“The secret is out, Hades. It’s not as if Hermes’ death will go unnoticed,” my mother said, glaring at Hermes’ still form. I heard footsteps outside the door, and Persephone appeared. Her hair was disheveled, her dress askew.
“Are you all right, darling?” Hades asked.
She went to him and took his hand. “Yes, thanks to the demons. They have my son in custody. They are bringing him here for you to deal with.”
Hades nodded. I glanced toward Persephone and saw her watching me. “You did well, Fury,” she said grudgingly, and, for once, there wasn’t absolute hatred coming from her.
“I may have made a bigger mess,” I said.
“War,” she said, nodding. “Yes, war is coming.”
“Why can’t you just turn me over? I started saying again. “I’m fine with dying.”
They all watched me. “But I am not fine with you dying,” Hades said. “And your world needs you.”
“Why?”
“Do you really think a war between the gods will contain itself to the Aether and the Nether?” Hades asked. “We will fight. Immortals, vying for power, getting out old grudges here in our world. This may have begun with Hermes and Enyo and their schemes, but it will not end there. Your world will suffer with our power. Storms, earthquakes, famine…just for a start.”
“Then let them kill me now. Or kill me in front of them, if you’re afraid of them using me. Take their reason for war away, now.”
“It will happen, no matter what. Their plots have been exposed. Overthrow me and Zeus, using you. Put whoever they’ve deemed more worthy in our places. Now that they’ve failed, they’ll make it about you. War was brewing already. It has been for the last twenty years.”
“They’ll do this? They’ll let innocents die, over grudges?” I asked, sickened.
Tisiphone gave me a grim smile. “They’re gods. What do you think? Have you ever known one of them, except for those few in this room, who gave a damn about humanity?”
“Enyo said they wanted to be revered again or something,” I said.
She nodded. “A war of the gods would be an excellent way to remind humanity that we exist. Never mind the fact that all it will do is make them hate and fear us.”
“Hate is better than apathy,” I murmured.
“To some, yes,” Hades said.
“Well. This is my world that’s going to pay. What can I do to stop it?” I asked.
My mother, Hades, and Persephone exchanged concerned glances.
“You can fulfill your destiny,” my mother finally said, and I felt one thing from her.
Mourning.
♦ ♦ ♦
“What? What do I do?”
“We can’t. The Fates need to be the ones to tell you,” Tisiphone said. “We don’t know the whole story. They do,” she said, when she saw that I was about to protest.
“Okay. Fine. Where do I find them, so I can take care of this?”
“We don’t know,” Hades said.
“Oh for the love of fucking god,” I growled. I felt humor from Nain, and he reached over and squeezed my hand.
“Relax,” he said.
“Yeah. Of course. You are not getting out of this either, you bastard,” I said, turning on him. “You are going to explain this to me, and then I am going to kick your ass for letting me kill you, and then…”
“I know,” he said, his voice, just as I’d always thought, like two stones rumbling against each other. “I will. And you can do all the ass-kicking you need to do. Later.”
“Things are not the same,” I said, meeting his eyes.
He just smiled. “So I hear. But nothing lasts forever, baby, except for you and me.”
I rolled my eyes and shook my head. And cocky goddamned demons, I thought at him. He laughed.
“You have to be able to tell me something,” I said to my mother.
She looked uncomfortable.
“There is a prophecy,” Hades began, and I sensed the same sorrow, nervousness from him. He made a face. “Ugh. This is exactly why I’ve always been so good about keeping it in my pants. Unlike Zeus.”
“Yes, the fact that you only cheated on me once is quite admirable,” Persephone murmured, irritation rolling off of her. Hades took a small step away from her without seeming to realize he was doing it. Smart god.
“Well, seriously. Zeus can screw anything that moves and it’s fine. Me? I have a roll in the sheets with one goddess other than Persephone–”
“The one goddess you never should have been with!” Persephone said, glaring at Hades.
