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Not this time. Stop it.

Just a friendly visit...a check-in.

Forty-one thousand, two hundred and sixteen.

I hesitated, my hand hovering over the door.

“Enter.”

Show off.

Pushing the door open, it creaked loudly as it opened into a darkened room, the only light coming from a merrily crackling fire in the hearth. Two overlarge, plush lounge chairs sat in front of it.

I allowed the heavy door to slam shut behind me.

BAM.

“A bit overdramatic, don’t you think?” I asked.

A hand appeared, curling around the armrest of the chair. My brother’s face appeared, bald head gleaming as he leaned over the armrest to glare at me. His eyes were a deep amethyst today instead of their normal cornflower blue, the reddish hue of his vampiric nature beginning to cloud the irises.

That meant he was busy. And bothered. And likely in no mood for my dumbass.

His eyes flicked to the door which I had just purposefully slammed. He said nothing, but the intent was clear.

“Right. I am checking in,” I began diplomatically, slumping down into the second chair to the right of the fireplace.

Gluttony’s eyes narrowed. “What’s wrong?”

There never was any beating around the bush with Gluttony—or G, as he liked to be called. He once nearly took out my kneecaps with a cane for calling him his full name when I was sixteen.

"Every time a major god or goddess goes away, everything goes to shit, and who has to pick up the pieces?" Gluttony asked me, practically hissing with anger. "Us. The lessers. The sins, the muses, the demigods and fucking random deities down the street." He paced, agitation visible in every line of his body. "And lately, the earth itself feels...restless. You've felt it too, haven't you?”

I hadn't, but I wasn't about to admit it.

“Humans, global warming, the usual,” I responded flatly, not seeing cause for alarm.

G huffed at me.

"Hades finding his little family might seem like divine romance, but power shifts like that have consequences,” G muttered, eyes darkening as he glanced toward the window. Storm clouds gathered.

A great fucking mood, indeed. Dare I add to his plate? Guilt seeped into my chest.

G continued, “And don’t think for a goddamn second that doesn’t mean I don’t have time for you. I simply wish to be efficient, so out with it.”

I wasn’t sure how to begin. I wasn’t eager to admit I’d done my first proper reanimation. There were protocols to follow after all, and I hadn’t. Not one little bit. But Hades couldn’t approve something he wasn’t here for, could he?

“I...have you ever had a mate?” I blanched. That wasn’t what I’d wanted to ask at all.

G went still–very still.

“Mates aren’t real,” he grumbled.

Indignation rose in my chest, but I fought it. G was older than all of us by a lot—he’d seen so much, and to ignore that wisdom or not allow him a chance to explain was foolish. I had the scars to prove it.

“You’re angry. You think you’ve found her then?” His voice was soft, but so, so dangerous. I tensed, unsure why he was angry. My mouth opened, but he silenced me with one hand.

“I will say my piece, then you are free to do what you want. You will not learn unless you fall flat on your face and smash all your teeth out.”