CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
Tanus lifted his hand and paused at the bedroom door. What in the hell was he going to say to this man? His maker, his father. He felt Layla tighten her hand in his. His stomach calmed, and he knocked gently. He heard footsteps coming to the door, and the figure who opened it was unfamiliar to him for a second. Then it came to him, Apollo.
“Tanus, good to see you, demon. Lucifer told me they found you. Come in. Welcome, Seer. I’m Apollo. No, my parents didn’t have a thing for the Greeks, I am the real deal.”
Tanus curled his lip as Layla stared at the god. He narrowed his eyes, already planning where to hide the body. When her eyes met his, she chuckled softly and leaned into him.
“He’s got nothing on you, Wolfman. Nice to meet you, Apollo, my name is Layla.”
The god sighed. “You know, one day I will find myself a Seer who isn’t already infatuated with one of you demons. I am starting to get a complex and feel inadequate.”
“Suck it up, Captain Sunshine.” Tanus pulled her to his side, glaring at the god the whole time. Layla giggled, enjoying his possessive side immensely.
Apollo grumbled something about demons and Seers and gestured to the bed. “Thanatos agreed to hold off until you all had a chance to say goodbye. He said midnight tomorrow. He can’t hold back Hades’ timer any longer. I’m glad you’re back, Tanus. I’ll leave you alone.”
They watched him leave and Tanus pulled Layla close. “Thanatos?” Her eyes scanned the room.
“The God of Death. One of my Father’s servants. He and his Reapers gather the souls of those who have died and deliver them to Charon so they can pass over. Only Thanatos would have the honor of coming for Hades. Clearly, he had been hoping someone might be able to heal the Lord of the Underworld, to no avail, it seems.”
“I’m not dead yet, boy.” A rough voice came from the corner of the room where a light shone.
“Dammit, old man, give me a heart attack.” Tanus took a breath. His fingers entwining with Layla’s, he walked toward the bed.
“Satanus, are you really here? Or is my messed-up brain playing tricks on me again?” Tanus neared the bed and found he had to stop. This was not the god he remembered from his visions.
Hades was a faded husk of that man. His face was wrinkled and old, as if all the life had been drained from him. He still had his full head of hair, but it was white. His eyes, however, still held that awesome power. Tanus and Layla moved to the bed. When Hades attempted to sit up, Layla released his hand and went right to Hades’ side, sitting beside him.
“No, stay still. My name is Layla Thorne, I’m… well, I don’t know what demons call it.”
“My wife, or she will be, once we complete the human ceremony.” Tanus walked forward and placed his hand on her shoulder. Looking back at him, her eyes sparkled at his words.
“Who would have thought? Sin of Wrath, tamed. You were one of the most difficult to temper into a body.” Hades’ chest wheezed as he breathed. The bandage that covered the wound still seeped with blood. Damn that angelic weapon and damn Michael to Tartarus for using it.
“I know I was, I remember, Father.” Hades turned his head, his eyes bright. His body might be weak but Tanus could see in his eyes his mind was still pin sharp.
“That’s impossible. I removed those memories, all but… never mind.”
“All but Lucifer’s. Yes, I know. But I remember. Funny thing about power from the Source, it’s not picky about what it gives back when it grants you a wish. I needed my memories and it just threw a whole bunch at me. One was the day I was ‘born.’” He rubbed his chest, and Hades narrowed his eyes.
“So, you know then? About Asmodeus, what he is to you?”
“That you punched a hole in my chest, ripped my heart in two, and used it to make his body? Or half body. It explains why he didn’t have one for so long.”
“What do you mean, Tanus? He does now? His form has anchored?” Each word seemed to be a struggle for him, but he was determined to speak.
“Yes, he looks just like he did when you first created him. He met Lexi, Layla’s twin sister, and he returned to that form.”
