Page 30 of Hades

We didn’t allow drugs inside the Athens town line, which was ironic since we moved the shit for the Cartel. But that was fucking business. The Gods of Mayhem didn’t do drugs outside of a little weed now and then. The hard stuff, the shit that ruined lives, that destroyed families, was banned from the town.

We’d seen what it did. We’d buried too many people who’d fallen into that darkness.

The room went quiet when Adonis spoke. “What are we doing about your father’s funeral?”

Zeus closed his eyes, and I swore I could see him counting in his head, trying to hold onto his control, trying not to lose his shit in front of everyone. “The funeral’s in two days. My mother’s handling everything. I just need the club to do the heavy work.”

“He’ll be buried in the club cemetery?” Adonis asked, his voice careful, measured. Like he was walking through a minefield.

“Where the fuck else would he be?” Zeus questioned, his eyes snapping open, hard and challenging.

Adonis didn’t answer, but I could tell by the look in his eyes he hated the idea. If I were being honest, I hated it too. The club’s cemetery was sacred ground where we buried our heroes, our brothers, our family. Pontus’ daughter Shelly was buried there. A seven-year-old girl who’d been tortured and murdered, who’d died screaming and alone.

And given what we’d learned, Kronos didn’t have the right to rest in peace. Not beside an innocent little girl who’d suffered the same sins Kronos was accused of. Not beside the people who’d actually earned the honor.

“If you told her the truth, she wouldn’t⁠—”

“No one is telling my mother the fucking truth!” Zeus’ hand slapped the table, the sound sharp and violent, echoing through the room. Apollo scowled, his face twisting with disapproval.

“She’ll find out eventually. You can’t keep the whole fucking Federation quiet. Not to mention the rest of the underworld,” Apollo pointed out, his voice calm and logical. The voice of reason Zeus didn’t want to fucking hear.

“Lo’s right. If she finds out from someone else...” I let my words trail off, knowing Zeus understood his mother as well, if not better than the rest of us. Rhea Cooper was a force of nature. Strong, fierce, and protective of everyone in her life. If she found out we’d lied to her, if she learned the truth from someone else, it would destroy her.

She’d never forgive us.

“I know,” he breathed, the fight draining out of him, leaving him hollow and exhausted. “I can’t break her heart. Not yet. She just got my sisters back.”

“Your sisters probably already know. If they don’t, it won’t be long,” Atlas said, his voice gentle but firm. “Bane won’t keep that shit from Diana. I don’t know Banshee well enough to say what he’d do.”

“I’ll talk to Bane and Banshee. Ask them for more time or convince them not to tell the girls at all.”

“What about Indie?” Apollo asked, his voice quiet, careful. Like he was poking a sleeping bear.

Zeus glared at Apollo, his eyes hard and unforgiving. “She killed my father.”

“From what Hades told me, she had a damn good reason.”

“If what she said was even true. All we have is her word,” Zeus said, his voice bitter and defensive. Clinging to the last shreds of hero worship he’d had for his father.

I watched the brothers, gauging their reactions before I spoke. These next words would either convince Zeus or shove him deeper into denial.

“King backed her up. O’Malley had proof Kronos was working with the Society.” I took a deep breath, tasting the stale air, the lingering scent of gunpowder and blood. “Eros was there when Karlyn told Ravage what Nemesis and the others did. No one knew who Nemesis was, not even Karlyn. Cerberus confirmed Kronos was Nemesis.”

“Where the hell is Eros?” Caishen asked. “Why didn’t he come back with you?”

“He needed some time.” That was all they were getting. My brothers didn’t know Eros had threatened Hydros’ life. Not because of anything Hydros had done, but because he hadn’t reacted well to the truth about Kronos. Because Eros was barely holding onto his sanity, barely keeping the violence inside from exploding outward.

I didn’t have the heart to tell them he might not come back. That we might have lost him to the darkness, to the rage, to the betrayal eating him alive.

I looked at Zeus, my best friend. The man I’d take a bullet for; the man I’d kill for. “What proof do you need, brother?”

“I need to hear it from someone who doesn’t have an axe to grind against my father. I need to see the proof.” Zeus leaned forward, his eyes pleading with me to understand, to give him something, anything, that would let him hold onto the man he’d loved. “Why would he wear his cut?”

Zeus stood and turned his back on everyone, his shoulders tense, his hands clenched into fists. We all knew how tough this had to be. Knew how much Zeus loved his father, respected him, despite the mistakes he’d made with Aspen. Despite the cracks that had started to show.

“What if it was someone else?” he asked, his head turned to the side, not fully looking at any of us. Like he couldn’t bear to see the truth in our eyes. “What if someone else knew my father’s secret and wanted to frame him? Wanted to drag him down.”

The desperation in his voice made my chest ache. He was grasping at straws, clinging to hope that didn’t exist.