Page 88 of Hades

“Esher took so much time, I figured we should probably move things forwards before Dad gets mad.” Calistos grinned over his shoulder when Esher scowled at him and then turned that beaming smile on Persephone. “Mari says hi. She wanted to stay with Cass and make sure Tokyo is safe.”

Persephone had the feeling the reason behind the brevity of his hug had been twofold. One, he knew Hades would want to move the meeting along without long delays, and two, he wanted to catch up with and check on his twin sister. As predicted, Calistos was quick to cross the room to Calindria.

Marek stopped looming like a shadow in his black clothing and moved forwards, closing the gap between them. His hug was far too brief too, and again she knew why.

“I’m glad you’re fine,” he said and was backing away from her in an instant, towards his beautiful caramel-haired female. Her wary hazel eyes remained fixed on Hades, even when Marek swept one of the wavy locks of her hair from her face. He turned a concerned look on his father and then shifted it to Persephone. “We should probably go.”

Persephone glared at Hades.

He stopped scowling at Caterina long enough to glance at her, and then his now-crimson eyes leaped back to her. Not a drop of regret coloured them.

Persephone huffed at him and went to Caterina, and surprised both her and Marek by pulling her into an embrace. Hades couldn’t accept that Caterina was part-daemon, but Persephone could. What had happened to her hadn’t been her fault.

As if sensing the rising tension in the room, Keras cleared his throat. “We should probably get down to it.”

Hades planted his left hand on the tabletop and glared at the map of the Underworld, his voice gone low and his fangs flashing between his lips. “Esher and Calistos will return to the mortal realm with Marek. I am trusting you to protect the Tokyo gate while we keep watch on it from the exit in the Underworld, together with the gate to Cape Matapan.”

“I want to go there… with Caterina. We can keep an eye on it from the other side,” Marek put in, his earthy eyes fixing on his father’s face and his tone even, but holding a hard edge that left Persephone feeling he would argue with Hades about this if he didn’t agree with him.

“It’s a good idea.” Keras folded his arms over his chest. “We can make sure Mnemosyne has cleared out her forces that were there. Marek could take a legion with him and round up any stragglers so they can’t rejoin her.”

“I do not like our forces being split so much.” Hades rubbed his lower lip with his thumb as he frowned at the map, or one point on it in particular. “I am concerned about the attack on Tartarus. We need to take stock of things there. Mnemosyne worked there for years, delving into the memories of the prisoners for me. She must have been studying them all that time… which means she knew the best prisoners to release and had probably been forming alliances behind my back, setting things up in case her first plan failed.”

“It’s mostly daemons and demigods she took with her, but we can look into them and see if you recognise any of their names.” Keras glanced at the scattered papers again. “I can pull all the records for them.”

“Do that.” Hades nodded and then shifted his gaze to one of the commanders. “Take your legion to the gate that leads to the cape. Ares will help you find it. I am sure Mnemosyne still means to target it and that Persephone being held there, so close to a sealed gate, was more than mere misdirection so she could attack Tartarus.”

Esher shrugged. “I’m not so sure. Even if she does want to open it, she’ll need a way… a key. Your blood. Right? So as long as you stay here, she either has to try Tokyo or come to the palace.”

Hades’s expression slowly darkened as he absorbed that.

Persephone said what he was thinking. “Hades isn’t the one who can open that gate. Cerberus is.”

Esher hiked his shoulders again. “Still not a problem. Cerberus is in that other realm where you keep him, and from what I’ve heard, no one but you and Dad can open the gate to it.”

In a flat tone, Ares said, “Cerberus isn’t there right now. He’s in the stable.”

Hades loosed a vicious curse that shook the ground.

His crimson eyes sought her.

“Cerberus,” he growled. “Mnemosyne knew I would bring Cerberus out of hiding in order to find you… that I would use him to track your scent. Cerberus is the only one who can open the gate. He was her target all along.”

Hades disappeared in black smoke.

Someone grabbed her and teleported too, and she touched down in time to hear Hades bellow in a rage that cracked the black earth and almost sent her to her knees as the ground rocked.

Persephone stumbled to him and gripped his arm to keep herself upright, her gaze following his to the paddock and her eyes widening as she saw what he had.

Cerberus was gone.

Chapter 24

Hades landed on a hill above the lava-ridden plain that stretched before the ancient gate. At once, he hunkered down, Persephone easing into a squat beside him, and signalled the legions at his back to do the same. Armour rustled as everyone lowered. His own formal black plate armour pressed into his waist as he surveyed the vast army between him and the gate. He flexed the black talons of his gauntlets around the staff of his bident when he spotted something, rage burning through him to torch his control.

Cerberus.

His beloved pet was chained, his legs bound so he couldn’t kick and fight, and was being hauled by close to one hundred men towards the sheer wall of rock where the gate was hidden.

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