Chapter 21 Hades
Hades
Zeus stands in my penthouse like he owns it, and every instinct I have screams to rip his throat out. I am in no fucking mood to deal with him this evening.
"What the fuck are you doing here?" I don't bother with pleasantries. We're past that. We've been past that for two thousand years.
"Visiting my brother." Zeus's smile is sharp, calculating. "Is that not allowed?" He glances at Poseidon, who also gives him a glare. "Especially since you both appear to be meeting behind my back."
Poseidon snorts. "Not everything is about you." He leans against the wall, pretending to be nonchalant. "Get your head out of your ass."
"Explain your presence. We have an agreement." One that harkens back to the beginning of the fade, and one we've stuck to. We do not encroach on each other's territories. Ever.
His eyes slide to Ophelia, assessing, and my shadows pulse with warning. His brow raises as he takes note.
"Thought you might like to know that I met with Mother Callista," he says, his tone conversational. Like he's discussing the weather.
The tension thickens.
"Before the attack. A shame to hear about the expansion — that's going to be very pricey." Zeus examines his cufflinks. "Interesting woman. Very dedicated to her cause."
Rage floods through me. "You met with her before the attack? You knew—"
He waves me off, walking to the bar cart I keep nearby. "I knew nothing about any attack." His interruption is smooth, practiced. "Our meeting was... informational. I wanted to understand her goals." He pours himself a drink, closing his eyes in delight as he takes a sip of my expensive alcohol.
I wish I'd fucking poisoned it, so I could at least watch the dickhead choke.
"You always buy the best," he says, lifting his glass. "What year is this?"
"Get to the point," Hecate snaps. "We are under siege."
Zeus snorts. "Hardly. Though, I did learn something interesting.
" His attention returns to Ophelia, and I move instinctively, putting myself slightly between them.
I do not want him looking at her. Not for even a second.
"Demeter isn't just influencing Callista.
She's manifesting through her. Her consciousness, her will—they're taking over.
Callista is becoming less herself and more. .. the Mother."
"That's not possible," Poseidon says. "Demeter faded. She's gone with the others."
"Is she?" Zeus tilts his head. "We don't know what happened when our brothers and sister faded."
My chest tightens. We don't know, but I know more than I've let on when it comes to Demeter.
"Is that why she's after me?" Ophelia's voice cuts through, desperate and angry. We all turn our attention to her. "Because she wants her daughter back?"
Zeus's smile widens, and I know — I know — he's about to say something I don't want him to say.
I move forward, shadows rising. "Zeus—"
He glances at Ophelia, then at me, his silver eyes full of mirth, and I know I've damned myself by not telling Ophelia the truth.
"She doesn't know, does she?" He looks at me, his expression delighted. "Oh, brother. You didn't tell her?"
Ophelia's eyes grow large. "Tell me what."
Zeus laughs.
"Don't." My voice carries warning, carries threat, carries two thousand years of barely contained hatred.
He ignores me. Of course he ignores me. Zeus is not scared of me, even when he should be.
"She wants her body back," Zeus says, his attention returning to Ophelia.
"Her true form. Her power. Callista is just a vessel, temporary and weak.
But you—" He gestures at her. "You carry her bloodline.
Her essence. Her divine spark. With the right catalyst, she could be fully reborn.
Not as a shade possessing a mortal, but as herself. A goddess with all her former power."
"The prophecy," Hecate says quietly. "Even though she can manifest, she wants her true form back."
"Precisely." Zeus nods.
"And how the hell am I supposed to help her do that? Grow her a new body?" Ophelia's voice is laced with sarcasm, which means she's angry. She gets defensive when her anger grows. "Newsflash, my powers suck."
Zeus rolls his eyes, and I take a step forward.
"Zeus—"
"No power required, little Maiden. Just a child."
"Wha—"
I'm moving before conscious thought, shadows exploding around me, reaching for Zeus's throat.
He laughs and moves quickly, just out of my reach. "Mother Callista wants us to fuck. She thinks that our combined essences will bring Demeter back. And then, everyone else."