Hades lay back, letting out a breath. “Fate appears to have found a solution to his problem that I could not. Seer, will your sister accept him?” Layla opened her mouth as if to answer right away, then hesitated, her face falling. Hades lifted his hand and patted her leg gently. “Not to worry. Asmodeus needs to learn control on his own before he can claim another. They are two parts of a whole. Wrath and Lust. Maybe it was my arrogance that made me split one heart into two bodies. You, my dear, became Wrath’s other half, as I suspect this Lexi will become the same for Asmodeus. Although I doubt it will be easy for either of them. Lust is much more difficult to deal with than Wrath ever was.” Hades suddenly winced, pain rolling across his face, his breathing becoming labored.
“Father?” Tanus moved forward, worry rushing through him. He watched helplessly as Hades breathed through the surge of life-draining pain, the bandage covering the wound becoming saturated with fresh blood.
“I’m… I’m okay, son. It has passed.” Hades had his eyes closed, sweat glistening on his skin. “Thanatos awaits me. I should think before too long he will part the veil. Overdramatic poser.” Hades laughed a little, his eyes slipping closed. He was asleep in seconds.
Tanus closed the door quietly behind them, moving to the balcony that overlooked the huge living room filled with people chatting and drinking. Layla had cleaned the wound, replaced the bandage, and they left Hades to rest. Tanus hated watching the life drain from the god. But it had to be worse for everyone else—they had been seeing this for months.
Tanus focused his eyes on the scene below. His family. The trepidation he’d felt earlier was gone. He felt calmer now, more centered. Layla tucked her arm under his, laying her head on his shoulder. If not for the fact his father lay dying he might actually enjoy himself.
Annabelle was playing cards with Ze; she seemed to have totally come out of her shell. Lexi leaned against the fireplace chatting rather enthusiastically with Apollo, who was waaay too close to her. Every chance he got he reached out and touched her, and she let him within reason. Across the room, Tanus watched Deus stewing, knocking back another drink, glaring daggers at Apollo’s back. He pretended to be totally oblivious to what was happening. Yeah, oblivious, right.
“What’s Lexi doing? She doesn’t even notice men like Apollo.” Layla sighed and shook her head.
“She is doing it to piss off Deus. It’s working, I don’t fully understand why. Something happened between them. Or is happening. I’m not a relationship expert. But I know someone who is.” He pressed a kiss to Layla’s temple and led her down the stairs.
Annabelle saw her, and was on her feet and running to her in a second. Tanus left Layla with her daughter as Annabelle started to talk about the man with the silver hair who said she could call him Uncle Ze if she liked. It seemed like his brothers were accepting Annabelle easily. He took in a slow breath and made his way over to the couch where Isabelle and a red-haired Seer he didn’t know sat. Isabelle, however, he knew—and the last time he’d seen her, he had not been the nicest of demons.
“Isabelle. I wanted to come and apologize for how I handled our first meeting. For how I handled everything after that.” He suddenly found his arms full of Isabelle as she hugged him.
“Silly man. You’re the only demon I know who growls more than Mammon. I never held any of it against you. It is part of your charm.” Isabelle let him go and turned to Sera. “This is Sera, she is the Seer of Hindsight, and mated to Ze. She needs all the help she can get.”
“Oh, I feel for you. Is he still sleeping with his laptop at his bedside?”
Sera giggled and nodded. “Odin has got in the habit of going around and touching all his electrical gear just to damage it. He says he enjoys watching Ze turn a nice shade of red. It is rather funny. He should be arriving later.”
“Looks like I missed a lot. I have much to catch up on.”
Sera smiled at him curling her legs under her. “You will. So, errr… not to pry, but what is with the evil looks Deus is shooting Apollo?”
“Oh, well. I was hoping Isabelle could give me some insight.”
She laughed and shook her head. “You don’t need to be empathic for that. I hope she knows Apollo just wants a Seer notch on his bedpost. I mean, fair play to her if she wants that, but Deus is mighty pissed. Something odd though—he is, I don’t know how to describe it, arguing with himself. I don’t know. It is like he is of two minds. Weird.”
