Fuck love. That was all I could say. It was a shitty ride from the start, even if I’d thought I was in love. But it hadn’t been real, and now that I was free of that spell, I was over the whole damn thing. Even my heart sat quietly in my chest, resolved to the fact that everything came to an end eventually.

Hera, my sister, had been a bitch. She’d had a bet going with one of the other gods—probably Eros—and Eros had won it by proving they could make even me fall in love. Because I was the black sheep of the family, right? I was the asshole who had drawn the short straw when my brothers and I had decided who was going to rule. Zeus had chosen the heavens to rule, and Poseidon had taken the seas. And me? I had received the Underworld and part of measly little Earth with mortals. Hip-fucking-hooray.

I’d had enough of being left behind, of being a joke. Things were going to change around here.

“Keep an eye on things, will you?” I commanded across the chamber to Persephone. She stood with her back to me, gazing at herself in the mirror, wearing her newest gown, this one pebbled in gold jewels. They glimmered and winked against the flames roaring in the fireplace. The fabric fell to her ankles, following the curves of her body. No denying, she was beautiful, but my heart no longer sang for her. I’d lost the spirit that had driven me to adore her. Now, I felt empty, barren, and sorrowful. Not for the loss of love, but time wasted on what I had once believed was real. How wrong I’d been.

Around the room, dried flowers in frames riddled the black walls. Gone were my statues of wolves and owls, along with the portraits of Cerberus. Fuck, the place resembled a garden party more than where the god of the Underworld lived. Even hibiscus flowers were printed on the king-sized bedspread. Persephone had insisted they made her feel close to her mother, Demeter, the goddess of Harvest and Fertility. How the hell was I supposed to fuck my love while we were surrounded by things that symbolized her mother? Yep, well, there hadn’t been action in my bed for way too long.

Fire soared through my veins. Everything about my life constricted around me like a noose. Where had things gone wrong? For the past few years, during Persephone’s six-month visits, she’d grown more distant, despondent, not talking to me for weeks. Instead, she’d spend her time getting the tailor to create her new gowns with the crystals the dead mined for me. Yep, we had grown apart long ago, and now I had to make a change. A reckless adrenaline ruled my actions because for too long I’d done what everyone expected of me. But I’d lost who I’d thought I loved… and now I planned to do something for myself for a change. The Underworld pretty much ran itself, anyway.

I turned to Persephone, who still stared in the mirror, lifting her long, dark locks into a curled bun on top of her head, puckering her blood-red lips in the reflection. “And let me know when the Fates need to see me.”

“I can handle it,” she replied blandly.

This was like a fucking custody case. The Fates—the three witches who shared one eye and one tooth among the three of them and ruled over the past, the present, and the future of the humans—used to be my responsibility. I supposed there wasn’t some divine court case that would decide who got to take care of them.

Good thing I didn’t give a shit about rules. Apollo had been roaming the Earth for a while, and Zeus hadn’t come after him for breaking the law. He would have to leave me alone too. It was only fair.

“I’m off,” I blurted out.

“Earth’s not what it used to be,” Persephone teased, glancing at me over her shoulder, her dark eyes glinting under the fire’s flickering light. When she returned to the outside world, they morphed into a sky-blue color, and I’d once adored them, but now they held an iciness when she looked at me.

“I don’t care.”

She shrugged. “You will when you see it.”

Persephone had been the goddess of spring. The Earth used to be her home, which it still was six months a year. For a long time, I believed she loved me back, and maybe she did in her own way, but whatever we had experienced had faded and perhaps that was because I’d forced her to stay away. Or was it her mother’s influence, who knew? But things weren’t working out between us, as hard as I’d tried. She was the unlucky goddess whom I’d seen first after the spell had been put on me. I’d fallen for her so fucking hard, I’d gotten a concussion, and I’d tricked her into staying with me. It was amazing what the bite of a poisonous apple could do. Or the Underworld pomegranate in this case.

It was all fine and dandy because even though she didn’t love me, I had showered her with gifts until she was sure I was her Prince Charming.

The problem with buying love was that it expired. Yeah, it had taken a couple of centuries for that to happen, and it had taken another couple of centuries to finally admit it wasn’t working between us. Here, we were separated like the modern humans who got married and divorced, as if they only now understood that mortals were never meant to mate for life.

Since Persephone had become the Princess of the Underworld when she’d tied herself to me—the fact that it was against her will was irrelevant—she now also had the ability to command over the souls of the dead in the underworld like I did. Which meant the Underworld was her home. I had forced her in there with that pomegranate trick that had essentially been a contract between us. So she remained the Princess of the Underworld even if I left.

I sure as fuck wouldn’t cry over this. I’d spent enough years grieving for my lost love. Those days were over.

Now, I’d live among the mortals because anything was better than staring at my ex in the face every night, knowing I had simply never been good enough. Fuck that. I had been more than she deserved, but she had no clue what she now lost.

The thing that drew me to Earth more than anything else? It was loveless. Humans had changed a lot since the beginning. They fought more now, they were greedy and selfish, and love was a chore.

We agreed on the last part.

While I was with them, I would rule on a throne built by the greatness of my existence, and I would revel in the fact that love was nowhere to be found. Because who needed love? Sure as shit wasn’t me.

I rode to Earth in the form of a screech owl, my sacred animal. Cool air buffeted against my golden feathers, polluted air, but still fresh air compared to the underground. When I landed on grass in a small field near skyscrapers I’d seen in magazines and television because we got cable in the Underworld, I was in my godlike form again, clothed in only the best garbs. I knelt on the ground and pushed my fingers into the soil, feeling the cold, the grittiness. It vibrated against my touch.

