Deimos had known all along.
“Most definitely. I did not realize how fortuitous at the time. In hindsight, I likely did not thank him well enough for his heroism. Perhaps I should go to him now and ensure that he feels…thoroughly rewarded. He has been waiting a long time for me to submit to him willingly. He will be thrilled to see me on my knees.”
The devious humor left Phobos’ eyes, quickly replaced by fury. “He will not touch you—”
“Oh, but he already has. Many times, in fact, though it was not consensual on my part. But now that he and I are on even ground, I think he will be more excited than ever.” Phobos lunged at me, only to be cut off by Cass, Thomas, and a slew of ghostly brothers, weapons drawn, magic crackling. The way he pulled up short and stared at their weapons made me wonder... “Cass?” I called.
“Yes?”
“Stab him in the chest, as he did to Drew. I want to see him bleed.”
My brother moved with frightening speed, but it still was not enough. One second, Phobos stood before him, wide-eyed and feral; the next, he was gone.
Cass’ momentum carried him forward, deeper into the street. He staggered to a stop and turned to frown at me.
“Where did he go?” he asked, frustrated at his perceived failure.
“Where indeed, Brother. Where indeed.” I looked at the mob of warriors surrounding me, awaiting orders I did not have, as I contemplated Phobos’ words. In hindsight, I had been far too distracted and emotional when Deimos had shown me the state of my mother. I had not probed deeply enough about how he had come to find her.
An oversight I would correct at once.
“Cass, return to your posts. And if the fear god returns, cut him down like the beast he is.”
He gave a curt nod before he issued orders to the others, then turned back to me. “What will you do now?”
“I will find Deimos and drag the truth from him, one way or another. Something about all of this does not sit well.”
“Would he betray you?”
I hesitated. “He would do whatever misguided thing he deemed necessary to drive me into his arms—more specifically, his bed.”
Cass’ expression darkened as he walked toward me. “Then you should not go alone.”
My gaze shifted to the sky above, and I smiled. “I am never truly alone, remember?”
Just as I turned to leave, Oz landed at my side. One look at Cass’ stern expression and his interrogation began.
“What did I miss?”
“Are you already done in the Hallowed Gates?” I countered.
“Did you forget the meaning of ‘stay here’?”
I looked up at his lightly glowing eyes and thought better of pushing him any further. “There has been a new development while you were gone. I will tell you on the way.”
Before he could object, I shot into the moonlit sky, headed for the Underworld.
The god of terror had some explaining to do.
8
The Underworld seemed quiet when we arrived, compared to how we had left it. With half the population of the Elysian Fields gone and no army of Dark Ones filling the Great Hall, it made sense. So, without obstruction, we made our way to my father’s chambers and knocked on his door.
A female voice drifted down the hall. “He is in his office, Sister.” We turned to find Persephone headed toward us, her blood-red silk dress wrapped around her in an intricate pattern. “I was just heading to meet him,” she said as she slid up to my side. “Walk with me.” She ignored Oz entirely and took my arm in hers, then led the way to a room I did not need an escort to find.
“Tell me what brings you to the Underworld tonight, Khara. Are there some souls you left behind that you’ve come to collect?”
Oz shot me a sideward glance as we turned down the stony corridor that held my father’s office. “She’s just stopping by to say hi to Daddy and talk to Deimos—”
“Deimos?” she repeated, her curiosity piqued. “Whatever could you have to talk to him about?”
“Matters that do not concern you,” I replied, pulling free of her hold to knock on Hades’ door. But Persephone just pushed it open without a thought and glided into the room as though a grand ball awaited her on the other side.
“My love, look who’s here.” She gestured to the door as he stood to greet her with a kiss. Then his eyes fell on me, and his body stiffened. “The Dark One said they have come by to say hello…”
The cheeriness in her tone was less about her happiness to see us and more about what she thought my presence might bring about. Clearly, Hades had been angry about what I had done, and Persephone was spoiling for a fight to break out between us—another wedge between my father and me, as though we were both not already aware of whom he cared for most.
“Father,” I said with a reverent bow of my head, “I am sorry to disturb you—”
“You are doing no such thing,” he replied. Unable to hide my surprise, I looked up to see amusement sparkling in his dark eyes. “You expected a different reaction, my princess?”
“Perhaps I did, given all I left with when I was last here.”
His shoulders shook with laughter, and Persephone’s wicked delight fell to the floor. He crossed the room in four massive strides and stopped before me. Hesitating for a moment, he spread his arms to embrace me, but waited for me to choose my course of action.
I stepped into them, and they closed around me like a cage.
“Khara, after I learned what you could do with the souls of the Oudeis, I knew it was only a matter of time before you’d decide to take your brothers away.” He leaned back to take in my face as he spoke. “The love you have for those above…it showed me how starved you have been for family. For that unbreakable bond.”
I pressed my cheek against his chest and whispered, “but you are my family, too, are you not?”
Another small rumble echoed through the room, but this time, it was not laughter.
