Knotted Myths (Netherworld Fae #3)

Chapter 1

Hades

In the Labyrinth…

This is impossible.

Serapina should be a writhing mess of need. Begging to be touched. Stroked. Knotted.

Yet she’s staring up at me with clear blue eyes.

And uttering words that I’m… I’m struggling to understand.

“Persephone didn’t betray you,” she claimed moments ago. “She tried to crawl her way back to you. Delos was there to help. But Demeter was too strong.”

The image those statements conjure sends a dagger through my heart.

Persephone crawling… I can picture her long, dark hair dragging along the ground, her brown eyes glowing as she demurely smiles up at me.

It’s a position I used to enjoy.

One she liked, too.

Only now, it feels wrong. And not just because of the context underlying Serapina’s words.

The visual shifts in my mind to the blonde cradled in my lap, her delicate features replacing the memory and morphing it into a fantasy.

Because I long to see her on her knees.

Beckoning me with her eyes.

But not under the circumstances she just mentioned.

It’s confusing. Debilitating. Infuriating.

However, she continues speaking before I can comment.

“I remember everything,” she confesses, stealing the breath right out of my lungs. “And I think I know how to find the other Omegas.”

I study her, torn between demanding more information and questioning whether or not this has all been a game. A twisted fate. A fucked-up ruse.

Except all I find is a mix of anger and intent in her alluring eyes.

“She somehow used your power,” Serapina adds, her focus on me.

“Demeter, I mean. I… I’m trying to understand how it worked.

But I think that’s the key to locating the others.

Persephone manifested life, yet her link to you—to your ability to resurrect—allowed her to form a unique state of existence. Or…”

Her brow furrows as she trails off.

I say nothing, waiting. Thinking. Spiraling.

Because my mind is spinning with truths. Curiosities. Fears.

If Persephone is lying now—

No. I cut off the thought before it can complete itself.

This is Serapina. She’s not Persephone. She’s…

I struggle with how to finish that last line, my history mingling with the present. Knowledge interfering with hopes. Past agony threatening to unravel every delicate emotion inside me.

I need to understand what’s happening here. What Serapina truly knows. Otherwise… otherwise, I’ll give in to my fears.

That I’ve been tricked.

That Persephone has chosen now to reveal her true plans.

To show she’s a queen in this long game of dreadful chess.

Fuck…

“Or, I think, Demeter used that gift to create that plane,” Serapina continues, her voice lowering to a whisper.

I study her features as she seems to look inward, her gaze taking on a strange glint.

This isn’t an act, I tell myself, needing to believe it.

Only there isn’t anything to believe.

Because the truth is right in front of me as Serapina shudders at whatever she sees in her mind. She’s reacting to my mate’s memories, seeing things I’ve longed to understand for millennia.

“That’s where Demeter imprisoned the Omega souls.

” She blinks, her frown deepening. “It’s…

it’s how she releases them. How she re-creates life forms. Like mine.

Like Alina’s. Except I’m different. I… I remember.

Because the power exists in my soul. That’s why it has to remain whole.

If it doesn’t, I think the plane will shatter. ”

I give in to the urge to touch her, my need to soothe her overriding every other instinct.

She’s scared.

Furious.

Upset.

It’s on the tip of my tongue to say “Enough.” Because she doesn’t deserve this torment. The past isn’t hers to own. To understand. To share.

But Maliki speaks before I can utter a sound, his voice rough with an emotion that momentarily distracts me. “How do you suddenly know all of this?”

The quiver underlying his tone is unlike anything I’ve ever heard from my best friend.

He’s concerned.

“I don’t know… I saw everything when Demeter tried to pull me from this maze, back to that place of stillness—the plane where she holds the Omega souls hostage. But my ties to you…” She looks at Maliki and then at Morpheus and me. “My ties to all of you… helped me find my way back here.”

I swallow.

We found her lifeless form in the heart of the labyrinth not even twenty minutes ago. Maliki discovered her first, his growl one that reverberated through every inch of my being as I materialized by his side with Morpheus hot on my tail.

The three of us fell to the ground, gathering up our mate, eager to begin a rut. Only to freeze upon realizing she was lost to a comatose state.

Except, a beat later, she opened her eyes in a miraculous breath and began to speak.

Her words still echo around us now.

Revealing a truth I’m struggling to comprehend.

One that leaves me speechless.

Our Omega hunt began on a wave of feral excitement, the heat of it still simmering inside me now. Yet ice coats every inch of my being, threatening to freeze me from the inside out.

“Maliki’s mark,” Morpheus says, his comment so unexpected that I look at him. “That’s what anchored you to your corporeal form.” I follow his movements as he lifts a hand to brush his finger along the crescent claim etched into her shoulder.

“What do you mean?” Serapina asks him.

“His claim is real. Visceral. Here.” Morpheus continues to stroke the healed bite mark, his tone almost reverent. “Whatever power Demeter has over your soul must have been momentarily disrupted by his tether, which is why you were able to follow that strand back to us.”

I stare at him for a beat, analyzing his train of thought.

I felt my Omega leave, her soul vanishing from existence just like all those eons ago in our home realm. Only, her body remained behind this time, something that didn’t happen back then.

