“Oh, wait,” Reaper says, as his eyes switch to Ryu’s and he inhales deeply. “He’s the creature that you saved from the Void, right? His scent is so intertwined with yours that I completely forgot about him.”

  “Oh, I remember,” Storm says. He asks with surprise, “He’s still with you?”

  “I still have no idea who or what Oryn is,” Khaos points out with one of his eyebrows raised slightly.

  I grin, “I found Oryn in the Void, he was dying, and I healed him,” I say, and Oryn flaps over to me and lands in my lap. I move my hand from Rival’s hair and start to stroke him.

  “What does he look like? Remind me?” Rival says as he turns around to look at what I’m stroking, not that he can see him.

  I nod, “He’s purple, covered in fur. He has an adorable little snout nose and fangs. He sort of looks like a bat from the Earth Realm. He has big, leathery wings with sharp claws on the tips that he uses extremely well in a combat situation, and he’s not entirely solid. Well, I guess he is in a way because I can stroke him, and he gives kisses and things, but to look at his edges, they look wispy if that makes sense? Like he’s made of smoke.”

  “I have no idea what kind of creature that could be,” Khaos says with a confused frown before adding, “and I’ve been around long enough that I thought I knew most creatures.”

  Hades nods, “Those were my thoughts exactly.”

  “I’m guessing he showed back up when Poca and Meri did?” Loki asks me.

  I shake my head, “No, as soon as I broke the spells, I could see him again, but he had been there the whole time. I couldn’t see or sense him at all. I had absolutely no idea that he was there. He experienced everything that I did.”

  “He felt what you felt?” Mayhem asks, his eyebrows high on his head.

  “Yes,” I reply, sadness saturating my tone.

  Rival studies me closely, but I don’t think he’s actually seeing me. I think he’s probably thinking through all of the possibilities, and desperately wanting to go to the library and throw himself into research.

  “If he experienced what you did, then that would suggest that he is intrinsically tied to you,” he summarises.

  I nod, “Yeah, that’s what I figured too. Especially since I asked him if he wanted to go back into the Void after I realised that he was there, and he looked at me like I was nuts.”

  Chapter Five

  Farren

  “Did he come to the God Realm with us?” Hades asks.

  Again, I nod, “Yep. He comes everywhere that I do, sometimes he disappears with Poca and Meri, but if they are with me, then he is too.”

  “Did you ask Xerxes about him?” Kill asks.

  I nod, “Yep, he said he had no idea what kind of creature he was, but he would look into it.”

  “Oryn must be rare if even Xerxes doesn’t know what he is,” Zev says. “I guess we wait to see what he can come up with. I am curious about why we can’t see him.”

  “Me too,” I reply. “I don’t think that it’s a case of him choosing not to let you see him, like Poca can do, because I’m pretty sure he would have revealed himself to you by now. There’s no reason why he wouldn’t have.” Before any of them can reply, I level a look at Khaos, “That reminds me, Cerb?”

  Poca huffs from his corner.

  “Don’t start with me,” I warn him.

  Khaos grins and looks over at Poca too, “Do you want to tell her or shall I?”

  Poca rolls his eyes and stands up, prompting Meri to chirp indignantly and fly over to Storm, curling up around his neck, and making me smile.

  I raise my eyebrows at Poca as I give him an expectant look, and he sticks his tongue out at me. I feel the magic around him grow and engulf him, and then, standing in the place of Poca is Cerberus. I know exactly who he is. Everyone knows the legends of Cerberus.

  Zev lets go of my hand, and Oryn flies off my lap as I stand up and approach Poca. He’s fucking huge, but then again, he always did like to be this big. His three heads are just as adorable as his single one has always been, and I grin.

  “So fucking cool,” I grin, as I reach out and stroke him, giving each of his heads a good scratch. I giggle when he smothers me in kisses.

  “Not a lot fazes you, does it?” Khaos asks curiously.

