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  "He's not here," Tisiphone said, and I nodded. We made our way back toward Hades' house, where Hades, Persephone, and Artemis, as well as her two huge cats, were standing in the courtyard.

  "I really think I want something more classic this time around," Persephone was telling him. "Remember when we had a beautiful limestone castle? And that drawbridge? I adored that version."

  Hades stood, arms crossed, nodding. Resignation on his face. I nearly laughed. He was in the doghouse, (mostly because of me) so Persephone would get her way this time around. It was kind of funny watching the Lord of the Dead get pushed around by his wife.

  They all turned to Tisiphone and I as we landed.

  "Nice job driving him off, daughter," Hades said.

  I nodded. "I was going to try to talk to the asshole, but he wasn't in the mood," I said.

  "It is unlikely he'll talk to you," Hades said.

  "He may have, if Ares hadn't swooped in and pulled him back to the Aether," Tisiphone muttered, and I nodded.

  "Did he, now?" Hades asked, a thoughtful look on his face.

  "They're not stupid. Zeus is weaker than I am here," I said. Hades stared at me.

  "He is?"

  "Of course. All of you are weaker than me here. It's kind of weird."

  "You don't have to point it out. Rude," Tisiphone said, shaking her head.

  "You didn't used to be more powerful than me," Hades said. "I didn't really notice it before, but you are. And more so than when you first showed up at my home. How is that possible?"

  I shrugged.

  "Immortals are so blind sometimes," Artemis said, sitting down on one of the stone benches.

  "So says a goddess," Hades said, raising an eyebrow at her. "But continue, by all means."

  "Hades, when is the last time a mortal prayed to you?" she asked.

  "I don't see how that's --"

  "How long?" Artemis asked again, interrupting him.

  "Too long," he said quietly.

  "That goes for most of us. I'm lucky enough that I still have the occasional woman praying to me. I'm still able to feel that burst of strength that comes with belief," Artemis said. Then she looked at me. "Tell me, lovely girl: how often do mortals pray to you?"

  I just looked at her. "Um. I heard of a few people doing it. Why?"

  "Do you know what it feels like when someone prays to you?"

  I shook my head.

  "Imagine a burst of warmth on a cold day, enveloping you, strengthening you. It seems to come out of nowhere, but when you feel it, you never, ever want to let that feeling go," she said, a softness to her features that seemed out of place there.

  I stayed silent for a while. The feeling she'd described was usually what seemed to chase away the madness that came over me in the Nether. I'd come to rely on it in my short time there, figured it was just my more rational side asserting control again.

  Artemis was watching me closely. "You have felt it," she said. "Often."

  I nodded. We all stood in silence for a while.

  "Out of all of the immortals here, only one is worthy of the prayers of the men and women of the mortal realm," Artemis said quietly. "We have all faded away, become myths and stories. Mollis strengthens over time, because belief in her grows."

  I shook my head. "How? Why? I'm not even there anymore."

  "People pray when things get bad," Artemis said gently. "They pray to you to do what you've always done: to save them."

  "Crap," I groaned, sitting down next to her and resting my head in my hands. "And I can't save them because I'm stuck here."

  "You have a plan, and it's a good one. We'll end this and get you home, somehow," Tisiphone said. "And chances are good that things are improving in your realm anyway."

  "How?"

  "Zeus and Ares know you're here now. That will take some of the attention off of your home. They'll still feel the effects of war, but there won't be a determined effort to try to punish them. Not as much, anyway," she explained.

  I nodded. A yawn escaped my mouth, and I quickly tried to cover it.

  My mother noticed, smiled. "I think we could all do with some rest."

  "Mollis, we still have plenty of rooms," Hades said, and I nodded my thanks.

  "If she's staying here, then I stay as well," Artemis said.

  Hades watched her. "She is in no danger in her father's home," he said.

  "Of course not. But I am not willing to chance my future descendant on you and the shrew," Artemis said.

  Hades gave her a forced smile. "Fine. You can take the room next to hers, then."