I roar, throwing shadows at Zeus. He's expecting it and slams lightning into my shadows.
We're suddenly locked in a battle of wills. Divine power against divine power.
"Hades, stop!" Hecate shouts.
But I can't stop. Because he's telling her. He's explaining the prophecy. He's revealing what I've been trying to keep hidden.
What I've been trying to protect her from knowing.
"The Maiden would be sacrificed, obviously," he laughs. "Some mother you've got."
He pushes me back, and our powers disengage. We both breathe heavily.
"You're talking about rape," Ophelia says, and her voice is hollow. Empty. I turn to look at her, devastated by the lack of spark in her eyes. "She wants you to rape me."
"It wouldn't be rape if you consented," Zeus says, chuckling.
I move toward him, but Ophelia grabs me. Her grip is firm, and her nails, now talons, sink into my flesh.
Zeus keeps going, clearly enjoying this. "Callista meant to raise you. It would have been easier that way. You would have been indoctrinated to see this as a grand honor."
"An honor?" she repeats. "What about being a fucking broodmare is honorable."
He shrugs. "Beats me. But she just couldn't stop going on about the sanctity of sacrifice."
Ophelia is pale. Even Hecate and Poseidon look put out.
"What would happen?" Hecate asks.
"Hecate—" I warn.
She ignores me. "What would happen if Ophelia was captured and…" She looks green.
"All of her divine energy would flow into your mother. Modern medicine means they'd be able to keep your body alive, but your soul, your spark… it would be gone."
Ophelia makes a sound like she's been gutted.
I see it happen — the moment she understands. The moment the full horror of what they want crashes over her.
She'd die.
They'd use her body, force her to conceive, drain her essence into a child, and then let her die.
"That's why I'm here, actually," Zeus continues, though I'm only partially listening. Ophelia has retracted her claws, and I'm watching as she slowly breaks down. It's quiet, which terrifies me. "To end this before it becomes a problem."
He moves.
Not toward me.
Toward her.
Lightning crackles around his hands, building, intensifying, and I see the intent in his eyes.
He's going to kill her.
Right here. Right now.
"NO!"
I throw everything I have at him — every shadow, every ounce of death magic, every drop of power I've accumulated over millennia. The impact sends him stumbling back, but he's Zeus. The King of Gods, and it doesn't take him long to recover.
And that's when it happens.
Vines explode from the seed still sitting on the coffee table.
Not small vines. Not delicate growth.
Massive, thick ropes of living plant that surge toward Zeus with terrifying speed. They wrap around him — arms, legs, torso — and thorns as long as daggers dig into his flesh.
He grunts in pain, struggling against the restraints.
And standing there, her hand outstretched, her eyes blazing with power and fury, is Ophelia.
No — Persephone. The Goddess of Spring alive in the wrath of betrayal.
"Fuck. Off." Her voice is cold. Final.
Zeus starts laughing.
"Well," he says, blood seeping from where the thorns have pierced his skin, "kittens got claws." He groans as he rips his arm from her vines, the thorns tearing his flesh into ribbons. "Or rather, thorns." He starts to crackle. "The mortals have a song about that, don't they?"
"Zeus." My voice is lethal. "Leave. Now."
"Why would I do that?" He plays with the vines, testing the remaining ones. "When I came here specifically to eliminate the problem?"
"She's not a problem," Poseidon says, and there's warning in his tone now. "She's family. We protect one another."
"She's a threat." Zeus's eyes fix on Ophelia. "A vessel waiting to be filled. A prophecy waiting to be fulfilled. And I, for one, have no interest in seeing Demeter return. No interest in competing with yet another power-hungry deity who thinks they deserve worship."
"Then help us stop Callista," Hecate implores. "Which in turn stops Demeter."
Zeus's smile is cruel. "Better to eliminate the Maiden entirely. No Maiden, no prophecy. No prophecy, no Demeter. Simple."