  I shrug, “Not really. I’ve been through too much in my life to be fazed by something as awesome as the best friend I’ve had since I was three being a legendary supernatural, and pretty fucking famous too.”

  Poca growls playfully and rolls his eyes before he shrinks back into his more recognisable form, at least more recognisable to me.

  “To be honest, I thought you would freak out a lot more than you did,” Loki admits.

  I shake my head, “He’s still Poca,” glancing back at my Hellhound, I ask, “Do you want to be called Poca or Cerb now?”

  “Poca is probably safer,” Hades points out and Poca barks in agreement. Hades continues, “As you said, Cerb is a very well-known supernatural, and I think it’s probably best that not everyone knows that you’ve got him as a familiar.”

  I nod, “Yeah, that makes sense.”

  I pat Poca one more time before I head back to the sofa, the guys shift me so I end up lying on my side with my head on Zev’s lap this time, and my legs in Loki’s lap. Rival moves so his back is against the sofa again, and he tips his head back so it’s resting on the cushion, and my fingers move back to his hair. His eyes close as he lets out a quiet sigh.

  As the others begin to discuss Poca, I tune out, the events of the last fuck knows how long catching up to me.

  I feel a knock on my mind and grin. I have really fucking missed the feeling of the bonds in my mind.

  “Are you okay, Darlin’?” Kill’s familiar and incredibly relieved voice comes through the bond line.

  “I am, surprisingly so actually. I think maybe I’m getting used to being kidnapped and tortured,” I try to joke, admittedly it wasn’t a good one, and Kill’s terrifying growl echoes throughout the room and makes everyone stop and stare at him in question.

  He shakes his head, and everyone frowns slightly, but seems to decide that it’s not worth questioning him about because they go back to their conversation.

  “Sorry,” I apologise.

  He shakes his head slightly, his voice coming through in my mind, “You don’t need to apologise. I just wish that you were never in those situations.”

  I nod. I know Kill, and I know that simple platitudes and telling him that it’s okay aren’t going to help in the situation, so I reply with something that I know will.

  “I won’t be in that situation again,” I meet his eyes. “You won’t let me. You’ll make sure of it.”

  “On my life,” he agrees fiercely.

  He gets up and walks over to me. None of the others even shift to move out of the way as Kill leans forward and kisses me, pouring all of the feelings that he can into it and leaving the bond line open between us so that I know exactly what he’s feeling. My hand moves to cup his cheek, and I feel his tail tap me on the arm, the only place that it can reach, making me smile.

  My head is spinning, and my smile is huge when he pulls back.

  “I think that’s enough talk for now. We all need to get some proper sleep. I’ll go and rustle up some food, I know I for one could definitely do with some proper food,” Hades says as he stands.

  “I’ll come and help,” Kill offers as he stands back up.

  In the end, several of the guys go to help make food, and I’m left with the three that are surrounding me. My eyes drift closed as I listen to their even breathing. Zev is gently running his hands over my hair, Loki is stroking my leg, and my hands are brushing through Rival’s hair. I haven’t felt this relaxed for a really long time, and I don’t think that I’m going to be able to stay awake long enough for food.

  I don’t care, I want to sleep more than I want to eat right now.

  I never want to sleep alone again.

  Khaos

  I still can’t wrap my head around the fact that my dream woman is here. Not only is she here, but she is loved by these men whom I now consider family. I mean, I have always considered Hades' to be my family, but somehow the others have quickly become family too.

  Actually, I have a sneaky suspicion that my easy connection with the guys is because of her.

  Ren.

  Never have I felt a connection to someone like I feel with her. She somehow matches me in all ways that I thought were impossible, and fucking hell, is she stunning.

  Her strength and bravery take my breath away, but her beauty floors me completely. I have never been tongue-tied in my life, but when she looks at me with her stunning eyes, I forget my own fucking name. She could ask me to do absolutely anything, and I would do it. I would go to battle for her, and I mean that in the literal sense.