  We all filed in and I fell into one of the soft beds, after noting that Artemis' two huge cats sat in front of my chamber door. As always, they made me think of Brennan, and he was the only thing on my mind as I drifted off.

  Chapter Five

  It didn’t take much effort to fall asleep. Chasing down and getting vengeance on the Guardians, then facing Zeus was enough to knock me out almost immediately.

  I really wasn't a fan of sleep. I never had peaceful sleep or dreamless nights. My subconscious runs on an auto-loop of nightmares I’ve lived.

  Being alone on the streets after I’d run away from one of my creepier foster families when I was seven.

  Being held captive by a demon when I was a teenager.

  Destroying that demon.

  Brennan under the Puppeteer’s control.

  The night Nain died.

  Watching Brennan barely hang onto life. Except in my nightmares, I was never able to save him.

  My mind went through them all, and I tossed and turned, woke up briefly, drifted off again, only to replay them all again.

  Through the haze and fear, through the suffocating terror, I felt a warmth, a presence that pulsed with power.

  Familiar. Beloved.

  Comforting in a way nothing in my life ever had been.

  Soothing.

  The nightmares ceased, and nothing other than that presence existed. I held onto it like a life preserver.

  Brennan. He was with me, somehow, and just for a while, I felt like I was home. The only time in my life I’d ever slept in peace was when I’d slept by his side. Something in him kept the terror at bay. Kept me sane.

  I’ve lived through enough crazy shit to know that the impossible is sometimes much more possible than we think. And I knew the way I know anything that Brennan’s presence was with me in dreams. As much as I wanted to talk to him, feel him, hear him…his presence in my dreams was more than I ever would have dared to hope for. And I could sense him. Happy, realizing he was feeling me, too. Sad. Longing. Love. I pushed as much emotion as I could into our bond, or whatever it was, hoping he could feel it.

  And he did.

  The connection between us burned warmer, and I spent the rest of the night just being there with him, in dreams.

  I felt when he was pulled away, when he woke up. I opened my eyes and looked at the ceiling, wishing I could hold onto that feeling a bit longer. Having him with me, even just that little bit, made me miss him even more.

  I had to get home.

  I tried to go back to sleep, hoping to feel him again. But it was over. However we’d managed it, it was over now.

  I took a deep breath, tried holding the memory of his warmth in my mind, and got out of bed.

  ♦ ♦ ♦

  I showered and dressed in one of the uniforms my mother had left for me, the traditional clothing of the Furies: tailored black pants and a top, leather boots. I braided my hair over my shoulder and made my way out into the sitting room, where I could hear Hades, Persephone, and Artemis talking. The two huge cats were patrolling the exterior of Hades’ home, along with Cerberus. I could sense them moving around.

  "And there’s little miss abomination," Persephone said from her spot near the fireplace. She had a book open on her lap. Hades and Artemis sat on a long sofa, each at an end. Hades shot a glare at Persephone, and she smiled sweetly back at him.

  "Aw, Persephone. We
should hang out some time. Have a little one on one time," I said as I sat on one of the other chairs. "Or are you going to just cower by my dad every time I’m around?"

  "Not all of us are barbarians," she said. "Every problem doesn’t need to be solved with blood and death."

  "No, but it sure is satisfying," I said, my gaze steady on her. I felt a spike of fear from her then, and she shifted uneasily in her chair.

  "You’re just going to sit there and let her threaten me, Hades?" Persephone said, glaring at my father.

  He shrugged. "You started it."

  Artemis hid a laugh, winked at me.

  "Oh, shut up. You’re no better than she is," Persephone said to Artemis. "With your hunting and wild, coarse-mannered ways."

  "Persephone, that may be the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me. Thank you," Artemis said, and now it was my turn to laugh.

  Persephone made a very unlady-like gesture at Artemis, then picked her book up again. "Ready to end this sham of a marriage yet, Hades?"

  "Never. You know you’d be lost without me, sugarplum."

  She raised her lip in a snarl at him. "In your dreams."

  "That’s not what you said last night," Hades murmured.

