Chapter 40 Sera
Sera
I blink, the flickering blue candlelight confusing to my senses.
Where am I? I wonder, taking in the dark decor of the bedroom around me. Black silk. Bedposts decorated with skulls. A balcony that overlooks twin moons…
This isn’t where I was moments ago.
What happened to the cavern? The death pits?
I roll onto my back and stare up into a pair of beautiful blue-green eyes.
“Hello, little dreamer,” Morpheus murmurs, a glass of something clear in his hand. He’s sitting beside me on the bed, wearing nothing but a pair of gray sweatpants. “Welcome back to the land of the living.”
A snort sounds to my right, drawing my gaze to Maliki, who is seated on my opposite side with one leg bent upward to support his arm. “We’re in the Netherworld Kingdom. So, technically, this is the land of the dead.”
“True,” Morpheus agrees. “It’s a figure of speech, which I hear you’re a fan of, especially if they’re humanisms.”
Maliki rolls his eyes. “You’ve been talking to Hades too much.”
“Indeed.” The deep voice comes from the foot of the bed, where Hades is standing. He brings a wine glass up to his lips for a drink, his dark eyes holding mine. Then he cants his head. “How are you feeling, Serapina?”
I gape at him, then look at Maliki once more, and Morpheus, too. “I… I don’t understand.” I refocus on Hades. “How long was I out?”
The God of Death holds my gaze, his expression intense. “A week.”
My eyes widen even more. “A week?” I sit up and run my hands over my body, then note the gold gown I’m wearing. It’s silky and a bit sexy. But it’s what I find beneath the gown that I find most interesting. A pulsing life in my belly.
My shoulders fall and I close my eyes, relieved to find that everything is as it should be.
But I was out for a week?
“That doesn’t make any sense,” I whisper. “It felt like minutes.”
“You created a world, darling Goddess.” The weight on the bed shifts, suggesting Hades has either sat down or placed a knee on the mattress. “That takes supreme effort and intense skill. Not to mention what you did to Demeter…”
My brow furrows. “To Demeter…?” I try to remember, to recall the execution of my plan.
I… I said goodbye to the past.
By releasing an anchor.
Persephone.
However, I don’t remember what happened after that.
I shake my head. “All I did was free Persephone’s entity… or part of it, anyway.” Because, technically, her soul is still within me. Only, it’s no longer burdened with the memories of a past life.
Which is very strange.
Because I… I remember certain events that I sifted through before, such as experiences that helped me better understand Hades as well as my general situation.
But the only recollections I possess are officially my own. And the memories of Persephone that I recall… are from my point of view of hearing them, not from her mind.
She’s gone.
I’m both grateful for and saddened by that fact.
Hades… My eyes open, and I find him sitting on the bed now, close to my legs, his expression intense.
Yes? he responds into my mind, no doubt hearing me say his name.
Persephone’s gone.
I know.
Are you…? Stars, I’m not sure I can even ask.
He arches a brow. Am I…?
Are you okay? I force out, suddenly very afraid that I misunderstood his permission before.
Which is asinine.
We were one as we began creating that plane. He was in my mind, and I was in his, our powers melding, our lives mingling, our souls rejoicing.
But I still… I have to know…
“Maliki,” Hades murmurs, holding out his drink. “Set this on the nightstand, please. I’m going to need both hands for this.”
“As you wish, my lord,” Maliki replies, earning him a dark glance from Hades as he passes off the glass. Maliki merely seems amused as he sets the drink down, his golden gaze challenging as he stares back at Hades.
The God of Death narrows his eyes even more. “Be a good subordinate and take off our mate’s dress.”
“Shouldn’t we explain what’s happened first?” Morpheus interjects. “Particularly to Demeter, since Serapina seems to be unaware of her current state?”
“When you dismantled the anchor—by sending Persephone on—you also destroyed Demeter’s connection to reality,” Hades summarizes, his focus on me once more. “She essentially… fractured.”
I frown. “So all the power imploded?” I attempt to translate. “Like, inside of her?”
He considers me for a moment, then reaches out to cup my jaw and pulls me toward him.
I go because I… I want to be near him.
And when he lightly kisses me, I kiss him back.
“Most of her essence—her Alpha energy—was inside that plane,” he tells me, his palm sliding to my cheek. “So when you destroyed it, you destroyed her.”
“But she’s immortal…”
“Mmm,” he hums, agreeing with me. “An immortal who mastered the art of removing Mythos Fae Omega souls before placing them in another plane. A fascinating piece of knowledge that we officially possess.”
I hear it in his mind now—that knowledge he speaks of.
“You used that information to liberate her soul,” I realize, tracing his thoughts. “And sent her on to be resurrected.” Because her soul is immortal and she therefore can’t die. But she could be given a second chance… in another form. In another life. Without her memories.
The way all the Omegas have been reborn or will be reborn.
“That’s a fitting punishment,” I decide out loud.
“I was only able to accomplish it because you weakened her,” he tells me. “And the idea came from your mind—to let go of the past. The best way to do that was to force her soul into a resurrection cycle. She’ll never know who she once was, or anyone else for that matter.”
“Unless she had a fated mate,” Morpheus murmurs.
“Well, yes, that. But with all the Omegas being reborn, too…” Hades shrugs. “There are a lot of second chances in our future.” He runs his thumb along my bottom lip. “Including ours.” He kisses me again, this time with more passion, his mind syncing with mine.
