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Demeter.

“I haven’t seen anything like this since ancient times,” Hermes said.

Not since the Goddess of Harvest had caused a drought after a Thessalian king burned down a grove of her sacred trees. It took the Olympians months of begging to convince her to stop.

Hades was not among those who pleaded with her, uninterested in rewarding her childish behavior. Though that did give him an idea. Could he draw the goddess out by desecrating something sacred to her?

“I wonder what the others think of it,” said Hermes.

By others, he meant the rest of the Olympians.

“I imagine the only two upset at the moment are Athena and Hestia,” Hades said. “The others will not care until their worshippers begin to die.”

Because fewer worshippers meant less power, and that was when they would come after him and Persephone.

“I doubt you came to watch the weather,” said Hades. “Or even to show Persephone your…effervescent magic. So what is it?”

“Do I have to have a reason to visit my best friend?”

“I thought I was your best friend,” Hades said dryly.

“Listen, there’s plenty of me to go around,” Hermes said. “You don’t have to fight.”

Hades turned his head to look at Hermes.

He sighed. “Fine. Aphrodite sent me to inform Persephone that Harmonia was awake.”

“Just Persephone?”

“She specifically said not to involve you,” Hermes said, rubbing the back of his head. “I can already feel the consequences of this one.”

“Would you rather my wrath or hers?” Hades asked.

“Clearly yours,” Hermes said, annoyed, then muttered, “Some friend.”

Hades was relieved to hear that Harmonia was awake but not so happy that Aphrodite was trying to exclude him from any conversations she had with Persephone. They had agreed she could look into the attack, but the part he needed from this was open communication, and he did not appreciate the Goddess of Love trying to fuck that up.

“Harmonia is just the beginning,” said Hades. “There will be other gods.”

Hermes stiffened beside him. “Do you really think they can kill us?”

“I think anything is possible,” Hades said. “Mortals have their own magic.”

It was technology and science, and combined with the power of the gods, they had the potential to be unstoppable.

Adonis and Harmonia were tests, and with each one, they would hone their attacks. It was only a matter of time before someone died, and for the sake of the world, he hoped it wasn’t Aphrodite. If any one of the gods was underestimated in their power, it was Hephaestus. If anything happened to his wife, the world would come to know just how terrible he could be.

CHAPTER XVI

HADES

Hades took a seat behind Persephone’s new desk.

It had been two hours since Apollo had taken her, and he was growing impatient, but then he could taste something metallic on the back of his tongue, and Persephone appeared.

She looked…freshly fucked, though he knew that wasn’t the case. Her hair was windswept, her cheeks and nose reddened from the cold. Had Apollo kept her outside? In this weather? His irritation grew. She seemed to realize where she was and looked up at him, wide-eyed, and then her expression grew almost shy.

“Hi,” she breathed.