Ben opened his eyes to find himself sitting on the red sofa in the fury’s area of the Underworld and his aunt Megaera staring at him, with his mother, Tisiphone, standing behind her to the left and his other aunt, Alecto, standing to the right. Behind all three of them was Hades.

There were other faces off to the side. Evander and the twins Daphne and Phoebe. They were his cousins and already controlled their fury forms. All of them watched him with wide eyes since he was only the second one to go through the transition by dying. His cousins were more fury than anything else, so they had never had to die to control their fury side.

They hadn’t expected it with Cin. Plus, when she died, her murderer was still alive, so her vengeance ran strong within her when she first woke up.

His heart galloped in his chest. He couldn’t be dead. He wasn’t ready, not now that he’d met Fiona. All those times he’d wished for death, taking unnecessary risks, all because he wanted access to what everyone else in his family had. He regretted them now, and would take them all back if it meant he could stay with Fiona.

“Be calm, Nephew. You are among family,” Megaera said, her red silk dress flowing around her in a breeze only she felt.

He tried, but anger flowed through him like lava.

“Benjamin. Lord Hades is here to speak with you. You need to conduct yourself accordingly,” his mother said, her ebony gown extending behind her as she approached him. Tisiphone’s eyes blazed with the fury of her vengeance as she tried to compel him with a stern gaze to behave as expected. The problem was, he hadn’t grown up fearing that gaze, so it rolled off his back.

“Is he dead?” he asked, looking directly into his mother’s black eyes.

She didn’t so much as blink. Hades’ voice broke their staring contest. “He is. If you want, I can give him a room in Tartarus for a bit? You can practice your control over your abilities on him.”

Hearing the voice of the Lord of the Underworld brought Ben to his senses. “Forgive me, my lord, for not acknowledging you sooner.”

“Ben, you just died. I don’t expect you to be in top form right now.”

“Thank you, my lord,” he breathed.

“Your mother and aunts have set up a lovely spot for you, and I for one can’t wait to find out what your abilities are.”

The idea of having to reside in the Underworld turned his stomach, and he sent a silent prayer to Eros, the god of love, that Hades would allow him to return to the world of the living. “My lord, I would prefer to live in the mortal realm, if possible, like Cin.” Ben held his breath as he waited for the Lord of the Underworld to respond. Anger flashed within him at the thought of Fiona being taken away from him. He’d fight Hades for the right to return to the mortal realm if he had to, and for some reason, the idea of fighting a god didn’t scare him as much as it should, at least not where Fiona was concerned.

Hades’ dark eyes sharpened on him. “Your sister only lives there because she is mated to a siren. Why should you live in the mortal realm? You have no one there, no ties, no reason to stay, whereas most of your family is here.”

“I am not completely unattached.”

“It’s true,” a male voice said from just behind him.

Ben spun and was blinded by the light glittering off golden wings.

“Eros, what are you doing here?” Hades growled.

“I wanted to step in on behalf of this young lover. You see, I didn’t realize he was a fury until after my work was done,” the man said as he stepped forward and placed a hand on Ben’s shoulder. The same prickling sensation went through him as it had when he’d shared a smoke break with Tommy and the strange woman.

He looked at the god and wasn’t sure what to do. The smooth clear planes of his face made him look as young as he did in all the paintings and images of him that had surfaced over time. His curly hair was just shorter than Ben’s own but was infinitely more tamed. Where Ben’s hair did whatever the hell it wanted, Eros’ curls were carefully styled so they fell into gentle waves on one side of his head. His hair and face combined with everything else, making him look every inch of the god of love that he was. Women everywhere were lucky that he only had eyes for Psyche.

“You’re saying you pointed my fury in the direction of his soulmate?”

“Well, technically you pointed him. One of my cupids just let him see her as he should. She was just following my instructions.” Eros shrugged.

“What?” the Lord of the Underworld growled.

“The case I was working, it’s the stalker’s target,” Ben whispered, not sure he should get in the middle of two gods.

“I see.” Hades ran a hand through his long black hair.

“My lord,” Ben interrupted again, “I would be happy to do whatever you need in the mortal realm and spend weekends here like Cin does. I am asking if you would be kind enough to let me spend part of my life with my soulmate?” Ben used Eros’ words although they still felt a little foreign to him. He knew the sirens had soulmates because of their song, but the furies? He hadn’t expected that.

“Stay away from the other furies.” Hades shook a finger at the other god, whose face clouded over at the gesture.

Eros pulled himself up to his full height and said in a solemn tone, “I gave you Persephone. Don’t forget that. My talents find who they are meant to find and have done so since the beginning of time. I am older and more experienced than you, so do not shake your finger at me.”

Ben wanted to shrink and disappear into a corner. He really did not want to be the cause of Eros and Hades fighting.

“Fine. I’m sure you have your reasons, Eros, but I would appreciate it if you could at least try to leave me some of my workforce.”

Eros laughed and promptly disappeared.

Hades turned to him, and Ben wanted to apologize. The look the Lord of the Underworld gave him was almost enough to make him offer to live down here, but the fact that Eros had been fighting for him to at least have the opportunity to love Fiona meant that he couldn’t.

“You may return to your life in the mortal realm, but you will be a full fury. I will expect the same from you as I do from Hyacinth. Cin will get you a phone and set you up. Now, get out of my sight before I keep you down here for the next century.”

“I apologize, my lord. I did not mean to cause you any trouble.”

He sighed. “I know. I’m not angry with you, just Eros and how irresponsible he can be.” Hades waved a hand, and suddenly Ben was being pulled backward.

After a moment of blackness, he could tell that he’d stopped moving and was lying on something cold and the scents of metal and plastic surrounded him. When he tried to move his arms, he realized why everything was so dark and smelled of plastic.

He was in a body bag.

The zipper was right above his head, so he hooked a fingernail over it and pulled it down until he could get a better idea of where he was. The light around him was dim, and when he turned his head to the side, he saw that he was still in the morgue. Hades had sent him back to the exact point where his soul and body had previously separated.

Ben focused inward and found his fury side ready and waiting. He wasn’t mortal anymore, and he wouldn’t be easily killed. Everything was different now. He just had to get out of the hospital morgue first.