“You are my daughter, regardless of blood, and nothing will ever change that.”
I looked up at him, and he smiled. “Not even if I have come to empty one of the more nefarious realms in your kingdom?”
His laughter broke out again, and he released me. “Let’s not push the matter too far, Khara. Now, did you need something else from me?” His gaze slid to Oz, and his expression soured. “Perhaps a way to rid yourself of this creature?”
“That is not possible. Now, I need to speak to Deimos. Is he here?”
Hades shook his head. “He is still out looking for his brother.”
“Could you summon him for me, please, Father? I must talk to him immediately.”
“What could you possibly have to talk to the terror god about?” Persephone asked, sashaying her way to me.
“I guess we shall soon find out,” Hades replied before tapping the stone in the center of the crown resting on his desk. The red stone flared to life. Seconds later, there was a knock on the door. “Enter.”
“You summoned me?” Deimos said as he walked in.
“I need to speak to you.” His attention turned to me, and I could see the lust in his eyes flare to life. Then he noticed Oz standing off to the side, and the fire dampened.
“Should we do so alone?”
“No,” I replied. He barely managed to stifle his anger at my cold reaction. “I want you to tell me again where you found my mother.”
His brow furrowed. “As I said before, I found her on the outskirts of Detroit.”
“How?”
“What do you mean—”
“I mean, how did you find her?”
“Khara?” Hades called, edging toward me.
“All is well, Father. I just want to hear him recount the events leading to him finding my mother.”
“I found her while I was looking for my brother. As I said.”
“But why there? Why then? How did you end up right where you needed to be precisely when you needed to be there?” His expression darkened, and I
walked toward him, circling behind him as he loved to do to me. “Was it serendipitous? A matter of fate? Or was it something else entirely, I wonder? Because, to me, it looks as though you might have somehow had a part in what happened to her.”
“To what end?” he asked, not bothering to hide his anger.
“To play the hero, perhaps.”
He looked over his shoulder at me. “You heard the truth from her own mouth—the Light Ones butchered her. And you butchered them in turn, so why are you here asking me about this when the matter is done and settled?”
“Because it is neither of those things. Something was done to her, and I think you had a part in it. I think you hoped that saving her would make me choose you.”
He turned to face me. “I do not need such tactics to win you—”
“Actually,” Oz said from across the room, “you kinda do.” He walked to my side and stood against the god of terror. “You’re so desperate to have her that I think you’d do just about anything to gain favor—including colluding with your psychotic brother.”
At that, Deimos’ anger flared. “He is after her, and if he succeeds, she will belong to neither of us,” he all but growled at Oz.
“I belong to no one but myself,” I said, turning my gaze to Oz, “unless I choose otherwise.”
He smirked down at me. “I considered that matter settled when you stabbed yourself in the heart just to keep me from dying—”
“You did what?” Hades boomed, rushing over to me as though the blade were still embedded in my chest.
Deimos fumed as his dark eyes flickered back and forth between Oz and me, while Persephone’s amusement with the situation grew. Her laughter, soft at first, rose to a near deafening level. Her head lolled back as she clutched her stomach.
“My, my, Sister, you are just full of surprises,” she said, trying to control her outburst and failing. “I must know the story behind this, or my mind will spin for decades.” When I explained how I had forced my twin’s hand by stabbing myself, her laughter ceased and her intense focus sharpened. “Sean was there?”
“Yes.”
A serpent’s smile spread across her face. “Oh, how I wish I could have seen his anguish—seen his frustration at knowing he’d been outsmarted. I’m sure he was dismayed by the fact that your reckless act saved Oz.” Her narrowed eyes turned to him. “There is no love lost between them, as I understand it.”
“He was not pleased,” was all the answer I would give. I had no time for Persephone’s amusements. I had no intention of fueling them further, especially not with my father present. I did not know her history with my brother, but it was clear that there was one. Unpacking it with Hades present seemed a bad idea.
“Khara,” Hades continued, having finally composed himself, “how could you?”
“Surely you of all people, Father, understand sacrifice for those you care for…”
“You mean for those I love.”
His use of the word was intentional, a way to draw a clear line in the sand about my feelings for Oz.
“Yes. That.”
Deimos bristled at the implication, just as I assumed my father would. But much to my surprise, Hades did not. Instead, his harsh features softened with understanding—understanding he had not yet entertained in the case of Oz and me. But standing there, looking at me with more than resignation where Oz was concerned for the first time, he nodded. And in that gesture, I saw the happiness he wished for me, though I was certain he would have preferred it be with someone else.
“So you see, Deimos, my choice has been made.” The god of terror’s anger flared yet again, but it had no effect. He had already made me immune to his terror-inspiring self to help protect me from his brother, and in doing so, he had surrendered the hold over me that he had long defaulted to. The frustration that tugged at his mouth when he realized as much was extremely satisfying.
“Be that as it may,” he started, voice wavering with anger, “it does not change the truth that I did nothing to your mother. My brother is messing with your mind the only way he can now—”
“Then where was she the whole time she was missing?” I pressed.
