35. Sandro
Sandro
I t took patience, hard work, and a whole lot of love until we got back into the swing of things. It had been several hundred years since the last time I’d ruled beside Hades, after all.
But this time, we weren’t all alone or blind to the world around us. This time, we had help. This time, we were kinder.
So, with Damian and Tao recruited and sorted out with human lives, things started to fall into place as we found more lost souls to recruit to our cause.
“That’s so weird, man,” Tomasz marveled when I finished catching him up and we stopped in the middle of Paternoster Row.
I nodded with a deep breath and bent down to pet Cerberus. Thanks to a little spell, no one else could see his full nature, but I could, which was why I paid attention to all three of his heads. They were in desperate need of scratching, after all.
“I know. A part of me feels the same way. And the other part…”
“Is a god. Yeah. Fucking weird,” Tomasz said, reaching out for Pluto’s head, the only one he could see.
I laughed, looking up at the small shop in front of me.
It was called Bubble Brew, and it had pinks, whites, and rose golds all over its decor and a queue all the way out the door. But I looked past those toward the staff behind the counter where a smiley, bright Asian man was taking orders and a big, tall, dark, and handsome man prepared the drinks with a characteristic scowl that would be out of place in such a vibrant backdrop like a bubble tea shop, yet somehow he fit perfectly there.
“Are you okay?” Tomasz asked.
I jerked back and looked at my friend.
“Yeah. Sorry. I was miles away there for a moment,” I said and continued toward Queen’s Head Passage, where Java Jinx was located, the café Tomasz worked at part-time.
I may have told him about the dream hunters and the grim reapers, but he didn’t need to know who they were. It was safer that way. Both for him and the others.
“Anyway, enough about my crazy world. How are you? How’s work at the hospital?”
Tomasz had only recently started working in one of London’s accident and emergency units while still holding down the fort at Java Jinx.
“It’s going well, but trying to keep my powers hidden is a challenge. I’ll tell you that.”
“Well, I imagine people healing from mortal wounds left and right would raise some eyebrows. Are you sure it’s the best place to use your power?”
Tomasz glared at me.
“Of course you would say that,” he huffed.
I rolled my eyes and nudged his ribs.
“Hey, just because Hades doesn’t like it when you save people from death doesn’t mean I don’t. I mean, it’d be quite the flex if I told you off, wouldn’t it?”
My friend laughed and looped his hand through mine as we reached Java Jinx, which now brandished a new neon sign that read Moon Jinx to advertise the new venture.
“I bet that’s gonna confuse customers,” I said.
Tomasz pushed the door open and walked in. I followed him inside.
“What’s confusing about it? Java Jinx by day, Moon Jinx with a kick by night. Everyone’s loving it.”
I shrugged. “I preferred it when it was hush-hush, like a speakeasy.”
Drew looked up from behind the bar and winked at us both.
“Oh, Drew, you never change, do you? Do you want to be kicked into the stratosphere by our boyfriends?” Tomasz asked.
The tall man laughed.
“I don’t see them here, do I?” he answered and put two smoking martini glasses with a red liquid on a tray.
I tutted at the big flirt and looked at the candlelit tables occupied by people dressed in nice clothes, speaking over unique devilish drinks with the ambient Jazz music and the low lighting putting me straight into the mood for a strong drink.
“You’ve really done a great job here,” I told him and sat at the bar. “No wonder this place is heaving.”
“Thanks. If only Caleb was as keen on some of the changes,” Drew answered.
“He doesn’t like it? I thought he loved the place.”
Caleb was the co-owner of Java Jinx and Drew’s boss. If Hades hated Tomasz once for cheating death, he’d immediately set himself on fire when he met Caleb, who’d died a few too many times.
“He loves it. He’s just not on board with all the candles. And he hates the stools. I have to hide them when I close and put them out when I take over every evening.”
Tomasz laughed and grabbed the glass of water Drew set down for us.
“That’s okay. The exercise will keep those muscles big and strong.” He raised the glass at Drew.
Drew leaned forward and grinned.
“You noticed my big and strong muscles?” he asked in a sultry tone.
“You wear tank tops. How can anyone not?” Tomasz sat back and crossed his arms.
Drew flexed his biceps for our benefit, and both Tomasz and I glared at him until the waitress got his attention.
“This guy. Seriously,” I muttered, sipping on my water.
“I know. I wonder what’s wrong with him,” Tomasz said, following Drew with his gaze.
“What do you mean?”
If there was something wrong with him, I hadn’t been told, but maybe I’d missed something.
“Oh, come on,” he said and slapped my arm. “I lost my parents, got a hell of a pet, and my whispers can heal even death. You almost die, reunite with your long-lost mate, die, and then become a literal god. Caleb…well, Caleb’s another animal entirely. There’s got to be something about Drew that’s wrong. And with our combined luck, I don’t know if I should pray for him or wish it on him.”
