Marek moved in front of her, placing himself between her and Hades. She stared at his back, reeling and struggling to believe what he had just done.
He was shielding her.
Protecting her from his father.
“You would do well to apologise for bringing this thing into my presence.” The ground seemed to tremble in response to that deep voice rolling over the land, the tension in the air growing as each word left Hades’s lips.
“You brought her into your presence,” Marek countered and then his back stiffened, his shoulders going rigid, as if he regretted speaking out of turn to his father.
Or maybe he was as afraid of him as Caterina was.
No. She wasn’t afraid of him. She wasn’t going to let him scare her. Marek was right and he had brought her to the Underworld, and if her life was about to end, she was going to go down fighting, not cowering behind someone.
She stepped to her left, so she could see Hades, and clenched her fists as she stared him down.
Because she was damned if he was going to talk about her as if she was something so far beneath him that she was akin to the dirt he scraped off his boot.
“I didn’t exactly choose to be infected by a daemon.” Her hands shook as she spat those words, as she weathered the glare he turned on her. Her heart thundered, so fast that she felt sick as she fought to remain where she was and not slink behind Marek again.
“I would never bring such a foul creature into my realm.” Hades turned that glare on Marek.
She could almost read Marek’s mind as he frowned at his father, his handsome face awash with confusion that echoed in her.
If Hades hadn’t brought them to the Underworld, who had?
“Do not treat our guests so poorly, darling.” A soft female voice came from behind Caterina, as gentle as a summer breeze, filled with warmth that was a strange contrast to the bleak lands around her.
It evoked images of sunlight and greenery, of flowers and crystal-clear rivers.
And Caterina swore the crimson in Hades’s eyes faltered, a flicker of blue shining through as he looked beyond her to the woman.
Marek looked over his shoulder, his face softening, his dark eyes gaining glimmers of gold and green as they tracked the woman.
She came around Caterina’s left, slowly drifting into view, and Caterina couldn’t take her eyes off her. The long black dress she wore, layers of gauzy fabric that seemed to float as she moved with incredible grace, blended with the black earth, but her eyes were the clearest green and her hair was scarlet, flowing over her pale shoulders in gentle waves.
“Mother,” Marek whispered, the love in his eyes showing in his voice as he looked at the beautiful woman who didn’t appear a year older than he was.
She smiled serenely and held her hand out to him as she glided towards him, all elegance, a regal edge to her that was markedly different to the one Hades had. His was commanding, that of a king who expected absolute obedience and ruled with an iron fist. Hers was gentle, that of a queen who would do whatever was needed in order to ensure her people were cared for, were safe and would live long lives, filled with peace.
A queen who loved all equally.
Marek took her hand, bowed and pressed a kiss to it, his eyes slipping shut as the waves of his dark hair fell forwards to caress his brow. He lingered, breathing her in, as if he couldn’t bring himself to release her.
If he wasn’t allowed to enter this place, how long had it been since he had seen his parents?
Caterina was always aware of the hole the death of her parents had left in her life, a void that would never be filled again, but she couldn’t imagine what it would be like to be exiled from your home by your own parents, always aware they were alive but never allowed to see them.
Marek finally, reluctantly released his mother’s hand and stepped back, close to Caterina.
“Why have you brought this thing here, Persephone?” The gentle way Hades said that didn’t hide the hatred that seeped from him as he stared at Caterina.
Persephone rounded Caterina, brushing Marek aside. He took another step back and Caterina wanted to move, to close the distance between them again. While Persephone felt like light and warmth, Caterina was still deeply aware of the woman’s incredible power, and the fact she was a daemon in a world where she wasn’t welcome.
Assessing green eyes skipped over every inch of Caterina, and she swore she could feel them, was aware of them even when Persephone was behind her. What was she looking for? Had she brought Caterina here to simply sate her own curiosity?
Or to judge her?
Persephone glided back into view and stopped just in front of her.
She reached a slender hand out towards her.
“Stop,” Hades boomed, the sound cracking like thunder around them, shaking the black earth.
Persephone froze, her fingers bare millimetres from Caterina’s arm.
“I am a goddess of creation and life,” Persephone said softly as she slowly turned towards Hades. “I only wished to see if I could reverse what was done to this poor child.”
Reverse it? Caterina didn’t dare hope that was possible. Marek didn’t believe it was, she knew that. He had spoken of finding a way, but there had been no shred of hope in his voice.
Blue flickered in Hades’s eyes again, concern surfacing in them as he gazed at his wife.
“I will do this with or without your permission.” Persephone turned back to face Caterina.
Hades huffed and scowled at her back. “Very well. If you feel the slightest tainting of your powers, you are to release the creature.”
She nodded regally. “Of course, my love.”
The look in her green eyes as she held Caterina’s gaze said she had no intention of obeying that order. Caterina glanced at Marek. He didn’t look at all surprised that his mother was willing to disobey his father.
Was she so assured of her power over him?
Caterina looked beyond the crimson-haired beauty to the towering god-king.
