Broken: Hidden Book Two (27 page)

I glanced around the room, spotted him.

Not even possible.

Nain was talking to a group of demons. Giving them instructions. He finished, and they saluted him sharply.

I remembered everything, memories assaulting all at once. His death. Veronica’s death. Holding a box of George’s ashes in my hands. Attempt after attempt after attempt on my life by Astaroth and his crew. All at the behest of one god.

My gaze landed on Hermes, who looked up just in time to see me focus on him, and he was afraid and it was perfection.

I raised my sword again, the flames burning high and bright, in tune with the energy coursing through my body.

“No!” he screamed.

“I’ll see you in Tartarus, bastard,” I said, and I drew back as he tried to scramble away, not quickly enough. I stabbed, my sword going straight through his heart, sizzling along his flesh, sparking and spitting as flames met blood. I watched his eyes as he died, watched the last light of this god who’d caused the deaths of innocents in his hunt for me, finally go out.

I pulled my sword from him and his body fell over, landing at my feet. I kicked it away. Insignificant garbage. Then I looked up.

The room was silent as my father and the demons stared at me. Hades’ mouth was hanging open as he looked from me to Hermes’ body, then he composed himself, focused on me.

“We need to get you out of here, Mollis,” Hades said. “Before they learn about–”

At that moment, my mother and Megaera swooped into the room, their huge black wings sending a draft through the area, fluttering the papers on Hades’ desk. Their eyes were on Alecto. My mother landed and punched her sister in the face, hard. She was pulling Alecto up by the hair, ready to punch her again, when Megaera pulled her back, gently.

“Mom,” I said. And then I felt it. Brennan was in pain. Worse, now. Terrible, agonizing, nauseating pain. I screamed as it fell over me through our connection. The adrenaline and power running through my body was only adding to the agony. I could barely breathe. I could feel it spiking. “Oh, god,” I said, gritting my teeth against the pain.

“Demons out!” I heard Nain shout. Then he ran at me, shoved me down and covered my body with his huge, hulking one.

“Too much. I can’t…….. Fuck!” I screamed.

“Let it go. You can’t hurt me. Do it.”

I screamed, felt my power explode inside me, felt my body burning, from the inside out. Everything was white light, and heat, and pain, and Nain’s voice in my mind, reassuring me, telling me it was all okay. His body was cool over mine, soothing me even as I burned. I opened my eyes, and my entire body crawled with flames that did not burn me, or him.

“Breathe, baby. Breathe,” he said, and I felt a sob escape along with the breath I tried to take. I would not fucking cry. Not now. Not when there were asses I needed to kick. Answers I needed. I breathed more, saw the flames eventually sink back into my body.

“Okay. Okay. I need to get up,” I said, saying words that meant nothing, just to say them because they were real, and they kept me from freaking the fuck out. I couldn’t afford to lose my mind right then.

He got off of me and pulled me up. I stood, determined to stay upright of my own volition. Stared at him, meeting his blood-red gaze as I’d done hundreds of times before. I tore my eyes away from him, and looked around. My mother and aunts, Hades, were staring at me.

“We need to get you out of here, Mollis,” Hades said.

“I need to know–”

“You need to get back to your world,” my mother shouted, and I could feel her fear. “You killed two gods. They are going to start calling for your head, and nothing we do or say will stop them.”

“She was plotting to overthrow Hades. She wanted me to kill someone in the Aether next. And he caused the deaths of three people I cared about, hunting for me, on her behalf,” I said. “They–”

“It doesn’t matter!” Hades shouted. “All they’ll see is that you did what they’re most afraid of. I’m still alive. Zeus still lives. But Enyo and Hermes are dead, at your hand.”

I stared at him. “What difference does it make? They’ll hunt me there, won’t they?”

“Molly,” Nain started to say, and Hades shook his head.

“We’ll keep them back.”

“They’ll fight.”

“Yes.”

“War, then,” I said, and both Hades and my mother nodded. “you could just turn me over. Brennan is safe, right?” I asked my mother.

She nodded. “Eunomia brought him back to your home. I met her en-route. They are both injured, and the Guardians and Hermes’ people did their best to make a mess of him, but he is alive and he will recover.”

