Divine Ecstasy (The Guardians of the Realms Book 8) (8 page)

And then he’d do it again.

Had she imagined their hands when he’d been touching her? His stomach tightened as the roar of an avalanche rent the air. The skies darkened, lit only by the lightning strikes all around them. The uncontrollable need for blood lifted his wings into the winds. But he had no target, no outlet to ease the sickness and violence inside him.

“I’m sorry.” He heard the sympathy from his son.

“Come on. We’re going to kill some Hell beasts, Father.”

Kill.

He growled low as he faced his son. “Get me a blade.”

Blood.

Chapter 6

Hell Realm

Pothos was mentally kicking his own ass. He’d only seen his father like this one other time, and fuck, he never wanted to see him like this again. Looking back at all the battles they’d fought when the Gods ruled the Earth, Hades had always been controlled and precise.

What he was doing to the Hell creatures was like what he’d unleashed on Ares and Artemis the only time they’d personally attempted to breach the palace, trying to get to P. He’d been maybe ten, but the sheer fury his father unleashed had rained Gods’ blood all over the palace keep.

These beasts didn’t stand a chance.

P had taken Drake here when his dragon needed to rage over being denied his mate. Had it been a month ago? Two? It didn’t fucking matter. It seemed he was destined to spend his days in Hell.

Literally.

But his father needed this. Though if P thought Drake’s killing rages were bad, this was fucking epic.

The geographic setup was the same in all Realms, but Hell rarely saw a storm like the one that followed them there. Lightning strikes wrought their own havoc on the land below.

After getting his father a blade, he had a split second where they both gazed out from a rise above packs of dozens, maybe hundreds of Hell creatures before his father’s battle cry echoed throughout the Realm. It was deadly and frightening enough that it felt like the entire world quieted in fear.

From that moment on it had been a bloodbath. There were so many Hell creatures it almost looked like they were drawn to the spot. To his father.

P’d stayed at his father’s side from the second Hades took flight. Fury rarely worked well in battle. It generally made a warrior careless, but not his father. Another dark battle cry rent the skies, shaking the ground beneath them as rare black Hell dragons soared in and were dropping to the trees in rending crashes of wood and fire. P admitted just how scary his father was when he unleashed his rage.

Blood flowed over the ground; the scent of sulphur and flames from the beasts filled his nose. His father’s eyes glowed with power and fury. Thick muscled shoulders bunched and stretched as he let blade and power lay waste to Hell beasts, and death cries and screeches filled the air around them.

It felt good to fly free, but not like this. Something about this wasn’t right. He wasn’t sure if it was the sheer wildness in his father or the power the God was unleashing, which seemed stronger than ever before.

P understood his father’s pain and fury. He had a feeling there was guilt there too. That Hades hadn’t helped Sacha all those centuries ago. It wouldn’t matter that Hades hadn’t known her then. Drake went through the same thing when he realized that his mate had been tortured and experimented on and the dragon hadn’t somehow known and protected her. Hades would only be thinking about the time she’d suffered and the acts forced on her. Of all the decades that his female had been a slave to the twisted depravity of his brothers. P couldn’t imagine what it would feel like.

His father was arrogant, but he’d always been fair. His warriors followed him by choice. Hades had never abused his power and made his people suffer like most of the other Gods had. The females had always flocked to his father’s charms and bed. And, if P was honest, he’d admit that Hades had been a good father. Boundaries had always been a fucking issue, however, since his father and sex were synonymous.

He and his father had actually been close. Hades had doted on him in his youth. It wasn’t until Ares and Artemis had birthed their incestuous demon-spawn triplets, the Tria, who’d started a brutal reign of carnage in the world, that he and his father had been at odds. P’d been furious and fucking disappointed that his father had refused to look for the artifact that would call the Creators back to deal with how out of control and insane the other Deities were. If Ares and Artemis had been feeding off the death and pain they’d forced upon the human race, it was nothing in comparison to what their purely evil triplets had done in the world.

