7. Hades
Hades
W hen we left the older witch’s quarters, Sandro guided me down an alley where a big metallic machine sat idly against a wall.
Bing. Bing.
Tao
It’s a motorbike, you doofus.
Somehow Tao was still able to hear my thoughts, there was no other explanation. Something to do with me stealing his body, if I had to make a guess.
Sandro raised an eyebrow, and I waved the phone.
“He was just telling me what this is.” I pointed to the motorbike. “I know a lot about your world but only vicariously through the souls I deal with.”
“Okay.” He crossed his arms and pouted. “And what is your knowledge of motorbikes?”
“When they’re safe, they’re safe, but when they kill, they really kill.”
He pondered my answer for a moment before he uncrossed his arms and grabbed the steering handles.
“Kinda accurate. Come on. Hop on.”
He mounted the steel beast, and I admired him in all his glory. He looked regal sitting on it, with his legs spread and his hair at the whim of the wind, his tattoo sleeves complementing the image of machine and human that made him look so rough yet glorious.
Bing. Bing.
Tao
Pick your tongue up off the floor, darling. You’re starting to look thirsty.
I glared at the screen, but he had a point.
So what if I’m thirsty. I’ve missed him.
“Everything okay?” Sandro asked, and I tucked the phone in my back pocket.
“Yes. Everything’s well.”
“Come on then. Oh, what about Pluto?”
He looked at his ghostly dog, and so did I. Pluto cocked his head to the side and stared at me.
“He’s a spirit attached to you. He can keep up.”
“Oh. Okay. Then hop on, H. I’ve got a life to live. And I’d like to start now.”
I took a big gulp and climbed behind him, feeling hotter than I’d felt in centuries.
But that was my Persephone. She could warm even the coldest depths of my heart. That was why I’d fallen in love with her. And Sandro didn’t look any less effective than she had been. He had an aura, some sort of inexplicable charm, that made everything he did and said beautiful and sexually charged.
That, along with pinning my body to his, back to front, sent the blood straight to my groin.
Bing. Bing.
No. I’m not going to encourage you, Tao.
“Ready?” he asked, and, my unholy mother, I was.
I was more than ready. Almost three thousand years ready. This reunion was going to be something else.
“Ready, my love.”
Sandro smirked, and the machine roared to life under my pelvis, only making the strain in my crotch more intense. As Sandro drove away, I found it a necessity to press closer and wrap my hands around his waist, but if he could feel my erection, he didn’t let it be known.
Instead, I took the opportunity to admire the ink on him. It was elaborate, beautiful, and tinged with magic. It was art, and it gave him a more rugged appeal than his innocent face ever would. While I was admiring a scaly dark-red dragon that peeked over his collarbone and extended across his nape, I noticed a beige device on his ear. Both ears, actually. They were also pinging with magic, but I had no idea what they were. They seemed to be as much an extension of him as his tattoos.
We dashed through the London, and the speed made me both light-headed and hornier. The way he commanded the motorbike was bewildering and majestic, and even though my human body was more than susceptible to harm, I never feared for my life, even when everything around became so blurred and monochromatic that I thought I was being dragged back to Hades.
When we finally stopped, and the machine was put to sleep, we were outside a big house with a colorful garden in the front that led to a porch and an extravagantly large white door.
Sandro got off the beast and offered me his hand. I didn’t need it, but I took it anyway, loving the attention just as much as the connection.
Pluto appeared beside him, ever the loyal canine, and Sandro patted the air above his head.
While he rang the bell, I retrieved the phone and read Tao’s unread messages.
Tao
You thirsty bitch.
Giddy up, “H.”
Whoa. If I wasn’t already dead, I’d be fearing for my life.
Tell him to slow down. What the fuck? Does he want to get a ticket?
I really hate you for trapping me in this thing. Not cool, “H.”
Are you mocking my lover?
Bing. Bing.
Tao
Me? Never!
The door opened and a beautiful dark-skinned woman with long locks in a thick ponytail answered the door.
“Baby, why didn’t you use your keys?” she said and took Sandro right in her arms.
“I would, Ma, but I have a guest I’d like you to meet.”