  The strength of my feelings for her should probably scare me, but after what we have experienced together, it doesn’t. It makes sense, at least it does to me.

  Weirdly enough, I like that she likes the others and has connections with them. It makes me happy, which is odd.

  “Are you okay?” Reaper asks me with a knowing look in his eye.

  Glancing around at the others, I find them all smirking at me, and I can’t help but smile.

  Hades’ smile widens, “We told you Farren enchants everyone.”

  “It is pretty crazy how Farren was your dream woman, though,” Storm admits, with a slight frown.

  I nod and test the waters to see what I can say now that they know who she is, “It is, but it does explain why I couldn’t tell you certain things.”

  “You couldn’t?” Mayhem asks, his eyebrows drawing down.

  I shake my head, “Nope. I couldn’t even tell you that I couldn’t tell you things. It was extremely frustrating.”

  Reaper looks entirely unimpressed as he says, “Someone didn’t want us to know that your dream woman was Farren.”

  “Or me to know that she was,” I point out.

  “You know what, I’m getting really fucking fed up of unknown people determining what we can and can’t say and do,” Killian growls.

  I nod, “I told you they were all dicks.”

  “It’s the gods then?” Reaper asks, although I’m pretty sure he just wants confirmation.

  I shrug, “The Gods or the Fates. To be honest, it’s most likely the Fates that are behind the majority of it. Gods shouldn’t be able to affect other gods like Hades has been affected.”

  “True, but I was weakened,” Hades points out thoughtfully. “So there’s a chance that some of it was done by another God who took advantage of my weakened state.”

  I know that my expression is puzzled as I reply, “I suppose it could have.”

  “We need to get to the bottom of it, but we’re being thrown so many different things at once that it’s going to be pretty difficult to investigate that at the same time,” Storm says, not sounding too happy about it.

  Hades nods and then replies with a shrug, “I’m pretty sure that everything will reveal itself in time, like it usually does when it comes to the Gods and Fates.”

  “Speaking of gods, are we just not going to talk about the fact that Farren is apparently a Goddess?” Kill asks.

  I smirk, “I’ve known her for only a few weeks, and I’m not surprised that she is a Goddess, are you guys?”

  Storm is shaking his head before I’ve even stopped talking, “Not in the slightest. Ever since she first went into the Void in front of us and we had to help her fight off the extra magic that she had, I knew that she was more.”

  “Not to mention all the other things that make her uniquely Farren,” Mayhem adds with a smile.

  I can’t help but notice that Hades has stayed quiet, and I raise my eyebrow, “You know something.”

  It’s a statement, not a question.

  His face contorts angrily as he nods once.

  “Let me guess, you can’t say anything?” Reaper asks.

  Hades shakes his head, looking completely frustrated by the fact.

  Clapping him on the back, I say, “Don’t worry, we’ll know when we’re supposed to. As frustrating as that is.”

  “It’s getting on my last damn nerve, I thought I was done with not being able to tell you things, but apparently, it’s only the things that are about me that I can tell you all. It appears that most of my other knowledge is still off limits,” Hades replies with a deep frown.

  “We’ll figure it out,” Kill replies. “I’m sorry I can’t give you any more than that.”

  Hades smiles, “I know. Back to what you asked though, Farren said that she didn’t want to talk about it, so I think we should leave it until she wants to, or until she has no choice but to acknowledge it.”

  Reaper nods, “Agreed. At the moment, it’s not directly affecting anything. We’ve got so much to deal with, the key, the princes, and more. I think we can leave this one thing until she’s ready. Especially since she’s been through so much, and if she never wants to deal with it, I’m quite honestly good with that too. As unlikely as that possibility may be.”

  “Well said,” I agree with a smile.

  “We’ve also got to try and figure out who is trying to take over the Underworld, and actually, what we’re going to do about the Underworld. You can’t leave it for too long or the balance gets thrown off and stuff starts to go wrong,” Mayhem points out, his arms crossed over his chest.

