Seph smirked at him, her time with Hades making her a master at identifying delay tactics. “You’re stalling, and I have all day.” She crossed her legs primly and cocked her head. “She was quite pretty.”
“Gorgeous,” he corrected, hunching over his plate. He looked over his shoulder to ensure no one was within listening distance.
“Still pining for her, I assume?” Seph posited, smiling sweetly at him when his eyes flicked to hers. “Your reaction to Dio’s handmaiden over there gave it away. Is she bright?”
He poked at his food. “Smart, tough, and independent. Like Athena without the vengeance issues.”
Persephone covered her mouth in feigned shock at his blasphemy, nudging his foot with hers as she hid her laughter. “That’s how you end up cursed,” she warned, waving off an approaching handmaiden. “How much did she know?”
“Nothing.” He set his plate down and rose to his feet, bowing quickly. “I better check on Bo.”
She lifted a delicate brow and nodded. “Of course. Please let Boreus know his presence will be required for court tomorrow. And Alex?”
He hesitated, keeping his head slightly bowed.
“You’re so much prettier when you smile, honey.”
*
Charlotte stirred the grainy mashed potatoes around on her plate, holding a forkful up to Max. “You’re picking me up in the morning, right?”
Max nodded, angling his head away from the offensive food. “Yeah, yeah. I’ll even bring you a change of clothes.” He shuffled his chair closer to her. “You’re lucky, Chuck. I thought for sure you had some serious damage, the way I found you…” He trailed off, clearing his throat. “We’ll head over to the tavern tomorrow, okay? Thomas wants to see for himself that you’re okay.”
Swallowing the bland potatoes, she nodded. “How’s the bar look?”
“A bunch of us pitched in with the cleanup this afternoon. The liquor stock took a hit, but it doesn’t look like the place took any structural damage.” Max popped the lid off a bottle of water and handed it to her. “You’ll give me the rundown at lunch, right?”
She twirled her fork, keeping her eyes off the unappetizing bandages on her hand that held her IV needle in place. “I’m still piecing it together,” she muttered. “I’m not sure what was real and what I imagined.”
Pushing himself up, he gathered his wallet and keys and crossed his arms. “You freaked me out, Chuck. Don’t do it again.”
She watched him walk from the room and saunter over to the nurses’ station, his sights locked on a pretty woman lining files across the counter. Reaching across the bed, she unplugged her phone and swiped it to life, surprised to see the number of notifications that up from well-wishers and coworkers. Scanning them over, she typed out a quick, generic update and copied it, sending it to every number before she opened her contacts.
Alex Echidna.
She hovered her thumb over his name, drawing a deep breath before she tapped the number and waited until the phone went to voice mail. Hanging up, she sank back in the uncomfortable bed and attempted to make sense of what she’d seen.
*
Thomas released her immediately, apologizing profusely when Charlotte jumped, her bruised ribs protesting the contact.
“It’s okay.” She laughed, grabbing his hand and smiling. “I’m happy to see you, too.” She scanned the bar halfheartedly for a tall, muscled guy with long hair and a roguish smirk. “I can’t think of anywhere else I’d rather have my first post-hospital-meal lunch.”
“Take a seat and I’ll send Daniel over right away,” Thomas ordered, gripping her hand tightly in his. “You gave us all a scare.”
Max hauled her over to a quiet corner and sat, his arms spread across the back of the booth. “Spill.”
“There’s not much to spill.” She sighed, pulling an elastic from her purse and gathering her hair up. “The quake hit while I was coming down from the Chasm’s peak and a rock dropped between me and the exit.” She rubbed her elbow through the thick bandage. “Going back up was too risky with the tremors, so I just stayed put.”
He frowned, lifting a finger to order their meals when Daniel approached them. “And Alex found you.”
She pushed past Butch to the calming voice that carried through the caves. “Yeah, he did.”
Waiting for her to elaborate, Max rolled his hand in the air. “And?”
