The reminder of her newly inherited power tickled the back of her brain. Persephone looked down to her palm, flattening it on the desk and drawing the sparks to the tips of her fingers. She’d feared the lightning once. Now it would be her greatest ally in bringing to bay those who preyed upon her people.
“Don’t worry about them fearing me,” she said. “I don’t expect this to go over like peaches and cream. Someone will raise an issue. And when they do, I’ll make them an illuminating example.”
He cocked his head. “No matter who it is?”
“No matter.”
The French doors leading into Persephone’s suite crashed open. Dee marched in, wide-eyed, two of Hades’s loyal cerberi trailing him, guns drawn. Perhaps the fact that Dee had been taught battle in his youth by beating the beasts in hand-to-paw combat had them going to such extremes. Hades may be their master, but Dee had still earned their respect.
“Mistress, he wouldn’t listen to us,” the shorter of the two apologized, his finger dancing over the trigger and his sites on Dee’s shoulders.
“We tried to push him away, but he overpowered us both,” the other admitted. “Truly he is the son of Zeus. Orders, ma’am?”
Without batting an eyelash, Persephone held up a hand. “Dee is of the Mountain, and would never harm me. He is my beloved brother. He is welcomed in my rooms at any time.”
“Surely not at any time,” Hades mumbled, suggestively.
Persephone admonished the god with a withering gaze. “Yes, anytime. We’re no longer married, remember?”
“Do you think divorce will keep me from your bed? Do you think it will keep you from mine?”
Persephone visibly shuddered, making Dee taste bile in the back of his throat. “Okay, I so do not want to be here when you guys are discussing your sex life: past, present, or Harpies help me, future. Steph...” Ignoring Hades, he took her at the elbow and pulled her a few steps away. “What is this forum for?”
“Attend and learn, half breed,” Hade grumbled.
But Persephone ignored him. She trusted her brother without qualification. “Dee, I’m glad you came. Having the support of my family at this time will be critical to the success of my plan.”
“Your plan?” he asked, his face screwing up. “Your plan to do what?”
“Why, kill the archangels, of course.”
He blinked. Then blinked again. Then rubbed his eyes, and blinked a third time. “Nope, not a dream. You actually just said that. Are you fucking crazy?”
Hades arose from the seat he’d taken. “Did you not see with what ease they struck down your father last night? A creature who can kill the mighty Zeus with so simple a weapon and so easily an effort... Even you, Dionysius, must recognize the danger of letting them continue to endure.”
Dee pivoted and punched both of his hands up. “Can you just pretend to not be here for, like, two minutes? I’m talking to my sister.” Then, turning back to Persephone, he continued. “You have to listen to me. This is wrong. Hades hasn’t changed. This is all part of his plan. He conned Dad to trick him into going into the sunset so you’d inherit his power—only so he could manipulate you and do whatever the hell he wanted.”
On hurried feet, the god stepped forward, pushing the demigod from his beloved’s side. “Even learning what I have sacrificed for you, even after your own father laid down his life to return your wife to you, you’ll still stand there and accuse me of crimes for which you have no proof? Living in the mortal realm for so long has made you bold. You don’t even have the decency to accuse me behind my back anymore.”
“I don’t have time to be covert.” Dee’s jaw tightened. “I’ll call night dark and day bright because they fucking are.”
Hades stepped forward, pulling Persephone back to his side. The jerky capture remained, nonetheless, without resistance. “Except during an eclipse. And that’s what’s happened here. As much as you hate me, Dionysius, you cannot deny the greater truth. We are dying, and the archangels have been all too eager to assist us in that process.”
“Why do you think Dad fought so hard to have something like ambrosia and that clause in the Accords that let demigods choose to embrace a nephilim existence?” A malice underlay Dee’s tone. “Why do you think he went around wooing a chain of mortal women? It was his attempt to keep that from happening, to give us a future. The nephilim will never be what they were once, but we can keep ourselves from disappearing.”
