Page 80 of Hades

She frowned at him. “Why isn’t Cassandra coming? Ares can stay and look after Megan and Eva.”

“Gee, thanks,” Ares muttered but she ignored his outburst, keeping her gaze rooted on Daimon. She needn’t have looked to her younger son for the answer, because Ares offered it. “Daimon gets watch duty now that Cass is pregnant. The dull role of the impending father.”

“Hey!” Megan lightly pushed Ares’s arm as she pretended to be affronted. “I thought you liked hanging out with me.”

He slung his arm around her slender shoulders and tugged her against his side as he grinned down at her. “I do, but I also really like fighting.”

Persephone drifted towards Cassandra as the couple bickered, drawn to her. Cassandra fidgeted, something that was unlike the usually headstrong and confident witch. Doubt coloured her sapphire eyes when she eventually met Persephone’s gaze and struck a chord in her that had her enfolding Cassandra in a tight embrace.

“You will be a wonderful mother,” Persephone whispered in her ear, putting all of her faith into those words so Cassandra would hear it and hopefully believe it. “I was scared too at first… but you are not alone. We are all here with you.”

“Yeah, maybe that’s her problem. She’s got the lot of us coddling her.” Valen snorted and everyone looked at him, even Persephone. His golden eyes widened and then he frowned, levelling a black look on each of them in turn. “What?”

“Nothing.” Daimon slapped him on his back and grinned at him. “It’s just weird as fuck hearing you talking about fussing over someone else. And then there’s the fact you babysat Adora without too much complaining. Do I hear the pitter-patter of little feet in your future? My money is on you being next to bring a kid into this crazy family.”

Valen scowled at him and Daimon tensed and jolted, and then snatched his hand away and rubbed at his fingers as tiny sparks of electricity leaped between them. It wasn’t the first time Valen had used his power to command lightning to keep a distance between him and his brothers, and it wouldn’t be the last, but this time it didn’t seem to deter Daimon.

“Prick,” Daimon muttered. “I should freeze your arse, but I’m too busy appreciating how much nicer you are now.”

“Kids,” Ares commanded, his tone brusque and his face dark, as if he was on his last nerve and they were both liable to get scalded with his fire. “Knock it off. We’ve got more important matters than your bromance.”

Persephone wasn’t sure what abromancewas, and she wasn’t about to ask. She leaped at the chance to fill everyone in on what Mnemosyne had told her. Their expressions grew sterner, grimmer as she relayed what had happened to her, frequently checking on Hades to make sure the darkness didn’t take hold of him. Black ringed his crimson eyes as he listened to her, a flicker of scarlet flame igniting in the abyss of his pupils.

When she was done, Hades was first to speak.

“We will split into two teams. I will go with Ares, Valen and Persephone. Keras will lead Enyo, Thanatos and Calindria.” His tone brooked no argument, but it didn’t stop their sons from all clamouring at once.

“What now? No way. Mum is not coming with,” Valen barked, his words like a knife in her heart that cleaved away some of her confidence.

“Got to agree there.” Ares put in, not helping her hold her nerve as he revealed he was against it too. “She needs to stay here.”

Calindria quietly said, “I do not see what the problem is. I am sure Mother will be able to handle the fight, and her power over nature might prove valuable.”

Persephone wanted to hug her for being on her side and seeing that she could bring something to the battle.

Keras stepped forwards, his green eyes fierce as they drilled into Hades, and Persephone knew he was going to side with his brothers, and might just be able to sway Hades into listening to him and refusing to take her after all. “This is madness. Mother will be in danger in Tartarus. We haven’t had word from the legion there today. For all we know, we are walking into—”

“She is coming with me,” Hades boomed and the floor trembled, the shadows that writhed around his boots growing agitated as he slanted dark looks at their sons. Persephone looked at him, shock sweeping through her together with warmth that curled around her heart to lift it up and restore her confidence. She had expected him to change his mind, and the fact he hadn’t touched her deeply. He held his hand out to her, his gaze softening as it landed on her, and she took it. He drew her to him, bringing up their joined hands so they pressed against his chest as he lowered his head to meet her gaze and murmured, “You are coming with me.”

Persephone nodded and tried to go back into the armoury, but he refused to release her hand. She stretched for the sword and shield she had put down while dressing. When he saw what she was doing, he moved with her. He helped her slip her arm into the loops on the shield and placed the sword into her hands, and when she was armed, he went for his bident and helmet.

He stared at the helmet.

For a moment, she was sure he would make her wear it, concealing her from the enemy, and continuing to protect her since it would shield her from the battle in a way.

But then he held it out to her and simply said, “In case you feel you need it.”

Persephone gladly took it. She wasn’t a reckless fool. When they landed in Tartarus, she might very well find herself in the midst of her first real battle and there was a chance it might prove too much for her. If she needed the helmet so she could have the time to recover or regroup, or slip away from an enemy that was proving too much for her, she would use it.

Just as she would use it if she needed to reach one of their side in order to help them.

She stared at the horned helmet in her hand, one that felt as heavy as the sword in her other one, aware it wasn’t the weight of metal that made them feel that way but the weight of what was about to happen. She gathered her courage and strength, aware of Hades’s watchful gaze, and was tempted to ask for a little ambrosia to bolster her and take the edge off her nerves.

She lifted her head.

Locked gazes with Hades.

And nodded.

---