He turned toward me, and the woman looked at me too.
This was his mother? She couldn’t possibly be older than him. She was so young. Although she was also Black and he was white, so, perhaps she had adopted him? Or his father had been white.
“Hi. I’m Mila. And you are?”
She reached for my hand, and as soon as I touched her, she went still.
“Damn. You’re cold.”
“Ah, yes. About that. Can…can we come in? I’ve got a lot of explaining to do. It’s gonna be a weird night for all of us,” Sandro said.
Mila narrowed her eyes but stepped aside to let us in, and as she closed the door behind us, she spoke up.
“Ivy, come on down. Sandro is here.”
Another woman barreled down the stairs as we sat in the living room. She was shorter than Mila, more muscular, and white. She wore glasses and had purple hair that was longer on top and shaved on the sides. Both women had robes on, an indication that we’d woken them.
“What’s going on? What happened? Is he okay? Who is that?” She glanced at me.
“That’s what we’re about to find out,” Mila told her, and both women turned to their son for answers.
“I…um…where do I start?”
Bing. Bing.
Sandro’s moms glanced at me, but I ignored the phone.
“Remember after Pluto’s funeral when I sensed my death?”
They both nodded, and Tao sent me another message.
Shut up, Tao .
What exactly did he mean he sensed his death? That hadn’t been in Persephone’s power set before. Was this new?
“Did something else happen?”
“Are you okay?”
Sandro raised his hands, and his moms stopped.
“I’m fine, for now. Yes. But it made me look for help from a friend. He can heal people. Bring them back to life.”
He could? I hate healers. Thinking they can cheat death.
Bing. Bing.
His moms glanced at me again but then refocused on their son.
“What happened?”
Sandro shrugged.
“What you’d expect? He wasn’t able to. But he and his step-daughter sent me to this woman, this old witch in Camden?—”
“Mother Red Cap,” the white mom said.
“You know her?” Sandro asked.
“I’ve heard of her. I thought she was a myth.”
“Well, she’s real. And she told me she knew why I was dying.”
“What? How? No one’s known ever since we got you,” Mila said.
“I’m sorry to interrupt, but I believe she’s very old. She’s got knowledge others may have forgotten.”
I’d had more than enough creatures arrive in the Underworld raving about this woman. I knew who she was, even if only by name.
“So what happened, Sandro. Don’t leave us hanging,” the white mom said.
“Would you mind if I take over, my love?”
Sandro’s eyes popped open, and he bit his lip.
“‘My love?’ Who…who is this, Sandro?” his white mom asked.
“He’s my…my…erm…”
“I’m Hades, and he is my Persephone.”
“What?” both moms said.
“Persephone?” Sandro asked as if it was the first time he’d heard.
“Yes,” I answered him. “Who did you think you were?”
He shook his head. “I…I don’t know. Until a few hours ago, I didn’t believe gods were real.”
“Gods? Persephone? Sandro, did you get high? I’ve told you that you shouldn’t use with your condition. We don’t know the effects it could have on your health, and it can clash with your medication.”
Bing. Bing.
Not now, Tao.
I rose from the armchair and walked toward both of them.
“Allow me,” I told Sandro before I turned to his Black mom. “Mila.” Then, his other mom. “I’m sorry I didn’t catch your name.”
“I-Ivy.”
“Mila, Ivy, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Hades, King of the Underworld, Lord of the Dead, Master of the Afterlife, Supreme Judge of Souls, and Sovereign of Tartarus.”
Bing. Bing.
I ignored Tao and waited for Mila and Ivy’s response. They stared at me for a moment, and then they burst into laughter.
Bing. Bing.
“Good one, Sandro. I’ll forgive you for waking us up to prank us. This was quite the laugh,” Mila said once she’d composed herself.
Sandro sighed. “He’s telling the truth.”
Ivy rolled her eyes. “Sweetie, you should be focusing on your health over jokes.”
“It is the truth. No one is ‘joking.’”
They didn’t believe me.
Bing. Bing.
Well, I gave them a chance. They’d asked for this.
I raised my hand, sucked in a deep breath, and closed my eyes.
