Void.
Oh, Jadwiga.
Swallowing back the lump in his throat, he held the amulet up and stared into it, searching for any sign of her energy.
Nothing.
Waving his hand, he closed the portal and dropped the barrier. Setting his sword back in its usual place in the corner, he closed his eyes, sought out his father, and appeared in his parents’ living room on their island house in Boca Grande, Florida.
Hades sat in a recliner, dozing, with a golf game on TV.
Must be nice.
Here they were, trying to stop an apocalypse, and Hades was taking a nap.
Ryan sensed his mother wasn’t home, so he cast a barrier to conceal his presence there before speaking. “Father.”
Hades awoke with a start. In this guise, he looked like a mild-mannered, well-tanned retiree. A little on the thin side now, with a greying mustache and grey hair.
As he sat up, he stared at Ryan. “What’s wrong?”
Ryan held up the amulet.
Standing, Hades walked over and took it from him. “But that’s—”
Ryan nodded. “Yes.”
Hades disappeared, reappearing almost immediately.
“Why can’t I enter her realm? Why can I not find it?”
Taking a deep breath, Ryan softly said, “Because it no longer exists.”
“Impossible!”
“Apparently not.”
“Where is she?” Hades roared.
Ryan muttered the words to take him and his father inside the back of the truck.
Hades spun around. “What is this?”
“Shut up, Father.”
Elain, Lina, and Mai appeared at the back.
“Well, looky who da fuck decided to show up,” Lina spat. “Hades, his royal fucked-upedness, I presume?”
Elain grabbed Lina and shook her head. Elain looked like she’d been crying and was still on the verge of more tears.
Hades stormed toward the back of the truck and jumped down, far more agile than a man of his apparent years would appear.
Then again, many things about Hades were deceptive, including his appearance.
“What happened?” he boomed. “I demand to know where Jadwiga is!”
Lina crossed her arms over her chest. “Who the fuck is that, Stan Lee? Just because you decided to pop in for a cameo doesn’t mean I have to put up with your fucking shit. I will cunt punt your fucking ass back to—”
Mai gasped, her hands flying to her mouth as her eyes widened. “Baba Yaga?” she whispered.
Ryan decided he’d better take over and contain the situation before Lina and Hades got into it and made it infinitely worse. “Everyone, please, just wait a moment.” He appeared in Gigi’s living room and found Oscar huddled over her. She was on the phone.
Gigi spotted him first. “Ryan?”
“Is that Callie? Is she all right?”
“Yes, but what happened? We felt—”
“I know.” He walked over and held out a hand. “Please, come with me.”
Oscar stepped in front of him. “Like hell she will!”
“You may come, too.” Before either could argue, he grabbed their hands and transported them to the parking lot, leaving them standing there before disappearing again and appearing in Callie’s living room, where a similar scenario was playing out.
Except she had a baby.
“This is urgent,” he told Blackie before the Alpha wolf could argue. “I need her. I shall have her safely back shortly. I would take you as well, except for the baby, and she should not be there.”
Blackie looked like he wanted to argue, but he turned to Ryan. “Swear on your life that you’ll protect her.”
“She will return safely in a few minutes. I swear it.”
Blackie hesitated before he leaned in and kissed her. “Be safe, pet.”
“Yes, Sir.”
Ryan reached out and caught Callie’s hand before she could say anything else, transporting her to the parking lot where they joined the others.
Callie immediately fell into Gigi’s arms, hugging her, sobbing with relief.
Ryan plucked the amulet from his father’s hand and walked over to Elain. “My dear,” he quietly said, “I need your assistance.”
Elain swallowed hard and stared at the amethyst amulet, but made no move to reach out.
“Please,” he whispered.
She finally looked up into his eyes, her blue gaze filled with the weight of the grief threatening to drive her into the ground.
She held out a hand to him.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Lina shoved herself between them and stepped back, forcing Elain a step back with her.