You asked if I’m okay, he whispers gently into my head.
I’m more than okay, Serapina. I’m ecstatic.
I’m proud. I’m so fucking in love that I can hardly breathe.
His tongue enters my mouth. And all I’ve wanted to do for seven very long days is ravage my mate.
My equal. My Omega. So yes, my heart, I’m very fucking okay.
Tears prick my eyes, his words going straight into my chest. In love?
He chuckles and pulls back a bit. “I think it’s safe to say that we’re all very much in love with you, Serapina.”
“After that display of Goddess power?” Maliki asks. “Love is a weak word for how I feel.”
“Enamored?” Morpheus suggests. “Enchanted? Enslaved?”
“Are you trying to be alliterative?”
“Just suggesting words, Enforcer,” Morpheus replies. “Obsessed? Possessed? Utterly infatuated?”
“Fucking hard and wanting to claim?” Hades inserts. “Or are you going to keep chatting?”
“I do love to talk,” Morpheus murmurs. “And if memory serves, our Serapina likes my dirty words.”
My cheeks begin to heat.
“Oh, but we should probably feed her first,” Morpheus adds, causing me to slowly glance back at him.
“I do not want food,” I tell him, the words enunciated clearly for his—and Maliki’s—benefit.
“You were asleep for seven days,” Morpheus reminds me.
“I’m also apparently an immortal Goddess now,” I return. “Therefore, I don’t need food.”
“The baby might,” Maliki says.
His words actually do give me pause.
But as I evaluate myself—and the beautiful life inside me—I realize I meant my words. “The baby and I feel fine.”
“Then you were right,” Morpheus muses, causing me to frown.
However, his words don’t appear to be directed at me, but at Hades. “I usually am,” the God of Death informs him.
“About what?” I ask, wanting to understand.
“We all fed you energy while you slept,” he tells me. “I said it would be enough to sate you and ensure you woke up ready to be claimed.”
“Claimed?” I echo, confused. “But I’ve already been claimed.”
“By our bites,” he agrees. “Yes.” His dark eyes glitter with intent. “However, mating bonds inspire a fever-like need to rut—which we’ve tamed for the last seven days. So, now you’ll be claimed by our beasts.”
“For hours,” Morpheus informs me. “Maybe even days.”
“Definitely days,” Maliki says, his palm roaming up my arm to my shoulder. “You gave me a task, my lord. Shall I proceed?”
“A good subordinate wouldn’t need to ask,” Hades replies.
Maliki smiles, his attention entirely on me. “May I remove your dress, Sera?”
I glance down at the silky gold fabric. “I’m not the one who put this on.”
“No, I did that,” Morpheus murmurs. “After bathing you earlier.”
“We took turns caring for you while you slept,” Maliki explains before placing a kiss against my bare shoulder, his lips an inch away from the thin strap of my gown. “It seems Morpheus favors dressing you in gold. I personally find pale rose to be a beautiful color against your skin.”
I lock gazes with Hades. “And you?”
“I prefer you naked,” he says, utterly unapologetic.
My lips curl. “Then Maliki should probably take off my dress.”
“That is what I recommended, yes,” Hades murmurs before leaning in to take my mouth again in a heated kiss. His hand moves to my hair, knotting with my strands as he angles my head in the way he prefers.
I sink into him, loving the way he dominates me with his tongue.
Loving even more that Maliki’s hand has gently knocked the strap off one of my shoulders.
But it’s Morpheus who pulls the other strap down, thus taking some of my gown along with it to expose my breasts.
Hades growls, the sound hungry against my mouth.
He’s wearing far too many clothes—a black button-down shirt and pants. Stars, he even has shoes on still.
Actually, all of my mates are overdressed.
It’s something I fully intend to fix, except Morpheus’s mouth against my nipple distracts me from my intentions.
Then Maliki joins on the opposite breast, and I… Oh.
Oh, stars…
All three of them have their mouths on me, kissing me, licking me, sucking… I swallow, unable to think. Only feel. It’s… it’s intense.
I…
“We’re going to worship you,” Hades promises against my mouth. “Show you what it means to be our Goddess. Then you’re going to take all of us together. And we’re going to introduce you to the future, mate.”
“A future filled with pleasure,” Morpheus murmurs.
“Tenderness,” Maliki adds.
“And love,” Hades whispers. “You’re the heart of our existence now, Serapina. Always.”
Morpheus’s mouth travels up to my neck, his lips hot against my throbbing pulse. “The center of our circle.”
“Our very own queen.” Maliki sinks his teeth into my nipple, causing me to gasp against Hades’s mouth. “Now lie down on the bed so we can pledge our fealty, Goddess Sera.”
Hades chuckles. “Yes, be a good girl and do as our Enforcer says.”
Morpheus nibbles my earlobe, his palm against my belly as he guides me back. “We’re about to make every dream a reality.”
“Meet every desire and introduce you to new heights,” Hades adds.
“And send you to the fucking stars…” Maliki says, his gold eyes smiling down at me. The world is reflected in that gaze. A world I want to fall headfirst into. A world… that’s all mine.
Because I’m finally the woman I’ve longed to become.
Sera.
An Omega.
A Goddess.
Surrounded by three strong, beautiful mates.
My very own circle of fae.
Existing in a present I no longer fear. Because, for the first time in my life, my future is being crafted by my own choices.
I chose them.
And I choose this.
My mates. My circle. My life…