The fire erupted out of my hands, out of my entire body, and blue flames took over the entire room in seconds. The temperature dropped and the walls disappeared, replaced by the caverns of Hades, where countless souls awaited their judgment.
Just as quickly, I took it back, casting away the apparition of my kingdom. I may not be able to take them there, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t show it to them.
“What…just…happened?” Ivy asked, and Mila embraced her.
“I just showed you the Underworld.”
“He’s telling the truth, guys. I don’t know how to explain it, but…I feel it in my bones. My body and soul react to him like I’ve met him before.”
“What does that mean?” Ivy asked.
“It means Sandro is my Persephone reincarnated. The reason he’s been dying is because his soul needed to be reunited with me. He’s lived many lives since we were separated, and in each life he lived, his soul felt my absence more.”
Ivy looked at her wife and then turned to us and grimaced.
“You’re trying to tell me that not only do gods exist, but our son is also the reincarnation of another god? And that’s why he’s dying?”
“Precisely,” I answered.
“Then why didn’t you come for him before? Why didn’t you come to him earlier?”
I glanced at Sandro and took his hand in mine, resisting the urge to kiss it.
“Because I was trapped in Hades. I couldn’t escape. I needed to be invoked here, in this realm. And now I can save your son.”
Their stances were starting to relax, but their eyes were not so kind just yet.
“You haven’t done it yet?” Mila asked.
“That’s why we’re here,” Sandro answered.
I approached the two women, who flinched but remained in place, and got to my knees, asking for both their hands.
“Mila, Ivy, I’d like to ask for your blessing in mating with your son, my lover, my soulmate.”
“You’re…are you asking us permission to fuck him?” Ivy asked with an incredulous look.
“I can see where your son takes from,” I said, barely able to hide a smirk before I continued. “I’m asking for your blessing in claiming him in order to save him and reawaken his memories. Only then will his soul be saved. When he’s able to become the goddess he is.”
“Wait, a what?”
I turned to look at Sandro and smiled.
“Well, my love, what did you think you were? You’re a god trapped in a witch’s body.”
Sandro didn’t answer. He gulped, and his cheeks turned red again.
“So, will you give me your blessing?”
Mila and Ivy considered each other for a moment.
“While it’s weird to ask us if you can make love to our baby boy, if that’s the only way to save him, I don’t see why not,” Mila said.
“But don’t you dare hurt him,” Ivy pointed at my face.
“I won’t. I’d never. All I want is to save him. To protect him. To love him. I promise you.”
“We believe you,” Ivy said.
“Thank you. Thank you both.”
It was such a relief. Such a relief to know we wouldn’t have the motherly wrath come after me again like it had before. Especially considering this time, it would be double said wrath if anything went wrong. But nothing was going to go wrong. Not with my love by my side.
“Now, get off your feet and get him off his too. There’s no time like today,” Ivy said.
“Mom!” Sandro exclaimed.
“What? If a little D will save you, then go and get some. And what on earth are you doing? Why are you waving your hand in the air?”
Bing. Bing.
I looked at my lover and found him petting Pluto. Only Mila and Ivy couldn’t see him.
“I’m not waving my hand in the air. It’s Pluto. H brought him back for me. As a spirit, granted, but he’s here.”
“That’s sweet of you,” Ivy said and cupped my face, flinching at the coldness of my skin.
Bing. Bing.
“What is that noise and why are you ignoring it?” she asked.
I smiled and got back on my feet, retrieving the phone and showing it to them.
“That noise would be Tao,” I said, letting Sandro explain as I read the messages.
Tao
You start from the beginning, silly. Duh!
Sensed his death? That’s grim.
Hey, no matter what, we all end up in your domain.
If he doesn’t get to use with his condition, when is he supposed to use? Let the kid live a little. He’s dying young.
Could your name be any longer?
Rude! Why are they laughing?
Well, duh! Why would they believe you? Up until you took my body, I didn’t think you existed either, idiot.
Lol. Took them long enough to notice. Now, why can’t they see the dog, but Sandro can?
There. You got your blessing. Now go fuck your witch.