“We’ve been over this, dear,” he said.
“Can someone explain this to me before I lose my mind?” I snarled, and they all looked at me.
“The prophecy is that one day, there will be born the child of the avenging Fury and the lord of the dead,” my mother began.
“And that child will embody the full terror of death,” Hades intoned.
“And that on the day of her birth, that child will herald the destruction of our world,” Tisiphone said.
“While saving the world of Man,” Hades finished.
“Oh, damn,” Megaera whispered, falling back onto the chair behind her. “She’s not Cith’s?”
My mother shook her head.
“Why would you do such a thing, Tisiphone?” Megaera asked.
“We were foolish. And too full of our own power. Cithaeron had hurt me, and Persephone and Hades were arguing again. We comforted each other.”
“One time,” Hades said, raising a finger to illustrate. “Once.”
“That’s all it takes,” I muttered.
“You knew about he prophecy…” Megaera said.
“Everyone knows he can’t create life,” Tisiphone said. “And I didn’t think anything would be born of my body, either. Cithaeron and I loved each other for years, and nothing ever grew in my womb. From an earth god, which says something.”
“And we were attracted to each other. And we were both kind of alone, at that time,” Hades said.
“It was foolish,” Tisiphone said. “But I wouldn’t change a thing.” Hades nodded.
“How can you stand there and say that?” I asked in disbelief. “I’m supposed to be here to destroy your wold. I’m bringing war to mine. How can you say that?”
Hades watched me, and all I felt from him was warmth. “Because you have been worth knowing, my dear. Tisiphone and I, two beings who deal only in death, created something beautiful and good in you.”
“Something destructive,” I said.
“You’ll ultimately save your world. At this point, the lives of thousands of innocent mortals is worth more than the lives of gods who have lived far too long. Look at how ready they are to battle,” Tisiphone said. “They grow bored, restless. Useless.”
“They forget what it is to truly be gods,” Megaera agreed, starting to get over some of her shock. “They forget that what makes us great is service of that which we have created, not the other way around.”
“You will remind them not to take mortals for granted,” Hades said. “Though it will be too late for them to put that lesson to use.”
“I don’t want to destroy anyone,” I said, forcing tears back from my eyes. This was not the time to be weak.
“You exist. Your path lies ahead of you, daughter, whether you want to follow it or not,” Hades said.
“Sometimes, you have to destroy something in order to make it stronger,” Nain said. I looked at him, met his eyes. He still stood there in his demonic form. He was definitely stronger than he had been, and I could feel a lot of my own power echoed in his. I saw what he was trying to say.
“Okay. What now?” I asked.
“We get you to the gate and into your world. And then we guard the gateways with everything we have, to keep them from hunting you. You must survive, Mollis,” Tisiphone said.
I nodded. At that moment, the demons brought Dionysus into the office. Hades turned to my mother and aunt. “Will yo
u take them into custody? Keep them locked well away.”
“I will, my Lord,” Tisiphone said. She grabbed Alecto and took flight. Megaera followed, with Dionysus. They flew out the large window behind Hades’ desk, toward their home and the cells where the souls of the wicked were kept.
I glanced toward Hades. He was studying Nain. “Explain yourself, demon,” he said to Nain, finally.
“I resurrected here in the Nether after my death.”
“How?” Hades asked, interrupting Nain before he could go on. I looked between the two of them; my father and my mate (former mate, whatever), as insane as it seemed that either thing was possible.
“Three times bonded to a daughter of gods,” Nain said quietly.
“The number three is magical in our world,” I whispered, repeating what Eunomia had explained about the significance of threes.
Nain watched me. “I didn’t know this would happen. I didn’t plan on three times. I would have bonded more with you if I could have. I just wanted to give you as much of my own strength as I could, before you faced Astaroth.”
“You knew it would kill you, when I finished him,” I said quietly.
“Yes.”