His focus narrowed on me, and he stepped closer, as though nobody else were there. As though Oz were not flanking me, poised and ready to battle him should he feel the need.
“If the Light did not have her, then I can only assume my brother did.”
“Where?”
“To answer that, you would need to speak to Ares.”
My spine went rigid. “He knows where the fear god has been all this time?” Deimos nodded. “But he—”
“Lies,” Deimos said, interrupting me to finish my thought. “I have no doubt he is aware of where Phobos has been. You should know by now how duplicitous he is.”
“And why have you not asked him this directly?” my father demanded, sounding every bit the ruler he was.
Deimos stepped closer to me still. “I have.”
“He would not tell you—”
“It is not only you to whom he lies, Khara. Ares fears I will destroy Phobos—I can feel it whenever I mention my brother.”
“Yet he wants me alive for his own purposes.”
“Perhaps he knows that Phobos will not kill you.”
“Because he’s been working with that twisted motherfucker this whole time,” Oz added, his anger plain. Deimos spared him a sideward glance and nodded. “Well, isn’t that fucking classic.”
“But if the fear god has me, then Ares does not,” I mused, working through the problem aloud, “unless—”
“Unless Ares has a way to control him,” Oz countered, “or betray him.”
I turned my attention back to the god of terror looming before me. “Are you bound from harming him, as the PC are? As I am?”
“It is different for me, but when he surrendered his magic to save his soul, it sheltered him from my own. I cannot force answers from him any more than you or the others can.”
“I am not bound from such violence,” Hades growled, storming for the door.
I jumped in his path. “But I would be bound to stop you by any means possible, Father, and I will not do you harm to save myself from Ares’ or the fear god’s plan.”
Hades stared down at me, anger and sadness twisting his features into a pained expression. “But you need this knowledge to survive, Khara…” He brushed my hair from my face and tried to smile. “And I need you. So, you see, I must do this.”
“I have no problem taking a few rounds out of Ares for the greater good,” Oz said as he walked up behind Hades.
“And I was forced to stop you the last time you tried.”
“I wouldn’t have to use force,” Persephone called from behind the males in the room. They parted as she sauntered forward, the light swishing of silk the only sound in the room. “Ares has always had a soft spot for me, and as far as he knows, I detest Khara. It is entirely possible that he would boast of his plan...if I were to give him what he wanted first…”
Her uncertain gaze drifted to Hades, and the silence in the room grew thicker. The subtext in her words was clear. She would use her feminine prowess and tawdry reputation to elicit information from Ares—if her husband approved.
“I would do this if you asked it of me,” she said, wide brown eyes staring up at him with an adoration I had once thought impossible. “I know how you care for Khara, my love, and that it nearly killed you to have to choose between us before. She sacrificed a great deal to save you and restore your throne—and protect me in the process. Let me do this to repay her,” she said, daring a glance at me. “Let me even the score between us.”
“Can you leave?” I asked, working through the restraints put on her by both her marriage to Hades and the covenant that had birthed our split time above and below. The covenant was no longer binding, but her marriage was.
She looked back at Hades, uncertainty in her expression. “I can…if your father permits it.”
Hades l
ooked so torn, just as he had when he had stood in the living room of the Victorian and sided with his wife over me. It had nearly destroyed him then, and it looked as though it might once more.
“Do it,” he whispered, his dark skin gone pale. “Do whatever you must to extract this information.”
Persephone released a breath and smiled up at her husband. “He will never suspect a thing.” She pulled his face down to hers and kissed him lightly before heading for the door. Our shoulders brushed as she passed, and she stopped next to me. “I am not what you think I am, Sister. Let this act finally prove that.”
“You do not need to prove anything to me.”
Her hard eyes drifted back to Hades and softened. “Yes. I do.”
She walked out the door and down the hall without another word. Hades stared at the empty doorway for a moment, the pain in his expression too raw to be on display in front of others. I hoped that Persephone had not overestimated her worth to the former god of war.
I hoped her hubris would not be her end.
“I must go, too, Father,” I said, hugging him before taking my leave.
“Be careful,” he whispered into my hair. “Perhaps keeping the Dark One with you always is not such a terrible idea.”
“Like she has a choice,” Oz scoffed, but there was a note of respect in his tone as well. One that he had never used before when addressing my father.
I pulled away and smiled before heading for the door. “I shall return soon to receive Persephone’s news.”
Hades turned to Deimos. “You will take my wife to your father,” he said, his deep voice teeming with warning, “and you will make sure she returns unharmed.”
Deimos nodded and disappeared.
“Goodbye, Father.”
“Goodbye, my daughter.”
I headed into the hall with Oz on my heels and made my way toward the Acheron. Our business in the Underworld was concluded, at least for the time being. With Deimos’ innocence in the matter better established and Ares’ guilt in question, all I wanted to do was return to the Victorian and sleep off the events of the past twenty-four hours. I knew that matters would only escalate over the coming days.
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