Then there were Apollo and Hermes holed up on their island, abducting and experimenting on all the Immortals they could find, creating an army.

Hades and Aphrodite had gotten some Immortals off of the island. Athena was less active, preferring to stay hidden with her family as she built her own army, while Aphrodite and Hades had employed Dorian, P’s brother Guardian. The Nereid had managed to escape Apollo in the early years and had eagerly used his water ability to infiltrate the island to get some Immortals free. That had worked until Apollo and Hermes found a way to lock the island down completely.

P hadn’t been able to let go of the fury that his father hadn’t been doing more. But Hades kept saying that he would take care of the other Gods. P’d always thought his father had arrogantly assumed that he and his sisters could combat the other
nine
fucking Gods. Plus the Tria. His father was powerful, but that would have been ridiculous odds.

So he and Drake had actively worked with others to find the fucking artifact themselves. It had taken decades, but he’d eventually found it.

P’d had no idea that his father really did have a plan. In fact, P still needed details about that, about the other world. Thule. P wanted to learn more of his mother, whose identity Hades had hidden from him until days ago. His father was supposed to have met him tonight to explain, but now, with Sacha…

Fuck.

P sighed. Sacha deserved happiness and he knew his father was capable of giving it to her, so he’d wait to drill his father with questions until after his fury finally settled. Still, it killed him not to know the specifics as to why Hades wanted him away from Thule and everything about the other world. Especially since the Goddess they currently held had admitted that Apollo was there. She was still unconscious from her battle with Hades, and that left P with nothing. And he wanted answers.

More hordes of beasts trampled through the meadow below. P frowned at the sight. His father’s rage hadn’t eased, but that was the largest swarm P had ever seen in Hell Realm.

He wasn’t sure how long his father was going to be at this. He didn’t seem to be tiring. P could see the Hell beast blood simmering all over Hades’ bare skin. The flesh seemed to regenerate before the acidic blood ate through.

He stared down at the herds before sending Drake the mental image of what was happening.

Do you have any idea why they’re swarming?
the dragon growled.

No. Unless Hades’ presence in Hell is pissing off the Tria.
The triplets had been imprisoned in the Realm before the Creators had been called back. It took the combined forces of Hades, Aphrodite, Athena and their consorts as well as Drake and P to imprison them. And it had come at a fucking cost. The Tria were just too damned powerful. They existed beneath the ground there, and just because the bastards couldn’t leave didn’t mean they couldn’t cause problems. They created havoc by sending Hell beasts to Tetartos and Heaven Realms and demon souls to possess evil humans in Earth Realm.

Keep me updated,
Drake bit out.

P mentally nodded. It wasn’t as if the bastards could get free of their prison, and if Deimos, Than and Phobos wanted to sacrifice their beasts in some kind of tantrum, so be it. It meant less swarms being released into the other Realms.

Drake growled,
I’m guessing things didn’t go well for Hades with Sacha.

Yeah, not exactly. I think he triggered old memories.

Fuck.

She sent him away. Told him to come back later. I was the lucky one who got to explain some of her past and what she likely went through with Apollo and Hermes.

P was happy about one thing. He’d seen the shocked and pained look on his father’s face when the other females had laid hands on him. P had never imagined his father brought completely to heel by one female. His brother Guardians would love to have seen the look on his face. He wouldn’t share it, but he was happy. Sacha deserved a male whose focus was completely on her.

Do you need me there?
Drake understood more than most what P’s father was likely going through. The dragon harbored his own guilt at the fact that his mate, Era, had been taken by their enemy and tormented.

No. It’s better that no one’s near him.
He wasn’t sure anyone would be spared from Hades’ fury at the moment; only P was truly safe from his father’s wrath at this point.
How is the interrogation going
? Drake had been trying to get the warriors from Thule to speak.

Nothing. And Kara’s still out.
Hades had done some serious damage for another God to be unconscious this long. She’d gotten her own licks in during their battle, which was why Hades had spent days recovering himself.

