Page 82 of Seeking Hades' Ember

Chapter 39

Ember

Hades laced our fingers together as we left the guestroom. I was able to get a better look at the hallways as we walked down the long corridors to Athena's study. Athena and most of the original gods were able to stay here in the Celestial Palace, each having a wing of their own and can be called upon by Zeus if needed.

Athena was one of the favored by Zeus, meaning she would help him with decisions involving the fate of the gods and how to deal with certain situations in feuds. Who knew the gods would be angered with each other so much that Zeus would have to be in the middle of it? The way Zeus handled himself with Hades proved he wasn't the most emotionally stable kind of guy.

We passed several naked statues of women, Fairies, Sirens, and even a few Wolves along the way. Each Wolf had dazzling eye colors such as blue, green, and even gold. "Zeus tries to have all the creations created by gods represented with their own statues; Ares helped create the Werewolves, so there are plenty of Wolves down his wing to commemorate them.

"Huh, I wonder why Ares couldn't sense something in me since he is so connected with Wolves?" Hades chuckled and squeezed my hand again.

"Ares may be strong, but he isn't the most intuitive. He's nothing but beef and brawn, not much upstairs." Hades pointed to his temple while I laughed.

"I heard that! You are flaming pile of shit!" Ares came around the corner, strapping his ax on his side. He was in his original attire: a battle skirt of leathers, straps for holding weapons, and his gladiator sandals. Hades laughed and smacked him on the back.

"I'm only joking. Where are you headed?" Ares tightened his belt as he puffed out his chest.

"To the sparring grounds. Those angels look pretty weak; I might have a talk with Gabriel too." Hades narrowed his eyes and gave a curt nod as he left.

Hades' mind was still drifting to why Persephone's mate Gabriel had no remembrance of their meeting. It is supposed to be memorable, enjoyable, something you would never forget. While Hades thought I was sleeping, I could feel his worry through the emotions. Anxiety, fear, determination, it was there like a smoldering pile of ash that hovered over my heart.

After several winding and twisting turns, we reached Athena's wing of the palace. On two pillars held massive owls that were sitting on olive branches filled with gold. The eyes of the owls had black onyx stones, and the wings were dipped in glowing amber. As we entered the wing, there were rows of books on either side. Not one wall was clear; all of them had some sort of picture or map.

Athena was a regular librarian or bookworm. Beside several doors there were glass boxes sitting on pedestals of stuffed animals and beasts with their claws and jaws hinged open. I shivered to look at one of the serpents striking a helpless rabbit.

"She's great at battle strategies," Hades mused. "Athena also has her very own helm; instead of becoming invisible like mine does, her helmet provides her alertness and strength. Pretty handy when battling unruly supernatural beings."

The last door on the right held floor-to-ceiling doors. Two angels perched on either side of the door bowed their heads and removed their spears that had a cross next to the front. "Athena is expecting you," one grunted and opened the door. I gave a small thank you, but his face remained that of displeasure.

Who peed in his cornflakes?

"You're late." The door slammed open, and Athena rose from her seat behind the desk. "I do have other duties to attend to, you know. Like finding who is responsible for your helm disappearance and a missing Malachi and his mate." Hades gritted his teeth.

"So, he's missing. Zeus knows?"

Athena nodded. "I assure you, Zeus had nothing to do with trying to get rid of your mate. He was just following Selene's orders before her disappearance."Athena walked to the couch in front of her desk and motioned for us to sit down.

"We aren't here to talk about that. We have more pressing matters." I didn't know that it could even be possible to be more critical than finding missing gods? Gods were more substantial than regular immortal supernaturals; whoever took them must have something powerful on their side. What could be more pressing than finding two missing gods?

As I go to sit down, Hades pulls me to his lap. "Hades," I started to complain, but he gripped me tighter.

"It makes me more at ease knowing you are here." His nose ran up my neck as I shivered.

"That's enough," Athena snapped. "Time is of the essence here!" Athena grabbed her large book, one of many, and dropped it on the table. The table shook, and the few cups of tea clinked. Athena licked her fingers as she flipped through and danced her index finger across the page.

"Hades, do you think you could let go of your mate for ten minutes?" Athena let out an exasperated sigh as I tried to get up.

"Nope." He prolonged the p and gave her a wink. Athena growled put both her hands out for me to grab hers.

Ten minutes went to three hours, I was exhausted at all the techniques she taught me to control my empathy power. By the end of it, I could block out everyone in the room and home in on one person at a time. My range was twenty feet, and Athena wanted to write everything I felt down in her white notebook. "This is so interesting," she mused as she flipped to another page. Hades' head was dropped back on the couch, and his mouth was slightly open. Little snores left his lips, and I couldn't help but giggle and not pay attention to my tutor.

"There is no recorded record of this other than a god," she babbled, "that can project and read emotions from that distance." Hades let out a louder snort/snore, and I laughed hysterically until he woke up.

"Yeah, of course," Hades coughed as he tried to look like he was paying attention. As I was about to tell him how adorable he was, there was a scratching at the door to the library's entry. The angels outside were arguing, and smoke and entered under the door while the screams of: ‘put it out,’ and ‘get that thing away from me,’ got louder.

"Kronos, is it Blaze?" Hades questioned. I projected my empathy towards the door, and sure enough, it was Blaze, and he was worried and upset. "It is. Let him in!" I shouted, and the angels screamed for him to back up, but snarls and roars burst through the door. The front of the door was charred and black, and Athena scoffed.

"What did you do to my door, you little-" But before Athena could finish, we saw Blaze, the size of a lion, enter. His nails clicked on the floor as he approached, and Hades only scowled.

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