  Hades shakes his head, “It should be okay for a while. While we were in the Soul Side, I tried to put as much of my magic as I possibly could back into it. Underworlders are going to know that I was there. It will be obvious since the Underworld was struggling so much, and it shouldn’t be as bad anymore. I will need to go back fairly soon, and I’m going to need to check in.” He frowns, “It’s all rather complicated.”

  “If the Underworld is going to be okay for the time being, then we need to focus on the other more pressing things, like the Dragon Realm and the princes,” Killian suggests. “We may as well put that on the back burner and just keep an eye on it. We can deal with it if it becomes an issue, but for now, we have other things that we need to be focusing on.”

  I nod in agreement, “I’m good with that.”

  Mostly because I’m Hades’ commander, which means that when he goes back to the Underworld, I will have to go too, and for the first time in my very long life, the mission doesn’t come first.

  She does.

  I know that we don’t really know each other, although admittedly, she knows more about me than most people, Hades included. I want to get to know her properly, the little things.

  I can’t do that if I’m in the Underworld, and I know that Hades doesn’t want to go either.

  My expression becomes serious as I look at Hades, “So, what are you going to do with the other princes?”

  The others immediately stop what they’re doing and look at me. I knew that it wouldn’t have been something that had occurred to them. Death for most supernaturals is the end of it, but Hades and I know better, and I know for a fact that he has been thinking about what he’s going to do with them.

  Chapter Six

  Khaos

  “Wait, what?” Storm asks.

  “The other princes are dead, Farren killed them all,” Reaper says, with a confused frown.

  Hades nods, “Yes, but their souls are in the Underworld.”

  I’m surprised when Kill’s grin widens, a deadly and vicious light entering his eyes.

  “You mean that we can torture them the way that they tortured Farren?” He asks.

  I definitely shouldn’t have been surprised that’s where his mind went first.

  My eyes though are on Mayhem. His expression has become one that I am all too familiar with, and if I had to put money on someone who was most likely able to make the princes talk, or to torture them to the point of no return, then my money would be on Mayhem.

  It’s always the quieter ones that you need to watch out for. I would be surprised if he hadn’t already come up with ways that he can make them wish that there were a way to end their torment.

  Permanently.

  Hades' smile is dark, “Yes, we can. It might be a good idea to question them and see what they know anyway. We’re not going to be able to question them or torture them for a while, there’s a kind of holding period that gods and Demi-Gods Souls have to go through, not even I can touch them while they’re in there.”

  Storm shrugs, “That’s fine. It will give us time to think of new and inventive ways to punish them for what they did to Farren.”

  Hades nods, and his power swells, “And then I’ll unmake them.”

  My eyebrows hit my hairline. I knew that he had something pretty diabolical planned for them, but that is even more impressive than I had considered, and I’m not entirely sure that it’s possible.

  “Can you do that?” I ask. “I know that you can unmake normal souls, but the princes are Demi-Gods, they’re part god, are you able to unmake their souls?”

  “I’ve never had reason to try to unmake a demi-god before, so I don’t know, but I’m going to fucking find out. They don’t deserve to be remade after their punishment is over, and I certainly can’t risk the God that hired them figuring out a way to get them out, and them becoming a problem again,” Hades replies, clearly having given in some thought.

  Reaper narrows his eyes, “I understand all of your reasoning, and I agree with it, but don’t do it if there is going to be a risk to you. Farren wouldn’t want that. In fact, she would be absolutely fuming if you unmade them and ended up hurting yourself in the process.”

  Kill smirks, “He’s right. She would kill you herself.”

  “We also need to make sure that she knows about this,” I add. “I seriously doubt that she would appreciate being kept in the dark about it.”

  “No, she wouldn’t, you’re right,” Hades agrees. “Okay, well we can tell her after we’ve eaten. Knowing Farren, she’s most likely going to want a second crack at them too.”

 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22