Spinning around, she frantically searched for Hades’ face among the sea of people. A woman had parted the men when she had appeared.

The two women stared at each other in stunned silence.

“Broni?”

When her sister tearfully gave a sob, they started running across the room toward each other. Zerina felt her own sobs as they met in the middle, hugging each other for several minutes before they could find the words to talk.

“How did you get here?”

“Where am I?”

They laughed, starting over.

“How did you get here?” Broni rushed out before she could ask her question again.

“Hades.” Pain bloomed in her chest as if she had been struck by a bullet. Zerina had been present several times when humans had met their end that way. She was sure her expression was a mix of the same emotions.

She looked around the room for him again, wanting to burst into tears that he wasn’t there. However, she was overjoyed to see Broni again.

When her aunt Destiny shoved her way through the crowd, she couldn’t hold back her gut-wrenching sobs any longer.

Destiny pushed her own tears away, putting a comforting arm across Zerina’s shoulders to lead her to a table.

Taking a seat, she buried her face in the hands.

“What did that bastard do to you?” Destiny demanded. “I’ll find his entrance and kill him if he hurt you.”

Gathering herself, Zerina shook her head. “He didn’t do anything. I’m fine. I’m just happy to see you both.”

“I’ll send Balder to tell Fate and Valentine you’re here.”

Zerina took Broni’s hand as she sat down next to her. “Where are we?”

“In a clubhouse in Ohio.”

Zerina saw a massive man come to stand by Broni’s side, giving her a concerned look.

“I take it this is your husband who Jinx told me about?”

Broni nodded happily. “Rhys, this is my sister Zerina.”

The man was so large Hades would only come to his shoulder. Thinking about Hades had the dull pain in her soul resuming.

Why had he sent her back without telling her what he was going to do?

She distracted herself from the inner turmoil by concentrating on the man by Broni’s side. He looked familiar to her, yet she was certain she had never met him before.

Broni’s lips twitched. “He’s not as easy to recognize as he was in his other lives.” Broni gave her husband a look of adoration. It was then that it clicked with her.

“I didn’t recognize him. The last time I saw him was when I carried his soul here. He has filled out since I’ve seen him.”

Broni explained how she and Rhys had met in the clubhouse they were now sitting in. She explained how she had used the opportunity to try to save his former wife and children from being murdered when they had become separated by death. When she hadn’t succeeded, she followed him for years to keep him from succumbing to the dangerous situations he had placed himself in to end the torture of living without his wife and children.

Zerina knew her sister had had a fixation on him from past lives, but that she had shadowed him for years until a club member had dragged her out of the shadows, she hadn’t known.

Thank Mother he had. Broni had been safe in the club when Dionysus had turned the humans in the town into Drearien.

“How did you manage to survive?” Zerina tightened her hold on Broni’s hand.

“If Thor hadn’t shown up, I’m not sure we would.”

Zerina listened speechlessly as Broni told of her return home, becoming sad when she said she deserved Mother’s displeasure and was sent back to earth without her powers. She couldn’t berate her. She would have done the same thing. She had known the souls that she had given to Rhys and his wife weren’t meant to belong.

It had always been her saddest duty when she had to deliver a soul who, by no fault of their own, weren’t meant to live a full life. She was always met by Mother when their earthly life was over, enfolded in her loving arms so they wouldn’t know the loss of a mother’s love.

She sized up Rhys. His appearance had undergone a tremendous change. His body was more muscular and his golden soul showed that he had become one of Mother’s favorites.

“I’m glad you’re safe with Rhys and Destiny. I wish our mother and Cara were here.”

“If we knew he was going to send you here, she would have never left.” Destiny returned after sending Balder to Fate.

“He didn’t tell me, either. He must have become bored with me.” Her pain had her revealing more than she intended. “He had just taken me to visit Shambhala—”

“Hades took you to see Shambhala?” Destiny asked in disbelief.

“Yes …” Zerina missed the astonishment on her aunt’s face as she recounted what happened. “When we left, I thought he was transporting me to his domain. Then, when I opened my eyes, I was here.” A sudden thought had her lurching to her feet. “Destiny, do you think it’s a mistake I’m here? Could Zeus have intercepted us when he was transporting us, and he was the one who sent me here? I assumed Hades had, but what if I was wrong and Zeus has captured him?” She frantically looked at Destiny, terrified for Hades. He might need her. “You have to return me.”

Destiny stared at her, remaining mute, her eyes showing the answer to Zerina’s fears.

“He sent me, and he’s not in danger …” Anguish had her voice wobbling.

“No, I’m sorry, Zerina.”

She could tell her aunt was trying to be delicate of her feelings.

“At least he didn’t treat you like Athena. He returned her in her sleep. She was so furious she ranted for a century that he hadn’t told her to her face before sending her back. She said he hates when women beg to stay. It saves him from having to listen to their arguments.”

“He’s a coward.” Broni got up, placing an arm around her sister’s waist. “The next time I see him, I’m going to give him a piece of my mind.”

“That’s better than what you would have given him the last time he was here.”

Zerina looked at Broni curiously at Rhys’s comment.

Broni blushed. “I may have been a little enamored when I saw him face-to-face for the first time.”

