Page 47 of Hades

The first of which had him teleporting into the palace and landing close to Ares and Megan’s quarters. He stilled in the corridor, his senses reaching around him. He pinpointed Megan in the nursery. Satisfied she was distracted and unlikely to see him, he strode towards her bedchamber and pushed the door open.

It wasn’t difficult to find what he was looking for in the spacious room.

The power of the item he had come to borrow drew him towards it like a magnet, his feet moving of their own accord to carry him across the foot of the king-size bed to the dressing table positioned near one of the windows. He pulled the top middle drawer out and snatched the two braided black bands that sat on a piece of folded fabric.

And immediately froze.

Hades opened his fist and looked at the delicate woven bands that were a creation of Persephone’s. She had made them for her sons when Hades had sent them to the mortal realm to guard the gates to the Underworld, imbuing them with power that limited the amount that they could use in that world. Each limiter knocked the strength of their powers down a fraction, rendering them weak enough that their presence in the mortal realm didn’t negatively affect it.

It wasn’t the only thing he needed in order to bring his own power down enough that he would have time to reach Persephone before he destroyed the mortal world.

He teleported again, heading for the second item, and didn’t bother to use his senses to check he was alone when he appeared in an elegant cream corridor in another building. Keras and Enyo were at the palace. Hades entered their bedroom and found what he was looking for in the nightstand.

The small black box and the circular pills it contained looked innocent enough, but they had proven far more dangerous and addictive than Hades had ever imagined when he had created them for Keras. The limiters hadn’t been enough to control his oldest son’s powers, and so Hades had made him pills that would help him quell his shadows. If he had known how they would poison Keras’s mind and body, he never would have made them, and he should have thought more about his son’s health than his desire to win this war when Keras had come to him, already on the path to addiction. He should never have allowed Keras to continue taking them.

But he had, and it was a regret he had to live with for the rest of his days.

He couldn’t change the past. All he could do was help his son overcome his dependence on the pills. Enyo was helping with that, and Hades would be eternally grateful to her for it.

He took the pillbox and slipped it into his pocket, and then placed the limiters on his wrists. They were snug, moulding to him, and he stared at them, that ache in his chest worsening as his mind turned to Persephone again. She was strong, but fear for her still chilled his blood. He knew her. She would be calm and brave, but beneath that indomitable exterior she had flashed at him more than once during their courtship, she would be afraid.

And aware he would be coming for her.

Hades refused to let her down.

He knew he shouldn’t and that he would be playing right into Mnemosyne’s hands, but he couldn’t leave her at the mercy of his enemy.

No longer.

He teleported one more time, this time landing in the adjoining chamber to his war room, a place only he could teleport inside, and focused. Shadows snaked up the thick black stone walls and twined around the candles in the sconces mounted there, and blue fire flared into life, casting cold light over his armoury.

Hades ignored the heavy black plate armour on the stand directly in front of him and went to the lighter suit to his right. He stripped off, leaving the remaining pieces of his formal armour scattered across the floor, and tugged on the thick leather trousers, fastening the laces over his groin, and followed them with a matching long-sleeve top. It was lighter than the trousers, buttery soft, but just as protective. The leather came from an ancient wyvern he had defeated long before he had met Persephone and its appearance belied its strength. He inspected the sleeve near his wrist, turning his arm as he did so.

Thousands of tiny scales caught the blue light.

Those scales were tough despite how small they were, could easily deflect weak blows and possibly even some heavier ones. It would be enough. He wouldn’t sacrifice speed of movement for the protection offered by his plate armour.

He didn’t intend to fight in close quarters anyway.

His shadows snaked across the floor, weaving between the pieces of his discarded armour, heading for the stand on the other side of the small room while Hades donned his leather riding boots and laced them. He took the pill box from his other trousers and slipped it into his pocket, and then glanced to his left as his shadows shifted there. He reached his hand out and the shadows delivered the black bony helmet to him.

Hades stared at it.

It had been a long time since he had used his helm of darkness. He held it before him, admiring the twisted horns that flared up from the back of it and the smaller, smooth bones that swept down to form a protective plate that would reach the tip of his nose. Those bones arched around to points that would sit before his ears too, tipped with talons whose tiny claws would clutch at his cheeks.

Hades gripped the helmet in one hand and seized his black-and-gold bident with the other.

He pivoted to face the heavy iron door as he placed the helmet on his head and the moment it sat snug against his skull, a shimmering veil descended over the world. Power slowly seeped over him like a cold caress and he glanced at his left arm, tracking the flow of it to his wrist and then his bident. When it had covered all of him and his weapon, he moved, grabbing the one remaining thing he needed before he teleported to the stables.

Cerberus trudged around the paddock, ignoring the guards who were passing by.

Guards who walked straight past Hades without seeing him.

Hades’s lips spread in a wide grin that flashed his fangs as they confirmed his helmet still held its power to render him invisible to all eyes—even those of a god.

As soon as they were out of sight, Hades vaulted over the fence and landed in the paddock, the loose basalt crunching under his boots. Cerberus perked up, three pairs of blue eyes scanning the spot where Hades stood, curiosity shining in them. The beast sniffed, scenting the air, and then began towards Hades as he lowered his nose to the ground. The second he caught Hades’s scent, he whined and wagged his tail.

Hades produced the last thing he had taken from his armoury.

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