18. Sandro
Sandro
I f Hades had told me we could have been doing this all that time instead of chasing breadcrumbs, I’d have planted my ass down and let him fuck me the ghostly way.
It was strange how most—or anyone, for that matter—couldn’t even see me, but Hades could see and touch me. And it was as electrifying a touch as anything.
Especially when he made it happen with that beautiful, thick cock that could split me in two even when I was made of nothing but air and spunk.
And I think we all know when I speak of spunk, I don’t mean the courageous kind.
But I guess being the god of the dead has its privileges. It might not be able to bring me back to life, but it could do…this, however you could describe it.
Ghost sex?
No, spirit sex.
Nah, that sounded spiritual, and while I could picture an entire religion made just for this, that wasn’t it.
Haunting?
Yeah, that was my kind of haunting.
“We should do that again.”
Maybe next time, I’d try possessing him to see how good it really felt for him.
The ripples of pleasure coursed through me—whatever there was of me—making my voice weak, yet I didn’t feel fragile. Funny that. How I could feel fear and desire but not exhaustion. I guessed that came with the physical territory—or body, as was the case here.
“We will,” he answered and jumped to his feet.
I narrowed my eyes, wondering what he was up to. Was he ready for round two already? I wouldn’t put it past him. He was a god after all.
But no. He didn’t attempt to sit on me—or through me or whatever. He grabbed the sweatpants and slipped them back on. As if they could hide the mammoth underneath.
Look, I was as human as anyone with a weakness for guys in sweatpants, but this was something else altogether. Everyone else paled in comparison.
In fact, there was no comparison. Whatsoever.
I could just watch this man—no, not man, god—forever, doing nothing at all, just standing there with that gorgeous vibrant blue hair, the equally unreal eyes, owning the loungewear as if they were made for a king, and come all day.
“Was it that bad? I mean, I know I’m not corporeal, but it felt good. Right?” I asked when he turned his back and went in search of something that wasn’t me.
Well, I guess we were done pretending. I knew I’d have to jump back to reality one day, but we could have at least gone once more before we did so.
Right?
“What? No, no, my love.” He dropped to his knees immediately and wrapped his hands around mine with such ease it was as if we’d been doing it for years.
He kissed the space where my knuckles should have been, and there it was, that ripple of pleasure, a remnant of what we’d just done, washing through me.
Literally.
“I want to do that again. For all eternity. But…I think I have an idea. Or, at the very least, a way out of this.”
His whispers only intensified those ripples. And not only because they were full of hope and spunk—the determined kind.
“Really? What’s the idea?”
He smiled and let out a breath. Then stretched out his hand, and one of his Sais appeared on it in a burst of sapphire explosion.
How was that an idea? How was that going to help?
I didn’t get a chance to ask those questions. He spun the Sai in his hand and…
And stabbed himself in the heart!
“What are you doing?” I jumped up and through him but returned to his side.
The blood soaked and darkened the black vest and it even ran along the blade and his hand.
“Hades, why? Why did you do that? What the hell were you thinking?”
Did I call an ambulance?
No, it wouldn’t come quick enough. He’d bleed out before I even got a chance to dial the number.
Maybe if I took the Sai out?
Surely, that would only make him bleed faster.
“Shit, H. Why?” I searched around me for anything, any kind of solution, but none came to mind.
“It’s okay, my love,” he said.
How could he say that? How could he believe that?
“I…I know what I’m…doing.” His voice came out strained, and he gurgled as blood filled his mouth and dripped down his chin in what seemed like gallons.
“How is that going to help? How could you do that to your?—”
I didn’t get to finish my sentence because the room started spinning.
It was slow at first but picked up speed pretty quickly.
And then the ground grumbled. The vase on my windowsill skidded to the edge before it tumbled to the floor and broke.
Instead of staying on the floor, the pieces flew around along with the rest of the room, which had become a blur.
And then it started raining. Not water, but gold.
What the fuck is going on?
Hades laughed.
“Why are you laughing?” I shouted at him.
What was funny about any of what was happening?
“Because it worked.”
“What worked?”
The gold sparkles went out, leaving us in the dark.
The floor stopped shaking, and when the lights came on again, we were no longer at my home.
Hades was kneeling—and bleeding—on a white marble floor with gray veins. To the left was a row of stained-glass arched windows, while the walls were made of the same marble as the floor. A gray recliner a few feet away with gold edges and dark velvet armchairs on the other side let me know we were in a posh house. The modern kind.
Even the ceiling didn’t have chandeliers. Instead, it had a big, round concave in the middle also made of… You guessed it, marble. The perimeter of it was lit up with a warm, soft light, but it did nothing to cozy up the room.
“What is this? What did you do?” I asked him.
“Something he shouldn’t have,” someone said behind me, and I turned.
A beautiful young woman with rosy white skin and dark hair walked in. She wore a black knitted dress cut at the knees with long sleeves and the trademark Chanel white collar. Her steps echoed across the room, an effect of her black Louboutin’s.