“And I don’t know,” she replied absently. “He managed to move the rock enough for me to get under it. But Butch’s legs got caught underneath and Alex… Yeah. I don’t know.”
He fixed her with a dead glare. “So Butch was there.”
“No. Yes.” She leaned back and stared at the table, squinting as though it would help her see the night clearer. “He got me out and I left. I drove away.”
“Alex and Butch left you alone in the park during the aftershocks of a quake.”
She closed her eyes tight and groaned. “Dammit, Max. I don’t know. He had somewhere to be. And Butch was… Can I just eat?”
“Eat and talk. So you made it under half a mile from the Chasm?” he demanded, eyes narrowed in disbelief. “Chuck. When we found you out there… Did Alex do something to you?”
She shook her head. “No. No, of course not. My head was just playing tricks on me. Spooking me.”
“Your voice is still messed up,” he stated, thanking the new bartender as he set down their coffees. “Fuck, Charlotte. You were so white and still, I thought rigor mortis had set in or some shit. Scared the hell outta me.”
Taking her first sip of coffee in three days, she closed her eyes for a moment. “Did you see anything weird in the sand there?”
“Weird like how?” Max asked.
“Like a fire had been through there,” she clarified, opening her eyes and glancing down at her phone as it buzzed. “Anything burnt?”
“Like a sand fire?” he snorted. “No, Chuck. No sand fires.”
She smiled and stuck her tongue out at him, placing the memories she was dredging up squarely into the hallucination pile. “Cut me some slack,” she whined, reaching across the table to grab his hand. “I was tired. Hungry. Injured. Without caffeine. It does stuff to your head.”
“You get two days of me taking it easy on you,” he relented, pouring half his coffee into her empty cup. “Only thing I saw out there were a ton of dog tracks and bear tracks. I put out the alert to the station already.”
Chapter Thirty-One
Alex padded across the marble tiles, the clicking of his claws alerting Hades to his presence. His master patted his thigh and held his hand out, waiting patiently for Alex to join him at the table and giving his shoulders a hearty rubdown as he continued to discuss the recent gossip about Hera with Dio.
It had only taken a week for him to fall back into the routine. Three more until he had it perfected once again.
Wake. Eat. Swim.
Eat. Wander down to the river. Swim.
Check in with Hades. Eat. Sleep.
Ryan was stretched out on his back in the corner of the room, one eye on Hades as he relaxed on the large pillow Seph had plumped and smoothed for him.
Bo’s head lay on Dionysus’s lap, his tail thumping off the floor as the god focused his attention on the sweet spot behind his ears.
Setting a paw on Hades’s arm, he rose up and scanned the feast covering the table, sitting back when Hades began filling a plate for him and set it to the side. Climbing into the closest chair, he pulled the plate closer and dove in, pausing periodically to snort in amusement when Hades launched into a tirade about his sister.
Hera intimidated Alex, and he sure as hell wasn’t embarrassed by it.
Persephone flitted into the room, Iris trailing behind her. Hades shifted his position, angling his legs out from under the table and wrapping his arms around his wife as she settled into his lap without a second thought.
Iris gave Alex a polite smile, sitting in the seat beside him and shuffling a fraction away as she co
ntinued to listen attentively to Seph.
He subtly placed his paw on her edge of the table, catching Dio’s eye when Iris wrinkled her nose and crossed her legs away from him.
She hated dogs.
Dionysus smirked and made a production of scratching his ribs, earning a yelp of annoyance from Bo. Taking the hint, Alex lifted his hind leg and mimicked the movement, sending Iris halfway down the table with her chair.
Persephone delicately cleared her throat and gave him a pointed glare, appeased when he lowered his head to the table and looked up at her balefully.
Yeah, he knew the routine.
Just like Iris would be tracing her hand up his arm at the next banquet he attended in human form.
Just like Hades would be cursing the clock in five minutes, annoyed when he realized it was time to hold court again.
Just like Seph’s open smile would shift into cold appraisal as she took up her spot at Hades’s side in the throne room.