The fiery goddess defiantly jammed a finger in his face. “I don’t know what the fuck is going on here, Ryan, but she’s fucking pregnant, and I don’t want her touching your ass.”
He struggled to rein in his aggravation and keep his temper in check with her. She was frightened and upset and he knew she wasn’t thinking straight. “Afraid I’ll give her archdemon cooties?”
“I don’t know what the fuck you thin—”
He reached out and gently clasped her upper arm. “Lina, child, please step out of the way. Now.”
Her mouth snapped shut. Under any other circumstances, the shock in her eyes would have made him burst out laughing.
But there was nothing funny about this.
Not a…damned thing.
She stepped aside.
Elain reached up and took his offered hand. With her other hand, she reached up and touched the amulet.
She gasped, tears spilling down her cheeks as she met his gaze and shook her head.
He gently withdrew the amulet before pulling her into his arms as she started sobbing. “I’m sorry, my dear,” he whispered. “I’m so, so sorry I had to ask that of you. But I had to be sure.”
He’d seen through her what she’d seen. Jadwiga and the bomb, and the split second of when it detonated, destroying her.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Five minutes later, Ryan had returned everyone to their respective locations—well, except for Gigi and Oscar, who insisted on going with Callie.
And his father.
Who, despite Ryan throwing up a barrier around his Atlanta condo, appeared in Ryan’s living room.
“What happened to Jadwiga?” Hades demanded.
Ryan headed for the kitchen. “Not bothering to respect my space, nor my role, are we?”
“Tell me what happened!”
“She outsmarted you. That’s what bloody well happened, Father.” Ryan skipped the small glasses, grabbed a large glass, and filled it to the brim with bourbon, neat. “She outsmarted us all.”
“What? Where is she?”
“The Ether.”
Hades recoiled as if slapped. “What?” he whispered. “Impossible!”
Ryan leaned against the counter and took several large gulps of the alcohol. Elain’s vision had shown him what had happened.
And the first moment of pain-free happiness Jadwiga had experienced in countless years, since discovering her beloved murdered.
The split second as she savored knowing she would be out of pain for good.
“She had a little more power left in her than I gave her credit for. She transported the weapon back to her special little pocket in Sheol. When it went off, it took her with it. Bloody brilliant woman.”
Hades staggered back a step. “She’s…truly gone?”
Ryan swirled the liquor in the half-empty glass before nodding. Then he took another gulp.
“I’ll…I’ll—”
“You’ll do NOTHING!” Ryan roared at him, charging him, forcing Hades back another step. “Understand me? NOTHING!”
“She was my daughter!”
“You and Mother’s meddling in mortal lives is over!” Ryan drained the glass and turned, launching it against the kitchen wall, where it shattered. Then back to his father. “Wasn’t it enough that both Will and I suffered? Wasn’t it? And
to this day I still suffer! Enough!”
Hades tried to draw himself up to his full height. “How dare—”
“How dare I? Really, Father? Let’s go to the Elders right now, shall we? The Dodeks? Tell them what happened? They’ll feel absolutely no pity for you. Between you and Uncle Zeus, the two of you pillocks have caused more than enough trouble to last the entire Universe until infinity retreats upon itself. Frankly, I have bigger threats on my plate than you suddenly deciding to exert parental rights you willfully gave up or ignored countless mortal lifetimes ago.”
Ryan backed his father against the dining room wall. “If you suddenly feel such patriarchal guilt, then go introduce yourself to your two daughters who are now mourning the loss of their sister. Quit shedding your crocodile tears in my presence. You hadn’t seen Jadwiga in how many eons?”
“Not eons. Several hundred years ago, when she sought me out for assistance once.”
“Well, that’s lovely. No weekly bowling team, then? No ‘Take Your Daughter to Work’ outings?”
“She didn’t want to see me.”