She crossed her arms, posing like a model, and looked at me.
“You-you can see me?” I asked.
She rolled her eyes and blew her lips.
“Of course, darling.”
“H-how?” I looked from her to Hades and almost jumped in shock.
There was no longer any blood on him or the floor.
“You healed yourself?” I asked.
“Don’t give him that much credit,” another woman said.
The brunette stepped aside as an equally gorgeous Black woman with big brown curls, wearing a white turtleneck, high-waisted pink trousers, and a pink double-breasted blazer that looked more expensive than everything I owned, stepped forward.
“I decide his fate. Not him,” she told me, standing next to the first woman.
“You’ve been naughty,” said the brunette white woman.
Hades rose to his feet and smirked.
“I needed to talk to you. Nothing naughty about that.”
He gave both of them the once-over and, with slitted eyes, told them, “You look different.”
“We could say the same about you,” said the Black woman.
“We’ve all changed.” A third woman walked in with blonde hair flowing from side to side as if she were a supermodel.
She wore a strapless red dress with matching lace covering her shoulders, arms and the rest of the dress, giving it a regal yet expensive feel. Her lips were the same color, but her eyes? They were dark.
There’s something about her.
The shape of her face, the arched brown eyebrows, the porcelain white skin.
“Oh my gods, you’re Chloe Warren!” I said.
Of course I knew her. My ma wouldn’t stop talking about her. She’d caused many a fight with Mom because of her unhealthy obsession with the young model. Apparently, she was Ma’s hall pass, a piece of information I did not need to overhear.
What was England’s top model of the last three years doing here, and how did she know Hades?
Chloe gave me a sideways smile before turning to Hades.
“We’re all different this time around, Hades. But our jobs haven’t changed.”
What did she mean? What job did Chloe Warren share with Hades?
“You shouldn’t have done that, sweetie. You know the balance between life and death is fragile better than anyone,” the Black woman said.
“You know I’m the cutter in this family,” said the other white woman.
“Like I said, I needed to talk to you,” Hades snarled under his breath.
“Now, now, darling. Don’t get all upset. You got our attention. What do you want?” Chloe asked.
I looked from Chloe to Hades to the other women and tried to make sense of what was happening, but I was none-the-wiser.
“What’s going on here? Who are you?” I asked.
“You already know me. These are my sisters, Lacy.” Chloe pointed at the Black woman. “And Aisa.” She pointed at the other white woman.
“Nice to meet you, but…that still doesn’t answer my quest?—”
Wait a minute. Sisters?
“Or also known as Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos,” Hades filled in for me.
I gasped.
“You’re the Moirai! You…you’re the Fates.”
“In the flesh,” Chloe said.
“Impossible,” I muttered, but stranger things had happened, right? “Wait, why did you stab yourself?”
“Because, in order to invoke them, one needs to do something that isn’t fated. And I simply would never take my own life, not while there’s still a chance to save yours, so…”
“You mortally wounded yourself to get their attention because you knew they’d reverse it,” I finished his sentence. “That would have been horrifying if you weren’t right though.”
Hades shrugged.
“We don’t reverse anything,” Aisa said.
“We simply undo what wasn’t fated,” Lacey added.
“How long have you been here?” Hades asked them.
“Three years,” Aisa answered. “It’s been quite the time.”
“Yes, very exciting.” Chloe clapped her hands excitedly. “So many new, different lives to create in this day and age. Only the other day, I created a new god. Can you believe that? And the parents? They weren’t even gods themselves. I mean, most gods don’t even remember the mating ritual, let alone the progeny one, but these two witches just ‘did’ it.”
“Empaths for you. Dangerous stuff,” Aisa said.
“That wasn’t the other day,” Lacey corrected. “It was a few months ago.”
“Oh, does it matter? Time is so…immaterial, sister.” Chloe shrugged her sister off.
“Can we focus on the subject at hand?” Hades snapped at them.
All three women stopped and stared at him.
“What is the subject at hand?” Aisa asked.
Hades shook his head with a grimace. “Are you having a laugh? Can’t you see?” He waved his hands beside me, and I bit my lip.
Right. That.
“Did you finally decide to take up a new lover? Took you long enough. Although I did think they’d be a bit more…alive?” Chloe said.
“New lover? What are you talking about? You all know my heart belongs to one person and one person only,” he snarled again.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. We know. Her .” Lacey rolled her eyes.
“You know, darling, there were many interested girls when you lost her. And they were willing to wait for you. Until you were ready, of course,” Chloe said, and why did that make me angry?
“You can’t wait around for her forever,” Lacey said.
Yeah, my insides pulled at every side, and I had half a mind to slap them all senseless.
How dare they?
But then again, they were right. Where were these…possessive emotions coming from?
“Exactly. Can you just tell him I was meant to die so he can move on and go find her because he won’t listen to me?” I might be possessive, but I was also realistic.
Chloe narrowed her eyes and tapped her chin with a polished red finger.
