Page 52 of Queen of Tempests and Sin

CHAPTER 19

POSEIDON

Hades and I appeared in Zeus’s grand meeting room at his New York offices to find him pacing the expansive space.

Plush leather chairs encircled a sleek silver conference table, which held a crystal decanter of nectar and several glasses.

‘What the fuck is going on?’ Zeus bellowed the moment he saw us. He crossed the space in a blur and pulled me into a crushing bear hug. I blinked, startled, and caught Hades’s smug smile from the corner of my eye. Clearing my throat, I extricated myself from Zeus’s iron grip. His sudden emotional display was… disconcerting.

‘Ixion almost killed you, Brother.’ Zeus looked genuinely distraught, and I blinked at his expression, at a loss for words.

‘But they failed,’ Hades drawled. ‘The godly-infused blade of Olympus is now locked away in my armoury.’ Zeus exhaled deeply and gave a sharp nod. He turned to the table, poured three glasses of nectar, and handed one to each of us.

‘Please, take a seat.’ He gestured to the plush sofas, and we followed. ‘Tell me exactly what happened, Poseidon.’

I recounted everything. My near-death, Cordelia’s betrayal, the threat to her sister—everything except her mouth on my cock. His expression darkened with each word.

‘I hope you obliterated this assassin?’ he snapped.

I stiffened, and Hades let out a low, dark chuckle. ‘No one touches her,’ I growled, my voice like crushed gravel. Zeus cocked his head, his anger shifting more to confusion.

‘What?’ He almost choked on the word.

‘It seems’—Hades took a long gulp of his nectar as Zeus turned sharply to him—‘that our brother has claimed the woman who put a blade through his heart.’

Zeus’s shocked gaze swung back to mine. ‘Don’t be ridiculous!’ he said through clenched teeth.

‘She was coerced into it. They threatened her sister.’ I shot back, my anger simmering.

‘Where is she now?’ His gaze pierced mine.

‘She is in the Underworld with her sister. She’ll be safe there. Ixion will assume I’ve killed her… but, if they discover otherwise, they’ll come for her.’

Zeus stared. ‘You’ve claimed her?’

‘I have.’ I drained the rest of my nectar. ‘She belongs to me. And if anyone dares lay a finger on her, I will kill them… And that includes you two… Brothers.’

Zeus’s mouth dropped open, his brows hiking up to his hairline as Hades released a low laugh.

‘Our brother is more than a tad obsessed with the little assassin, Zeus.’ Hades gave me his trademark arrogant bastard smile. ‘As I’ve already told him: invisible bonds are the hardest to explain… and the hardest to break. It appears our brother has found his mate.’

Zeus stared at me like I’d grown a second head, and I struggled not to squirm under his scrutiny. ‘And has she accepted your claim?’ he asked, voice dry.

Hades chortled, and I shot him an icy glare. ‘Not yet,’ I ground out with a clenched jaw. ‘She will… in time.’ I took a large gulp of my drink.

‘I see,’ Zeus muttered as he downed an entire glass of nectar. ‘And she’s human?’

I nodded and tried not to imagine a life without Cordelia because, as a human, I knew that would happen, eventually.

‘You have fallen for a mortal.’ Zeus sighed. ‘It won’t end well, Poseidon. It never does.’ I ground my teeth. ‘It’s always a woman.’ He blew out a rough breath and shook his head.

‘Let’s focus,’ I snapped, shifting the topic. ‘We’re here to talk about Ixion, not my love life.’ Both Zeus and Hades gave me a flat look. ‘Theseus has been tracking activity on the dark web. He’s found secret auctions… auctions selling ancient Greek artefacts. It seems someone has been taking ancient relics and weapons not only from your armouries but also from your repository, Zeus.’ I held my brother’s gaze as he scrubbed a hand over the back of his neck, anxiety pouring from him.

‘Gods blood,’ he muttered.

Hades’ brow lowered, his icy rage permeating the room. ‘It seems they have been conspiring against us for years.’ Hades’ voice was glacial. ‘I suspect these thefts occurred during the war on witches.’ He glanced between us both. ‘Which means that Ixion not only possesses weapons of the gods but has also been selling our artefacts to fund their cause.’

‘It has to be a god,’ Zeus said, running his hands through his hair. ‘No one else could get into those vaults.’