Page 20

Chapter

Fourteen

PRIDE

I knew it was going to be a shitty day before Janine even got to me, her normally immaculate bun already askew, strings of blonde hair hanging into her face. Normally so put together, her face was blotchy from running halfway across the Underworld.

“SIR! I–”

I held up a hand to stop her, just as the entire Underworld groaned and shifted, the ground vibrating and shaking like a mini earthquake. Souls moaned and wailed, the very foundations of the Earth grumbling.

I closed my eyes and held my hands out, trying to soothe the agitated magick. I couldn’t do much on my own. The only one who could was Hades, but he was still away.

Luckily, after a tense minute or so, everything settled.

I opened my eyes to find Janine’s face as white as a corpse.

“Like I said, I’m aware,” I noted dispassionately.

Janine nodded quickly and made a tick on her clipboard, hands shaking. “Does this mean–”

“It means things are still settling from the birth of a new goddess,” I reassured her, referring to Melinoe, Hades’ long lost daughter. “Or something new is stirring.”

Janine blinked.

I sighed. “We’re going to have to get a hold of Hades. I hate to do it, but things are unstable, and better be safe than sorry.”

Janine visibly swallowed. “But, ah, didn’t Hades say that if you bothered him while on vacation he’d, ah...” She frantically flipped through the pages on her clipboard.

“Ah! Here it is— rip out your arteries and braid them to present to his wife and new daughter as a matching necklace set.”

I winced. “How...vivid. He also trusts me to ensure things run smoothly, and the souls are not in danger. His own brother trying to make a comeback surely supersedes this.”

Janine nodded, but her face still held doubt.

Not that I blamed her. I was a delight to work for; if Hades killed me in anger, her next employer wouldn’t be nearly as good as me.

“What if you take the others with you? Show a united front?” Janine suggested, trying to appear nonchalant.

Hmm. The idea had merit.

It would be difficult to find Hades on my own. Taking my brothers would let us combine power and resources, and also be a sign to Hades that this was a serious matter.

G will be thrilled. He hasn’t felt useful in quite some time now.

I grinned. “Gluttony has been whining about taking a family trip.”

Janine grimaced, then flipped to a clean page of paper and began writing furiously.

“Don’t fret, Janine. Things will all be in order.”

She rolled her eyes. “The last time you said that was when the Archduke of Austria showed up here with a bullet in his head.”

I opened my mouth to argue then snapped it shut, not in the mood for discussing my track record or habit of optimism in the face of catastrophe. “Just hold down the fort. I’m going above to gather everyone, then hopefully we can get Hades back. He can sort out Zeus.”

“Hopefully,” Janine added brightly.

Before I could respond, black smoke twisted and curled around my ankles, accompanied by a menacing purr.

“Did you need something, Damon?” I asked the void.

The shadows coalesced into a solid shape, forming into the shape of a monstrous black cat with massive fangs and blazing red eyes.

“Oh, we all assumed he was with Hades. He’s Aggie’s familiar,” Janine noted.

The appearance of one of Hades’ most favored shadow demons could mean a multitude of things, none of them clear.

“Does this mean they’re returning soon?” I asked the cat hopefully.

It sneezed at my feet, leaving a smear of ash on my shoes.

I sighed, closed my eyes, and disappeared to the ‘real’ world.

Normally I’d just shift right to G’s house, but I was still a bit skittish from our last encounter. It may be cowardly, but I wanted all of my brother’s behind me (or preferably in front of me) when we confronted him about Hades.

To my surprise, my magick led me to one area, suggesting most of my brothers were already mostly concentrated.

Odd, for them. Us.

“Eternal Matches.”

I snorted at the sign over the doorway, still thinking it was a shit name after all these years.

Diana liked to lean hard into everything she did, and immortality was certainly not exempt.

Oh well, Lust was as good a place to start as anyone else.

A large poster had been taped to the glass of the front door, advertising two missing children: a fae child, and a dryad.

Odd.

“I’ll be with you in a moment!” The secretary peered around the hunched figure taking up the space in front of her desk, smiling brightly at me.

A werewolf.

He turned and snarled at me, as if my presence was interrupting something very important. That put me on edge.

Juniper’s ex was a werewolf. I’m sure it was simply a coincidence.

“Don’t mind me,” I said easily, taking a seat as far away from the desk as I could manage. I pulled a magazine from the stack next to me, pretending to be instantly engrossed in the latest tips to ‘tame your frizz’.