  "Oh, ugh. TMI, seriously," I said, shaking my head. Hades and Artemis both laughed at my obvious discomfort. Persephone just glared at me.

  "Good sex isn’t everything," she snapped, and I winced.

  "It sure doesn’t hurt," Artemis said, laughing.

  "She says this now. She plays this whole ‘Hades kidnapped me and dragged me to the Nether’ sob story. Ask her who made the first move," Hades said, a small smile quirking at the corners of his mouth.

  "You. Wish," Persephone muttered.

  "Yeah?" he said, smiling at his wife. I had a feeling this was an old routine with them, something rehashed over and over, one of those things that every couple who’s been together a long time shares.

  "She was picking flowers in a field in the mortal realm. I was going through at the same time, on my way to meet with Zeus over something. We just happened to be in the same place at the same time. Fate."

  "Bull dung," Persephone said.

  "And I saw her, and at the same moment, she looked up and saw me. And she couldn’t look away."

  "Well, you are terrifying to behold," she said.

  "Thank you, my love," Hades said, and Persephone shook her head, though I did note the tiniest of smiles on her lips. "I stayed on my horse. Who approached whom, hm?" he said to Persephone, and she rolled her eyes.

  "She came up to me, and we talked. I knew Demeter, of course, and I knew she had a daughter with Zeus."

  "Isn’t it kind of gross to be married to your niece?"

  He gave me a bored glance. "We are gods. We were the first things in existence. Things like that do not apply to us."

  "We are not like the mortals you’re used to," Persephone said. "Hades and Zeus are ‘brothers’ only in that they and Poseidon were created at the same time. Three of them, to rule the sky, the seas, and the earth. Three parts of a whole. Hades is not my uncle," she said.

  "I’ve never heard it explained that way before," I said. "Does this mean I shouldn’t call Zeus ‘Uncle Zeus’ anymore?"

  "Oh, not at all. Keep doing that. He seems to love it," Hades said, and I laughed.

  "To continue," Hades said, and I gestured zipping my lips. "I stayed on my horse, and Persephone came swaying across the field toward me, all long flowing hair and sinuous curves. And I knew I wanted her, immediately. Which is amazing in and of itself, because I never wanted anyone. I have always embraced solitude."

  "So that’s where I get it from," I murmured.

  "And she started talking to me. And we talked for a long time, and I forgot all about my meeting with Zeus. And then she looked around, and she looked up at me, and what did you say, my dear?"

  "Shut up, Hades," Persephone muttered.

  "Come on. Refresh my memory," he said, grinning.

  "I told him to show me the Nether," she muttered.

  "And a few other things, if I recall correctly," Hades said, and I stared at Persephone.

  "You hussy," I said, laughing, and Artemis erupted into gales of laughter.

  Persephone glared at me. "I didn’t tell him ‘take me to the Nether and keep me there forever.’ That was his own brilliant idea."

  "By the time she wanted to leave me (and that took a while, if I recall) I knew I needed her. And then Demeter came raging into the Nether, demanding her daughter and angry that Zeus apparently wasn’t bothered by the idea of me and his daughter." He paused. "Coming into my home and threatening me is generally not a good idea. So I told her I was keeping Persephone, and she’d never have her back."

  "Which was news to me, because I had every intention of going home after our little tryst," Persephone said, folding her arms.

  Hades smiled at his wife. "To appease both of them, I made a deal that Persephone could spend half of each year with her mother, if she wanted. How many times have you taken me up on that offer, darling?"

  She glared at him. "Twice."

  "In the eons we’ve been together, she’s only taken advantage of it twice. So whether she’ll admit it or not, she’s madly in love with me and hates it when we are apart."

  "You keep thinking that, imbecile," Persephone said, going back to her book, but not before a small smile cracked her icy facade.

  Damn it. I almost liked Persephone after watching the little exchange between her and my father. After a while, I excused myself. I wanted to talk to my mother and aunt about the possibility of opening the gateway. Since the Furies had been largely responsible for guarding it, they might have a bit more insight into what it might take to bring it back. I had a feeling a lot of it would be instinct, the way it was when I’d closed it.

