Chapter 20 #2
“I told you she was fine,” Hades mutters.
“Like I would ever take your word for it,” my sister spits at him.
Hades merely sighs in response, his defeat palpable.
Which… which irritates me. Because he doesn’t deserve to feel that way.
Or maybe he does.
But I will be the one to exact judgment here. No one else.
“Please don’t speak to Hades that way, Alina,” I say quietly. It’s not a snap or a command, just a stern request. One I follow up with “Hades is my mate. If I’m upset with him, he’ll know it. So I don’t need you to castigate him on my behalf.”
Her dark eyes—so very different from my own—widen. “I…” She glances between us. “But he…”
“I realize his methods haven’t been the easiest to understand or accept. However, I have faith in his intentions. Because I trust him.”
Maybe that’s naive after everything we’ve experienced together.
Or maybe I’ve forgiven him too easily.
But my instincts are all urging me to move forward, not backward. Persephone’s memories provide perspective, too. And Hades has explained himself in a way that helps me understand our situation.
He might not be my mate in the same way as Morpheus and Maliki are now, but our souls are still intertwined. I accept that, just as I accept him.
His purr ignites in his chest, the rhythm different from the soothing rumble from before. This reverberation has a unique cadence to it, one that almost sounds… pleased.
Startled, I meet Hades’s gaze and find him smiling down at me.
And then he’s kissing me.
It happens so quickly that I don’t even have a chance to breathe.
But I don’t really need to. Hades gives me all the oxygen I need, his presence a lifeline I cling to as he pulls me flush against him.
“Um.” Alina clears her throat. “We should probably, er, go…”
“Yeah,” Flame replies. “Yeah, we should.”
Hades releases me almost as quickly as he grabbed me, his eyes holding mine. “Did you want to talk more with your sister?”
I blink, a little dazed. “I…”
“It’s okay,” Alina says. “You two seem like you, uh, need some alone time?” She glances around, her brow furrowing. “Which I guess I should have realized since you’re near a nesting pit.”
“Breeding Pit,” I correct her without thinking. Then I slap a hand over my mouth as Hades flashes a somewhat amused grin.
“You told her it’s a breeding pit?” my sister demands.
“At least he’s honest,” Flame murmurs.
I release a giggle, one that just seems to come from nowhere and everywhere at once. All of this is… well, it’s a lot. It’s not what I expected my life to be. It’s still like a dream. And I… I’m done trying to fight whatever I was fighting.
This is my world.
It’s Alina’s world.
It’s fate.
Except, it’s also contrived.
Not because of Hades or this labyrinth. But because of Demeter.
And that… that realization has me no longer laughing or smiling.
Thinking about her sends ice shooting through my veins. Because I suddenly remember the plane of nonexistence. The Omegas. The horrible sensation of nothingness.
“Do you remember it at all?” I ask, looking at Alina. “The plane of nonexistence?” I’m not even sure if that’s a formal name or not, but it’s what I call it. “That feeling where you exist without a corporeal form?”
Alina blinks at me. “I… I don’t know what you’re talking about. Do you mean Monsters Night? Like, all the things that happened on the train?”
I shake my head. “No, those were tangible.” They groomed us. Fed us. Prepared us to run. Only I was never given the chance to flee. The Viscount took me into a room, and the rest… the rest is blurry. At least until my sister arrived in that garden.
But that’s not what’s important.
It’s that place. “I’m talking about the plane where the Omegas are being kept. We have to save them.” I look at Hades. “We have to find them.”
Thorns, how could I forget? It’s like I fell into a strange fog the last few days. Or a coma, I guess, since I slept for so long.
“Hades, their souls are being held there in captivity. They can’t feel or speak or even breathe, but their minds…
their essences…” I trail off, struggling to explain.
To understand. “Maybe they’re unaware. Maybe only I feel while there?
Or rather, Persephone, since she has to remain whole. Regardless, we need to find them.”
“We’ll hunt for them,” he tells me, his palm on my cheek. “But we need to solve the mystery surrounding your human mask first.”
“Okay, hold on,” my sister interjects. “There’s a lot of information going back and forth here. I know Orcus and Reaper are in the Monsters Night dimension hunting for clues with Morpheus and Maliki, but they didn’t mention anything about a human mask or a plane of nonexistence.”
