Jason would be the first to admit, Poseidon didn’t look anything like he expected. The slender man with a wave of blond hair falling down to his butt and the most beautifully crafted features in existence was probably a magnet for most people – men or women. There was no beard, no tail, no trident. Poseidon didn’t have a whisker of facial hair and Jason doubted he had hair anywhere else either. In Jason’s opinion, Lasse was by far the better looking one, but he knew better than to say that in front of a god. Lasse was right about one thing, though – Poseidon’s mouth had no filter.

“Now, tell me why you saw fit to call the waters yesterday,” Poseidon leaned on his mate, but his focus was on Lasse.

“We think Cerberus is running amuck,” Lasse sighed. “He came to me the day I met Jason and said he wanted help finding Hades who’s apparently missing. Things were said, Cerberus might have taken those things the wrong way, and there might have been a bit of butt kicking down in the underworld when Cerberus got angry. I thought it was the end of it.”

“I bet you had more important things to think about like claiming this juicy morsel’s ass. Can’t blame you.” Poseidon winked. “Go on, that can’t be the end of the story. Butt kicking in the underworld does not translate to cleaning demon bodies off a dock in Greece with a ginormous wave.”

Lasse looked at Jason and Jason immediately clicked what was bothering him. His storming off. “We thought it was the end of the matter, but it seems it wasn’t. I was out one night, having a few drinks and looking for a fight to work off some energy….”

“Sex is good for that,” Poseidon interjected with a leer.

“I’m aware of that, but Lasse means more to me than being treated like a blow up doll who’ll bend over when I tell him to,” Jason snapped, and then mellowed his tone as Poseidon smirked. “I was fighting three guys, next thing I knew Cerberus is there fighting against me. I was drunk at the time. I might have gotten hurt a bit but I went home to Lasse. The next day, we tried to find Cerberus, concerned why he was still in the area. We found evidence of his shifted form, and Lasse thought he might be hiding down at the docks. When we got there, someone had opened a portal to the underworld. Demons were coming at us left, right, and center. Thor waded in as well and got the portal closed. Lasse called the waters to clean up the mess.”

“Hmm, this is serious.” Poseidon shared a long look with Claude who’d stayed silent throughout lunch. “Is there any reason you can think of why demons would have a grudge against you, Ja?”

Jason jumped at the use of his old name. “None. When I took Cerberus down to the underworld from Lasse’s house, that was the first time I’d been there in goodness knows how long. I don’t have anything to do with demons as a rule unless I meet them in a cage fight and I can’t remember the last time that happened.”

“Dad, I talked to Cerberus and suggested that Hades was probably off romancing a mate or doing something he wanted privacy for,” Lasse leaned forward. “He didn’t want to hear it. Cerberus is acting like he’s been jilted as a mate. Possessive. Jealous. He’s not thinking clearly. He shifted into his dog form, in a human town; admittedly, it was probably at night, but even so that’s not allowed.”

“Yes, that is a problem.” Poseidon tapped his fingernails on the table. “He was born from the mother and father of all monsters; his sole duty in life is protecting the gates of the underworld. He has no business running around after Hades like a love-sick puppy and no business being on earth at all in either form.”

“He came originally to talk to me,” Lasse said sadly.

“Actually, that might not be strictly true. Cerberus was spying on you,” Jason said quickly. “When you were with Thor in the gym the day we started talking. Cerberus didn’t know I was there until I confronted him. That’s when he said he wanted to ask for your help in finding Hades because he said you were the only one in the family who cared about your uncle. But think about it. Why didn’t he just wait until you were at home and knock on your door instead of skulking in an alley.”

“Cerberus is spouting bullshit with regards to the family for a start,” Poseidon snapped. “Hades is his own man, and I might not agree with all he does, but he’s my brother and he knows he can come to me if he’s in trouble with anything. Things are going well in the underworld. Hades told me that himself, just last week. With Thanatos and Sebastian mated, and the hellhounds under that young Madison’s control, there haven’t been problems in months.”

“Did you say last week?” Jason looked at Lasse who was equally concerned. “Cerberus said he hadn’t had contact with Hades for ten days and that was what, four, five, damn, how long have we been mated, poopsie?”

“Six days.” Lasse didn’t look upset that Jason couldn’t remember. “Which means according to Cerberus, Hades has been absent from the underworld for sixteen days. How can that be, if he was talking to you last week?”

“Hades does have a phone.” Poseidon rolled his eyes, which Jason thought was a very un-godlike thing to do. “He’s on holiday. He called to see if he could come into the club one night and if there was any way he could visit without being seen by everyone in the pack. He seemed all right when he left, didn’t he?”

Claude chuckled. “He had a wonderful time. Four subs called in sick the next day. They can barely walk straight now. He gave them a good work out and they loved every minute of it.”

“So, it is as we suggested,” Jason turned to Lasse. “Hades hasn’t been abducted, he’s not missing. He’s just having a break which if you lived in the underworld, I’m surprised he doesn’t do it more often.”

“He’s mate hunting,” Claude said and Jason noticed the depth of emotion flowing between him and Poseidon. “You can’t blame him when there’s been a rash of them going on lately. Hades doesn’t want to miss out and if the man’s having some fun along the way, you can’t blame him for that either. It’s not as though he’d have a living mate knocking on his door in the Underworld. No mortals can stand to be there very long.”

“That’s all very well and good for Hades,” Lasse said. “But who’s going to tell Cerberus and what the hell is he going to do when he finds out?”

“I don’t think Cerberus came to see you about Hades at all, in which case he won’t care what Hades is doing,” Jason said, as Cerberus’s erratic behavior fell into place. “Hades’ holiday gave Cerberus a convenient ruse to talk to you. He could’ve been sniffing around you for ages, but you’ve been spending time with Thor. I’m sure he wanted to get you alone. When I confronted him, the first thing he asked was which one, meaning you or Thor, was my mate and when I mentioned your name, that’s when he told me he wanted you to go to the underworld with him.”

“But that means the demon attack was focused on you.” Lasse fisted his hands. “But why, why now? Cerberus knows you, or he knows of your reputation at least and he has to know you can’t be killed by conventional means. What does he hope to achieve?”

“The why now is because his master’s away and if you ask me, his prime objective is to ensure you two break up,” Poseidon said. “Cerberus came to you with the prime motive for getting you to go down to the underworld, but Jason was there and stopped you. So now he has to resort to other means. You, Lasse, are known for hating violence and being a pacifist. Ja is the scourge of ancient Egypt. How long would it take, Lasse, for you to leave your mate if you thought the rest of your life was going to be spent fighting by your mate’s side instead of doing the things you enjoy?”

Jason rubbed his hand over his mouth, not sure he wanted to hear Lasse’s answer. But he should’ve been more trusting of his mate’s giant heart. “I abhor fighting, everyone knows that.” Lasse reached over and took his free hand. “But if the only way I can keep my mate safe is to fight by his side for the rest of eternity, then that’s what I’ll do. Jason and I are a team; a union blessed by the fates. I might spend the rest of my days with a sword in one hand, but Jason’s hand will be in the other.”

“Maybe we’ll do it back to back sometimes,” Jason squeezed Lasse’s hand as he grinned. “There are times when I’ve got a sword in both hands.”

“How on earth can you do it back to back?” Poseidon asked. “Just how big is your dick?”

Shaking his head, Jason laughed, pleased when Lasse and Claude joined in. As far as meeting the father-in-law went, Jason thought it didn’t go too badly.