No doubt after the shit they had been through, he was just questioning his own mind when it came to Lexi. It was not like he hadn’t done it a million times with Layla—and, hell, they were twins, after all.
Annabelle had met so many people tonight, so many new faces. They were all going to be part of her family. She had never felt so special. There were lots of new Aunties and Uncles, and they were all so nice. Except maybe the one with red eyes, he was odd; he seemed to keep himself away from everyone else, as if he wanted to separate himself from his family.
Chewing on her bottom lip, she snuck out onto the balcony. He stood out here by himself, watching the colors of the Aurora Borealis dancing against the black of the night. His breath misted in the sky, his head tilted back. If not for the fact his hands were tight against the wood beam she might think he was sleeping.
“You should be inside, child. It’s cold out here.” He didn’t even look at her.
“You’re like my mommy! Do you have super hearing or something?”
His lip twitched and he turned his head to look at her. “Something like that. You really shouldn’t be out here without a jacket on. Annabelle, right?”
“Yes, but some people call me Belle. My daddy calls me Bella.”
“Your Daddy? Tanus, yes, of course. That will take getting used to.” He turned his eyes back to the sky.
“Why do the colors change?” She moved beside him, trying to turn herself into a pretzel to see better.
Lucifer looked down at her and tilted his head to the side. He leaned down, picked her up, and sat her on the balcony in front of him, keeping an arm around her. He tensed as she leaned back against him, watching the sky, her head against his shoulder. He began to speak, she suspected more to distract himself from the fact she was using him as a pillow.
“They change because the Earth’s electromagnetic field protects us from the sun’s radiation. When that radiation hits the shield, it rolls over it and makes the rolling colors appear in the sky. As the radiation particles react with gas particles in our atmosphere, the different gases give off different colors. Nitrogen is blue and Oxygen is green.”
“Oh, so cool. You’re really smart. We don’t see the colors at home.”
“Montana? No, you wouldn’t, it is too far south. You need to be close to the poles to see the lights.” He looked up at the sky.
“So, does Santa ride on them?”
He opened his mouth and closed it quickly. “I am… sure he would. He comes from the North Pole, right?”
She began to giggle “Silly. Santa isn’t real! My Auntie Lexi told me that, don’t tell my mommy I know, though. She thinks I still believe in Santa,” she whispered. “I still write him a letter ‘cause it makes Mommy happy.”
A ghost of a smile spread on his lips. “You’re a smart kid. That’s good.” He helped her down to the balcony and she smiled, giving him a wave.
“Thank you, Uncle Luci.”
He dropped his eyes to her and narrowed them. “Okay, not cool. You can’t call me that, young lady.”
“Whatever you say, Uncle Luci!” She smiled and skipped back inside the house. He needed someone to make him smile—she would do it until his Seer arrived. He had some time to wait, so until then, it would be her job.
She left him gaping after her and continued to wander around the room. Her mom and dad sat together on the couch, she would leave them be. They needed time together; when the babies came, she would have to be a big sister because her new sisters would need her. She wondered if she should tell her mom she would be having little girls, even if her dad wanted boys. Daddy had a lot to learn about little girls so she had a big responsibility ahead of her, teaching him about being a father.
Annabelle looked around the room for her Aunt. She was standing with the powerful blond man earlier. He was a nice man, nothing she didn’t like about him, but he wasn’t Uncle Deus. He didn’t make hot cocoa with extra marshmallows, and he wasn’t the one to help Auntie Lexi fix what was broken inside her. Sometimes adults could be so silly and not see what was right in front of them. But Grammy Annie had told her she wasn’t allowed to say anything, that Lexi had to travel her own path. So Annabelle left her aunt with the god man.