“But we’re not turning you over. You must survive. At all costs.” Hades watched me, shared a long look with my mother. Then he glanced at my aunt Megaera and Nain.

“We can trust Meg,” Tisiphone said.

“And who is this demon, who has powers that seem very unlikely in one of his kind?” Hades asked me, gesturing at Nain.

“My husband,” I said, the words wrong, strange in my mouth. Those words were meant for Brennan.

He raised his eyebrow. “I thought your mate was dead.”

“That makes two of us. All kinds of crazy shit is happening today,” I said, feeling exhausted after my crazy burst of energy.

“Can he be trusted?”

“Yeah,” I said, starting to tremble again. Nain put his hand on my arm, and my body calmed at his touch. I shook my head, and he pulled his hand back.

“The secret is out, Hades. It’s not as if Hermes’ death will go unnoticed,” my mother said, glaring at Hermes’ still form. I heard footsteps outside the door, and Persephone appeared. Her hair was disheveled, her dress askew.

“Are you all right, darling?” Hades asked.

She went to him and took his hand. “Yes, thanks to the demons. They have my son in custody. They are bringing him here for you to deal with.”

Hades nodded. I glanced toward Persephone and saw her watching me. “You did well, Fury,” she said grudgingly, and, for once, there wasn’t absolute hatred coming from her.

“I may have made a bigger mess,” I said.

“War,” she said, nodding. “Yes, war is coming.”

“Why can’t you just turn me over? I started saying again. “I’m fine with dying.”

They all watched me. “But
I
am not fine with you dying,” Hades said. “And your world needs you.”

“Why?”

“Do you really think a war between the gods will contain itself to the Aether and the Nether?” Hades asked. “We will fight. Immortals, vying for power, getting out old grudges here in our world. This may have begun with Hermes and Enyo and their schemes, but it will not end there. Your world will suffer with our power. Storms, earthquakes, famine…just for a start.”

“Then let them kill me now. Or kill me in front of them, if you’re afraid of them using me. Take their reason for war away,
now.
”

“It will happen, no matter what. Their plots have been exposed. Overthrow me and Zeus, using you. Put whoever they’ve deemed more worthy in our places. Now that they’ve failed, they’ll make it about you. War was brewing already. It has been for the last twenty years.”

“They’ll do this? They’ll let innocents die, over grudges?” I asked, sickened.

Tisiphone gave me a grim smile. “They’re gods. What do you think? Have you ever known one of them, except for those few in this room, who gave a damn about humanity?”

“Enyo said they wanted to be revered again or something,” I said.

She nodded. “A war of the gods would be an excellent way to remind humanity that we exist. Never mind the fact that all it will do is make them hate and fear us.”

“Hate is better than apathy,” I murmured.

“To some, yes,” Hades said.

“Well. This is my world that’s going to pay. What can I do to stop it?” I asked.

My mother, Hades, and Persephone exchanged concerned glances.

“You can fulfill your destiny,” my mother finally said, and I felt one thing from her.

Mourning.

♦ ♦ ♦

“What? What do I do?”

“We can’t. The Fates need to be the ones to tell you,” Tisiphone said. “We don’t know the whole story. They do,” she said, when she saw that I was about to protest.

“Okay. Fine. Where do I find them, so I can take care of this?”

“We don’t know,” Hades said.

“Oh for the love of fucking god,” I growled. I felt humor from Nain, and he reached over and squeezed my hand.

“Relax,” he said.

“Yeah. Of course. You are not getting out of this either, you bastard,” I said, turning on him. “You are going to explain this to me, and then I am going to kick your ass for letting me kill you, and then…”

“I know,” he said, his voice, just as I’d always thought, like two stones rumbling against each other. “I will. And you can do all the ass-kicking you need to do. Later.”

“Things are not the same,” I said, meeting his eyes.

He just smiled. “So I hear. But nothing lasts forever, baby, except for you and me.”

I rolled my eyes and shook my head. 
And cocky goddamned demons,
I thought at him. He laughed.

“You have to be able to tell me something,” I said to my mother.

She looked uncomfortable.

“There is a prophecy,” Hades began, and I sensed the same sorrow, nervousness from him. He made a face. “Ugh. This is exactly why I’ve always been so good about keeping it in my pants. Unlike Zeus.”

