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Hades smirked, his hand on his arousal. He pumped his fist up and down, preparing to enter her again, but the excitement that had engorged his flesh and made him pulse with need was doused the instant he felt Hermes’s magic.

“Fuck.”

He pulled Persephone off the edge of the balconyjust as the god appeared only a couple of steps away. He did not even give them the courtesy of distance.

“Hermes,” Hades growled.

“I’d love to join you,” Hermes said. “Another time, perhaps.”

Hades hoped his glare communicated the violence he was imagining inflicting on the god, which went beyond the pain of the scar he now bore as a sign of their broken oath.

“Hermes, what happened to your face?” Persephone asked.

Hades’s mouth tightened. He hadn’t expected to feel anything when Persephone finally bore witness to the fallout, but the concern in her voice made him feel guilty.

To Hermes’s credit, he didn’t joke. He just smiled softly and said, “I broke an oath.”

“What do you want, Hermes?” Hades asked, growing impatient. “We were about to return.”

“How long is ‘about to’?”

“Hermes—” Hades warned.

“Zeus has summoned both of you to Olympus,” Hermes explained. “He has called Council. They wish to discuss your separation.”

“Our separation?” Persephone asked, surprised. She looked from Hades to Hermes. “Are there not more pressing issues? Like Triad murdering a goddess and attacking another?”

There were certainly more important things, but Zeus was of the mindset that Triad was not a threat to Olympians.

Demeter’s storm, on the other hand, was.

The longer it continued and the more fatalities, the more mortals began to question whether they should worship the Olympians. Less worship meant a change in strength—in power.

“I only gave you one reason Zeus called Council,” Hermes said. “That does not mean we will not discuss other concerns.”

“I will be along shortly, Hermes.”

Hermes nodded, his gaze hard, softening as it slid to Persephone.

“See you later, Sephy,” he said and vanished.

It didn’t take long for Persephone to turn on Hades. “Did you do that to Hermes’s face?”

“You ask and yet you know,” he replied, frustrated.

“You didn’t have—”

“I did.” He did not mean to snap, but this was not something to argue about. He and Hermes had entered into a divine agreement that had divine consequences. “His punishment could have been worse. Some of our laws are sacred, Persephone, and before you feel guilt for what happened to Hermes’s face, remember that he knew the consequences even if you did not.”

She sagged beneath the weight of his reprimand, and that felt worse than her anger over Hermes’s face.

“I didn’t know.”

Gods. He never got this right.

He pulled her close, holding her tightly. They should not be arguing or hurting each other right now. Zeus had just summoned him to Council to discuss their future, something he’d feared for a long time. If anything, they should be enjoying these final few moments before all hell broke loose.

“I’m sorry. I meant to comfort you.”