To his surprise, it was his sister who fought back on that argument. “If we don’t survive, there will be no demigods born to bring over. And by the way, we...” She crossed her arms. “The last I remember, you told our father to burn in Hell and swore you’d never return to us. If not for me providing Riona sanctum to escape her father—oh, who turned out to be an archangel who killed hundreds of us in the rapture, I doubt you’d even be here right now.”
“One, the rapture was thousands of years ago. Get over it. And two, the archangels were under Big Boss’s order. You two, above all, know the price they paid if they disobeyed.”
Hades’s jugular pulsed. “I think you mean, the price we paid when they disobeyed. Face it, no matter what side the archangels have fallen on, the nephilim have always been the ones who suffered. And do you doubt that it could happen again? Frankly, given what humans have been up to in the last few hundred years with their millions dead in war, their assuming the place of Big Boss with their genetic experiments, and now even attempting to find ways off the planet made just for them, all while they do their best to destroy it... They’re writing up their own invoice, and pretty soon, it will be time to collect. In fact, I would argue it’s overdue. Too much interest stacks up on that debt, and Big Boss will come after all their assets—up to and including repossessing their home, if you get the analogy. While the three terrestrial realms exist in different planes, I’m not so sure Hell or the mountain would survive if the mortal realm goes boom.”
“Oh, you do know how to dirty talk.” Persephone licked her lips. “You haven’t forgotten how I love twisted financial metaphors.”
“Stay on task, woman, or I’ll perform a hostile takeover and have you liquidating on that bed.”
“Right.” Persephone turned back to her brother. “Please, Dee. You live in the mortal realm, and you know I love it enough to spend my six free months a year there. But it’s just a matter of time before the archangels are sent after them as well. Think of all the things and people you care for there. Other than some weak magic-doers, the mortals have no defense. Nothing that could defeat an archangel. If we don’t do this now, not only are we dooming ourselves, we’re dooming them too.” She reached out for Dee’s hand. “Stand with us. You and Anwen both. Take the ambrosia, and fight with your family.”
He stared at the hand like a knife. “I wouldn’t cross when Dad asked me, why do you think I’d do it now?”
“Back then, you refused because you couldn’t tolerate knowing that Carol would grow old and die while you lived on. But Anwen is a quarter god—bare minimum for giving up her humanity, but enough for the ambrosia to work on her. You’d be a great asset to us in the coming battle. You’ve spent a lot of time with the archangels since you’ve become a Pure Soul. You know some of their secrets.”
“In case you forget all that our father died for last night, you’ll remember that my son is part of the package. How could Anwen conceive if we take ambrosia now? You of all people know that nephilim women are sterile.”
An ancient scar on Persephone’s heart ached with longing. “Yes, I do.” Resolving herself, she continued. “Fine, then let’s consider the fact that you threatened to kill Hades last night on my behalf. Murder and attempted sedition is a serious crime on the mountain, one that as queen, I could use as an easy justification for your death.”
“Again?” Hades grumbled in the background. “That must make an easy dozen times he’s threatened to kill me by now.”
Persephone said, “This time, he would have means. Riona h
as an angelic blade, and Dee thinks he can control her with magic long enough to dispatch of you.”
All color leached from Dee’s face. “You’d kill your brother, because he refuses to fight in a war to win your bastard ex-husband back Hell?”
Hades visibly bristled. “Why would I want to take over Hell again?”
“We both know why, Uncle.” Dee ground out the title like a curse. “Because you want payback for Steph falling in love with the enemy, and the power you’d gain would make you a serious opponent in a fight against Ramiel.”
One moment Dee was perfectly fine and sturdy, and the next, a potted ivy in the corner of the room had sprouted violent tendrils and pinned him to the ceiling. Dee blinked furiously, trying to deduce the nature of the peril, when his eyes settled on Persephone’s outstretched hand.
“How dare you!” she hissed. “Just because I slept with Ramiel a few times doesn’t mean I love him any more than any other John or Jane I’ve taken to my bed.”