P gritted his teeth at the reminder that he hadn’t been at the fight. He fucking hated having been benched.

Have you heard from Sirena?
P asked. He’d asked her to check on Sacha when his father had demanded it. He mentally groaned at all his father’s commands and demands since being awakened from stasis.

Just checked. Sacha told Sirena that she was fine and showering. I’m not sure what that means.

Sacha had always been private. She was closest to the other female Guardians, but he doubted even they knew the extent of what she’d survived during her time in Apollo’s palace. Brianne had been there only for a short time, and Sirena had been secreted away at birth.

He kept a close eye on his father and picked off any beast Hades may have missed.

Drake growled,
We can only hope to hell Hades is wearing out the Tria over there. I’m so tired of those fuckers.

P agreed. There’d been a surge of evil humans being possessed in the mortal Realm in the last few days, and demon-possessed were the biggest pain in the ass for a Guardian to deal with. Since the assholes were technically human with demon souls, Guardians couldn’t harm them without feeling the same pain times ten, thanks to the Creators’ curse.

Hades’ wrath finally seemed to ease. His father swooped down and landed on a mountain rise, and P settled to his feet beside him.

Moments passed as they gazed down at the carnage, but one look at his father’s eyes said he had something else on his mind, and then the Deity was fucking gone.

Son of a bitch. What the hell was he up to now?

Chapter 7

City of Efcharistisi, Tetartos Realm

Hades reformed inside the palace in Efcharistisi. The Immortals milling around, laughing, stilled. “Bring me Zandra,” he commanded. One scampered off to do his bidding.

“Leave,” he growled at the rest. He was in no mood to deal with others.

He’d only stopped once, at his son’s home to cleanse himself of the Hell creature blood. It had taken time to get his rage under control and he still wanted blood, but not from beasts. Only his brother’s would do at this point.

Until he could have that or his female called him to her side, he planned to clear up past misdeeds. When he’d been awoken, he’d been forced to search old books and information on the Realms in search of the stone that called to Thule. It had been in his palace when the Creators had come back to the world, but it had been missing from his things when the Guardians awakened him.

Hades narrowed his eyes. He’d wasted days of his time only to find a frivolous book on this palace with an image of the stone set in a chandelier.

He would deal with the thief now. And he planned to attain a home for himself at the same time.

Now that the hardest bite of his rage was gone, his need for Sacha was swelling back to life. His cock was getting more demanding with every passing second. He needed distraction and he wanted a home of his own. One that would be suitable for his female and where he was free to allow his wings out. The Guardians made him promise to keep his wings hidden in Earth Realm, so he would choose a home in the Immortal Realm.

He stifled another growl of sheer frustration. This was the only place he’d come across that seemed pleasing and suitable for a God and someone of his size while equally appealing to his female, who liked trees. There were several gardens and atriums in this place.

He flexed his wings.

He heard footsteps rapidly clicking on stone, and then Zandra, the Aletheia who owned the palace, came gliding around a corner. The beautiful female smiled brightly. She’d lived in his palace millennia ago. Her hair was different now, short to her chin with streaks of black and red. She was in a long gown and at her side was a dark-haired male the book had also photoed.

“Zandra,” he acknowledged.

“Hades,” she said, her eyes lit with pleasure. “Welcome to our home. This is my mate, Damon.”

The male smiled, friendly but watchful. Hades was in no mood for pleasantries. “Explain to me how something of mine ended up here.” He wouldn’t like to think that a female who’d once enjoyed the protection of his palace had stolen from him.

Zandra and Damon both stilled, their mouths dropping open. “What? Hades, I assure you I’d never have taken from you. You took me in when I escaped Apollo’s island.”

He eyed her before nodding at the genuine horror and offense in her tone. He assessed them both. “Then tell me where you acquired the chandelier,” he said and pointed at the crystal above them.

Zandra sucked in a horrified breath before answering, “I had it made in town.”