Page 59 of Seeking Hades' Ember

I gulped. "Does he do stuff like that a lot? Wave his hand and 'poof' they are gone?” Cerberus shook his fur.

"I'm sorry, what?" he acted innocent.

"I said-" Before I could grab Cerberus' collar, a warm hand engulfed my wrists. Hades was back.

Cerberus took this as his cue to leave, and Blazed followed by blowing me a kiss with his tail. "Are you all right?" Hades pulled me close to him. Did he just hear me talking to Cerberus? He didn't look too surprised.

"You turned someone into dust!" Hades eyes lowered.

"I did; it was punishment." His mouth was in a thin line. “He didn’t do his job. Don’t worry; I’ll bring him back and give him a less...favorable job later." Hades paused for a brief second. "It is just the way things have to be run around here."

I wanted to snap at him, but I kept it to myself. As long as his demon was given another chance, I would allow it. I didn't know how things ran around here and until I knew I couldn't do anything. He's older than dirt, and he may have a sound system going.

"Alright, fine." I took my hand away and marched towards the bathroom.

"Where are you going?" he questioned while following me like a puppy.

"To shower, I reek of cave, and now I probably have demon dust on me."

"You are sore with me," he mused. I stopped to turn around in the doorway.

"How so?"

"You want to yell at me. Your anger is coming off of you in waves, yet you do not wish to speak; why?" Hades came closer; the heat of his body wrapped me in a blanket. It soothed me, but not enough to shake a heavy feeling.

My stomach turned up in knots; the uneasy feeling washed over me. Was it because I didn't want to argue with him because I didn't understand Hades' world yet? Or was it that he could wave his hand and kill anything at will?

"Come here, Ember." My mind screamed one thing, and my body did another. I let him engulf me in his arms while I nuzzled into his chest. "He is not completely dead. His soul is now in purgatory, where he will wait until I summon him again. It's like a prison, a punishment. I don't do that with any other living being except for my demons, who deserve it. I would never, ever do that to you or anyone you cared about. Do you understand?" I nodded my head into his clothes, taking in his scent.

His smell had become stronger to me than it was earlier, and I let myself enjoy the warmth.

Hades

"He. Took. What?" I must articulate my words around these demons because it seems they do not fucking understand my questions. Both sat on the floor in shock as they tried to crawl away from me.

"We are sorry! We went to check the rest of the dungeon, and the door to your trophy room was open. The chains were gone, the enchantments expelled. When we walked in, the Helm was gone along with the Demon Sword." The one laying on his back trembled as he put his hands up to cover himself.

"Anything else?" I gritted.

"No, my Lord."

"Good." I waved my hand as both shrank to nothing but a pile of ash. "Vulcan, can you see what you can come up with regarding the dungeon? Check for traces of witchcraft, possibly Hecate? It isn't a coincidence that Hecate, the most powerful witch goddess, and Malachi disappearing from the Underworld is a coincidence now, is it?" Vulcan shook his head ‘no’ as he trudged through the door.

"Ares, what do you think we should do?" I tightened my knuckles as I played with the rings on my fingers as I stared mindlessly at the bookshelf. The only thing not causing me to burn down the entire palace was Ember. She already saw me lose it with one demon; I didn't need her despising me from ruining our home.

"You ask for my opinion?" he questions, raising a brow.

"Time for you to step up to your god-like status and take responsibility, hmm? I think a war is brewing," I spoke darkly. "We best prepare." Ares took hold of the butt of his ax and did a bow and left the room with a skip in his step. Ares and I understood one another. We combined our armies, and together we have become powerful. If we wanted, we could conquer the heavens, but it was something we did not want. We wanted peace to live out our own lives and keep gods and deities out of human business.

Walking back to my room, I could hear faint talking from the other side of the door. Ember was talking, assumably to be Cerberus. I found it endearing she would speak to him like a person until she started saying she was a Disney princess. Cerberus started rambling she wasn't a princess. Fuck that; she was my queen.

Sneaking into the door, I tried to work my brain on why Ember could hear both animals. She was having an actual conversation with them like she would a person. I created Phantomtails and Cerberus in the Underworld, so I don't see why she shouldn't communicate with them. This bond must be taking hold of her more rapidly than I expected for her race. I know I haven't paid attention to supernatural bonds, and I haven't studied it at all in angels, demons, and gods. There just wasn't enough information on the subject. Ember and I are going to have to take it slow and be the guinea pigs for Selene.

Cerberus was asked if I liked to poof my demons into ash regularly, but I gave him an evil eye. Pretending not to know what was happening, he scratched his fur until I took hold of Ember's arm.

Fuck, she was beautiful; I could hardly concentrate. Just in the past twenty-four hours, her beauty has bloomed into my heart. Her physical strength was making leaps and bounds, and I could only contribute that to the bond.

Answering her questions and rushing her into the bathroom, I quickly changed into grey sweatpants and got on the bed. My arm was thrown over my eyes as I contemplated what my next move was.

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