Chapter 27 Hades
HADES
"What do you mean she's gone?" Medusa asked slowly, enunciating each word as she looked at me with those serpent eyes, destroying me piece by piece, because I knew she could see deeper than any of the other immortals on this island. "Gone as in, she's at your house, or—"
"Gone, Medusa," I gritted out. "She ran away," I finally admitted, not just to her but also to myself.
Kaira—my Kaira ran from me the moment she understood the secret I've been keeping from her, and neither I nor Grimm could catch her when she disappeared into the forest and teleported in front of our very eyes.
I failed her.
I failed the woman who held my entire soul in her hands, even if she didn't know it.
My mind had been at war with what my soul wanted from the moment I realized she was a reincarnation of Persephone.
That she was finally here, in front of me, the tendrils of her soul reaching out to me every time we were close to each other, as if it knew the truth even before her mind could catch up.
And then she touched the rotten pieces of my heart, of the disease eating me alive over the centuries, healing the parts of it just by being there.
She had no idea what she did when she connected the tethers of our souls, binding them together as if they never got broken.
She had no idea about the avalanche of emotions that slammed into me the moment they connected and the restraint I had to practice not to take her away right there and then.
I'd been waiting for five millennia for her to come back, clinging to hope when I felt her soul for the first time out there in the world, begging the Universe to send her this way because I could never leave the island.
I could never leave the prison created by her mother.
I stood by over the lifetimes as her soul died a terrible death, taking her away from me, over and over again, until my grip on hope dissipated, pummeling me into a darkness I never wanted to come out of.
But then I saw her in my dreams. I saw her tearstained face and those silver eyes and I prayed with each atom in my body that they were real.
Even if they ended in tragedy. Even if it was just a hopeless dream.
I simply wanted to hold her one more time and tell her how sorry I was.
How desperate I was to change history, because I knew that my time was ticking.
It'd been ticking since the moment Persephone died, and instead of sending me right after her, fate fucked with me one more time, locking me in this eternal prison, unable to follow her. Unable to spend the afterlife with the woman I loved.
And now I had a second chance to do things right, to fix the wrongs and to help her on this journey, I'd failed.
I couldn't feel her anymore. The tether tying us together was a fragile thing, unable to lead me to her, and I had no idea if she was still on the island or if she was able to teleport herself somewhere to the mainland.
The rules of the curse didn't tie her to this place like they did us, but deep down I knew she was still here.
Deep down I feared she was still here, because if I could no longer feel her, there were only two reasons for that—death or Zeus's realm, and I had no idea which option was worse.
"What did you do?" This time it was Alyana, Kaira's aunt, coming at me, the accusation clear in her eyes. "She was already overwhelmed, fragile, she—"
"She figured it out," I said, instead of waiting for another razor blade to cut over my skin, made from her words. "Kaira knows who she is."
Alyana looked at Medusa and then at me, her eyes widening ever so slightly as she realized what I meant. It was not a secret that Alyana and her entire family tended to steer clear from me, but I never knew why. Until I realized she saw who Kaira was even before any of us could catch up.
She knew who she was to me. More than a prophesied killer. More than a woman destined to end this prison. More than a destroyer of Gods.
She knew Kaira was a reincarnation of Persephone and she kept that little fact from me.
I wanted to be angry once I figured it out, when I saw Alyana running toward Kaira, her eyes frantic and her heartbeat skyrocketing when she realized it was me standing there in front of her.
They all knew the story of what happened to Persephone on those very cliffs where I found Kaira, and I couldn't blame her for wanting to protect her niece from me and the fucked-up destiny she was going to be bound to.
But that didn't mean I could forgive easily.
"S-she," Alyana stumbled, catching the edge of the dining table as her entire body trembled. "She knows she's—"
"Yes," I gritted out. "She knows." The whispers in my ears increased, spreading through my mind, pushing ahead yet another headache I couldn't stop. When Persephone died I thought it was my own body shutting down, preparing me for the inevitable death I would've welcomed with open arms.
But destiny was a bitch, an evil mistress, and instead of granting me eternal peace, all I got was eternal suffering, chipping away at my soul piece by piece, until there was nothing left to hold on to.
Until the humanity that lived in me ceased to exist, leaving me as the monster they all thought I would become.
"We had a deal, Hades," Medusa said as I sat down, my knees turning weaker by the second. "We all agreed we would wait. We said we would give her time and—"
"I know!" I roared, fucking tired of always being the bad guy even when I tried doing the right thing.
Exhausted by the world sitting on my shoulders, uncaring if I could carry it or not.
"Don't you think I know that?" I glared at her, seeing the first tremble of fear appearing on her face.
