Page 11 of Bride of Death (Netherworld Fae #1)

Hades

“What the fuck is this?” my little brother demands as he shadows into my office and slams his fist onto my desk.

I know what has him interrupting my day without even looking at the fiery paper in his hand.

“An invitation to my nuptials,” I say, feigning boredom. “Which reminds me, I need you to be my witness.”

“Your witness,” he repeats, sounding incredulous.

I minimize the message I was working on when my brother arrived and look up from my translucent screen to meet his dark gaze.

“That is what I said, little brother,” I tell him flatly. “If you’re not up for the task, I’ll ask Maliki.”

Orcus stares down at me. “Hades, you’re lucky I found this before Alina did.” He holds up the invitation when he says “this,” causing me to arch a brow.

“I’m lucky?” I repeat, not following his logic.

“You can’t possibly think she’ll allow this, let alone approve of it,” he says, leaving the fiery paper on my desk before collapsing into the chair across from me. “Hades?—”

“Why would your mate have any say in my dealings?” I ask, cutting him off. “And why would she even care? Surely this won’t be a surprise to her?”

The look he gives me is not one I want to see on his face right now.

Because it suggests regret. Remorse. And perhaps a hint of guilt.

I huff a humorless laugh when I realize the cause of that expression. “You’ve not told her about our history.”

“Have you told Sera?”

My gaze narrows. “Her name is Persephone. And she is fully aware of our history.”

“Persephone, yes,” Orcus says. “But Sera doesn’t. Not unless you’ve actually spoken to her, which I’m guessing you haven’t.”

“Why would I waste my time by speaking with her?” I ask him, deflecting.

Because I don’t want to admit that yes, I have spoken to her. Once. And she pretended not to know me.

Her innocence during that meeting still grates on my nerves. It felt genuine. Too genuine.

“Hades, I know you sense Persephone inside of Sera, but all I’ve felt from her is a hum of potential. And all I’ve observed is innocence. She… she’s very human.”

I grunt at that.

Maliki feels similarly, his claims of Serapina Everheart’s ignorance one he voices almost every time we discuss her.

And it seems Persephone has manipulated Orcus as well.

But I know my mate.

She’s devious to her core. An actress of supreme caliber. A temptress who manipulates everyone and everything around her.

With a snap of my fingers, I call for the Netherworld Fae Registry, the netherite-encased book mine to command, as I manifested it long ago.

When the book arrives, it drops with a thud that has Orcus’s brow furrowing.

I ignore him and flip to the page he needs to see. Four thousand and seven . Then I spin it around for him to read the words for himself.

“If my devious little mate wants to play this game, then so be it,” I tell him. “We’ll see what she has to say after I claim her in front of the entire fucking kingdom.”

Orcus gives me a look, one that borders on pity as his eyes return to their usual obsidian color. “She’s not playing a game, Hades. Sera has no idea who you are. And she is single. She’s very human.”

“On the outside, yes,” I agree. “But her soul is all Omega.”

“While I agree on her soul—because I sense it, too—don’t you find it strange that she hasn’t shown any outward signs of her Omega heritage?”

“It’s all part of her game.”

He snorts. “Hades, Omegas can’t hide their heats. You know this as well as I do. I mean, fuck, she’s not even nesting.”

“Probably because she’s taken some sort of suppressant,” I say.

“That she got from where?”

“Her mother, obviously,” I tell him. “She spent two years with that wretched bitch. Who knows what she did to help Persephone mask her true nature?” It’s a thought I’ve had several times over the last thirteen months.

Because it’s the only thing that makes sense.

Demeter did something to her daughter.

And I’m going to undo it with my knot, as well as my bite.

“The nuptials will go forward as expected in eleven days’ time,” I go on. “You can be there in support, or you can hear about it afterward. But I’ve made up my mind, and I won’t be changing it.”

Orcus stares me down, his Alpha energy pulsing around him. But I’m older and stronger, and he knows it.

There is no fighting me on this.

“She’s not yours to protect,” I remind him, my tone carrying a soft warning. “I respect that you’ve mated a woman who considers Persephone to be her sister, but we both know they’re not truly related. Not like you and I. And blood claims are everything in our world.”

What’s left of it, anyway , I think, my fingers threatening to curl into fists.

Because Persephone and her Alpha mother left our kind in ruins.

Destroyed an entire realm.

And all for what?

To hide the Omegas from their Alphas .

The thought of it still infuriates me, perhaps even more so now than it did then. Because I’ve had two thousand years to foster my fury. To consider the aftermath. To realize exactly what happened and how Persephone played me.

No, I will never trust her again. Not even in this form that everyone else feels is innocent.

Oh, she may still be mine to adore and worship. But she’s also mine to punish.

And punish her, I shall.

With reverence and patience.

In a manner only an Alpha and his Omega can understand.

She’s mine to love for always. In happiness and betrayal. And my darling little mate is going to understand exactly what that means. Soon .

“Before you do something I know you’re going to regret, try talking to her,” Orcus says, his tone underlined with a dominance I can almost taste. “Omegas are not meant to be disrespected like this, Hades.”

“Claiming her before the kingdom isn’t a disrespectful act, brother.”

“It is when the Omega bride isn’t willing.”

I wince, not liking the implication in his words. “She’s already consented to being my mate.”

“No, Persephone consented. Sera did not.”

“They’re the same being.”

“They’re not,” my brother stresses. “And if you spent more than a handful of seconds with her, you would know it, too.”

I narrow my gaze, wondering if he knows about the brief meeting we shared over a year ago, during her first night here.

I let her think it was a dream.

It wasn’t.

But I wanted to see how long this game would go on, and it seems my mate is as stubborn as she is clever. Two traits I didn’t realize Persephone possessed until after she turned my world upside down.

Unfortunately, there’s a lot I’ve learned about my cruel little mate since that fated event.

Orcus sighs. “I implore you to at least consider an audience with her before the nuptials. If you force her down that aisle, it’ll be the biggest mistake of your life. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go inform my mate that you’re about to break her heart.”

With those ominous words and a lasting look, my brother vanishes, leaving me to mull over his commentary.

Maliki has voiced similar concerns over the last few weeks, his attachment to my mate seeming to grow with each passing day.

It’s intriguing.

Infuriating.

Arousing.

I drum my fingers along my mahogany desk, considering my options.

I chose the nuptial event with a purpose in mind. Persephone used to speak of our nuptial day all the time, saying it was the best moment of her life. I thought perhaps we could re-create it and try to reignite our old flame.

Forcing her to participate, though, defeats the purpose. Which is why I requested that Maliki convince her to attend voluntarily.

But maybe I am going about this all the wrong way.

Maybe it’s time I try to talk to the female masquerading as a fragile human.

I hum, my fingers still tapping my desk.

Or maybe she’ll come to me willingly, just like I desire.

Because the invitations are officially out.

Once she sees one, she’ll know I’m onto her little game. And she’ll be forced to face me on her own terms, thus coming to me willingly.

Yes.

This will work.

However, if it doesn’t, I’ll go to her.

And then I’ll remind her what it means to be my mate…