Page 64 of Hades

Six months later

Another restless night oftossing and turning, only to fall asleep minutes before my alarm goes off. Argos is curled up next to me, giving me the evil side eye as I untangle my legs around his massive Hellhound form. Stretching his paws up over his head, he rolls onto his back and greets the day with an enthusiastic yawn.

“You hungry, bud?” I ask as I rub his belly and kiss him on the head.

Having a dog in Boston isn’t ideal, and harboring a Hellhound is less so. Alastor has been nice enough to take Argos into the bowels of Hell or wherever he takes him to go hunting. Other than that, he gets the finest steak Hades’ money can buy.

But I wouldn’t have survived without having Argos by my side, not just for protection but also for companionship. It’s been a lonely few months in Boston, and I don’t feel closer to finding myself than I did six months ago.

“Uncle Alastor is coming to take you hunting today. Are you excited, buddy?” I ask Argos as I cut up a few hundred dollars’ worth of Kobe beef for his breakfast.

My phone buzzes with an appointment reminder.

Today is my first appointment with Dr.Helbreder.It took me nearly a month to find the courage to call her, but Kat said she would be the best person to talk to. It’s not like I can look up doctors who specialize in what I’m going through. That would get me a one-way ticket to crazy town.

Putting Argos’ bowl on the kitchen floor, I shower and prepare for my appointment. It’s shaping up to be a beautiful day in the city, so I opt for a pretty floral dress that brushes my knees and sways when I walk.

I also shoot a quick text to Kat to let her know that I’ll be heading out to see her this weekend. I’m going to try my hand at the Dimmu gate thing. However, I’m petrified even to attempt it on my own.

ME: Hey, friend. I’ll be there on Saturday. I’m going to try the gate thingy. Maybe you could come here and walk through with me. Ha ha. No, but seriously, I’m a bit scared.

I don’t expect to see the little dots jumping around since Vegas is a few hours behind Boston time. But they do.

KAT: No problem. I’ll come to you, and we can come back together. I was petrified the first time I used one. Good luck this morning. Kennedy is great. You’re going to love her.

Grabbing my bag and giving Argos one last scratch behind the ears, I head out onto Beacon Street and head downtown to Dr. Helbreder’s office. It’s early and a beautiful morning, so the walk along the Charles will be a perfect start to the day.

Yesterday I took a walk to see where her office was because I hate being late or getting lost. And since Boston is difficult to navigate, I like to know where I’m going. Grabbing a coffee from the little shop a few doors down from hers, I take a seat on one of the benches and enjoy the morning.

“Aradia?” I hear a woman’s voice call from behind me. It’s a bit unnerving because I haven’t met anyone in the few months I’ve been here. Turning in the direction of her voice, I see a tall, beautiful blonde woman waving at me. She’s in a skintight red mini-dress that looks completely out of place in the Financial District of Boston at eight-thirty in the morning. “Aradia, I thought that was you,” she says as she rushes to me and sits on the bench next to me.

Glancing at my watch, I have about a half hour before my appointment, but I have no idea who this person is.

“I’m sorry, do I know you?” I question, and she gives me an agitated smile with an equally annoyed huff.

“Don’t be silly. Of course, you know me. Your mother tells me she’s so happy you haven’t crawled back to that dreadful Hades. Although I don’t know why, I’d crawl anywhere he wanted.” She coo’s and I have the urge to wrap by hand around her skinny neck and squeeze it until her head pops off. Instead, I give her an annoyed smirk. Hearing Hades’ name on another woman’s lips who has just insinuated that she’s crawled to him has me a bit unhinged, to say the least.

Never mind that she also knows my mother, which can’t be good.

Giving her the best fake smile I can muster, I try to ignore the internal heat building up inside me as I think about Hades with another woman. It’s been six months, and he’s the ruler of the Underworld; I’m sure his bed is being kept more than warm.

“You know my mother?”

“Yes, of course. Who doesn’t. Themis, goddess of Justice.” The blonde woman replies with far more flare and pep than saying my mother’s name should ever bring.

My heart sinks at the mention of my Themis’ name. She obviously isn’t human. Worse, she knows I’m not either. “I’m sorry, catching up was nice, but I have someplace I need to be.” I inform her because I have no intention of continuing our conversation.

She grabs my arm before I can take a step away. “You really should sit for a moment. I’m sure wherever you need to be can wait.” A malevolent, harsh tone replaces the candy-sweet voice of a moment before. Even her smile now seems nefarious somehow.

We stand, staring at each other momentarily, our eyes locked in a battle of wills. I don’t know who she is, but I highly doubt she’s as powerful as the daughter of Themis and Aries combined. Not that I have any idea what I can or can’t do.

“I suggest you let go of my arm,” I hiss.

Instead of complying, she takes a few steps closer, and I do my best to keep my composure. I’m completely out of my league here. While I may be the daughter of the god of War, I have no idea how to fight, let alone defeat someone like her. Are we supposed to punch each other and have a catfight right here in the middle of the street like two middle-schoolers? Despite my fear, I stand my ground.

“Your mother did mention that you were still little more than a human parading around as a goddess,” she snaps, and even though it may be true that I am little more than human, her saying it feels like a physical blow. “You never did deserve Hades. He needs a powerful woman by his side, someone who can be ruthless. Someone who isn’t afraid to take what she wants.”

Yanking my arm from her grip, I brush off some imaginary lint from my skirt. “You have no idea who I am or what I’m capable of. So, I suggest you go back to whatever hole you crawled out of, and the next time you see my mother, you can tell her to fuck off.”

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