“So I told her if she wo—Seph, honey. Is that clock right?”
Persephone nodded, rising from Hades’s lap and reaching over to run her thumb over Bo’s brow. “Only two new ones on the docket tonight,” she replied, straightening her skirts and pursing her perfectly painted lips when her husband let out a string of curses. “Hades.”
Ryan rose to his feet and joined his master, Bo reluctantly following suit alongside Alex. They trailed behind Seph and Hades, Iris veering off toward her rooms after flashing a look of disgust at him.
“The pomp of this is ridiculous,” Hades muttered, snatching his staff from the corner of the hall. “Two shades. For this I have to stop everything I’m doing?”
As Seph stroked his ego, Alex, Ryan, and Bo united, blending into one body that moved under the collective will of three minds. The doors opened to the reception room, and Cerberus led his master to his throne.
*
Hades slumped back in his chair and groaned as the last of the onlookers exited the room. “I’m too old to do this,” he grumbled, placing his hand on Persephone’s as she stroked his beard. He patted Cerberus on the back. “Up, boy.”
The dog rose to its feet, Bo nipping at Alex behind Ryan’s head and growling when Alex bared his teeth in response.
“Enough.” Hades sighed, cupping Bo’s chin to still him. “Time to get you three topside again. We’ll feast tonight and send you back up in the morning.”
Cerberus sat motionless on the marble as Hades and Seph exited, oblivious to the turmoil their beloved guard dog was unanimously experiencing. The large doors clanged shut and the beast disintegrated, the brothers rising to their feet.
“He’s fucking joking, right?” Bo demanded, pacing the floor. “This is a fucking joke.”
Ryan’s eyes locked on to the throne, his shoulders hunched as his eyes hardened. “We must have missed one.” His voice was void of emotion. “The Albany Pirithous.”
“I fucking knew it!” Bo snarled, booting a marble pillar and watching as the vase sitting on top tumbled to the ground and shattered. “That kid’ll be thirty by now. He could be anywhere. He could have his own fucking spawn.”
Alex stood silent, his mind shredding through what-ifs as Ryan exited the room, his back rigid.
“I can’t do it again,” Bo muttered beside him before he dropped to all fours and padded across the floor, leaving Alex alone.
*
The brothers entered the banquet hall, chitons and chlamys neatly pressed.
“Orion, sweetheart,” Persephone called over to them, waving Ryan over. “Come! I want you to settle an argument.”
Ryan nodded tersely and strode across the room to join his mistress at the table, his left biceps flexing under the sting of his newest tattoo. Bo elbowed Alex in the ribs and pointed to a group of handmaidens eying them before he made his way over, snatching a jug of wine on his way.
“Orion is displeased.”
He glanced over at Hades. “We were under the impression this was the last mission.”
His master shrugged. “As was I, until my seer informed me otherwise. When I tossed the curse, I wasn’t thinking past the immediate ramifications.” He patted Alex on the back and joined his wife.
Ramifications.
Hades had faced none of the ramifications of his curse. It was his loyal guard dog that had been saddled with the weight of eliminating the prolific Pirithous line from the earth. It was Cerberus who was cast into the human realm when the gods shuttered themselves in their own, the last of their followers making them obsolete. It was Ryan who prowled across Europe in the early years, scenting out the bloodline of the man who dared take Persephone from Hades. It was Bo who tracked the line across the ocean into the new world. It was Alex who roamed the streets of the cities, following the stench of death and cursed blood.
Hades had no ramifications.
He sat on his throne, his wife tight to his side. He feasted with his brothers. Conversed with his sisters. For him, the Pirithous curse was a moment of anger.
For them, it was their existence for hundreds of years, bouncing between the underworld and the topside world.
He strode over to Bo, accepting the jug and taking a long swig of the sweet wine. Iris sidled up to him, her arm looping around his.