I curled my hands into each other to keep myself from hitting him, remembering the way I’d mourned, the emptiness inside me that had just only now been filled, being in his presence again. There would be time later. I just shook my head.
“And what happened when you resurrected here?” Hades asked, trying to hurry things along before I lost my temper.
“I woke up. And I tried to get back to her, but I couldn’t get through the gateway. I tried, but the guards kept me back. I knew there were other demons getting through to her world, and I wanted to be there, with her, to keep her safe. To let her know I was alive,” he said to Hades, though his eyes were on me. “I drew too much attention to myself, and the gate guards called on the Furies. Alecto was the one that took me into custody. And when she realized what she had, she and the Guardians kept me locked away, figuring they could put me to use eventually.”
“And you were freed by one of the Guardians?”
“Eunomia,” Nain said, and I said a silent prayer to who knows what in thanks that E had not betrayed me. “She didn’t know. The Guardians knew Molly was her friend. I think they planned to try to use E eventually, too.”
I nodded, and so did Hades. “And the shifter?”
“Tossed in the cell with me. That was an interesting reunion,” Nain said, watching me. “And then I guess things started going bad for Hermes and his people here, and a few of the Guardians and Alecto came to us, started punishing Brennan. There was a huge fight, and then Alecto had to come here, and then E showed up and between the three of us we managed to overpower enough of them to get free. E took Brennan away, and I came here, because I could feel Molly.”
“You will return to your world and aid my daughter in any way she needs, demon,” Hades said. I could feel dislike from him. He knew what I’d been through. Who knew Hades would be a protective sort of dad?
Nain bowed to Hades, then glanced at me.
“Uh. So. You’re coming home with me?”
He nodded.
“Well. This is going to be interesting.”
He grinned. “Always.”
“Mollis, we need to leave. Now,” Hades said, and I nodded. We walked out of his office. The army of demons that had assisted us in the fight against Hermes lined the halls and they all bowed to Hades, briefly, then saluted me, fists to chests, and stood there that way. Hades studied them, and me.
“You are all free of your bonds to the Nether, should you swear allegiance to the Fury Mollis Eth-Hades in the mortal realm. Should you bind yourselves to her, you will serve her with your lives. Choose. Now.”
Not a single demon moved. They kept their fists over their hearts, their red glowing gazes on me.
“You’re sure?” I asked them. “Things are about to get bad.”
“We were made for bad, my Lady,” Elsoloth, said, and the rest of the demons, males and females, nodded.
“Oh,” Persephone said, and Hades, Nain, and I looked at her. “This was another part of the prophecy.”
“And she shall rally an army of the Nether,
And the heavens will bleed in her wake.” She said softly. A chill went down my spine.
“That is just fucking creepy,” I muttered.
“Agreed,” she said, raising her eyebrow at me.
“Let’s go,” Hades said again, and we left, my army (Jesus Christ…) flanking me as we walked out of Hades’ home.
“Why couldn’t I be part of Christian mythology?” I asked as we marched. “I could be surrounded by happy angels eating Philadelphia Cream Cheese on fluffy white clouds or some shit like that.”
Hades laughed, and I heard Nain snort behind me.
The streets of the Nether were mostly deserted. We marched toward the gateway, and as we approached it, I could see why.
“Damn,” Hades muttered beside me.
I looked. Several gods were coming toward us, from one of the other gateways.
“Run,” Hades shouted, and my army moved me along, toward the gate. A few beings blocked the gateway, and my demons cut them down like they were nothing, then they turned to watch me. I looked toward Hades. A group of gods had gathered around him and another. The other god had a flowing white beard, white hair. He was huge, and a golden lightening bolt adorned the front of his white robes. He was shouting, and pointing at me, as were several other gods. Nain’s hands on my shoulders held me back.