Confused, I look at her, but she’s shifted her focus to Flame.
“Morpheus and Maliki are in another dimension?” I repeat, my voice barely audible as my mind tries to connect to my mates.
“Did you know any of that?” Alina asks, her voice only barely registering above my own as I mentally whisper, Maliki? Morpheus?
“Only the human mask part,” Flame replies while my mind remains silent. Too silent. “Nothing about a plane of nonexistence.”
“I think we have a few things to discuss,” Hades says, a note of irritation in his tone. A note I understand because I feel the same way.
You left the labyrinth—this dimension—without so much as a warning? I think at Maliki and Morpheus.
No response.
Not even an inkling of feeling.
I suddenly feel… bereft. Forgotten. Abandoned…
“You tell us what you know about our mates going to another dimension”—Hades utters the words through his teeth—“and we’ll explain the plane of nonexistence.”
Why would you leave without talking to us? I wonder at my mates. Did you hear nothing that I said to Hades? Nothing at all?
Hurt pricks my chest.
Followed by annoyance.
An annoyance that grows as Flame says, “Orcus suggested going to the Monsters Night dimension to search for any hints regarding what Demeter might have done to Sera while in the Nightingale Viscount Manor, or even before that in the village.”
“And he didn’t think to run that notion by me?” Hades inquires, his voice taking on that lethal calmness that tells me he’s furious.
“You were busy with Sera, so he spoke with Morpheus,” Flame replies. “And Morpheus said it would be wise to go as soon as possible.”
Hades arches a brow, his expression one that indicates he does not approve of any of this. It’s a sentiment we share. “And Maliki?” he asks, his tone so quiet that I almost don’t hear him.
“I don’t think he knew what Morpheus intended to do,” Alina informs us, her nose crinkling. “That’s actually why we came looking for you and Sera—we wanted to tell you where they went.”
“I see.” Hades’s arm is like granite around me. “My cousin, the one who favors communication, seems to have forgotten all of his teachings.”
“Pretty sure Maliki felt similarly, as his last words before they disappeared were something along the lines of What in the Styx are you doing?” Flame says. “Or that’s what I overheard from Reaper’s mind—he was amused by Maliki’s surprise.”
Well, that makes me feel mildly better. Not that Maliki was surprised, but that he didn’t leave me on purpose.
But I’m not all that pleased with Morpheus right now. “Why would he not consult us before leaving?”
“I think he wanted to give you and Hades bonding time.” Alina’s expression and voice are slightly contrite. “That’s what Orcus assumed, anyway.”
“Morpheus did mention that he didn’t want to interrupt you and Hades, yeah,” Flame adds. “But when we realized Maliki didn’t know the plan, we thought it might be a good idea to let you know where they went.”
“I thought it would be a good idea,” Alina corrects him. “You said to stay out of it.”
“I suggested we let Morpheus confess his sins to Hades,” Flame murmurs. “Then you mentioned being worried about Sera and how we hadn’t seen her in the maze yet, so it became our idea to venture over here.”
Alina purses her lips. “True.”
Flame flashes her a smile. “I will always do whatever you need me to do, little panther.” He leans in to brush a kiss against her temple, which causes Thea to giggle and reach for my sister.
Alina’s expression melts as she takes her from Flame’s arms. She bumps noses with the little one, then holds her close and starts whispering sweet words to her.
Thea responds with more coos and giggles, the sounds causing Flame to pull them both into a big hug.
“She has them wrapped around her finger,” I muse, loving their familial embrace.
“As she should,” Hades murmurs. “Thea is a miracle.”
“Yes, she is,” my sister agrees, giving Hades a small smile. It’s not a token of love or acceptance, but it’s a gesture I appreciate nonetheless.
Because it shows that she might come around. Perhaps not quickly, but eventually. Which is important since we’re all… family.
Clearing my throat, I look at Hades. “We need to discuss the plane of nonexistence. Those Omegas need us.”
He nods. “They do. But we need to prioritize freeing your inner Omega first, Serapina. I think that’s the key to all of this.”
Frustrated, I nearly sigh.
However, that won’t help or solve anything.
So instead, I face him completely and demand, “Where do we begin?”
His lips curl. “We already have.” He glances upward and then back at me. “We started with the snow. So let’s see what else you can manifest, mate.”