“Liar.” Undisturbed, Dee grinned. “Plus, he loves you, and you know that.”
The corded vines snaked up from where they’d wrapped around his upper arms, to his throat, cutting off his words.
“I don’t have time to argue with you right now,” Persephone proclaimed. “Everyone is assembled. You and the others will be there, and after we conclude, you and Anwen will have a choice: either take the ambrosia and join the Mountain proper, or leave and never return. Either stand with your family, or walk away alone.”
And with that, she hurled him into the hall.
An incredulous Dee looked up from the ground to see the skirt of his sister’s traditional gown fly past, her guards pinned at her side like the obedient mutts they were right after. Hades, however, hung back. As soon as Persephone had gained some distance, everything Dee held as true turned on itself. Hades leaned over and lent Dee a hand, proceeding to talk directly into Dee’s mind.
“I agree with everything you said. This is a terrible idea, but she’s set. I tried to talk her out of it, but she’s grieving and her anger is overriding reason.”
A little surprised, Dee’s eyes widened. “We have to convince her. The potential for this to go to Hell is too big.”
Hades patted him on the shoulder. “She’s your sister, and you, her beloved brother. She wouldn’t harm you if you called her bluff. We both know Persephone would be an excellent queen, but we also know she’s not in a good frame of mind right now. Challenge her. If I try to do it, it will only give credence to the belief that I’m after the throne.”
“You’re telling me to put myself up as king. No one is going to support a demigod in that position, and I’m not taking ambrosia, no matter what she says.”
“If the nephilim see me, of all people, backing your challenge, when they know how much I hate you, they’ll know it must be the right thing to do.” Hades hesitated, but gave a quick nod as he turned to go. “No matter how much I detest you, I love her enough to protect her from herself. Even if it means you become my king.”
JERRY EXAMINED RIONA to the point of distraction. They’d been milling about for a good fifteen minutes, wondering if Dee had had any luck, and pondering exactly why the other residents of the mountain, be they human staff or lingering so-called gods, kept a distance. Jerry supposed that, at some level, the latter group may be picking up on his wife’s sudden heavenly predilection. Ever since last night, it was hard to ignore that there was just a little something... extra about her.
Why the transformation, he couldn’t say. He and Riona had made love dozens of times during their brief romance a year before, but it had never felt like that. Last night, they had connected on more than just a physical plane; their souls had engaged in the act as much as their bodies. (Though after a year of balls bluer than the North Atlantic, he’d have been happy with just the first part.) Somehow, Jerry theorized, their actions somehow rendered Riona altered. To his eyes, she almost glowed, as though her wings had become heavenlight and wrapped around her body.
“It’s been too long.” Anwen threw her hands to her side. “Something’s wrong.”
“Maybe something’s right?” Riona countered. “Maybe she’s actually hearing him out?”
“Persephone’s not a debater. She’s a snap decision type of woman. Either she believed Dee when he told her Hades is up to something, or she didn’t,” Anwen said. “She’s always been that way.”
“Did you know her that well?” Jerry asked. “I mean, when you were Carol?”
“I am Carol,” Anwen corrected him. “And yes. And that’s why I’m so afraid.”
As if on cue, the thud of heavy footfalls met their ears. They spun to find Dee, red-faced and panting, heading their way. Anwen opened her mouth to speak, but Dee cut her off.
“It’s okay. It’s going to be okay.”
Anwen looked to him with curiosity. “So she listened?”
Dee shook his head. “Looks like she drank the Kool-Aid. But Hades is on our side.”
“What?” Riona asked. “Wasn’t your point to get her on our side against him? How did that flip around?”
Before anything more could be said, the court crier’s voice rang out.
“Hark, enters the mistress of the house, Persephone. Give ear, and give way!”
“Great,” Anwen huffed beneath her breath. “They’re going to do it in Olympic. Now I won’t understand a thing.”
Riona’s head tilted. “They’re speaking English.”
