Page 142 of A Touch of Chaos

He hoped he didn’t have to find out.

“Make the announcement, Aphrodite,” he said.

The Goddess of Love cast an angry gaze at her husband before departing. Harmonia followed, and so did Sybil. Slowly, the others left, save Hephaestus, who lingered, his eyes trained on Hades.

“I will leave you,” Persephone said.

Hades hated to lose her warmth, but he did not argue.

Once she was gone and the door was closed, Hephaestus spoke.

“You would have never let your wife risk herself in such a way,” said the god. “Why let mine?”

“What I know about our wives is that they will do what they want despite our wishes,” said Hades, thoughit had taken him too long to realize that. “I’d rather walk in Persephone’s shadow, ready to save her at the first sign of a threat, than have her keep secrets. I know you feel the same.”

Hephaestus’s jaw ticked, and he looked away.

“If Aphrodite could become the sun, she would, just to be rid of my shadow,” said the god.

“That is not true,” Hades said.

Hephaestus met Hades’s gaze. “We will agree to disagree,” he said with a small, sad smile. “Come to Lemnos tomorrow. I will arm the gods.”

With that, Hephaestus vanished.

CHAPTER XXVIII

DIONYSUS

Dionysus returned to Bakkheia with Ariadne, Phaedra, and the baby.

He chose to manifest underground, in the tunnels beneath his club, aware of the possibility that it too might be targeted by Theseus.

When they arrived, they found that the maenads had convened in the common area. They were dressed in black tactile bodysuits and armed to the teeth.

Naia was speaking, and Dionysus recognized the tone.

She was preparing for a fight.

“Earlier today, Dionysus’s home was subject to an attack. Upon arrival, several of our own were found dead with no sign of Dionysus, Ariadne, her sister, or her child. We believe this attack was orchestrated by Theseus, though footage pulled from the premises shows some sort of invisible force—”

As Naia spoke, she scanned the room, and when hergaze fell on him, she ceased to speak. Slowly, the other maenads turned to look at them. Naia cut through the crowd and threw her arms around Dionysus.

“It’s nice to know I am missed,” he said, hugging her back.

Naia pulled away and hit his shoulder; her eyes were watering. “I…we didn’t know what happened! Your home. It’s…”

“Destroyed. I know,” he said, and then his eyes shifted to the other maenads. “The demigod who attacked is named Perseus. He was wearing the Helm of Darkness and carrying a weapon laced with venom from the Hydra. It proved to be a deadly combination. I…almost didn’t make it.”

The assassins exchanged uneasy glances. “The Helm of Darkness?” Lilaia asked. “How do we fight an invisible assailant?”

“I don’t have an answer,” Dionysus said. “I was lucky. Ariadne came back for me.” She met his gaze, her eyes wide with surprise before melting into a warmer expression, one that made him want to take her into his arms and kiss her, but instead, he forced his attention back to the maenads. “But I think we all know Theseus will strike again.”

“No, please,” said Phaedra. She pushed forward into the open space before them, holding her baby tightly. “I am worth none of this—”

“Phaedra!” Ariadne sounded both shocked and angry.

“I can end this, Ari,” Phaedra said, and the hard part about her words was that Dionysus knew she was wrong.

---