It was my turn to gasp at my mother. “Are you kidding me? Don’t answer that just yet.” I spun and stalked toward the kitchen. I needed zellafruit. “Everyone! In the kitchen.”
I didn’t wait to see if they’d listen to my shouted order.
Chapter 12
Hades
I hadn’t seen Demira in more than a century. She’d done a lot to hide her heritage. No one knew the exact details, but Demira’s mother was half-angel. From what I’d been able to discover, the angel in question was not involved with his offspring and might not even know of their existence. Demira being Persephone’s mother complicated matters. Her distrust of angels ran deep, and it wasn’t due to her angelic grandfather. Her past with me had contributed more to her feelings regarding angels.
Demira and Persephone looked a lot alike. Granted, Demira’s hair hadn’t been quite so red when I’d last seen her. Her eyes had also been a pale blue back then. I suspected that, like many angels and demons, Demira’s eyes changed color with her mood or when her angel magic was close to the surface.
Persephone was muttering to herself as she cut open a zellafruit.
“So,” Beatrice began. “It seems everyone already knows each other.”
“We’ve met,” Demira replied in a curt tone.
“You still look incredible,” Ares breathed out as his eyes traveled down Demira’s body.
“Hey!” Persephone called out as she waved the knife at Ares. “Don’t even think about leering at my mother. I’m in a very bad mood, and neutering the god of war sounds like a good way to brighten my day.”
Persephone wouldn’t have made that threat if she knew Ares. My nephew loved vicious women.
“And your daughter is stunning,” he murmured. “She has the same fire you always had, Demira.”
A low growl came from the back of my throat. I’d disembowel the bastard if he didn’t get his lustful gaze off Persephone.
“I’m about to call in the Hellhounds,” Beatrice warned, grabbing Ares’s full attention. “Let’s start from the beginning. With any luck, we can clear this up before Persephone eats the skin of that fruit and turns into Smurfette. She always eats it when she’s upset.”
“It’s very soothing,” Persephone explained as she finished cutting up the fruit. “Someone, start explaining.”
“I was about to tell you that I’d met Hades when Ares arrived,” Demira replied.
“I didn’t realize you were Demira’s daughter. You never told me your mother’s name,” I explained. “You look a great deal alike, now that I see you two together, but it has been a very long time since I’ve seen her. I just never put the pieces together. Her half-sister, your aunt, was named Persephone.”
“You kidnapped my aunt?” Persephone screeched.
“No,” Demira replied, “Poseidon killed my sister before that could happen. When Hades went after her, she fled on a ship. I’m not sure why Poseidon got involved. For whatever reason, several people on Olympus took an interest in my sister. It’s how I ended up meeting Ares.”
“You helped Poseidon kill my aunt?” Persephone asked Ares.
He shook his head. “No, I wasn’t involved with that. I’m not even sure what Poseidon’s issue was with Hades at the time. I met Demira when Aphrodite asked me to see if your aunt was the Persephone to break the curse. Aphrodite was still pissed at Hades.”
“This is all making my head spin,” Persephone muttered.
“Lucifer is right about the fallen angels on Olympus acting like children,” Beatrice said under her breath.
“Your mother has had good reason to want to hide you from all of us,” I admitted softly.
Persephone moved across the room and wrapped her mother in a hug. “I don’t blame you for keeping me hidden. Now, I can see why my choices have been so stressful for you.”
“I don’t know how to keep you safe,” Demira whispered.
Persephone’s mother hadn’t been given a choice in naming her. A seer had told Demira that if she didn’t name her daughter Persephone, the child wouldn’t take her first breath. Even I could feel bad for Demira and all she must have suffered knowing the danger to her daughter even before her birth.
“Why did you let her move away?” I asked Demira softly.
Demira pulled away from Persephone and took a deep breath before responding. “There were only two choices. Either I had to let her go, or I had to hold her prisoner. She wanted to leave. I even considered trying to find Azrael.”
“Azrael is your grandfather?” Ares asked Demira.