And caught the love and concern in his blue eyes as he gazed at Persephone before he noticed Caterina staring.
His irises blazed scarlet.
He bared his fangs at her.
“It is not wise to test him,” said the woman who was doing just that, her soft voice like a melody as it embraced Caterina, chasing some of the chill from her skin that Hades had caused by glaring at her. Her secret smile stole Caterina’s heart and made her miss her mother all the more. She whispered, “Although, it is fun sometimes.”
“Fun for you.” Marek edged towards them, closing ranks with Caterina as he warily watched Hades.
Persephone shrugged. “Your father will not lay a hand on her.”
“I’ll believe that when I see it.”
“What are you talking about over there?” Hades growled.
Persephone smiled over her shoulder at him. “Come down from there and find out for yourself.”
He sneered at Caterina, making it painfully clear he had no intention of getting anywhere near her.
Which was oddly reassuring.
Until she considered that he probably didn’t have to get anywhere near her to kill her.
“This will not hurt.” Persephone gently laid her hand on Caterina’s forearm.
She steeled herself, because Keras digging around in her mind had hurt and she was sure that someone digging around in her body would be even more painful.
Only Persephone’s touch was warm, gentle, and Caterina felt strength flowing into her, heat and light that pushed out the vile darkness she had been aware of from the moment the wraith had injected her with the daemon blood.
Her stomach turned.
That blood writhed in her veins, as if it feared Persephone.
Persephone stroked her hand upwards and the darkness swirled within Caterina, clearing her left side and pooling in her right leg, causing it to ache and burn. Sweat broke out on her brow and slid down her spine, and her vision wobbled
as the ground pitched beneath her.
She swayed towards Marek.
He caught her right arm and held her. “That’s enough.”
Persephone released her.
Marek checked Caterina over, beautiful concern in his eyes as he palmed her arm and pressed his other hand to her forehead. “Are you all right?”
She swallowed and nodded as the darkness washed through her again, spreading out, and the fierce heat that had been building in her right leg abated.
Leaving her feeling as normal as she got these days.
She looked to Persephone, afraid to hear the verdict but needing to know.
“What has been done to you can be reversed,” Persephone said, those words chasing the cold from Caterina’s heart, restoring fragments of her hope. “You simply need to find a healer. Which is lucky for you.”
She smiled, the sort of smile someone used when they made a joke.
Caterina didn’t get it.
A healer? Where was she meant to find a healer?
“Megan.”
Caterina looked at Marek. He stared into the distance, hope flaring in his eyes that quickly died as he shifted them to land on her.
“Ares would never allow it.”
“Why not?” Persephone beat Caterina to asking that question. “He has allowed Megan to heal others. Why not this mortal? She cannot infect Megan.”
But she was a daemon.
Caterina’s shoulders sagged. She didn’t want to, but she could understand why Ares would be reluctant to let Megan near her. Ares had come across as a tough son of a bitch when she had met him, one who fiercely protected those he loved. He had demanded she tell him what she wanted with Marek, why she was targeting him.
He had been convinced that she had still been out to hurt his brother.
Which meant he would never let her near the woman he loved.
“Ares is determined to keep Megan safe. He practically made it a vow when we discovered she’s pregnant.” The last word to leave Marek’s lips fell heavily, ratcheting up the tension in the air.
Thick silence followed.
And then Persephone’s green eyes shot wide. “Pregnant?”
Marek’s own eyes widened and he cursed. “You haven’t had a Messenger come?”
His mother shook her head.
Another curse pealed from his lips. “Then forget I said that. I said nothing. It was a mistake.”
It was too late.
Persephone turned away from Caterina, revealing Hades where he now stood closer to them, his eyes completely blue and filled with surprise.
“We are going to be grandparents?” Persephone turned back to Marek.
Marek shoved his fingers through his wild brown hair, grimaced and then his shoulders sank.
He nodded.
“A baby.” Persephone smiled at Hades, her emerald eyes glittering with unshed tears. “Our son is having a baby.”
“Megan is having the baby,” Marek muttered.
Persephone dismissed him with a wave of her slender hand, and then paused and looked at Caterina. “Speak to Megan anyway. Healing a mortal will be easy for her compared with healing a god.”
Marek nodded, and that flicker of hope ignited in his eyes again, sparking it to life inside her.
His mother grinned at Hades, sending the tears tumbling down her cheeks. “A baby.”
She laced her fingers together and brought her hands to her lips, her happiness shining in her eyes, seemingly infectious as the corners of Hades’s lips curled into the semblance of a smile and his blue eyes shone with something akin to love as he looked at her.
“Oh, a baby. I want to build a nursery.” She beamed at Hades.
He sighed. “Ares has his own house now.”
She frowned and the earth around her feet sprouted thorny brambles. “But I want the baby to live here. They could have the east wing. It is quiet there and I can visit.”
“If you have your way, you will be raising this child. I know that look in your eyes, my love.”
“But…” She hurried to him and he held his hands out to her, looked down into her eyes as she slipped her hands into his and he curled his claws over them, holding them gently. “A baby.”
