“Kill Briareus,” she sneered. “That is your first task.”
Hades could barely breathe hearing her words.
Briareus was one of three Hecatoncheires, unique in his appearance, as he had one hundred arms and fifty heads. The last time Hera had tried to overthrow Zeus, it was Briareus who freed him, earning Hera’s wrath, so while it was no surprise that she would seek her revenge, to execute him through Hades’s hands was another thing entirely.
Hades liked Briareus and his brothers. They had been allies during the Titanomachy and ultimately were the reason the Olympian gods had been able to overthrow the Titans. They deserved the gods’ reverence, not their blades.
“I cannot take a life the Fates have not cut,” Hades countered.
“Then bargain,” she replied, as if it were that simple.
“You do not know what you ask,” Hades said.
A soul for a soul was the exchange the Fates would make—a give or take, depending on the havoc they wished to create.
The Fates did not like the gods meddling in their threads. This would have dire consequences. Hades could feel it moving beneath his skin as the phantom threads of the lives he’d bargained away tightened.
“You have one week,” Hera replied, heedless of his words.
Hades shook his head, and while he knew she did not care, he said it anyway. “You will come to regret this.”
“If I do, then you will too.”
He had no doubt.
When she vanished, Hades stood in the quiet of Nevernight, recalling their exchange. The Goddess of Marriage had been right. This was a game that all gods played, but she’d used the wrong pawns.
Hades would get his way eventually, and the goddess would come to rue the day she decided to test him.
He took another swig of whiskey before hurling the bottle across the room, where it shattered in an explosion of glass.
“Fucking Fates.”
Chapter II
An Element of Dread
Kill Briareus.
The two words felt thick and heavy in his chest, a binding that made it hard to breathe or think as he made his way to the Underworld.
He had imagined his return very differently. He had intended to occupy himself with erotic thoughts of how he would conclude his weekend with Persephone and see them through to the early morning when they would both face the harsh reality of their choice to go public with their relationship, a decision Hades was not certain either of them was prepared for. Given Kal’s earlier attempt at some kind of blackmail, the sharks were already circling.
Now he was distracted by Hera’s singular order and devising plans to avoid her labors. Hera was not the only god with the power to bless marriages, though her power to curse marriages was far more dreaded.
Ultimately, though, the decision was up to Zeus, and Hades did not think his brother would be so approving if Hades were responsible for Briareus’s death.
Gods, he hated his family.
Hades appeared in his office, intending to go in search of Persephone, but found he was not alone. Thanatos was already waiting. The God of Death often kept Hades informed on the daily activities of the souls—especially when things went awry, and it was that thought that gave Hades pause.
“Is something wrong, Thanatos?” Hades asked as the god swept into a deep bow, his long white-blond hair veiling his face.
“No, my lord,” Thanatos replied as he straightened, his dark wings rustling. He looked like a slender shadow, his head crowned with a pair of black gayal horns. “I merely wished to make you aware of an…
occurrence.”
“An…occurrence?”
“At the Styx,” he said. “Lady Persephone greeted the souls.”
There was nothing inherently wrong with Persephone greeting the souls, though the way Thanatos was presenting the information made Hades’s heart race.
“Get to the point, Thanatos,” Hades snapped. “Is she okay?”
The God of Death blinked.
“Why yes, of course,” he said quickly. “I did not mean to imply otherwise. I thought you would want to know and perhaps…caution her.
You know new souls can be very unpredictable.”
Hades’s relief was instantaneous, though his irritation with Thanatos spiked.
“Are you… tattling, Thanatos?” he asked, raising a brow.
The god’s eyes widened. “I— No, that was not my intention. I only thought you should know…”
The corner of Hades’s mouth lifted. “I will speak with Persephone,” he said. “Though the next time you intend to inform me of her exploits, I suggest you begin with how it ended.”