"I was ready to wait. I was ready to wait another lifetime if that was necessary just to have her again by my side, even if she never loved me.
I was ready to die if that was needed just to keep her safe, alive, and far away from my brother.
But you know, even better than I do, that fate cannot be fooled.
It cannot be avoided no matter how much we try.
" Medusa's anger slowly slipped from her face as she looked at Alyana, the woman that was almost taken away from her by the Gods that still hated her because she dared to defy them.
Because she dared to blame them for her fucked-up fate.
She found the other half of her soul when she least expected it and she fought tooth and nail to keep her, even when the odds were against them.
Alyana wrapped her arm around Medusa's waist and leaned against her. "Maybe she went for a walk? Maybe she—"
"She ran away, Alyana," I mumbled, pressing my thumb against the center of my forehead. "And," I looked at the two of them, "I can't feel her anymore."
"Fuck," Medusa muttered, because she knew what that meant. Just like Alyana did. "How long ago did this happen?"
Here was another thing. I didn't want to worry them last night. I didn't want to ring the proverbial panic bell and raise the alarm.
"Last night," I mumbled, unable to meet their eyes. "I've been trying to look for her since last night."
"Last—"
"Son of a bitch!" Medusa spat out, moving away from us. "Why, Hades? Why?"
Because I thought I could find her. Because I thought I could redeem myself for the past. Because I hoped she would come back to me once she realized that she wasn't just a vessel for a dead woman's soul, but that she was her. She was a Goddess. An eternal being.
Medusa walked from one side of the room to the other, casting occasional glances my way while her disappointment lived in the air—a living thing suffocating me slowly. But it wasn't anything I didn't deserve. As a matter of fact, I deserved worse than her disappointment.
I deserved their anger, their fury, but as I looked at Alyana, none of those were found on her face. Instead, it was sadness I saw. Pity I fucking hated, and as she sat down on the chair right next to mine, she took a hold of my hand, and looked me straight in the eye.
"I never apologized to you, Hades," she murmured, while her partner grumbled under her breath, probably trying to come up with a plan. "I only ever wanted to save my sister and my niece, completely forgetting how much you have lost."
"It's fine."
"No." She shook her head. "It's not. It took me a long time to realize that just because you're a God, it doesn't mean you're without feelings.
I know your secret, Hades." This time I looked at her, while the need to get up and leave this place coursed straight through my veins.
"I know you're rotting from the inside, and I know there's only one person that could stop that.
" I tried pulling my hand from hers, afraid she would see more than I was willing to share, but she wouldn't let me.
"But you're not alone. You don't have to fight this battle on your own, and I'm sure we'll find her. I'm sure she will come back to us."
I wasn't. I wasn't sure of anything anymore. Not my role in this world and certainly not my role in Kaira's life.
Alyana's lips parted as she was about to say something, when Medusa interrupted.
"We don't have time for emotional bullshit," she said, coming closer to us.
"We gather the troops. We find her. Hades.
" She looked at me. "Get Grimm. He found her once and he will find her again.
" I didn't even want to ask how she knew about that.
"Alyana, we will need both Apollo and Artemis here.
They're the only ones who still know how to enter Zeus's domain without being detected. We need them right fucking now."
Letting go of Alyana's hand I stood up, gritting my teeth as a headache spread from the back of my head all the way to the front, forcing me to close my eyes when I could no longer look at the brightness pushing through the window opposite of where I stood.
"I'll get Grimm," I said, hating how weak my own voice sounded. "I'll get Nox and Vesper too. They'll be able to help." One step toward the doors was all I took when the string connecting me to Kaira ignited.
I could feel her, sense her as if she were standing right next to me, her energy wrapping around me and eradicating the headache threatening to split my mind in two. She was back. She… She wasn't dead.
I turned around and looked at Medusa, my wide eyes meeting her worried ones. "She's back," I murmured.
"Hades, don't—"
But it was too late for any warnings. Too late for her to stop me as I closed my eyes and let the feeling of her guide me, letting me pass through the fields on the island, all through the forest, teleporting me right to the meadow where she trained just yesterday.
And as I finally opened them, my eyes landed on the woman standing on the opposite end, as still as a statue, with her hair billowing on the afternoon wind.
"Kaira," I breathed out, my voice quieter than the wind slamming against me, but that one word was enough to make her look at me. To make her see me. But the moment those silver eyes connected with mine, I knew something was wrong.
Something was terribly wrong, because this wasn't the Kaira that left last night. A dark energy wrapped itself around her, holding her in its embrace.
I should have stayed back.
I should have listened.
But if death was what awaited me, then so be it. I would never let her be alone.
Not again.