“I can’t blame you. He is handsome.”

Destiny snorted. “Thank Mother I’ve always been able to keep my senses around him.”

“My mother said you chased after him when he was at court. That you’ve hated him ever since he turned you down,” Broni reminder her.

“Because he wanted our mother,” Zerina told her.

Broni and Destiny looked at her at that piece of information.

“It’s true. Hades told me himself.”

“Damn, you learn something new every day. My dear sister never told me that. I just thought he wasn’t attracted to me.”

“I don’t know if she knew.”

“Hades never mentioned his lovers. They were the ones who couldn’t keep their mouths shut.”

Broni took Zerina by the arm, moving her away from the men who were unashamedly listening to their conservation. She and Destiny found a corner where they could talk to Zerina privately.

“If Hades was interested in our mother at court, does that mean you and he never …” Broni tried to delicately probe into Zerina’s stay with Hades. “That you and he never …”

“No, it doesn’t mean that. I don’t think he was suffering from unrequited passion, if that’s what you’re asking.”

“Yes, but that isn’t what I want to know.”

It was a good thing Hades hadn’t escorted her back. Destiny’s protective instincts were coming on. If her aunt was this furious, her mother and father would be doubly so.

“Did you and Hades become … involved?”

“I’m no different than the goddesses at court. I fell in love with him.”

“I don’t think what they experienced was love. I’d call it something else.”

“I fell in love. Hades didn’t. That’s probably why he sent me away.”

“That son of a—”

“Destiny! Mother will punish you for saying that!” She and Broni stared over their shoulders as if Mother would appear to punish them.

Destiny gave a disgusted sniff. “My apology,” she called out, as if Mother could hear her from the heavens.

After her confession, they resumed their seats, and Zerina listened intently as they explained why Fate had returned to Mother’s court.

“You believe that either Loki or Jinx used their magic to change Zeus’s appearance? But why? He has the power to do it himself.”

“He can hide his appearance, but it would take true magic to hide his soul, which is how we thought we would be able to recognize him.” Destiny strummed her fingers on the table, her eyes thoughtful.

“It wasn’t Jinx,” Zerina defended her friend. “Besides, she was with me, and I would have recognized Zeus, despite any magic disguising his soul.”

Broni jerked her gaze to her. “Maybe that was why Dionysus was trying so hard to find you.”

Out of the group that had gathered around the table, there was one man Zerina couldn’t remove her eyes from.

He stepped forward. “Is it safe for us with her being here?”

Zerina didn’t take offense to his question. Meanwhile, the humans in the room began to look worried.

“Hello, Adam.”

“I don’t know you.”

“You wouldn’t remember me. I was the one who carried you to earth. I knew you were special when I gifted you to your parents. I see I was right. You are a leader who not only kept your people safe, but my sister as well. Thank you.”

“Is it safe?”

“No, but she’s not leaving.” Broni gave him a quelling look.

“I’m sorry. I don’t have anywhere else to go. I can’t return home until a god shows up to carry me.”

“Call one of them and get her the fuck out of here.”

Adam’s first instinct was to protect his people. Zerina couldn’t blame him. It was what made him a good leader.

Zerina also recognized the gentle woman who placed a hand on Adam’s arm.

“She has nowhere to go that is safe.”

“That’s not my problem. What is, is me keeping everyone here safe, and that includes you and Zandra.”

“If she goes, I go.” Abby’s reproachful eyes had Adam relenting.

“If just one of my people turn into those Drearien again, she’s gone. That is, if we manage to survive it again.”

“Adam is right; I should go.” Zerina started to rise.

Broni pushed her back down. “You’re not going anywhere. If they attack again, we’ll deal with it, just as we did before.”

Destiny’s thoughtful stare kept her from trying to stand again. “Do you want to leave for the human’s safety or to try to find Hades?”

Zerina couldn’t answer her aunt’s question truthfully, so she didn’t.

“Please don’t tell me you’re going to be one of his women who searches endlessly for his entrance.”

“I won’t have to. Jinx can tell me where she thinks it is.”

“Even if you manage to find it, it doesn’t mean he would open it for you.”

Zerina flinched at the hard truth.

“I love him. If he was finished with me, why didn’t he just take me home?”

“That, I can’t answer. Only Hades can, and he’s not here. Doesn’t that say he doesn’t care about you? I wish I could be more supportive, Zerina, I really do, but Hades’ actions speak for themselves.”

Zerina looked at her sister. “Do you believe I would be wasting my time?”

Broni stared at her compassionately. “Nothing is ever wasted when you follow your heart. I did. It may have taken me centuries, but I managed to catch him.”

“You were the one caught.” Rhys returned her loving look.

Destiny snorted. “That wasn’t determination. It was a miracle.”

“Maybe I can find my miracle.”

“Good luck. If you’re determined, I won’t stop you. But will you at least wait until your mother and father arrive?”

“Yes, I want to see them. If Hades allows me entrance, I don’t know when I’ll see them again.”

Destiny raised her eyes ceilingward. “Mother above, she’s willing to give up her gift and her family for Hades? She shouldn’t become a goddess again. The woman’s a saint.”