Page 22 of Seph

Hades gave him a pitying cluck of his tongue. “I keep forgetting mortals don’t look at cosmic order. Power shifts. All gods now have a center of operation in one of the main energy centers of the world, where the spiritual heavy lifting takes place. Other pantheons chose Asia, some picked Africa, but we’re decidedly following the American model. Demeter is in Idaho. I’m in Los Angeles. It’s very close to Hell.”

“You can say that again.”

Hades didn’t. Instead, he held out something small and silvery.

Simeon cautiously extended his hand and stared at what the god dropped into it. A key fob. With a Mustang logo and several little buttons, one with a lock, one with a horn. He clicked the horn button once.

“Oh! Don’t do—”

Too late. With an almighty cracking sound, something soared up from the foundations of the basement apartment, headlights glaring, horn blaring, and landed in an avalanche of rubble—right on his precious telly. “Fffff— Fuck!” Simeon wondered if vampires could piss themselves in extreme circumstances. In his case, the warm wetness spreading down his legs was because his mug of microwaved blood had been thrown into his chest and down his trousers as a gorgeous silver Mustang barreled into his living room. “What the hell? What the—why didn’t you warn me?” Simeon looked around at his ruined flat. Cerberus-Mini trotted over and licked blood off his boots.

“What sort of idiot hits a button without asking ‘What’s this for?’” Hades waved his hand, and they were outside in theparking lot, car and all. Another wave, and the basement flat was rebuilt. The other tenants weren’t rushing about or peering out their windows. It was as if nothing had happened.

“Because I know what a horn button does. I’m the provocative type.Vampire. I push buttons! Is my telly fixed? What about the fridge? Sod it, I had a whole bag of peanut butter cups in there!”

“Honestly, you fuss so much.” Hades snapped his fingers and Cerberus dematerialized, back into his cloak. “You’re wasting time. If you don’t get her back by 11:59, November 1st—your mortal time, vampire,anyvampire’s spawn that still walks this earth will be sucked into an especially foul pit in Tartarus. One that doesn’t get maid service and has a lot of very large, very hungry, very loose-boweled monsters!” Hades snatched up the keys and dangled them impatiently in Simeon’s face. “These are keys to my personal vehicle. Now—”

“Wait. I know you’ve got to dash off and rule the Land of the Dead and all of that, but... you drive a silver Mustang?”

“Death rides a pale horse.” Hades winked.

Damn it. Simeon found himself smiling.

Hades continued, “Seph never had a car of her own. Well, they weren’t around when she went missing. We had a family chariot, a four-seater. Now, my daughter—”

“You have a daughter?”

Hades whipped out a pouch. In the same way a proud father might fling open his wallet to display tiny snapshots or ugly school photos, he pulled out a handful of powder. He opened his palm, and two stunning brunettes in a glowing cloud materialized before Simeon’s eyes. “That’s our daughter, Melinoë, Milly for short, and our son, Zagreus. He goes by Zag now. He thinks it sounds ‘cool.’ Melinoë is the Goddess of Nightmares and Madness—but she’s getting her degree in fine arts at Oxford. Zagreus stepped up and filled his mother’s shoes,helping to manage the Underworld. He’s our eldest. Gods, you have no idea what it was like trying to raise Milly alone during those awkward centuries when she started noticing boys.”

Simeon winced. “I’ve got a hunch it was no picnic. Girl needs her mum. Or a big sis.”Emily.

Emily!

Emily, who had fought every sort of supernatural being. Emily, who knew more than any other human about tracking supernatural beings. Emily, who had found him when three generations of her forefathers had not.

Emily Van Helsing, who had helped get him into this mess by eliminating all the other vampires Lilith had spawned. Well, maybe not her, directly, but her family. Emily, who could find anything, whowouldfind anything—not for him, no. But for the vampires like Minegold, and little J.J.’s parents—oh, God, and for the baby, too, technically a “spawn” of a vampire. Emily would help, not for him but for the good souls who lived in this town.

“I can have help on this little mission, yeah?” Simeon asked, carefully putting the keys in the pocket of his jeans, which felt like they’d been freshly laundered and smelled faintly of some kind of fruit. Grapefruit? Berries? No, pomegranate.

“Yes. My car. My card—go on, this won’t blow up your home if you touch it.” Hades held out a black credit card that glinted oddly in the autumn moonlight.

“There’s no numbers on it. No little magnetic strip?”

“I’m the god of wealth. Most people forget that. All mineral wealth belongs to me and mine. Gold, diamonds, silver, rubies, you name it, I’ve invested it. That card has the approximate value of the mineral wealth of the entire planet. You literally cannot reach the limit on it—but don’t try. It’s for travel expenses. Don’t worry about the numbers and all of that. Whenthey scan it, it’ll work. Ah, and a phone. Dial 9.” Hades handed him a slim mobile flip phone.

“Nine?”

“Levels of hell.”

“You read a lot, don’t you?”

Hades frowned, a bitter, anguished look warring with anger. “I’m not like my brothers. I’m not like most gods. I’ve only had one love, one wife. Without her, what do you think I’m doing? Making plays for ghosts? Ravishing demons? No, fool. I read. I learn. I take care of our children. I know she loves me. Iknowit.” Hades blinked, and something happened to Simeon’s eyes. They were suddenly blurred. He wondered if the god hadn’t wanted him to see something.

“I believe you. Not to be indelicate, mate, but... If she loves you and your kids, why doesn’t she come home on her own? Do you think she’s held prisoner somewhere? Why wouldn’t she call for help? Does she have any powers?”

“She can turn any living thing into any other living thing—well, except a human. She can turn people into potted plants or houseflies if she wants.” Hades chuckled, wiping a hand hastily over his face. “I never argued with her if I could help it.”

“Got it. But—”

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