I laughed, but he had a point.
“Maybe there’s nothing wrong with him, and he’s the normal one. There’s got to be one of those in our group, surely,” I told him but quickly shut up when the man of the hour approached with his flirty smirk.
“What’s your poison tonight?” He held the drink menus close to his chest as if he expected us to remember them by heart or something.
“Bartender’s choice,” Tomasz said, and Drew seemed pleased.
“Wise choice. Two Hellabaloos coming right up.” He turned his back and walked down the bar before I could ask what the hell a Hellabaloo was, but I wasn’t about to complain.
Especially when he supplied us with nuts and crudités while he fixed our drinks.
“So what’s the plan for you and H? Are you thinking of permanently moving here or…” Tomasz pointed downward, and I didn’t have the heart to tell him he was pointing the wrong way.
“I don’t think so. Well, I’m keeping my business, that’s for sure. But I probably don’t need to work my ass off anymore, all things considered.”
Hades and I had been dividing our time between the two worlds, trying to make arrangements so we didn’t have to work ourselves to the ground, but I gravitated more toward Earth.
That was where my moms were, where my friends were, and my parlor. It might not be much in the grand scheme of things, but it took dying to realize that was all one needed.
“That’s fair. I’m also thinking of cutting down my hours here. But don’t tell Caleb. I haven’t broken it to him yet.”
I flicked a slice of pickled cucumber into my mouth and looked at my friend.
“I thought you liked it here.” I put my hand down to grab another but found a glass in my way. A big tumbler that shimmered black and red, fire around the rim. “What the?—”
Tomasz stared at his own glass, and we both raised them in confusion.
“Enjoy,” Drew said, standing in front of us all casual. He winked and raised his own glass.
I may be a god now, but there was no getting used to a time-stopping witch who was so blasé about using his powers on others. And to do his job, apparently. I didn’t even want to think about all the things he could do without anyone knowing.
I just hope he’s not a psycho.
“Cheers,” he said.
We toasted our glasses, and I put the rim to my lips. It tasted syrupy-sweet and fruity, like bubblegum, but when the dark liquid hit my tongue, I winced.
It was strong and smoky, yet somehow perfectly complemented the sweetened rim.
“That’s one hell of a drink.” I put the glass down with a shudder, already feeling its effect on my fuzzy head.
“Aptly named,” Tomasz agreed and slammed his empty tumbler down.
“You know, just because you’re Polish doesn’t mean you have to drink like one,” I told him.
Drew pointed at me and agreed.
“Exactly. My cocktails are meant to be savored, not downed, brute boy. Sweet, brute boy.”
Tomasz huffed.
“Drew, seriously. Do you want your ass blown to pieces?” Before Drew could answer, his grin already telling, Tomasz added. “You know our boyfriends are demons, right?”
“Gods,” I corrected.
I knew the terms were interchangeable and, frankly, meaningless, but I didn’t like the connotations of the word demon.
Although, I was pretty sure Loki preferred it the other way around. On par for the course for the god of chaos.
“Gods, demons, whatever. They can get rid of you without lifting a single finger. You know how dangerous they are…”
“And what they’ll do,” I remarked.
“…to keep us safe.”
I knew Tomasz wasn’t really phased by Drew’s incessant advances and that, most of the time, he was only joking anyway, but he looked dead serious. As if he was trying to protect the young man.
And who could blame him.
If Loki heard Drew was still hitting on Tomasz, he’d take his head off, and Drew wouldn’t even know it.
Drew bit his lip and glided his finger around his cocktail tumbler.
“Safe. Pfft. Lucky bastards,” he said.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked.
It was so out of left field it took me by surprise. I had expected him to back off and apologize for the gazillionth time.
Drew shrugged.
“What you heard. You’re fortunate your demons are trying to protect you. Not everyone’s so lucky. I wish I had a demon, god, or whatever to save me.”
Tomasz glanced at me and turned back to Drew.
“Drew? What do you need saving from?” he asked as Drew’s eyes widened and he stepped back. As if he’d seen a ghost. Or remembered something grim.
“Drew?” I asked.
I examined the bar around us for any wandering spirits, but naturally, there weren’t any.
“Forget about it,” he said and laughed, picking up Tomasz’s and his glass as if nothing had happened.
“Drew!” Tomasz shouted when the other man tried to walk away.
Drew stopped, face darkening, and grit his teeth.
“Do me a favor and forget about it,” he whispered.
Tomasz turned to me before he looked back at Drew.
“Drew, do you need help? Maybe we can?—”
“No!” he answered. “You don’t want to get mixed up in this. Trust me.”
He turned his back on us again.
“There’s another option. And I’m sure whatever’s wrong, she can help you find the appropriate…help.”