She moved through the room, making her way to the stairs that went up to the indoor balcony. There was a person up there she needed to go and see. Ilianna had told her the night before she came here. It was very important she meet this man—Gabriel, she said his name was. She had a message she needed to give him. Annabelle looked quickly back at the room. No one was paying attention to her as she took the steps up and walked across the large balcony toward a far door.
Quietly, she opened the door and slipped into the dark room. The sound of ruffling feathers came from the darkness, and Annabelle paused. She hated that sound. The evil man made that sound.
“You should return downstairs, child. This is not the place for children.” The voice was deep, not unpleasant to listen to. It was not the evil man’s voice. His eyes were open in the darkness, the gold shining like small suns in the shadows.
Annabelle walked forward, wringing her hands in her dress. She stopped by the bed. The body lying upon it was deathly still, her face pale. The man on the other side looked like he had been crying for a while. He straightened in his chair, his wings tightening to his back. Why did she have to talk to this man? He reminded her too much of the one her mother called Michael, the one that hurt her. Her heartbeat rushed in her chest. Why did Ilianna send her with a message?
“I will not hurt you. Why do you fear me?”
“It’s not you, Mr. Angel. It’s someone who… he just… he hurt me and my mommy.” Annabelle stared at the body on the bed. Why could he not see what she saw? The energy that sparked around this woman’s form like the sun?
“Michael. I am not like him, child. You can call me Gabriel. Why did you come here?” Annabelle heard the chair move, and she looked up quickly. Those golden eyes were locked on her.
He was so tall, just like the Michael man. Memories from only a few days ago came flooding back. The pain when he had thrown his power at her had been so bad she had cried out for her mother. Panic flooded her. She backed up a step. She tried to be brave just like her daddy, but the fear was still too new. She just opened her mouth and blurted out the message.
“She-is-just-sleeping!” Annabelle wasn’t sticking around to see if he got mad, or upset, or anything like that. Grownups were funny that way—they got angry at the strangest things. She turned and bolted for the door, yanking it open and running back out onto the balcony.
“Wait! Come back!” She heard him following her, and she franticly looked left and right. She could go downstairs, but then her mom and dad would know she had been poking around. She ran to the nearest door. Yanking it open, she slipped in and closed it behind her. He said he wouldn’t harm her, but the fear was still too fresh in her mind.
“Did something scare you, child?” A weak voice came from the far side of the room. Annabelle paused. She was pretty sure she wasn’t supposed to be in here. Maybe she could sneak back out again. “It’s okay, Annabelle, isn’t it? You can come over. I’m Hades.”
Timidly, she walked farther into the room. “You’re my daddy’s papa?” As she got closer she could see he looked really old. She got the feeling he was not supposed to look like this. Something was really wrong with how his energy was flowing—it was like there was a massive hole in his life-force, and it just kept flowing out of him.
“Yes, I suppose I am.”
She stopped beside his bed and then looked over at the corner of the room, her eyes remaining there. “Who is the man with the long cloak?”
Hades lifted his eyebrows and looked over at the corner. “You can see beyond the veil? That is incredible. That is Thanatos. He is waiting to take me to the Underworld. It will not be long now. Tomorrow, after everyone has been together for the day.” Hades lay back and smiled at the little girl.
“So, if you’re my daddy’s papa, does that mean you’re my grandpa?” She smiled. She had Grammy Annie, but never a really real Grammy and Grandpa.
“I suppose it does. Me, a grandfather, who would have expected that?”
Annabelle smiled and crawled onto the bed, laying down beside him. “Daddy told me a story about you, when you met Per… Per… sep.”
He chuckled gently. “Persephone. I am sure she would not mind you calling her Granny. I think she would love it, actually. We did not have children as little as you.”
Annabelle yawned, her eyes drooping. “That’s very sad.”
She didn’t hear his reply, she was tired now. She had done everything Grammy Annie had asked her to do. She felt a hand stroke down her hair and she smiled. It would be nice to have a new family.