Persephone vanished and never returned.

Yet Serapina is very much here.

And still utterly human.

Except, she has a hold on Persephone’s memories now. They haunt her pretty eyes, making my heart ache with a renewed sensation of loss. And guilt.

Persephone—the love that I once knew—is gone. Forever. That much is abundantly clear. Her soul remained intact, as did her memories, but the entity that once held her Omega form didn’t survive.

“She tried to crawl her way back to you…”

I close my eyes, wincing as a jolt of longing pierces my heart. I’ll never see her again.

However, that realization is quickly chased by an unexpected emotion. One that has my eyes opening once more and locking on Serapina as my heart skips a beat.

Because the sensation I feel now is light. A breath of fresh air. A weight leaving my shoulders.

Relief.

Because Serapina is still here. She’s alive. She’s safe. She’s with us.

And Persephone’s essence simply lives inside her as a distant memory, not a true entity.

Serapina won’t be erased…

It’s a realization that has me inhaling sharply, almost as though I’m finally able to breathe.

I suddenly understand Maliki’s previous concern. He worried that Serapina knew all of this because Persephone had taken over.

It’s a comprehension I confirm when I note the calmness of his features, so at odds with the quivering note of his tone moments ago.

I palm Serapina’s face, needing to see her eyes, to confirm again that she’s still her, not Persephone.

Uncertainty colors her pretty irises, stabbing me in the chest for a completely different reason. She doesn’t trust me. Not yet.

“Ask me anything,” she tells me. “I can… I can search for answers. For you.”

Fuck. She thinks I want to prioritize the past over our present.

I can’t even fault her for that assumption, not after everything we’ve been through.

But rather than tell her that, I decide to show her how I feel by asking something that truly matters. A question I need an answer to.

Because the response may help us save Serapina’s life.

“Can you remember anything about your time with Demeter?” I ask. “Anything that can help us determine why you’re not in heat right now?”

As far as I’m concerned, these details are what we need right now—details to help us reunite Serapina with her soul.

Not Persephone’s spirit, but Serapina’s inner Omega.

We need her to be whole, to ensure our Goddess is strong enough to face the future.

The past will need to wait.

For now.

“Before you make an assumption, I want to add that Hades isn’t asking this because he’s eager to knot you, sweetheart,” Morpheus interjects, his words making my lips curl down.

He’s wrong.

I’m absolutely eager to knot my mate.

Though, yes, that’s also not why I asked. “She’s human again,” I tell him. “That can’t be good for her soul.”

“Yes, I agree,” he replies, looking at her, not at me. “And Hades is also not saying that because he only cares about Persephone’s soul. He’s saying that because he cares about your soul, Serapina.”

“I can speak for myself, Cousin,” I say, irritated now by his interruptions.

“Then speak more clearly, Cousin,” he returns, giving me a look. “Tell Serapina why you’re asking these questions.”

“He’s right,” Maliki murmurs. “You need to be clear right now, Hades. Not issue demands or questions. But tell her how you feel.”

I stare at both men, then down at Serapina.

“You don’t need to explain anything,” she tells me, sounding tired. “I understand you want your mate back. But I’m not sure how to help. I… I don’t remember much of Demeter outside of your mate’s memories. Unless you mean something that Demeter did to Persephone?”

My brow creases, and I look at Maliki again.

His expression goes flat. “If I need to explain this to you, we’re going to have a problem.”

My jaw ticks. “I’m not deaf, Maliki. Nor am I blind.” Because yeah, I get what’s happened here. Serapina sees Persephone as my mate. Not Serapina herself. But her soul.

Because I’ve not made it clear to this female that I want her, and not just because of her Omega spirit.

“Now is a good time to prove that,” my best friend drawls. “My lord.”

“Fuck you,” I mutter under my breath.

“It’s fine,” Serapina whispers. “As I said, I understand. And I already told you that I’m willing to do whatever is needed to…

to help. However, Persephone didn’t hurt those Omegas.

Not intentionally. Demeter did. But I realize you need my soul—Persephone’s, I mean—to help unravel what’s been done. So. I… I accept that.”

“I don’t,” I bite out. “I don’t accept that at all.”

“Neither do I,” Morpheus all but growls.

However, I hold up a hand before he can say more. “This is my issue to address, Cousin.”

“Then address it.” His blue-green eyes swirl with fury as he glares at me. And Maliki’s eyes glitter with a similar shade of violence, too.

It seems I’ve failed not only our mate but our entire circle as well.

Sighing, I move my hand to Serapina’s nape and run my thumb along the column of her throat. This isn’t going to be easy to fix. But I’m going to try.

“I think it’s time to show you the changes I’ve made to the labyrinth,” I tell her.

“But first, you’re going to need some clothes.

So how about you head back to the cabin with Maliki, take a calming bath, and then dress for an evening out?

I’ll be back to pick you up in a few hours for a proper tour. ”

“And where will you be going in the interim?” Maliki asks.

“A better question—where will I be in the interim?” Morpheus interjects.

“With me,” I answer my cousin. “I think it’s time we visit Ares—together.”

Because I want access to his infamous prison.

So I can meet with Demeter.

Personally.