“Oh, you’ve been expecting me,” I breathed. The Earth hummed in response. She was mine to control and rule, the metals and precious gems it rendered running like veins through a heart. My magic called it to life.

I stood again and took a deep breath.

Movement caught my eye, and I turned to find a figure in front of me. My heart banged, not ready to be followed onto Earth.

“Why are you here?” I demanded.

X stood next to me. He was in human form now, a figure he hadn’t taken in a long time. Tall and thin with skin the color of dark chocolate, and black hair that hung around him like a cloak. His eyes were black, but when he turned toward me, they reflected red as if they were alive. You’d be surprised how much the dead complained about.

“I’m here because you’re here,” he replied, his voice a hiss, and I resonated with the fear that flowed from him like a fog. I breathed it in and relished it, wrapping it around myself like a second skin.

X was usually a part of me in a big way. He was Death. And I? I was the ruler of the Underworld, the god of the Dead, and the River of Souls. But we were different entities.

“You should have stayed in the Underworld with Persephone,” I growled bitterly.

X shook his head. “You set me free.”

And in that instant, he disappeared as if he’d evaporated, before I could ask what the fuck he was talking about. Oh, well, good riddance. X wasn’t my favorite character to hang out with. Just because he was so much a part of me didn’t mean we had ever had slumber parties. X was the side of me I had always loathed. Depressing and only interested in how to collect fresh souls.

I turned back toward the city that sprawled in front of me. Chicago, they called it. A jagged array of buildings across the horizon. A couple strolled farther away in the park I’d arrived in, so I made my way to the nearest road to head into the city, to study the place I would lay claim over.

But it was dark, overcast everywhere in Chicago. Where the hell was the sun? Apollo had really fucked up in this city, hadn’t he? Persephone had been right. Earth wasn’t what it used to be.

When I had been here last, centuries ago, Earth had been warm and green and picturesque. Music and poetry and light had been everywhere. Art. Dance. The beauty of speech that bubbled from the lips of humans. Now, the world was full of darkness and hatred, with murky skies, music that was more talking than harmony, and art and dance had fallen away. The humans destroyed instead of created. Yet they told themselves they were happy.

But they were miserable. I sensed it in my veins like a wriggling serpent. Maybe I was going to be happier than I’d thought here.

My whole body pulsated like a tuning fork. Something in the city drew me in a way I disliked.

And I knew exactly where that energy belonged.

Zeus had decided that to prevent me from wreaking havoc on the poor humans—like fucking me over hadn’t been enough—he had imported some divine power onto a family that would become the supernatural guardians of the race. The Lowe family.

I had watched them train and become stronger. At first, they’d held their own. But as time had passed, they had flaked. Given up. Or died. Humans were pathetic. I didn’t know why Zeus had thought it would mean something to put them in charge of their own fates. The humans were self-destructive idiots. Like dodos, they were too dumb to survive by themselves. If it weren’t for the gods, they would have gone extinct ages ago.

The Lowe family had been chosen, and the power in me recognized the ability they possessed. But their energy wasn’t scattered over the Earth as it once had been. It was concentrated in one place. There was only one left. Well, that was interesting.

I laughed loud and sharp, drawing the attention of the couple who strolled across the park.

“Is this the best you can do?” I shouted up at the heavens. I knew Zeus was listening. Asshole.

“Your precious humans are in for a ride,” I snarled.

Thunder and lightning danced across the sky.

“If you want to play, we can play,” I called out.

Zeus was taunting me with a display of authority, but I wasn’t in the mood to be good. I was pissed off that I had been rejected, and I wanted to fuck around. What better place than to do it here in my new domain, where there were few rules?

A little Lowe wouldn’t do anything to stop me from being here.

The sound of an engine roared through the dusky air, and I spun around. I trailed the black motorbike as it drove past, the rider’s sky-blue eyes locking on mine. The bike changed direction and came back toward me.

When it stopped, Apollo put his feet on the earth and leaned an elbow on one knee. Of course, he would have sensed my arrival and come to lay down his territorial protective shit. His arms flexed, showing off the muscles in the sleeveless shirt he wore, and his golden hair hung over a shoulder.

“What the fuck are you doing here, Hades?” he growled.

“I’m doing what you’re doing: whatever the fuck I want.” I laughed, lifting my chin, showing him I had no plans of leaving. This was my new home.

Apollo shook his head, the bridge of his nose wrinkling, his voice lowering to a deep grumble. “I don’t need trouble. There has been peace on Earth from the gods, so we don’t need you stirring shit. Leave and go back to your depressing hole in the ground.”

I squared my shoulders, grinning widely for show, holding Apollo’s stare. “Stay out of my way, golden boy.” I shrugged. “I’m not here to pick a fight with you.”

“But you’ll get one if you mess this up for me,” Apollo hissed, his shoulders curled forward. “I’ve been living here for a long time. Your brother and I have a deal. If you do anything to screw that up for me, then you and I are going to have problems.” He lifted his square chin, his eyes narrowing with his threat.

I rolled my eyes. “You’re such a drama queen. Must be all that poetry and art bubbling out of your ass.”

“Fuck you, Hades,” Apollo snarled, kickstarting his bike to life. It hollered to life, and Apollo drove away. I chuckled. Apollo hated it when anyone reminded him who he was. It interfered with his badass image. Hypocrite.

But I wasn’t exactly the complimenting type.

I looked around again at my world and nodded. This was going to be fun.