Demira nodded.
“Really?” Beatrice asked. She wasn’t one to get overly excited, but this was big.
“Why didn’t you tell me all of this before?” Persephone asked. “Not about Azrael. I can see why you kept that from me, but why didn’t you tell me about your sister?”
“It was a spell,” Ares replied with a gleeful smile. “I heard from the Fates that none of the women named Persephone could be warned until after they’d met Hades. I should say they could only be warned by a fallen angel, but most aren’t aware of that part of the curse.”
“Beatrice is the one who told me,” Persephone argued. “She’s not a fallen angel.”
“It must be a loophole in the spell,” Beatrice added. “Lucifer had me tell you, so by extension, he was telling you.”
“That’s ridiculous,” Persephone said, moving back to the counter to grab a slice of zellafruit.
“The Fates are wretched bitches,” I grumbled.
“On that, we agree,” Demira replied.
Beatrice pointed a finger at Ares. “What do you want?”
“I came here to meet Persephone and to extend our welcome from Olympus,” Ares replied as he moved across the room to my witch.
“Don’t take another step,” I growled.
“What did we miss?” Xavier asked as he entered the room.
“Too much,” Persephone muttered. “What are you doing here?”
“I messaged Lucy when Ares showed up,” Beatrice explained.
“She and Xavier were at my home,” I added.
“We figured you could handle Ares but that we should stop by to make sure you didn’t get out of hand,” Lucy told me.
“Why did it take you so long to get here?” I asked.
“We weren’t that concerned with what happened to Ares,” Xavier replied. “He looks like the Hellhounds only gnawed on him a little. Why hasn’t someone done more damage?”
“I only came here to talk,” Ares insisted. “Zeus wants to make sure Persephone knows she’s welcome on Olympus.”
“I am?” Persephone asked.
I wanted to kill Ares. It’s not that I thought Persephone was going to be won over by the wonder of Olympus. There wasn’t anything wondrous about it these days. Persephone’s curiosity was the real problem. She wouldn’t be able to resist the temptation to see the home of the old Greek pantheon.
“I’ll take you,” I snapped.
“Over my dead body,” Demira ground out.
“I realize you hate me, but I can protect your daughter,” I assured her. “We both know she’s dying to see Olympus.”
And then the most unusual thing that evening happened; Demira laughed.
Chapter 13
Persephone
I almost laughed when I saw Hades’s perplexed expression. I didn’t blame him for being confused. Considering his history with my mom, he had good reason to suspect she’d want him dead and very little reason to think she’d find humor in anything that had happened. My mom was a complex woman who only had my best interests at heart. She was already figuring out that Hades wasn’t the enemy—not my enemy, at least.
“Demira,” Hades began.
“Call me Demi,” she told him.
“Demi,” he began again. “You have no reason to trust me. Considering my past, I don’t blame you, but I honestly don’t want to hurt your daughter. I can see why you’d laugh at my assurances, but I’m telling the
truth.”
“Persephone believes you don’t want to hurt her,” my mom replied. “I was mainly laughing at myself. Knowing my daughter’s curiosity as well as I do, she won’t be able to turn down an offer to go to Olympus.”
“Who could blame her?” Beatrice asked.
“Not many people would pass on the chance to see Olympus,” Hades grudgingly agreed. “At least, not many people who haven’t been there.”
“I can take you now,” Ares offered in a smooth voice.
There was something about Ares I didn’t like or trust, but it seemed I wasn’t alone in that opinion.
“She’s not going anywhere with you,” Lucy spat out.
Her anger surprised us all. Lucy was a good-natured fallen angel. She wasn’t as upbeat as I was, but she came close. I’d never seen her genuinely angry. Now, she looked furious. Lucy might just hate the inhabitants of Olympus as much as Hades.
“Why the anger, cousin?” Ares asked as he moved toward her.
“Don’t go anywhere near my friend,” I warned in a sweet voice.