“You,” she said. “Who…who actually are you?”
“Hi. Sandro. The boy you just killed yesterday? That’s me.” I waved at them as if introducing myself during a work icebreaker.
What? Did they expect me to drop to my knees and ask them to fix what they did? To cry? To beg?
I should. I really, really should.
“Did you have to kill me so young though? Like, I’m not one to talk. There have been far younger mortalities, I’m sure, but, like, why did you have to, like, kill me with an orgasm? Was that really necessary?”
Chloe looked at her sisters, and they shook their heads with equally knotted eyebrows.
“What are you talking about? We…we killed you ? We don’t even know who you are. Why don’t we know who he is?” The last question was addressed to her sisters.
“Stop playing games!” Hades shouted. “You know who he is and what happened.”
They all inspected me from top to bottom before Lacey turned to Hades. “We really, really don’t.”
“How can you not? You’re the Moirai. You know everyone and their fate.” Hades was getting angrier by the second, and I knew very well what was coming.
I just didn’t expect him to be that way with…you know, the Moirai.
“We do,” Chloe said.
“But…” Lacey added.
“He’s just…” Aisa spoke next.
“Blank.” It was Chloe who finished their thought.
It wasn’t beyond the realm of possibility that they shared a mind, considering how old they were and their duty, but it still took me by surprise.
“‘Blank’? What do you mean blank?”
I reached for Hades before he exploded again and rubbed his back, whatever good that would do in this situation.
“I don’t know. This hasn’t happened before,” Lacey said.
“Who is he?” Aisa asked.
“He’s my queen. Do you even need to ask?” Hades said.
Chloe shook her head.
“No, that’s not possible. Persephone is supposed to live with you. From now to eternity,” she said.
“Yes. You’re supposed to be reunited with her and live the rest of time ruling the Underworld together,” Lacey added.
“And when time ends, so will you,” Aisa said with a threatening undertone.
“Clearly, you’re wrong because she is him and he’s dead!” Spittle flew out of his mouth and the blue in his eyes swirled.
I could feel the flames before they appeared.
“Easy, H. Easy. Let them explain.”
“There’s nothing to explain. You simply must be mistaken. He’s not her,” Chloe said.
“Thank you,” I told her. “That’s what I’ve been telling him.”
“Oh really?” Hades hissed. “So if he isn’t her, why don’t you know who he is?”
Chloe turned to her sisters.
“That is a concern,” Lacey said.
“You think?” he snapped back.
“One moment, please!” Lacey disappeared, and the other two stared at us in her absence. “Oh,” she said when she reappeared.
“Oh?” Hades grumbled.
“We…seem to have a problem,” Lacey said, more to her sisters than us.
“A problem? What problem?” Aisa asked.
I felt Hades’ back arch, and I grabbed him by the wrist before he could do something stupid. Not that he couldn’t slip past me, but hey, a boy’s got to try.
“A big , big problem.” Lacey removed her hand from behind her back.
She was holding a gold ball of wool. The end was fritzed, splintering in all different directions.
When my eyes got hazy, it took me by surprise as it hadn’t happened since I…well, died.
The posh room, the Moirai, and Hades were all gone, replaced by a field. A gorgeous field that stretched as far as I could see under a starry sky. Beautiful, glowing flowers surrounded me in all kinds of colors, but it was the one thing in front of me, blocking some of my view, that grabbed my attention.
A big, overgrown tree with a thick, cracked bark and leafy branches that hung around it as if they were long, un-styled hair. They moved in unison as a breeze blew from side to side, and the more I stared at it, the closer I seemed to get to it.
My ears whistled like when my aids went on the fritz, and I brought both hands up, ready to claw them out of my ears, but they weren’t there, and the noise continued as if mocking me.
The more it went on, the closer to the tree I got. Little glowing orbs seemed to light up the branches, and when I squinted, I realized they were fruit. Some sort of blue pomegranate that emitted a soft, glowing halo.
When I reached out to grab one, the branch moved of its own volition and offered the fruit to me, but before I could grab it, I moved again. Moved under the cover of the foliage and toward the tree bark.
The ear-piercing noise got louder—if that was even possible—and I was thrust toward the bark with much force. I closed my eyes and put my hands up in an effort to stop whatever impact, but none ever came.
And the whistling stopped.
When I opened my eyes again, I was back with Hades and the Moirai, and no one seemed to have noticed my absence or the noise that had almost cut through me.
Lacey held up the ball of wool and looked from Hades to me. “Someone…someone cut Persephone’s life short and stole the rest.”
I didn’t know what had triggered the vision this time, but that golden yarn ball…glowed a little under my gaze. And…a soft whizz echoed in my ears, but it was nothing like the piercing sound I’d just heard.
Was that the reason? Had that triggered the vision?
“And worse, they made us forget all about it,” Aisa added.
Oh.
If Persephone’s life was cut short, and I had died, and the Fates didn’t remember me…?
Was it possible…?
Was it possible Hades was right, and I truly was his queen?