There was a slight pout to her lower lip.
And apparently that was all it took to strip Hades of his power.
He raised his hand and cupped her cheek, smoothed his thumb across it and looked at her with so much love in his eyes that Caterina looked away, because she felt as if she was prying.
“I know you long for another,” he murmured low. “But we talked about this. I cannot bear to see you hurt. When we lost her, it almost destroyed you. It destroyed me.”
Caterina’s gaze drifted back to them. They had lost a child?
It was there in Persephone’s eyes as the happiness turned to fear and the brambles spread, becoming thick twisted branches as they encircled her.
Hades’s brow furrowed as he cupped both of her cheeks in his palms, his face tilted towards her, and his eyes shifted to red.
“I swear, my love, nothing will happen to this child. We will keep him safe.” Hades’s voice darkened, dropping low to scrape over gravel as the ground shook beneath Caterina’s feet. “Nothing will happen to any child brought into our family. I failed once. I will not fail again.”
Persephone nodded and he wrapped his arms around her, lowered his head and closed his eyes as he kissed her crimson hair.
What had happened to a child of theirs?
She looked at Marek.
Tears laced his eyelashes as he looked at his parents, pain glittering in his eyes that told her the loss of that child had hurt everyone in their family.
Marek glanced at her out of the corner of his eye and swallowed hard, brushed the back of his hand across his nose and then scrubbed his neck. She wanted to ask him about the sibling he had lost, but she couldn’t find her voice, and right now didn’t seem like the appropriate time.
She didn’t want to cause Persephone more pain. It was clear that she still felt the loss keenly, and Caterina felt sorry for her. She had been so happy when she had found out she was going to have a grandchild, but that happiness had turned to cold fear in the space of barely a minute. She should be excited about this time, enjoying every step of it, not fearing it.
Caterina looked at Hades and then Marek. Persephone wasn’t alone in her fears. Hades and Marek both wore the same look, determination to keep that vow Ares had made and keep Megan and the baby safe, and fear they would fail at that task.
She could understand why.
Their enemy would make Megan a priority target if they discovered her pregnancy.
Caterina wouldn’t let it happen.
She turned to Marek, more eager than ever to help him, and in turn his family.
He held his hand out to her and she placed hers into it, warmth curling through her when he closed his fingers over hers and held it tightly.
“We should go.” He looked at his parents.
Persephone emerged from Hades’s arms and smiled despite her tears, aiming it at Caterina. “Be careful.”
A trail of purest white tulips sprouted in a wave towards Caterina and bloomed around her feet, and Caterina looked down at them, afraid she would crush the delicate blooms.
She looked to Marek for an explanation.
“Apparently, white tulips are your flower.” He bent and plucked one, and offered it to her. “Mother is a goddess of nature. We each have a flower.”
“What’s yours?” She kept still as he tucked the bloom behind her ear.
“That’s a secret.” He smiled. “Maybe you’ll find out one day.”
She looked at the black earth, hoping the flower would blossom from it and reveal it to her, but apparently Persephone wasn’t on her side and wanted her to find it out from Marek.
“Relay a message to Ares,” Hades said. “I wish to speak with him.”
Marek nodded.
Hades slid her a look,
not a disgusted one as she expected, but one that stayed with her as darkness swirled around her and Marek pulled her into his embrace, tucking her against him.
His father had almost looked hopeful.
And she had the feeling that if Megan could reverse what had been done to her, that he would welcome Caterina into his family.
She looked up into Marek’s eyes as they appeared back in the cell.
Seeing the hope that blossomed inside her reflected in them.
She could save her brother. She could become human again.
And then she could have the thing her heart wanted most of all.
A life with Marek.
Chapter 27
Marek wasn’t alone with Caterina. He looked over her head to Keras where he stood in the doorway of the cell, Valen just behind him.
“Where did you take her?” Keras stepped into the room, a shadow flitting across his face as he stared Marek down, leaving him in no doubt of his brother’s anger.
Because he thought he had tried to take Caterina away from them to stop her from carrying out the mission Keras wanted her to take on.
“Nowhere.” Marek slowly released her and checked her over again, all of the fear that had been building inside him, the tension that had brought him close to snapping more than once, flooding from him as he saw she was fine and she had come out of the meeting with his parents unscathed. “Mother summoned us so she could take a look at Caterina.”
Keras just stared at him.
Valen whistled low. “Well, shit. Was Dad there?”
Marek nodded.
Keras and Valen exchanged a look, one that echoed the shock that still flowed through Marek.
Because he had honestly expected Hades to kill her.
“How’d he take it?” Valen looked at Caterina, as if Marek needed a clue to know what he was really asking.
How had Hades handled a daemon in his domain?
“Mother talked him down.” As Marek’s fear gave way, anger filled the space it left inside him. “She could have just come here to see her. It’s summer.”
Which meant Persephone could leave his father’s side without causing the seasons to spin out of control.
“She wanted Dad to see her.” Valen leaned against the doorframe.
Marek: Guardians of Hades Series Book 4 Page 27