Page 61 of Hades

Keras didn’t look happy about that, which made Hades want to snarl and bare fangs at him, because he should be proud to be his son, not look as if he regretted that fact.

Keras sighed, the sound holding a wealth of displeasure, and then said, “In the immortal words of my beloved… I amnotgoing to fight you.”

The darkness whispered in Hades’s ears, looming like a shadow behind him as it murmured honeyed words about how he could make that fight happen, about how he could easily provoke Keras into battling him if he attacked Enyo. The male would seek to protect her. Enyo was the only one who had come dressed for battle too. Keras wore mortal clothing that wouldn’t withstand a blow from Hades’s claws, let alone his bident. Ares had foregone his armour too. Even Thanatos wore only his black leather trousers.

They had been foolish to come here unarmed and unprotected.

He could easily take down all three males, and then their females.

A hazy sort of heat curled through his body at the images building in his mind.

Hades curled his fingers into tight fists that had his sharp nails biting into his palms and shut those images down as he reined in the darkness, refusing to listen to it. He wouldn’t attack his own children. He wouldn’t harm the females. He drew down a hard breath, needing the air as he battled the darker side of his blood that continued to drip poison in his ear, attempting to break his hold on the light and propel him into battle.

“You’re not opening that gate, old man.” Ares stepped around the group, his tone even despite the dark look on his face and the fire that flickered in his eyes. Ares would fight too if Hades attacked Enyo. He wouldn’t need to attack him. It would be pleasing.

Hades gritted his teeth and shoved the darkness back. He didn’t want to fight his family. They weren’t his enemy. His enemy was on the other side of that gate, no doubt waiting for him to open it.

His black eyes widened slightly.

“Think he gets it now?” Ares said out of the corner of his mouth as he leaned back slightly, angling his head an inch towards Keras.

Keras shrugged his shoulders, shifting the black material of his shirt.

“Perhaps. We could spell it out for him?” Keras’s gaze slid from Ares to Hades. “Mnemosyne must want this gate open. That’s why she took Mother to Cape Matapan. Can you even control it?”

Hades glowered at him, because he could control anything if he set his mind to it and this gate was no different. If his son kept questioning his power and strength, Hades would put him in his place with it to show him how wrong he was.

“Didn’t think so,” Ares muttered.

Insolent bastard.

Ares never had been able to hold his tongue. He lacked tact. Hades wasn’t sure where he had gotten that side of his personality from, but it definitely wasn’t from him.

“I could control it if I tried,” Hades growled and no one looked convinced.

“Yeah, sure.” Ares prowled towards him, a wall of muscle swathed in black that radiated anger. His son stopped by the front pair of horses and petted them, and the damned beasts allowed it rather than reacting to the rage building within Hades as they normally would have. The traitorous creatures always had held a strong love for Ares, their bond with him forged in the countless times Ares had stolen Hades’s chariot and taken it out without permission. Ares flicked a look at Cerberus, his tone placid as he added, “You’re not taking Cerberus near that gate.”

Behind Ares, the others tensed and wary gazes darted to Hades.

Waiting to see how he would react to his own son attempting to order him around.

“I was not going to, but if I had chosen to take Cerberus to the gate, you would not be able to stop me.” Hades narrowed black eyes on Ares, silently challenging him to continue his current course and make another attempt to act superior in strength and standing to him.

Before Ares could open his mouth and dig his own grave, Megan hurried forwards and stopped beside him. She wrapped both of her arms around Ares’s left one and issued Hades a look that was part sympathy and part fear.

“We’re all just strung a little tight right now.” Her tone was soft, but held an underlying strength that Hades admired. It took a lot of courage to face him as he was now without flinching away, especially for one as weak as she was. Her mortal flesh would break so easily if the reins on his temper snapped. She lightly rubbed Ares’s bare forearm. “He didn’t mean to be pushy. It’s just… you disappeared and things were tense back at the palace, and we were all worried we wouldn’t find you in time, and Valen was being moody about catching guard duty for Adora, even though he's really good with her, and… well… we were all just worried about you.”

Some of Hades’s anger faded upon hearing that, her soft admission warming the colder reaches of his heart as he saw in her eyes that she meant it. Everyone had been worried about him. She had been so worried that she had left her precious daughter in order to help find him, when she had never been more than a few feet from Adora since her birth. That meant a lot to him, and he wasn’t sure why. It touched him deeply. Because it revealed her love for him?

Something he hadn’t known he had wanted before this moment.

She gave a gentle shake of her head. “We didn’t come here to stop you.”

“We didn’t?” Ares frowned down at her, the dark slashes of his eyebrows pinching hard above his glowing amber eyes as the corners of his mouth turned downwards.

She peered up at her husband and shook her head again, more firmly this time. “Nope. We came here to help.”

“You came here to help,” Ares muttered, the gruffness of his tone matching how displeased he looked. “I shouldn’t have let you tag along.”

---