"You'd murder her to avoid inconvenience?" I can barely force the words out through my rage. "You'd damn yourself?"
"I'd murder her to maintain order." He meets my gaze. "Surely you understand, brother. You're the God of Death. You know sometimes sacrifices are necessary for the greater good."
"The greater good?" Ophelia's voice cracks. "I'm a person. Not a sacrifice. Not a vessel. Not—" She stops, and the blood drains completely from her face. She turns to me, recrimination in her eyes. "You knew."
The accusation hits like a physical blow.
"Ophelia—" I reach for her, but she presses back.
"You knew." Her eyes are filling with tears. "You knew what the prophecy meant. You knew they wanted to force me—" She can't finish. Can't say it. She gags. "You slept with me. Came inside of me…"
Zeus laughs. "Guess that's one way to stop it, for nine months, at least."
I ignore him, though I can see he's slowly breaking out of the vines. It won't be long before he's a threat once more.
"I was trying to protect you—"
"By lying?" She laughs, but it's broken. "By playing me?"
"It wasn't like that—"
"Then what was it like, Hades?" She takes a step back, and the vines around Zeus loosen slightly. Her power is weakening, and the fight drains out of her. "Tell me. Explain how you weren't using me just like everyone else."
I don't have an answer.
Because the truth is, I did lie. By omission, by misdirection, by carefully avoiding the full explanation of what Demeter's cult wanted.
And I have no explanation for it.
Zeus laughs, shaking off the rest of the vines. "Oh, this is delicious. The great Hades, God of Death, keeper of oaths and contracts, and you didn't tell her the most important truth of all."
"Shut up," I snarl.
"Why should I?" His grin is vicious. "This is the most entertainment I've had in decades.
Watching you squirm. Watching her realize you've been lying since the beginning.
" He pauses. "Though I suppose I should clarify — I have no intention of fulfilling the prophecy myself.
I sired enough whelps back in my prime. I certainly don't need to add a Demeter vessel to the collection. "
"How generous," Ophelia says flatly.
"I thought so." Zeus cackles again. "Let me finish what I've started, and we can all move on."
"You're not touching her." My shadows pulse with lethal intent.
"Then we have a problem." Lightning builds around Zeus again. "Because I'm not leaving until the threat is eliminated."
He moves.
Even bloody, even weakened, he manages to surge forward, lightning exploding outward.
The vines burn to a crisp.
Ophelia cries out from the surge of pain.
And I lose any remaining control.
I hit Zeus with everything I have. Not shadows this time. Not death magic.
Pure, primal rage.
We crash together, and the penthouse explodes into chaos. Lightning meets shadow. Death meets sky. Two gods, two brothers, locked in combat that's been brewing for millennia.
I hear Hecate shouting. Poseidon trying to intervene. But I don't care.
All I care about is stopping Zeus.
Stopping him from hurting her.
Stopping him from taking her from me.
Again.
His fist connects with my jaw, and I taste blood. I return the favor, my shadows wrapping around his throat, squeezing.
"Enough!" Hecate's magic slams into both of us, forcing us apart.
Poseidon is there instantly, his power joining Hecate's, creating a barrier between Zeus and me.
"Both of you, stop!" Poseidon's voice carries a command I rarely hear from him. "This solves nothing!"
I'm breathing hard, my knuckles bloody, my rage still singing through my veins.
Zeus looks barely winded, but I see the marks where my shadows caught him. The places where death touched the King of Gods.
"She's not worth this," Zeus says, straightening his suit. "She's a mortal with delusions of divinity. Let me end her, and we can go back to—"
"She's gone."
Hecate's voice cuts through everything.
We all turn.
The vines are still there, now limp and dying without Ophelia's power sustaining them.
But Ophelia herself?
Gone.
I spin, searching the room. The bedroom. The bathroom. Every space in the penthouse.
Nothing.
"Ophelia!" I call out, my voice raw.
I reach for the red string of fate, the one that connects us. It's not there.
Ophelia is missing.
Gone.
I've lost her — again.