Page 28 of Stolen Hearts

But Deimos, like Ares, Hades, and Kratos, fully embodies his namesake. Deimos was the Greek god of dread and terror. And whileI’mnot scared of my own brother, I understand how most of the rest of the world is.

I mean, he’s a scary guy.

Tall and muscular, with jet-black hair, our father’s dark, brooding eyes, and oddly—considering the rest of us got the tanned Mediterranean skin genes—supernaturally pale skin. Combined with his deep-set eyes, his chiseled jaw and cheekbones, and his fierce look, Deimos cuts a fairly terrifying figure. There’s a reason even as the youngest Drakos brother, he’s running all of our European business almost single-handedly.

People fear and respect him. When he walks into a room, that room tends to go quiet. It’s like he gotjustenough of the ruthless genes from our father to be a serious force to be reckoned with, but not so many that he turned out a sadistic monster like Atlas.

But all of that aside, to me, he’s just D, and I love that he’s here.

Hades gives me a huge hug next and grins as he passes me a shot of ouzo. I make a face, because the traditional Greek alcohol that tastes like licorice isnotmy thing at all.

“Hey, tradition is tradition, Callie.”

Behind him,everyoneelse raises their glass of ouzo as well, and I can see the beaming grin on Ya-ya’s face. She loves the stuff. I sigh, rolling my eyes as I pluck the glass from Hades’ hand.

“Okay, okay.”

“Stin iyia mas!” Ya-ya crows, lifting her glass as the rest of my family echoes the Greek version of “cheers”.

I’m stilling recovering from the licorice taste of the drink as Kratos comes over to give me a huge bear hug. Ya-ya clings to me, beaming into my face as she kisses both of my cheeks and tells me how proud of me she is, and how fortunate it is that fate stepped in and put a stop to the Luca madness.

Yeah,fate.

Fate, or a wall-mounted mirror to the jugular and a former Army Ranger snapping a neck.

One by one, my whole circle of friends and family hug me and wish me a happy birthday. Ares grins as he passes me a glass of expensive champagne with an ultra-sarcastic “well, here’s yourvery first champagne, since you’vejustturned twenty-one.”

He chuckles as he hugs me close. “Love ya, Callie.”

The whole thing is magical, and lovely, and should feel like a brand-new chapter of my life, and a clean slate.

But it doesn’t.

Part of it is the overwhelming dread waiting for the other Luca shoe to drop. A huge part of my sleep-deprived, anxiety-ridden brain is anxiously waiting for him to come staggering back from the grave with zombie-like hands clawing for me.

But the other part—the bigger part—is that my entire circle of family and friends is here.

…All except one.

Ares and Neve, Eilish and Gavan, Hades and Elsa, Elsa’s little sister Nora, Cillian and Una, Kratos, Deimos, Ya-ya, Dahlia… They’re all here.

Castle isn’t.

Cillian mentioned in passing that he’d be coming later, after dealing with a Kildare family matter. But even with all the love and well-wishes I’m getting from everyone else here, his is the one presence I’m missing.

The one man that makes me feel like I’m not about to explode into a million pieces.

He’s not here.

For my birthday.

Ouch.

“Oh, shit!” Hades turns to grin at me as I sip on my champagne. “Where’s your hat, Callie?”

I glower at him. “I amnotwearing that thing.”

“The hat” isn’t a Greek tradition. It’s just a ridiculous Drakos family one. It’s a giant plush, green and purple striped brimmed top-hat, like the one the Mad Hatter inAlice in Wonderlandwears, or the Cat In The Hat. Ares wore it on his tenth birthday and refused to take it off for the pictures, despite our father’s insistence to get rid of it. Then Ya-ya decided it was adorable, so the hat stayed.

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