“Can you bloody well blame her? I am in charge of The Firm now, Father. If you wish to challenge me for it, then we shall present it to the proper channels, and you and I can take up swords and hack at each other. Believe me, I’d welcome a chance at it right now. But unless you wish to do that, it’s time for you to bow. The fuck. Out. Go meet your granddaughter, whom you’ve likely never laid eyes on.”
His gaze widened. “Who?”
“The Cailleach? Callie? She’s mated and wed and the mother of a beautiful daughter. Whom, if Callie’s bloody brilliant, she’ll never let you have a hand in raising.”
“That’s uncalled for.”
“Don’t start with me, old man. You really want to make me believe you care? Then go to Callie and Gigi and talk to them. Admit the truth of who you are. Make amends. And then, perhaps, I’ll believe a hint of the bluster, the smoke you’re trying to blow up my arse.”
Ryan waved his hand and sent Hades away.
Ryan was no idiot. Had he not broadsided his father with that nugget of info, distracted him, no way would sending him away have worked.
As it was, Hades had a double surprise in store for him.
He just hadn’t worked it out yet.
* * * *
Blackie didn’t understand why Gigi and Callie were crying and clinging to each other, but he immediately joined Oscar, when the three of them reappeared in his living room, in wrapping his arms around them.
He nuzzled Callie’s hair, relieved she was safe but his heart aching at whatever it was that had her upset. He was about to ask what had happened when a knock sounded at the door.
Oscar’s head whipped around and the Bengal tiger shifter started growling.
That put Blackie on alert. “Who is it?”
“Him.” Oscar stalked over to the front door and flung it open, fortunately not ripping it off the hinges in the process.
Blackie also didn’t recognize the older man standing on his front porch. “Who the hell is he?”
“Hades,” Oscar growled, sending a ripple of chill up Blackie’s spine. Had Blackie been shifted, his hackles would have been standing on end.
“Ha—” Blackie’s mouth snapped shut.
“What do you want?” Oscar snarled at the visitor. The guy looked harmless enough. Kind of reminded him of a comic book guy or someone he’d seen in movies a few times, but he couldn’t remember his name off-hand.
But Blackie had not only seen Oscar shifted, he’d hunted with him. He’d never before feared his friend.
Blackie was bowel-withering, shitting-his-pants terrified of how Oscar sounded at that moment. Despite the visitor’s appearance, he must be a threat for Oscar to react like that.
The older man, however, didn’t back away or so much as flinch. “I’d like to talk with them, please,” he softly said.
“Why?”
“Because…I need to tell them something.”
“What?”
“This is personal, between myself and them.”
“We’re their mates,” Oscar said. “What you say to them, you say to us.” The man braced his hands on either side of the doorway. “And I don’t give a shit who you are or what your powers are, I guarantee you I can tear a few strips out of you before you can blink.”
Gigi had finally gotten Callie over to the couch and then walked up behind them. Blackie did a double-take, not remembering ever seeing such a look of rage on the woman’s face.
He was almost glad she no longer had her powers. He didn’t doubt if she did that Hades would likely be little more than a smoking charred spot on his front porch.
“What do you want?” she asked.
“Please,” he said. “May I talk with you and the Cailleach?”
“Callie,” both Blackie and Gigi said at the same time.
Hades took a deep breath. “With you and Callie. Please? Just for a moment. Then I’ll go.”
Oscar didn’t move until Gigi finally touched his shoulder.
Blackie stepped out of the way, going over to Elise’s playpen and scooping her up from where she’d started to fuss over the thick tension in the air. Then he walked over to the couch and sat next to Callie. She took the baby from him as he draped his arm protectively around her shoulders.
Although, truth be told, he knew if Hades wanted him dead, or wished into a cornfield, or whatever, the deity likely could do it without a second thought.
And probably had to others, in the past, if his reputation was to be believed.
Oscar closed the door and followed them over to the couch. Hades looked…well, Blackie wasn’t sure what he looked like.
He’d call it grief-stricken if describing a human.
But Hades wasn’t human.
