Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 76656 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 383(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76656 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 383(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
He turns as I approach and pulls me easily into his arms. Or as easily as possible with my giant belly in the way. As if sensing their father’s proximity, our children start shifting and kicking in my stomach.
“Hey.”
“Hello, little siren.” He presses a kiss to my temple. “You have a scheming look about you.”
“I’m thinking about the holidays.” Going to the country is out of the question with everything going on in the city, just like leaving Olympus is also impossible for a number of reasons. I wish that weren’t the case. “Are you sure we can’t convince your father to—”
“I’m sure.” He says it gently but firmly. “Even if you could convince him, he won’t come alone, and Hercules has already vowed not to return.”
I know Hades and Meg think that the reason Hercules avoids Olympus is for his own sake, but I highly suspect it’s partially to save Hades from having to make that call. He’s a fearsome man, but his partners art just as fierce when it comes to protecting him. “Things will be calmer next year. We’ll arrange something with him then.” I hope I’m not being naive when I say it. Things haven’t been calm for a very long time.
“Of course.” He says it so neutrally, I can’t tell if he’s trying to appease me or not.
I don’t ask about Andres. When Hades found out that the man who’d been a stand-in father for him had lied about his biological father’s death, he’d sent the old man away. Because he’s Hades, he didn’t cast him out with nothing to his name. He ensures Andres is taken care of, first with an apartment of his own, and then when his health declined, in a home where he receives the best care money can buy. Hades hasn’t gone to visit him, but Charon goes every week.
It’s one of the few things we don’t speak of. An old wound that was just starting to heal when it was ripped open again. He’ll talk to me when he’s ready. In the meantime, I don’t push.
I smile up at him, determined to keep this light. “I would like to do some decorating. Will you come to Winter Market with me?”
“I wish I could.” He sounds like he means it, regret lacing every word. “I have a meeting with Zeus, and I can’t reschedule.”
I search his face. This Zeus is not the last one, but so many wounds of the past go deep. Especially what recent events have brought... “Do you want me to come with you?”
“That’s not necessary.” He gives me one last squeeze and releases me. “Take Medusa with you to the market. It’s still not safe.”
I don’t argue with him about the necessity of having a guard. I’ve learned the hard way that it’s entirely needed, even in the lower city. “Okay.” I hesitate. “Do you want to know my plans?”
The first and only time I surprised Hades, I learned the hard way that my husband hates surprises. I sent a leading text and arranged myself artfully in a set of brand new lingerie that Juliette had designed especially for me. Suffice to say both Hades and I scared about ten years off each others’ lives when he burst in, guns drawn and his people at his back.
Not quite the romantic interlude I had been hoping for.
After that, we developed a compromise. If I want to plan something special for Hades, I give him a heads’ up. In return, he allows me to “surprise” him whenever I like. It works for us.
Hades smiles. “I know what the holidays mean to you, little siren. Don’t hold back on my account.”
“You say that, but...”
“I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t mean it.” He presses one last kiss to my temple. “Have fun.”
“Call me when you’re done with the meeting?” I won’t fully relax until he’s back in the lower city, and we both know it. The first year of our marriage has been tumultuous to say the least. Not between me and my husband, but between the rest of the city and, well...
No. No use thinking about that. It’s behind us, and if we have to deal with implications of the greater events at a later date. We promised each other that these holidays were a chance for normalcy.
“I will. I promise.”
I meet Medusa in the foyer. She’s been working for Hades for some time now. Like me, she found refuge in the lower city. It’s a kinder place than the upper city in so many ways.
“Hey, Persephone.”
“Medusa.” I smile as our trio of dogs course around me to greet her. She’s an imposing white woman who’s as tall as Hades and built like she used to, well, kill people for a living. Which she did, all at Athena’s behest.