Page 99 of Hades

Mnemosyne screamed in rage.

And leaped through the gate as it rapidly closed.

Persephone kicked off, within touching distance of it now, and willed the Moirai to let her make it.

She hit solid rock and fell back onto her bottom. She stared at the wall of stone before her where the gate had been and cursed the Fates. She pushed to her feet and battered the stone with her fists, desperate for the gate to open again even when she knew it was best it remained closed. Her heart hammered, mind whirling as fear tore her heart to pieces.

She had to reach Hades.

He was weak—vulnerable—and he needed her.

But opening the gate again wasn’t an option.

She wasn’t sure what to do.

The sea surged behind her, the sound deafening, and she braced herself for the impact of the wave.

And then silence.

Everything went still.

As if someone was controlling the water to stop it from crashing down onto the battlefield.

A shiver tripped down her spine and she whipped to face the ocean, expecting to see Esher there.

Only it wasn’t her son who stood before her.

Chapter 28

Hades pressed his hand into the damp dirt and struggled to push himself up as Mnemosyne leaped through the gate and ran at him. He shook his head, his vision growing hazy as blood continued to pump from the gashes on his arm, and he fumbled for his bident.

Keras appeared before him, Enyo at his side, and Mnemosyne skidded to a halt, her sword still raised to strike Hades down. Hades blinked as shadows wrapped around him. Not his own. Keras was protecting him. Beyond the black veil, grunts and cries sounded, together with the metallic clang of swords locking.

A breeze blasted against his back and Calindria was suddenly beside him on her knees, her stricken expression clawing at his heart as she fluttered her hands over him, but still refused to touch him. Steely resolve filled her eyes and she stared at her hands and then suddenly grabbed him. She stilled, shock rolling across her face together with fear, and then relief.

Because her gloved hands didn’t harm him.

Behind her, Thanatos growled as he spun to deal with Eris as the petite female launched herself at him. His blue eyes shone like cold fire as they clashed, her twin short swords striking his and sliding down the length of it towards his hands. Thanatos lifted his booted foot and kicked her in the stomach, denting her gold breastplate and sending her flying. He shot off after his sister, his black feathered wings throwing dust into the air as he beat them hard.

Calindria helped Hades onto his knees and then his feet, and he stabbed the pointed end of the staff of his bident into the earth to steady himself.

“You need to retreat,” she said.

And flinched when he growled, “Never.”

He had never retreated from anything and he wasn’t about to start now, when his realm was in danger of being torn apart and his family were in danger of being killed.

She rallied and glared at his wrist, and he turned it for her, revealing that the wounds were already healing and the bleeding had stopped.

“Do not think that means I am going to let you remain in this fight.” She stubbornly raised her chin, her eyes filled with the same fire as her husband’s had been.

Hades liked to think she got that obstinate side of her personality from her mother and not him. Persephone liked to boss him around whenever she thought he was in danger, her concern for him coming out in a harsh, controlling way.

“You cannot stop me,” he rumbled and then added, “Duck.”

He shoved her shoulder down as a Ker swooped towards her and thrust his bident up, spearing the vile white creature in her stomach. The death spirit shrieked and he hurled her away from them, back into the air, where several of her sisters descended upon her to rip her apart and feast on her blood.

Hades quickly took stock of the battle as Keras and Enyo kept Mnemosyne busy near the closed gate. Thanatos fought his sister a short distance away, but he was growing increasingly distracted, his gaze repeatedly darting towards a point to his right. Hades looked there. The demigoddess Harleena was swiftly dodging fireballs that Ares was throwing at her, the black leather she wore reflecting their golden light and that of the lava rivers she leaped over as she ran from him. A lightning bolt slammed into the earth just ahead of her, causing her to draw up short and shift direction.

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