  I walked, and realization struck. Not "opening" the gateway. There was no gateway anymore; I’d destroyed it. I would have to create a gateway.

  Well, shit.

  How the hell was I supposed to do that? Could I just undo what I’d done before? Do it in reverse or something? And even if I could, I sure the hell didn’t want the gods to have a bunch of gateways into my world anymore. They couldn’t be trusted. If there was going to be a way into my world, there would be one way, and I’d be in control of it.

  I was sure they'd just love me for that.

  Assuming I could do it at all, of course.

  When I got to the building where the Furies lived and worked, I let myself in and my eyes were immediately assaulted by the Furies' unique decorating sense. Hot pink, neon yellow. Lots and lots of purple. My mother and aunt had apparently adored the 1980s. Their house looked like a Cyndi Lauper video come to life. Big bad, dark, vengeance-seeking Furies crushing on Richard Marx. Clearly, the afterlife was in awesome hands.

  The house was kind of a "U" shape. One wing was the private living area, which was 80s chic. The other wing was where the Furies worked, and that was about what you'd expect: dark, cold, and filled with the scent of blood and an overwhelming sense of desperation. As a whole, the building wrapped around a central courtyard, and that's where I found my mother and aunt, along with Athena, who I'd only ever seen in passing. She was another Aether god who'd joined my parents' side in the war when Zeus had decided to attack.

  The three immortals were sitting on the low wall around the edge of the courtyard. Between the wall and the house were planting beds. My family can't garden for shit, apparently. Most of what was in the beds was dead or near death.

  As I walked into the courtyard, my mother rose and hugged me, and my aunt greeted me with a smile.

  "Mollis, you remember Athena," Tisiphone said, and I nodded, holding my hand out to the completely intimidating goddess of wisdom. She was tall. Muscular. Her face was plain at first glance, but once you really looked at her, she was completely awe-inspiring. Her sharp gaze seemed to see everything, and her face was pretty much expressionless, like those white marble sculptures you see in
a museum. She wore white leather from head to toe: boots, pants, a jacket. Her silver-white hair was cut into a severe bob.

  Yeah. This was a woman I wouldn't want to cross. She watched me wordlessly as she grasped my hand, shook it firmly.

  "It was foolish to close the gateway without knowing what would happen. Why would you trust the word of the Fates?" she asked me in greeting.

  I crossed my arms over my chest. "It had nothing to do with listening to the Fates. I needed to keep my world safe from the war that was brewing between the gods. Since they were fighting over me, I considered it my duty to keep my world as safe as I could."

  "You didn't expect to be trapped here," she said after a few moments of studying me.

  "I didn't."

  "And now that you are?"

  I shrugged. "I'm going to find a way to create a new gateway. After the war ends. Which needs to happen soon, because I need to get home."

  She smirked. "And you think you can do this?"

  "Yes."

  She shook her head. "The gods do things at their own pace. You can push all you want, and all you're likely to do is end up making the war last longer."

  "I'm not pushing. I'm waiting," I said, annoyed to even be saying the words. I am not the world's most patient person. "Hades is going to try diplomacy. And though everyone's telling me it won't work, I'm trying to behave and let it go. If diplomacy fails, then I might have to do something stupid."

  She studied me. "Your mother tells me you can fight."

  "I manage all right."

  "Against mortals. Creatures from your own realm."

  "Demons. Vampires. Shapeshifters," I said, irritated. "Killed a god or two, in case you'd forgotten."

  "And you are prideful, and arrogant. You faced gods who underestimated you. None of us will make that same mistake now. Will you come out victorious when faced with a foe who knows what you are, and what you are capable of? When you can't surprise them?"

  "Arrogant? Seriously?" I asked her. My mother and aunt were staying out of it.

  "You charge into situations as if there is no chance of failure. That is arrogance, Mollis Eth-Hades," she said, glaring at me. "And you need to be smarter. We fear you. Don't give all of us a reason to hate you."