Smoke & Mirrors

Spell

It should not be a crime for immortals to suffer constant and debilitating headaches, yet Hades, God of the Underworld, had been nursing his own since last week. The pain had become a dull throb now that he was so used to it, but it was still annoying to deal with. He already had half a mind to contact Asclepius— because there was no way he would ask Apollo for help— to see if he had some tonic or other for it.

He continued to work, however, dealing with some funding problems for a recreational center in Elysium that was requested. It was ridiculous to him that his realm had a ‘funding problem’ when the god that governed them was the God of Riches. He signed off on a blank cheque and placed it in the folder that contained the request before moving on.

Hades was just about to start reading up on a case from the Judges when he heard the familiar, timid knock on his door. It parted, leaving just a small crack for true silver eyes to peek inside and for him to get a glance of the warm smile that he would know anywhere.

He was out of his seat and across the room in seconds. Kath’s melodious laugh was cut off by his lips finding hers, their bodies fitting together in the same, easy way it has for what had only been months but felt like lifetimes. Her body relaxed against his and Hades knew that today had been difficult for her. Although he had offered many times that he would be the one to collect her belongings from her childhood room up in Olympus, she had insisted that she wanted to do it herself.

Leaning back just a bit to scan her face, he murmured, “What do you need me to do?”

She sighed, burrowing against his chest. “Just you,” she mumbled quietly. “Eros took me to Psyche’s practice before we had lunch, then he dropped me off and my things here.”

With his fingers, he stroked her unbound hair. “You put them in your suite?”

He did not have to see her face to know she had rolled her eyes at him. “Yes,” she said plainly. “I placed them all in the closet that could very well be my own house.”

Hades bit back his smile. Since the day he showed her the chambers he had made especially for her, Kath had openly expressed begrudging admiration for it. It was fun watching her get caught up in between two difficult emotions concerning the suite, but he was not about to make that enjoyment of his known to her. He loved Kath, but her ire could be formidable as she was easy to forgive.

“That’s good,” he said simply in reply, not acknowledging her remark. “So, what happened when you arrived in Olympus?”

“Nothing, really,” Kath said, frowning a little as she slipped her hands in his and pulled him to the tufted leather couch in his office. “The nymphs were still helpful but not really ones for conversation. My room was exactly how I had left it. And I had a conversation with your brother.”

His head whipped towards her. “You spoke with Zeus?”

“Why do you sound so surprised?”

Why indeed? Hades pinched his lips together, holding in the words he actually wanted to say that were not at all proper for audiences such as his soon-to-be wife. Kath arched a brow at him, making him sigh.

“I do not like that he was anywhere near you,” he said honestly. “And I know what you are thinking. It’s not just you. My brother, despite the fact that he has no genitals at the moment, is still a sleazy motherf*cker. No woman should ever be alone with him.”

Kath rolled her eyes at him once more. “You weren’t there,” she said softly, sitting on his lap. “He seemed very sad.”

“There’s a term mortals use for that,” he drawled.

“No, you don’t understand. I know it can be hard to believe, but I think he’s lonely and has no one to talk to.”

It took all of Hades’ control to not laugh at her, but still, she recognized the amusement creeping onto his face and smacked his arm annoyedly.

“What?” he asked in innocence. “What did I do?”

Her eyes narrowed at him with a short-nailed finger pointing at his face. “Stop it! You and your siblings need to grow up and face the fact that every single one of you has been wounded by one or the other.”

“Little kitty, not a single one of us does not know that,” he said to her gently. “Besides, Athena tried an intervention once.”

She frowned. “And what happened?”

It was a disaster of titanic proportions. He shuddered just thinking about it. “The important thing,” Hades said, “was that she tried. We all did.”

The frown on Kath’s face, however, still did not leave her face. He sighed, not liking it when she was upset about something. His instincts, Hades found, now leaned towards making sure Kath was comfortable and happy in his realm. He wanted nothing but her infectious joy and had made its constant appearance his primary mission in life.

He pulled her closer, grabbing her thighs so they rested on either side of his hips. Her silver eyes were wide as she looked straight into his, but her brows were pinched with worry and concern. Zeus was so damn lucky that at least one person in all of the three realms still cared about him and still saw him as someone who was redeemable. Except for Hestia and her bleeding heart, none of his other siblings would have given Zeus the time of day for his f*cked-uppedness.

And why would they? They all had trauma to bear; at least HE did not have to know what it was like living for years inside your father’s gut in a cramped, slimy space with your other siblings. Yet none of them crossed the lines as Zeus’ entitled self did, not to mention brought up the constant reminder that if it was not for him, they would all still probably be rotting alive in their father’s gut.

He was sick of it. Tired and sick of how almost every lame excuse has been used to defend his actions as he victimized others. And now, Kath’s concern for his brother was reminding him of how much of a manipulative manchild Zeus could be.

“Look,” he said, tipping her chin up so those beautiful, soulful eyes stared up at him. “You need to remember that some people just cannot be saved— No, please do not look at me like that, Little Kitty.” The obstinate will that made her silver eyes solidify into mercuric ice blunted a bit. “This is an important lesson for you to have: you cannot save everyone. Some are simply far too gone, some are not ready to be saved, and there are those that do not want to.”

His heart ached at the thinly veiled confusion that marred his goddess’ features and once again, he was struck by her youth. There was truly nothing in this cruel, cruel world that Hades would not protect her from if she would let him. And yet he knew she would never appreciate that. His Little Kitty has always been as he had found her: free and spirited and never to be simply contained. It was simply how she was meant to be received by the world.

But that also meant she would not be immune to the pain and suffering that came with living this life and that was the hardest pill for him to swallow, going against the grain of every instinct that roared at him.

He clutched her to him closer, wanting to dispel any air that separated the two of them, and sighed deeply. With a finger, he reached up, tracing over the smooth skin of her cheek.

“But you know what, Little Kitty?” he murmured to her, watching her head tilt endearingly to the side and blink lazily at him, really much like the little feline animal. “If anyone in all the worlds would have a better chance in bringing people back from the brink, it would be you. After all, you and your charms had reeled me in.”

She grinned, a slow stretching of her lips until her face was practically split. Her nose nuzzled his and her scent now mixed with the warmth of her breath.

“I seem to think the opposite had happened, my lord,” she purred. “After all, I am here in your realm, completely at your mercy.”

Hades growled. He grabbed the back of her neck, twisting his fingers in her hair and relishing the way she moaned at the rough contact before he swallowed the rest of that sweet sound with his mouth. He tightened in an instant and he shifted them over so Kath was the one pinned underneath him.

She giggled, and Hades wished she knew how wrong she was. It was not only her mercy that he was under. Kath had managed to enrapture him with her spell, too. This one, however, he had no desire to rid himself of.