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“Take care of him,” she whispered, just for us. “Then come home to me.”

My lips fell to her forehead again. “I will.”

I pulled back and jerked my chin at Zale. Daphne understood what I meant and stepped toward him.

It was at that very moment my brother decided standing no longer seemed like fun and he collapsed in a heap of limbs. I caught him before he went down, shoving my shoulder under his arm to hold his weight.

“Are you sure you don’t want help?” Daphne asked, concern formewritten all over her face.

“I’m okay, Daph. Go home. Be safe. I’ll be back soon.”

Daphne nodded, wincing as she looked at Nikolas before finally disappearing through a portal with Zale. I didn’t move until I saw it close behind her, sure that she was safe.

I finally looked around at the scene we were surely causing. Thank the Fates, we hadn’t drawn much of a crowd besides a few skeptical glances from pedestrians.

Nikolas was too fucking heavy to move, so I muscled him through a portal to Prometheus.Only gods were allowed in unless you were personally escorted.

I didn’t know a thing about the inner workings of that prison—well, facility now—so I stepped through to the foyer, startling the living daylights out of a poor woman near the front.

“Persy,” I grunted.

She ran away, wide-eyed and nervous. By the time Persy rounded the corner with the woman in tow, I was bending under Nikolas’s weight.

“Oh my,” Persy gasped. I didn’t mean to make any assumptions, but I was always shocked by her appearance. She worked in a prison at the end of the world, surrounded by the worst criminals known to man. And yet she was a lithe, bright-eyed woman with hair white as snow. She had darker eyebrows and violet gray eyes a shade deeper than Adrian’s, but generally looked all too cheery to be in her line of work.

Even if she was named after a goddess who’d spent most of her time in the Underworld.

“What do you have here?” she asked, walking carefully up to us.

“My brother,” I explained. I had to clear my throat to dispel the gravel. “He needs help. He might have an alcohol problem or might just be an asshole but this is—”

I cut myself off. I didn’t fucking ramble.

Persy just smiled kindly at us both. “We will take care of him either way. We don’t punish here, Lukas.”

They did, technically. A small section of the prison was reserved for the worst of the worst, those far beyond redemption. But for the most part, yeah, they focused on rehabilitation.

Persy motioned over her shoulder and two aids came up and gently peeled Nikolas off me, laying him down on a cot.

While they’d carried him away, Persy stayed by me. “And how are you, Lukas?”

“Fine, I guess,” I answered, somewhat shocked she’d even asked.

Persy smiled kindly at me. “If that’s a truefine, then I’m glad to hear it. I’ll take care of your brother, I promise.” Then, when she was almost out of sight. “Give Daphne my love.”

I nodded, wanting to get back to her as soon as possible. But I had to fill Zale in first because of fucking course, Nikolas would put a wrench in my evening.

But he was still my brother and he needed help.

Persy could do it in her sleep. She regarded Nikolas like his issues were a walk in the park. I didn’t think there was a devil out there that could challenge Persy, I thought as I stepped back through a portal.

And if he did exist, I certainly didn’t want to fucking meet him.

Chapter 27

Daphne

I hadn’t realized how tired I was until I stepped into the shower. I had to keep myself awake and distracted until Lukas got back.