The wolf lowered his voice, but my hearing was well above a normal mortal’s. “She works here. I just need her name.”

My eyes flicked up without moving my head, watching as the secretary offered the wolf a cheesy grin.

“Sir, that’s not something I can give you. We have many females who work here. If you need a date, I suggest making an appointment.”

She handed him a card.

He took it with ill grace, his meaty hand crushing the delicate cardstock. “Fine.”

Shooting me a furious glance, he stormed out of the building.

“Well then. What can I help you with?” the secretary asked, her fake smiling melting into a genuine one as the aggression left the building with the mangy mutt.

“I...er, here to see Lust,” I managed, trying hard not to stare at her backside. The tight mermaid skirt wasn’t helping, either.

Her nose wrinkled, then her eyes lit with excitement. “You’re another one of them , aren’t you?” she whispered excitedly, leaning over the desk to give me an ample view of her cleavage

I tried to focus on her face, but all I could imagine were her lips wrapped my–

Oh, succubus! Right.

My mental shields slammed into place, and immediately my mind cleared as I relaxed.

“One of them?” I asked pointedly.

Not deterred in the least by the sudden change in my demeanor, she grinned saucily at me. “Them. A sin!” Her gaze raked me from head to toe, and I blushed at her hard scrutiny even with my shields up.

“If I guess which one will I get a prize?” she asked breathily.

I bristled at her forwardness.

“I’d imagine not,” I spit out, and brushed by her and walked down the hallway. I didn’t need her permission to visit my own brother.

“Pride for sure!” Her high-pitched voice grated on my nerves as she called after me, and I tried to shake it off. What was Diana thinking, having a succubus for a receptionist?

She’d probably just say it was good business , I thought snidely.

I pulled my shoulders back and strutted into Lust’s office.

“Get your dick out of your ass, we have a prob—” I began, but came to a screeching halt in front of Lust’s desk because the figure sitting behind was not, in fact, Lust. Neither was the voice.

Holy shit. It was her.

The girl–witch–I’d re-animated. She sat at Lust’s desk, completely unaffected by my presence and if anything, looked rather annoyed at my intrusion.

Lust had his back to me, not noticing my arrival.

“I assure you there’s no dick up my ass presently. Though with the right lubrication–” he responded.

I backed up almost to the doorway, my fingers twitching behind my back to subtly test that the fabric of reality was still intact. Why else would she be here?

Mate.

It was a concept I hadn’t been able to get out of my head ever since it wormed its way in. It was the only explanation I could come up with that made any sense–she was the only female I’d felt bothered by, seeing her arrive to the Underworld so cold and lifeless. It wasn't right.

But still, what were the odds she’d be here? Did Lust know?

Be cool. Play it off.

I cleared my throat and entered the office.

“Excuse me. I was...expecting my brother.”

One eyebrow raised as she closed the flap on the electronic device she’d been working on.

“Obviously,” she said.

Her eyes studied me, but in a much more thoughtful way than the shameless succubus out front.

I distracted myself by replacing new memories with old–instead of her cold, lifeless corpse on the Underworld ground, I catalogued the pink flush in her cheeks, how her brown eyes shone with bits of gold, and the steady rise and fall of her chest.

“Can’t tell which one you are. Maybe Greed, by how you’re staring?”

My jaw dropped with indignation. Greed ? I should think not! I was saved further embarrassment by Lust.

“Ah. Pride. This is...Juniper.” He hesitated on saying her name as his gaze danced between us, analyzing and plotting. Behind us, at Lust’s desk, Juniper made a small sound of ‘ah ha’ upon hearing what sin I was.

“It’s about time the two of you met,” he continued, making a shooing motion at Juniper to move from behind his desk.

She ignored him.

“And why is that?” Juniper asked him, her fingers continuing to dance along the glass top of the electronic device.

I blinked at both of them. Lust pulled one of his chairs from in front of his desk to behind, right beside Juniper.

Juniper . That name didn’t seem familiar. Had Janine even given me her name before the reanimation?

Oh boy, re-animating someone and you didn’t even know their name. Hades is gonna love that.

“Well, seeing as he’s the one who–” Lust cleared his throat and faked a couch.

Juniper frowned. “Your brother? Kind of figured that, since he’s like you–no boundaries, struts around like he’s a gift to the world, and handsome in that stupidly boring way.”

I jerked at that, and so did Lust, who recovered quickly.

“You think I’m handsome?” he purred, leaning into her from the edge of his desk.