Passing the jug back to Bo, he disentangled himself from the tiny goddess. “Ah, no,” he muttered, easing his arm out from under her hold. “Taken. Remember?”
*
Charlotte tossed her hat in the back seat as she wove through the side streets, unbuttoning her shirt and fighting the sleeves off her arms before she pulled into the tavern parking lot. Max tore in beside her, tossing his truck into park and hopping out before she had time to unbuckle her seat belt.
“Tonight,” he announced, lifting his arms into the air, “we drink to freedom.”
“Tonight,” she corrected, “we drink to spending one of our two days off in hangover hell.”
He linked his arm with hers. “You should wear that tank more often. You look badass.”
“I am badass,” she huffed. “So how awkward is it going to be with the mumbler?”
Cringing, Max opened the door for her. “Awkward enough for me to consider putting in for a transfer up north.”
She rolled her eyes. “You aren’t leaving me here alone. Suck it up, princess.”
The new bartender waved at them as they entered, motioning toward the tequila bottle and receiving an enthusiastic nod from Max.
The new bartender.
Daniel had been at the tavern for over a month, his presence a constant in the old lounge. Frat-boy cute, he already had a dedicated following of high tipping, flirtatious women with expensive wedding rings adorning their hands.
She didn’t care much for him and his vinegar-forgetting ways.
Becky rose from her chair as they arrived at the table, shuffling to the next available seat and bringing Charlotte into the conversation immediately.
No amount of reassurances had eased Becky’s guilt since the earthquake, and the woman had gone above and beyond to make unnecessary amends.
Charlotte wasn’t about to complain. Having a female ally who laid into Max on a frequent basis was kind of refreshing.
Becky leaned close to her, pointing her drink at a group of men a few tables over. “I’m thinking the one in the blue.”
Looking them over, she shook her head. “They’re cute, but—”
“No buts,” Becky chastised. “Standalone, no comparisons. Those boys are cute, period.”
“I’m not quite there.”
Her coworker squeezed her hand and turned to get the Montana mumbler’s opinion. She tossed her credit card on the table and smiled politely as Daniel set her drink in front of her and slipped her card into his pocket.
Max lifted his shot in the air. “To us, Chuck. May the gods of the hunt smile down on us tonight.”
*
Alex strode into the reception room and slowed, eying Hades warily as he took in the scene.
Hades motioned to him. “Walk with me, Alexandros,” he called across the room. “We were just discussing your return topside.” When Alex remained motionless, Hades rose to his feet, his expression hardening. “I did not ask.”
Bowing his head a fraction, he walked to the center of the receiving area, kneeling in deference. “Apologies.”
Seph’s expression was unreadable, her bright eyes shielded by the slight turn of her face toward Ryan as she continued to pet him. “Hades.”
“I know, dear,” Hades growled, nodding toward the banks of the river and leading Alex over, his voice growing quiet. “I’m facing quite the conundrum, sending you back into the belly of temptation.” His eyes traveled the length of the river into the darkness of the distant entrance. “Cerberus belongs to me. You exist as three separate beings solely on your mistress’s whim. Beautiful, golden perfection in this dark hell.” He glanced back at his wife and smiled at her as she scratched under Bo’s chin. “As you are, dear.”
Persephone drew in a deep breath and nodded in acknowledgment.
Alex forced his clenched jaw to release, bowing his head in deference. “I know my place.”
“Of course you do.” Hades chuckled. “The problem lies in the disconnect between what your mind knows and what your heart accepts.” He looked back at Seph. “I am well versed in that dilemma.” When Alex didn’t respond, he stepped in tightly to him. “I’ve lost my following. My strength. My position of power in the topside world. And selfish as it may be, I am not prepared to lose my guard dog. I’m sorry, Alexandros.” Taking a step back, he straightened his back, his voice booming through the reception hall. “You are forbidden to seek the woman out, forbidden from seeking contact. Your mission takes priority, and disobedience will be met with swift consequences for you and your brothers. You are dismissed.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
Junkyard Dog Page 22
