
He slid his gaze over to me. "Wondering when you were going to include me in this asinine plan."
"Asinine is a strong word," I said quietly. "If I were a more sensitive sort, I might have gotten my feelings hurt."
He gave me a wide amused grin. "Good thing you aren't the sensitive type then. I'm assuming you're here for a reason. Tell me what I need to do."
So I did and when I was finished, he whistled long and low. "You people are bat shit insane and I can't help but want to be best friends with all of you."
I gave him a little bow. "When this is finished, Hermes has agreed to sever his portion of your slavery contract. I also vow to destroy mine. Are we agreed?"
Another grin crossed his handsome face. "Can I still stay in your house when all of this is finished?"
I snorted. "As long as you need to, provided Clotho agrees."
He nodded. "You let me handle that little sexy fox."
I almost choked on my tongue. "Well," I breathed. "Alrighty then." I gave him a little bow and took my bemused self off to set everything in motion.
T minus two hours until all of the shit hit the fan.
Chapter 14
I was dressed in my Olympus finest and even with the paleness of my complexion thanks to the baby, I still looked pretty damned good. I could have adjusted my pallor, but it felt dishonest. I felt the need for my outside to match my twisted insides. I stepped out of my bedroom only to halt as I stared at Hades. He always looked so freaking good, but today my heart almost stopped.
There was something so...otherworldly about him. Which sounded stupid when I thought about it, because out of all of us he was the most otherworldly. But today a silver haze of magic surrounded him, covering him in a cocoon of protection. I stepped closer to it and smiled when I realized there were tiny streaks of pink running through it. I reached out a hand to touch it.
"Aww," I said, "I've infected you."
Hades snort laughed. "Just what I've always wanted." He snagged me around the waist and dragged me to him. "Now hold still so I can infect you too."
I shivered with mock delight. "You say the most romantic things to me, sir."
"Hold still," he repeated.
I stood like a stone in his arms and grinned when he rolled his eyes. With a wave of his hand and a smattering of Latin I didn't understand, I felt the shield fall around me. I raised my hand up only to see a pink shimmer streaked with silver surrounding me. "What did you do?" I asked him.
"Simple protection spell. Now that we share our pool of magic, I'll show you how to do it."
"What does it do?" I asked, marveling at my shimmery arms.
"It will allow you to take one death blow unharmed."
I dropped my arm and stared at him. "What?"
"One death blow, Abby. It's an odd spell," he said as he adjusted the cufflinks on his jacket. "It will allow any other magic through except for a killing strike."
"So..." I murmured, "someone could send magic at me to freeze me or put me in a coma and the spell won't do anything to protect me?"
He nodded. "This spell can only be used twice a year." He grinned at me. "And only during the energy of a solar eclipse."
I blinked. “Wait. Aren’t solar eclipses like once every couple of years?”
“Yep,” he said completely unfazed by his messed up logic.
"Okkaayyyy. I swear," I grumbled. "I need a book on all the weird shit that can happen during an eclipse."
"There's one in the library," Hades added before winking at me and holding his arm out.
I snorted. "Of course there is."
We stepped out of my chambers and blinked back into the palace.
Everyone was still relatively calm, as in not losing their shit. Yet. But calm was a relative word. Hera paced up and down the hall muttering to herself under her breath. Artemis sat cross legged on the floor, her hands turned upward on her lap and her eyes shut. I'm pretty sure she hadn't converted to Buddhism, but I wasn't putting anything past anyone right now. Hermes, on the other hand, stood ramrod straight, staring at the door where we entered. His gaze gave nothing away.
There was no way he knew I was talking to Keto. I'd been very careful. Keto only knew because...well I wasn't quite sure why he knew I'd been there but I still hadn't figured out Keto's freaky powers. I offered a shaky smile and a little wave.
His expression didn't smooth.
Hermes was worried.
Very worried.
As we all were. I smoothed down the silk of my garment wondering why in the hell these things were made out of silk instead of something like jersey material. That would have been awesome. Much easier to breathe in. Doesn't look as weird if you start to sweat. And you didn't have to worry too much if you ripped it because it was pretty cheap.
But alas, here I was wearing white silk.
A glass of wine or a wrong move would ruin me.
Hades had his hand on the small of my back propelling me forward to my friend. I resisted a little bit, but Hades was strong. Very strong. Unwillingly, I gritted my teeth and began to step forward before the pressure Hades was exerting made me tip right over. The absolute last person I wanted to talk to right now was Hermes because he couldn't know what we were about to do. He'd left a lot of this in my hands and if we were going to make this look legit, he had to be kept in the dark.
I stopped in front of him and Hades dropped his hand.
Something that seemed to be a small smile quirked the edge of Hermes' mouth before he said quietly, "I do not want to know, Abby."
My shoulders dropped. "Oh thank the gods."
Hades snorted in amusement.
"That bad?" Hermes asked.
"So much worse," Hades replied.
"I am not surprised." Hermes' gaze followed Artie as she stood up and dusted off her pants. "Should she be here?"
This time it was me who snorted. "Can you imagine trying to leave her out of it?"
"Atlas will be there," I supplied. "He is aware of Artie's...limitations."
"Ah, so that's what we're calling it now?" His gaze met mine.
"We aren't calling it anything," I snapped. "Drop it before I punch you in the kidney."
Hermes blinked. "As you wish."
"I do wish," I grumbled. "Jerk."
The warmth of Hades' hand on my shoulder gave me instant regret. "Sorry," I said. "I'm hungry."
"So eat," he said and gestured to the immense spread laid out.
I hadn't been hungry a couple of hours ago, but now I was positively starving. "Don't mind if I do," I said as I grabbed a plate and started piling it high with all of the things I wouldn't have been able to have had I been mortal.
How was it pregnant woman stayed away from seafood and wine and all the delicious things in life?
Hades shook his head as he watched me slowly add food to my plate until it was the size of a Tennessee trucker's at a buffet. I held his stare as I shoved a bite of chocolate croissant in my mouth.
"Your sexiness knows no bounds," my husband said, his tone as dry as a desert wind.
"You know it," I said with my mouth full.
Hermes pushed away from the wall and rolled his eyes. "When you finish your plate, we have to get outside. It's almost time."
I wondered how long I could stretch this plate without seeming like I was deliberately stalling.
"Five minutes," my husband said. "I know exactly what you're thinking."
"You do not," I said through a bite of cream cheese pastry.
Hades grunted. "Five minutes," he repeated.
"Spoilsport."
He was right. I needed to get it together because we were about to pull of the greatest scam ever seen in Olympian history. It was a good thing I trusted my friends because if we were mortal, we would get thrown in the pokey for the rest of our natural life. As far as us being immortal if we were ever found out, our punishment would know no bounds. But since my friend was technically King, so far we were in the clear.
I scarfed down my food, set my plate down to be cleared later, and reached up to kiss my husband.
“I will reach you when I can,” he said solemnly as his thumb brushed my cheek.