The conversation went on, getting more heated. Hades was saying several things that were pissing the other god off. As it went on, some gods went to stand behind Hades, some stayed behind Zeus. I looked at individual gods. That there, behind Zeus, had to be Ares, god of war. I’d killed his sister, and, by the way he was staring at me, he knew it. Yeah, he wouldn’t be joining Hades’ side in this fight. Athena, however, had stood with Hades and Persephone immediately, and, as I looked at her, she gave me a nod of acknowledgement and respect. Aphrodite, as well, had gone to Hades’ side, along with Asclepias, Artemis, Demeter, and Hestia. The Nosoi sided with Zeus, as did the remaining Guardians, Hera, Hephaestus, Apollo, and a few gods I couldn’t figure out.
The shouting got louder. Things were getting heated between the two groups of gods, and I heard my name several times.
And then Ares let out a wild shout, and struck at Hades, and Hades struck back, and Persephone stabbed Ares with a long blade that just seemed to appear from nowhere, and Zeus threw a lightening bolt toward the Nether’s group of allies.
“Time to go, Molls. Earth is going to need you,” Nain said behind me, and I nodded numbly. I glanced at my demons.
“Last chance. You’re sure?”
They all nodded. I faced the gateway, and started to walk though, with my army and my very alive demon mate at my back.
Chapter Nineteen
We walked through the gateway, the demons, Nain and I. When we came through, I saw that my entire imp army, as well as Shanti, Levitt, and several shifters from the Grosse Pointe pack, were there. They were all armed to the hilt, ready. Waiting.
There was nearly a bloodbath when they saw the demons come through, but I shouted, and everyone froze. “They’re with me,” I said. “They are allies.”
My Earth-bound allies eyed my Nether allies, and vice versa. Dahael and Bash stood right near the front of the group. Bash looked up at Nain, who was still beside me.
“Demon,” he said in greeting.
“Bash. Dahael,” Nain said, looking at my two imp captains. Bash just nodded. Dahael stared daggers at Nain, undoubtedly remembering everything she’d seen me go through after his death. She didn’t say anything, but her ears twitched in irritation. Had to love her.
“Okay. Things are about to get messy,” I began.
“Messy already, godslayer,” a creaky, crackly voice said from behind the group of very armed Earth allies
. Everyone turned, and three women stood there. Dressed in flowing white robes. One looked ancient. One was a woman in the prime of her life. And another was a young woman, a maiden. They each wore an amulet around their neck.
“Fates,” I murmured, and my stomach turned.
They walked toward me, through the group that had parted. “Messy. Bad times. Your parents told you about the prophecy.”
I nodded.
“They didn’t tell you everything,” the maiden said.
“They are gods. That doesn’t surprise me.”
The three Fates laughed, their laughs ranging from a ringing tinkle to a cackle, but coming together harmoniously. “Smart girl,” the woman said.
“They said I can save this world,” I said. “How?”
The Fates stood a moment, so still they could have been statues. “By being you, mostly,” the maiden said.
“That doesn’t help a whole lot,” I said, trying to be polite.
“You have everything you need. Except the knowledge, which we can give you,” the ancient one said.
“Your home, this city, will be hit hardest by the war of the gods. Punishment for being the place you call home,” the woman said.
“And if I move? If I go where they can’t find me?”
“They will still punish this area, because your memory lives strong here. People here who love you. People here who pray your name in the long, cold night.”
I swallowed. What a goddamn mess. People were going to die, again, because of me and my stupid lineage. “What can I do?”
“First step is to keep the gods where they belong,” the ancient one said.
“Meaning?”
“Make it so they cannot cross into your realm, godslayer,” the maiden said.
I bristled. Already hated “godslayer” as much as I’d hated “abomination.”
“But….they need to be able to come here,” I said.
“Why?” all three asked at once.
“The Guardians have to escort the souls of the dead. And the Furies need to come here sometimes. And what about the Earth gods, like Poseidon and Cithaerus? What happens to them?”
Broken: Hidden Book Two Page 21