Page 96 of Hades

“What do you mean, Mom?” Zeus was trying to regain control now, trying to understand the situation so he could manage it. So he could keep everything exactly where he wanted it.

“I mean, I want to take a trip. I need to get away from the memories for a little while. I need to find out who I am without your father. Who I am without my husband.” Rhea’s voice was quiet but firm. This wasn’t a request. This was a woman making a decision about her own life.

“Mom—” Zeus started, but Rhea cut him off.

“I wasn’t asking, Kane. You do what you have to do, but I’m leaving in two days.”

Zeus clamped his lips shut. His jaw worked. His eyes went dark, revealing that controlled fury that made prospects piss themselves. He was calculating, running through scenarios, trying to figure out how to reassert dominance over his own mother.

It was desperate.

Pathetic.

And absolutely fucking fascinating, because for the first time since Kronos died, my president looked like he didn’t have all the answers. Fucking beautiful.

“Where are you going?” he asked, his voice carefully controlled.

“I don’t know. I just need to go.”

“A prospect has to go with you.” It wasn’t a suggestion. It was a demand. Zeus was desperate to stay in control, to keep his mother tethered to the club, to him, to the life she’d been living. But Rhea just looked at him. And in that look was resignation and defeat and the acceptance of a cage she’d been living in for decades. But there was something else, too, something that looked like freedom.

“I know,” she breathed.

Two words were her only reply. She didn’t argue or demand he back off. She turned to Lettie and held out her arms. My queen walked into them without hesitation, and they hugged like they’d known each other for years instead of days. Like Lettie had given her something precious, and Rhea was grateful beyond words.

Lettie pulled back and smiled. I watched Rhea’s face soften, watched her nod like they’d made some kind of agreement. Some kind of pact.

“I’ll see you tomorrow for lunch,” Rhea said.

Then she kissed her son on the cheek and walked down the hall, her spine straighter than it had been when she came in. Like she’d shed something heavy. Like she’d finally decided her own life mattered.

Zeus turned to me and Lettie with fire in his eyes.

“What the fuck did you do?” he snarled, the accusation clear.

I stepped forward before he could say anything else. Before he could direct that rage at my queen. My body moved between them automatically. A wall of muscle and violence and absolute fucking certainty.

“Watch your fucking tone, brother,” I snarled back.

Zeus’ jaw clenched. He wanted to argue, wanted to assert his position. His title. He wanted to make this about something he could fix. But he couldn’t. The truth was sitting right in front of him: his mother had made a choice. And that choice had nothing to do with Lettie manipulating her and everything to do with Rhea finally deciding her own life was worth living.

“You’re damn lucky the vote already went through.” Zeus stormed off, and I didn’t turn around until he left the main room.

I looked down at Lettie. Her eyes were bright, her expression soft but determined. She’d known exactly what she was doing. She’d known Rhea needed permission to grieve.

To want.

To leave.

Lettie crossed her arms over her chest. “What vote?”

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Lettie

The question hung in the air between us. My irritation grew as I waited for him to answer, but he just stood there, his hand rubbing the back of his neck like a guilty child.

“What vote, Brock?”