In any way, shape, or form.
Not truly.
“This is difficult for me,” Hades said. “Because I know I’ve kept this a secret for so long. But there is something I’ve never told you. Jadwiga never told either of you.”
He felt Callie tense next to him.
The man continued. “The reason you three were chosen for the Triad is because you three…are my daughters.”
Blackie thought the growl was from Oscar at first, until he realized it was coming from Gigi, who launched herself at Hades. “What? You fucking son of a bitch! You never told us? What the fucking hell!”
It looked like Oscar took a split-second to consider letting Gigi do it before finally reaching out and snagging her with one arm, pulling her against him before she could actually land a punch on the man.
“Stay, pet,” he whispered to Callie, the edict holding her in place.
“Jadwiga was the strongest,” Hades continued, his gaze focused on the floor. “I had her called first, to give her a chance to get the most training. I was younger and foolish and I thought I could in some way help make up for—”
“For what?” Callie softly said. “Abandoning us?”
“That’s why she never took another mate,” Blackie suddenly said, a lot of stray pieces now clicking into place. “When her dragon mate was killed, the father of her children. He was her soul mate. She was part archdemon and she couldn’t bear to take another mate.”
Callie and Gigi both stared at him in shock.
Hades nodded. “Yes.”
“What happened to her?” Blackie asked.
“She killed herself,” Gigi said. “That was what Callie and I felt.”
“You were not just sisters by blood,” Hades said. “You were bound as soul sisters. Through the Triad.”
“She knew?” Callie asked in a shaky voice. “She knew you were our father?”
Hades slowly nodded.
“Why didn’t she tell us?”
“Because she hated me. Rightfully so, I suppose. Her brother died after she was called. Killed. She wasn’t there to protect him, and she blamed me.”
“Oh…my…Goddess,” Gigi whispered. “She
set them up. She set the new Triad up, set us up to give up our powers so that our Triad was fully dissolved, and then she could kill herself. She set this whole thing up. Everything. As a way of finally being able to escape back to the Ether. Because she knew she couldn’t kill herself otherwise.”
Hades slowly nodded.
“What?” Blackie asked.
“An archdemon,” Oscar said, “can’t just kill itself. Especially if they’re bound to another. Either a soul mate, or soul brothers or sisters. They’re too powerful. That’s how Hades saved Ryan’s life when Ryan’s soul mate was murdered. He soul-bound Ryan to two other archdemons. It would take something extremely powerful, far more powerful than a soul-bound archdemon, to send its life force back to the Ether.”
Hades didn’t speak.
Blackie stood. “So…you’re telling me… Wait.” He stared at Gigi. “The bomb. The nuclear bomb vision!”
“She lied to Elain and the others and sent them on a wild chase once they figured out where the bomb was and approximately when it was going off. She got there first and took it.”
“Took it?”
“To her house,” Oscar said. “Her special place. She waited until it was about to go off and let it detonate.”
“So…” Blackie sat down again. Not so much sat as his knees gave out and he folded.
Callie laid her head against his shoulder and started to sob. He once again draped his arm around her shoulders.
“She saved everyone, Sir,” Callie whispered. “She took the bomb and saved everyone.”
“Everyone except herself.”
“She was in a lot of pain,” Callie said, sniffling. “Ever since she gave up her babies. Even before, when Zachary died. She didn’t tell us about it until after the fact. If I hadn’t seen her when I did, I wouldn’t have known. She made me promise to help her later on.” She looked up into his eyes. “And then I met you.”
Blackie studied Hades. “So Gigi and Callie are half archdemon?”
“Jadwiga was actually more than that. Her mother was three-quarters archdemon, although her mother did not know that. So she was far more than half. Unlike with shifters, that makes a very huge difference. Even someone only half archdemon can have a lot of powers. Gigi’s mother was a dragon shifter. Callie’s was a wolf shifter.”
The Fire Road [Triple Trouble 10] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 17