“Or what?” Ares asked with a gleeful grin. He leaned forward and rested his forearms on the center island. “Were you planning to threaten me again? Are you going to have Hades try fighting me?”
His excitement over the prospect was obvious. Ares wanted to fight Hades. It irritated me that he believed I would need Hades to defend me. I’d already threatened to castrate him. It seemed I needed a little demonstration of my power.
Gathering my magic around me, I touched the countertop briefly to send a jolt of magic across it. Soon, the countertop under Ares’s forearms heated. He jumped back before his skin burned.
“Don’t make the mistake of believing I’m some helpless little witch,” I began with a smile. “My mother may not have been able to warn me about what was to come, but she made sure I can defend myself.”
“I need to see you alone,” Hades practically growled before gripping my arm and dragging me out of the room.
“Let her go!” my mom shouted.
I smiled at her over my shoulder. “It’s fine, Mom. I’ll be right back.”
Thankfully, Beatrice took over reassuring my mom. Hades hadn’t stopped moving or even acknowledged her order. She was probably worried he’d finally snapped and decided to kidnap me.
“What are you doing?” I hissed when we were out of the kitchen and away from the others. I hadn’t done anything worthy of his anger, unless I was wrong about him and he was one of those guys who wanted to defend me all the time.
Hades didn’t respond until we were in Lucifer’s den. Actually, he didn’t respond even then; he simply pressed me against the wall and kissed me. I’d been kissed before, but nothing had ever compared to this. Hades dwarfed me with his large frame. One of his hands gripped my hip while the other held my chin as his tongue slid past my lips to explore my mouth.
I moaned and clutched his hair to keep him close. The heat from his bare chest wrapped around my body. My fingers itched to glide along his back and touch his soft wings. I released his hair, and my fingers trailed along his shoulders. Before I could reach his wings, Hades caught my hands and pinned them beside my head on the wall.
With a whimper, I struggled to free my hands so I could touch him more, but he easily held them in place. With his erection pressed against my belly, I knew he wanted me as much as I wanted him. As his tongue began to thrust into my mouth, my core pulsed with need.
When Hades finally broke our kiss, he rested his forehead against mine. His breathing was labored, and his eyes were like molten gold. “I’ve dreamt of kissing you.”
“Me too,” I admitted. “None of my dreams compared to what we just did. I wish we were alone in the house.”
“It’s best that we aren’t alone,” he replied. “I shouldn’t have done that, but when I saw you use your magic on Ares, I wanted to do all sorts of wicked things to you—things I definitely shouldn’t do.”
“You should do wicked things to me,” I argued. “I would like you to do them.”
Hades groaned. “Are you always this open about sex?”
“Yes,” I replied. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
Hades opened his mouth to respond and then closed it.
“What were you about to say?” I asked.
“I was about to say that many women are demure when it comes to talking about sex,” he replied. “You’re not like most women.”
“Do you think I’ll be in danger if I go to Olympus?” I asked.
“You’ll be fine if I go with you,” he assured me.
“Then it’s a date,” I chirped.
“A date,” he repeated with a wry twist of his lips.
“It’s a figure of speech,” I explained. “A trip to Olympus won’t be much of a date. We should go on a date though. That would be nice. I’ve missed you.”
“I’ve missed you, too,” he admitted. “I’ve never dated.”
“Not even before the curse?” I asked in disbelief. It seemed unlikely that he would have dated after the curse. He certainly hadn’t dated anyone named Persephone, unless one considered kidnapping dating.
“I was worshipped as God of the Underworld,” he reminded me. “Before that, I was an angel. Dating wasn’t part of my life.”
“I suppose dating is a modern concept,” I mused. “Would you like to kiss me again?”
“I want to strip you out of those clothes and kiss every inch of your body,” he rasped out.
It wasn’t often I was rendered speechless, but Hades had done just that. My lips parted and my tongue darted out to moisten my lips as I pictured what he’d described.