“Yes, the fact that you only cheated on me once is quite admirable,” Persephone murmured, irritation rolling off of her. Hades took a small step away from her without seeming to realize he was doing it. Smart god.

“Well, seriously. Zeus can screw anything that moves and it’s fine. Me? I have a roll in the sheets with one goddess other than Persephone–”

“The one goddess you never should have been with!” Persephone said, glaring at Hades.

“We’ve been over this, dear,” he said.

“Can someone explain this to me before I lose my mind?” I snarled, and they all looked at me.

“The prophecy is that one day, there will be born the child of the avenging Fury and the lord of the dead,” my mother began.

“And that child will embody the full terror of death,” Hades intoned.

“And that on the day of her birth, that child will herald the destruction of our world,” Tisiphone said.

“While saving the world of Man,” Hades finished.

“Oh, damn,” Megaera whispered, falling back onto the chair behind her. “She’s not Cith’s?”

My mother shook her head.

“Why would you do such a thing, Tisiphone?” Megaera asked.

“We were foolish. And too full of our own power. Cithaeron had hurt me, and Persephone and Hades were arguing again. We comforted each other.”

“One time,” Hades said, raising a finger to illustrate. “Once.”

“That’s all it takes,” I muttered.

“You knew about he prophecy…” Megaera said.

“Everyone knows he can’t create life,” Tisiphone said. “And I didn’t think anything would be born of my body, either. Cithaeron and I loved each other for years, and nothing ever grew in my womb. From an
earth
god, which says something.”

“And we were attracted to each other. And we were both kind of alone, at that time,” Hades said.

“It was foolish,” Tisiphone said. “But I wouldn’t change a thing.” Hades nodded.

“How can you stand there and say that?” I asked in disbelief. “I’m supposed to be here to destroy your wold. I’m bringing war to mine. How can you say that?”

Hades watched me, and all I felt from him was warmth. “Because you have been worth knowing, my dear. Tisiphone and I, two beings who deal only in death, created something beautiful and good in you.”

“Something destructive,” I said.

“You’ll ultimately save your world. At this point, the lives of thousands of innocent mortals is worth more than the lives of gods who have lived far too long. Look at how ready they are to battle,” Tisiphone said. “They grow bored, restless. Useless.”

“They forget what it is to truly be gods,” Megaera agreed, starting to get over some of her shock. “They forget that what makes us great is service of that which we have created, not the other way around.”

“You will remind them not to take mortals for granted,” Hades said. “Though it will be too late for them to put that lesson to use.”

“I don’t want to destroy anyone,” I said, forcing tears back from my eyes. This was not the time to be weak.

“You exist. Your path lies ahead of you, daughter, whether you want to follow it or not,” Hades said.

“Sometimes, you have to destroy something in order to make it stronger,” Nain said. I looked at him, met his eyes. He still stood there in his demonic form. He was definitely stronger than he had been, and I could feel a lot of my own power echoed in his. I saw what he was trying to say.

“Okay. What now?” I asked.

“We get you to the gate and into your world. And then we guard the gateways with everything we have, to keep them from hunting you. You must survive, Mollis,” Tisiphone said.

I nodded. At that moment, the demons brought Dionysus into the office. Hades turned to my mother and aunt. “Will you take them into custody? Keep them locked well away.”

“I will, my Lord,” Tisiphone said. She grabbed Alecto and took flight. Megaera followed, with Dionysus. They flew out the large window behind Hades’ desk, toward their home and the cells where the souls of the wicked were kept.

I glanced toward Hades. He was studying Nain. “Explain yourself, demon,” he said to Nain, finally.

“I resurrected here in the Nether after my death.”

“How?” Hades asked, interrupting Nain before he could go on. I looked between the two of them; my father and my mate (former mate, whatever), as insane as it seemed that either thing was possible.

“Three times bonded to a daughter of gods,” Nain said quietly.

“The number three is magical in our world,” I whispered, repeating what Eunomia had explained about the significance of threes.

Nain watched me. “I didn’t know this would happen. I didn’t plan on three times. I would have bonded more with you if I could have. I just wanted to give you as much of my own strength as I could, before you faced Astaroth.”