Jerry pulled her back. “No, it’s something close to ancient Greek, but a kind that’s only ever been spoken on Olympus. We can understand it because... well, magic of an angelic sort. Now quiet, we don’t want to tip anyone off.”
Persephone climbed a newly erected dais before the crowd. She wore sadness in her expression, but the firmness of her jaw and her even tone gave her an air of regal resolve. “Thank you all for coming. Sadly, I call you here to announce something, which could not wait till evening. A most grave event has occurred.”
One of the female nephilim shouted out, “We already know you and Hades finally divorced. Good, now maybe he’ll finally get off his fidelity high horse. He’s been intolerable for eons.”
Despite the severity of the moment, the god of the underworld blushed. Persephone matched his color, but kept her tone cool.
“We have terminated our marriage. However, I’m afraid that the matter is far more fretful than the matters of my domesticity.”
Riona leaned over to Dee and whispered. “Why is she so stilted and formal? That’s not the way Steph talks. She sounds like she’s addressing Parliament.”
“In a way, she is,” Dee answered. “This is how she talks when she’s serving in her official capacity. You forget she’s Zeus’ daughter and the former Queen of the Underworld. Right now she’s addressing her subjects, not shooting the shit like when she’s with us. Being royalty means putting on the right kind of show.”
Persephone’s dominant alto continued. “During our revelries last night, many of you noticed the archangel in our midst. I know my father told you that Ram...”
The name caught in her throat, and even a blind man would have seen the flush that paired with Hades’s grimace. Jerry wondered if he had said something to Persephone psychically.
“That it,” Persephone amended, “was here only as an extended member of the Pure Souls, of which my brother Dionysius, only last night returned to the mountain after too long an absence, is a member. While that is true, and that particular angel is also their liaison from the Council of Seven, it was not the entire truth. The angel served in lieu of Sariel, and came to fulfill a request to end the days of one of our kin. And thus, last night, my father, Zeus, King of the Nephilim, made his final journey into the sunset.”
The expected noises ensued. Gasps, sighs, weeping, confused voices asking for details or praying it was a joke. Persephone kept steadfast in her repose, an act which soon had their attention back on her.
“I know this has come as
a shock, that my father, a man so renowned for his lust for life.” A half smile cracked Persephone’s face. “Well, his lust for anything with two legs, frankly... Could choose death now, when our civilization is threatened by the sunset itself. When every year, more nephilim slip loose the bonds of life and when fewer and fewer of our mixed offspring are choosing to stay here, instead turning their backs on their potential for godhood, and denying themselves their immortal birthright.”
Now mute, the assemblage was full of silent nods and steely eyes.
“But can we blame them?” she continued, beseeching them with upturned palms. “How can we deny them a brilliant though short life in the mortal realm, when they hear the tales of angelic blades coming in the night to strike us down. When they know that our very lives can be and have been struck down on the whim of an archangel’s fury? Can we blame their decision? No, we cannot. But we do have the power to make this right, and it must be now before another one of us is taken. Or worse, one of our children before they have the opportunity to join us.”
Jerry leaned over to his wife. “Is she getting at what I think she’s getting at?”
Dumbfounded, Riona couldn’t bring herself to answer.
“My father has died so that others may live.” Persephone reached back, seeking Hades. He weaved his fingers into hers. “We shall morn him, in the proper way of our people. Call forth your champions, your kin. Bring forth your wine. For three days, we will feast and pay memory to his legacy with games that will shake all the terrestrial realms. And then, we will go forth and seek out those who threaten us. We will reclaim our birthright, for once we ruled over both the mortal realm, and the Underworld, as The One had so decreed.” Her hands sparked with lightning as she pulled them towards the sky, drawing exclamations from the nephilim. “And when the archangels descend upon us with their angelic blades to threaten our very lives—make no mistake that they will—we will threaten theirs. My father and our people will be avenged, and our children shall again inherit our tradition and our power. We shall rise a—”
When Spell Freezes Over (All My Exes Die From Hexes Book 4) Page 5