One of his hands moved to cup my cheek, and his eyes locked with mine. I could see my own desire reflected back in his eyes. “You are like no woman I’ve ever met.”
“I frighten you,” I whispered.
“Yes,” he admitted. “You both frighten and confuse me.”
Much to my disappointment, Hades took several steps back. “We should go back into the other room. I’m surprised your mother hasn’t already barged in to make sure I’m not trying to abduct you. I shouldn’t have left Ares with Beatrice and your mother.”
“Lucy, Xavier, and the Hellhounds are also there,” I reminded him. “Ares is definitely outnumbered, but you’re probably right about my mom coming after us. I’m actually shocked she didn’t do more to try to stop you when you practically dragged me out of the room. I wonder if Beatrice let the Hellhounds loose on Ares while we were gone.”
Hades chuckled. “With any luck, they’ve torn off one of his limbs.”
“They were trying before you got here, but Beatrice stopped them,” I told him.
“If I hadn’t been in such a hurry, I would have brought Cerberus with me,” he replied.
“Cerberus?” I asked. “As in the three-headed dog guarding the gates of Hell?”
Hades nodded. “He doesn’t always guard the gates of Hell, but that’s where he is now.”
“Does he live with you?” I asked.
Hades shook his head. “Cerberus prefers to run free in the fields near the gates of Hell when he’s not working. I go there to spend time with him. You’ll love him.”
“I can meet him?” I asked. Meeting Cerberus sounded exciting. He couldn’t be too dangerous if Hades had offered to let me meet him.
“Of course,” he replied. “We’ll bring him with us to Olympus.”
“For protection?” I asked.
“To piss people off,” he replied with a grin.
Chapter 14
Hades
Fucking Ares!
Fuck all the assholes from Olympus. I had no clue who’d decided Persephone should be invited there for a visit, but it was a bad sign. That they even knew of her existence was a problem. Interacting with her made it worse. I didn’t want them learning anything they could use against her. Thanks to Ares meeting Demira, they already knew too much.
I’d briefed Lucifer on what had happened in his abs
ence, though I wasn’t sure why I needed to since Beatrice had already told him.
“Am I a fool for even considering bringing Persephone to Olympus?” I asked. “She might get hurt. Those bastards may be plotting to use her against me.”
“I don’t think there’s any big plot on Olympus,” Lucifer remarked from the sofa in his den. “All my sources tell me Zeus has already forgotten the whole thing, like all the other plans he’s had.”
“That is what we suspected would happen,” I replied. “I’m still worried. Why did Ares stop by your home? Why would Zeus want Persephone to visit Olympus?”
“Those are good questions. Maybe you’ll get some answers when you visit Olympus. How did we not know Azrael had a child?” Lucifer asked.
I had a good idea why we’d never heard of Azrael having a child. “He probably doesn’t know.”
“It’s hard to believe Azrael found a woman to have sex with him,” Lucifer added. “He was a gloomy mother fucker three millennia ago, and he’s only gotten worse.”
“Has Persephone mentioned anything about wanting to meet her grandfather?” I asked. Lucifer had spoken to her the night before.
Lucifer shook his head as he looked down at his glass of whiskey. “I suspect her mother discouraged her from asking. I imagine Persephone will want to talk to him. She saw him once, but they didn’t speak.”
“She is a curious witch,” I murmured. “Do you think it’s possible anyone on Olympus knew about Azrael being Persephone’s great-grandfather before Ares heard in your kitchen?”
Lucifer thought for a moment before responding. “It’s possible, but not likely. They hardly ever leave Olympus. Who would have told them?”
“Good point,” I agreed. “I wish they didn’t know now. This is only going to increase their fascination with her.”
“I honestly don’t think there’s anything to worry about, but you’ll have a better idea after you visit Olympus,” Lucifer stated. “Or not. It’s hard getting anything out of most of them. They all seem lost in the past.”
“Ares seemed far too lucid,” I muttered.
“He let my Hellhounds practically maul him,” Lucifer reminded me. “That’s very unlike Ares.”
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