Page 29 of Seeking Hades' Ember

Chapter 15

Hades

The next morning, I found Jillian’s legs intertwined with mine. Her head was buried in my bare chest as I saw her slightly parted lips take a breath. Kronos, she was captivating. If I had taken just one look at her as a baby, I would have instantly fallen for her. Not in a sexual way but in a loving protective way. My stubborn ass had to go screw it all up, and now I am faced with if she will even stay once she knows the truth.

I was going to do it. I was going to start telling her piece by piece the truth if everything checked out well today. Today, we had Witches, Shamans and Sorcerers coming that deal with memory magic. If I could have found a Vampire that has experience in compulsion, I would have called for them, but the one I was thinking about was actually suffering in Tartarus for the overuse.

The artificial sun had broken through the small crack in the window that let the fresh air in. Jillian told me how much she enjoyed the fresh air, and I would open the whole damn window if she really wanted. The thought of an open window scared her at first, worried someone would crawl through I’m guessing.

Constantly reminding her that I would never let anything happen to her was going to be rough, but I’ll do it for as long as she needs me to. Her eyelashes tickled my chest as she looked up to me with the cutest smile as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes. “Did you sleep better?” She hummed as she sat up to stretch her arms. The shirt road up, exposing her milky legs, and I had to pull back before I let out an involuntary groan of approval.

“I’m going to get dressed. There are several doctors coming in today to check on you. Is that all right?” Jillian gave a little pout and I wanted to suck that lip right into my mouth. Gods I want to take things farther with her. I just didn’t know if she would let me.

“Do I need to tell them about the dreams?” she whimpered and my dead heart just about damn broke. Sitting back on the bed and putting my arm back around her, she promptly curled up in my lap. Jillian wasn’t scared of me as she wrapped her arms around my waist.

“It would really help them figure out what’s wrong.” She sniffed and hid in my chest. “What if I was there? Holding your hand through everything? Would that make it better?” She gripped my waist tighter and mumbled she would try. “Good.” I kissed her forehead as she hopped off my lap and headed to her room.

She was still a quiet little thing, but we have all eternity to get to know each other and start new memories because she was mine.

Once dressed, I came out of my room and instantly went to hers. The door was open, and she had just put on some pink ballet flats. Wearing a plaid pink and navy skirt with a white top, she looked damn sexy. When I had sent out a demoness to retrieve clothing for her, I didn’t realize she would pick things Jillian would wear. Some of it looked downright ridiculous, but Jillian paired things nicely.

The skirt made her short legs look long, licking my lips I wiped my hands down chest. I didn’t want anyone to look at her right now because the crazy thoughts in my head were getting more risqué by the minute. Jillian’s tucked-in white shirt outlined her breasts and you could see them bounce in them when she pranced over to me to take my hand. Fuck, this was going to be hard.

Taking her down to the infirmary, the whole damn squad was in there. Loukas, Ares, Hermes, and Vulcan all sat in the corner like helpless puppies while Cerberus whined at the door. Jillian stepped towards me and gave everyone a wave as she sat on the bench.

“I think it is best for fewer people in here, don’t you guys think?” I growled out as Loukas shivered at my command. Yeah, you sick fuck, I know what you are doing. “Besides, Loukas, how is that assignment I gave you?” Remember you are supposed to be interviewing angels and about why Malachi was at the club the night we saved my mate?

“Yes, Sir. The interviews were concluded. When you have availability, we can go over them.” I nodded but gave a death glare while I folded my arms. If they made me ask twice, I was going to drag them out by their dicks. One by one they left the infirmary while Jillian tried to hide her giggles. She thought the whole thing was amusing. If I wasn’t so damn stressed about what was wrong with her memory, I might have laughed too.

“My Lord, I have great news!” The doctor smiled as he walked in the room. He better have a cure, or I’ll toast him right here. “Um, Dr. Hecate is here!” I let out a little breath I didn’t know that I was holding. This would be the second-best thing to happen. Hecate was the goddess of witchcraft and sorcery. If she couldn’t help then no one really could.

Hecate walked into the room with a white doctor’s coat. She must have been informed that my mate wasn’t aware of our kind. She had also changed her appearance to be more human-like, adding a few flaws in her face and hair but overall, still looked like Hecate.

“Wow, she’s beautiful,” Jillian whispered as Hecate came up to her.

“I think you are the beautiful one, Jillian.” Hecate used the back of her hand to touch Jillian’s cheek.

“Now, I heard you were having some nightmares. Could you tell me about them?” Jillian immediately stiffened, I grabbed her hand and gave her a kiss on her knuckles.

“It’s all right. Hecate and I have been friends for a long time. She will help, trust me.” Jillian still didn’t like the idea, but with my touch, she calmed herself.

“Why don’t you sit down Hades and let Jillian sit in your lap? That can make her feel more comfortable.” Not wavering, I picked Jillian up and sat in the chair across the room while Hecate brought the wheeled chair closer to us. Jillian leaned her head on my chest as she took deep breaths. Hecate grabbed both of her hands and began to massage them.

“Go slow and from the beginning, all right? We can stop and take a break anytime you want.”

With a shaky voice, Jillian spoke of her first dream. The open window, the pictures flying to the floor during a storm, the smell of pine on her father’s shirt she wore to bed. Everything was in vivid detail until the man in the ‘gladiator helmet’ comes into view. She said he clawed at her, wrestled her to the ground. She had never dreamed this prior to the times she had been with me. It was the same exact helmet she saw bring her to the club.

The second dream caught my attention more. It sounded like she was part of a small neighborhood that held a party at a bonfire. As she tried to continue to tell me what they had gathered for, the tears rolled down her cheeks. Her breathing became erratic, I grabbed her tight and buried her into my chest. I couldn’t bear to listen anymore; she was my frightened angel that had been ruined by some sick fuck that took my damn helmet. Once I find out who took it, I will make them pay.

“Did the man in the helmet come back, Jillian? Is that what happened at the end?” Her grip became tight around my shirt as I cooed her to calm down.

“It’s all right, I’m here.” I kissed the temple of her head as she came to. I rocked her back and forth like a child. Hell, she probably didn’t get this as a child for all I knew. The dreams she was having made me think she did have a childhood with her own room, a caring community, but how does it compare to the last ten years?

“Hades?” Hecate spoke through to my mind. Hecate being the god of witchcraft could do many things such as mind-linking someone who they have no affiliations with. However, even her being the god of witchcraft, she had her limitations. I looked up at her as Jillian dozed off. Jillian was still physically weak and now mentally. Every time she dreamed; she would wake up more exhausted.

“Jillian has been tainted with a type of grey magic. It is a mixture of both light and dark. Usually, one practices either light or dark but this, this is different.” Hecate stroked Jillian’s hair as she slowly went to sleep. “There are not one but several spells on her that include both and are intertwined with one another. I’m guessing that is why I am feeling this grey magic she has. One is memory loss which is black. The next is the white which is a suppressant. Someone is suppressing her strength, her body. It is usually used on cancers of the body for humans but whoever cast this spell didn’t concentrate on one part like you would cancer, but the whole body.”

“So, someone just wanted to make my mate even weaker?” I growled. Hecate didn’t look to me, her throat bobbed as she wrote several notes on a clipboard.

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