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I clench my right hand, my eyes on the lone figure another hundred yards from me. Hades has found a large, blackened tree trunk that washed ashore as driftwood and made a seat of it.
Approaching him from the land, I can’t see his face.
But I can predict his state without laying eyes on him. He’s emotional and wrestling with just what that means for him.
Tucking my sweater duster more tightly around myself to ward off the cold, I continue down the beach. Hades turns his head just before I reach him. His eyebrows lift in faint surprise.
“Ye found me.”
I take a seat next to him, shivering as a chilly current of ocean air hits me. Hades automatically begins unbuttoning his suit jacket to put it around my shoulders.
I slide him a look. “You’re not freezing?”
He shrugs a shoulder. “I’m fine, lass.”
I move closer to him, resting my body against him. He throws his arm around me and rests his hand on the swell of my belly.
“Have you heard anything more from Magda?” he asks idly.
Shaking my head, I blow out a breath. “From what I gather, she is pretty busy with the clinic.”
There are several long moments of silence before he speaks again.
“The other day was a disaster. That was not what I thought that meeting my wayward mother would be like.”
“No? What did you have in mind?”
He huffs a laugh. “I don’t know. I imagined that there would be more hugging.”
“Ah.” I slip an arm around his waist, embracing him. “I’m sorry that it wasn’t what you thought it would be.”
“Magda really didn’t apologize to me for abandoning us as children.”
I tip my head back and look at Hades, shading my eyes against the setting sun.
“Is that what you were looking for? An apology?”
He shrugs. “I don’t really know.”
“What about meeting Diana? Don’t you think that you should? Even if Magda wasn’t quite what you thought, you have a sister that you haven’t even met! If it were me, that would be my top priority.”
Hades purses his lips for a second. “I’ve seen her.”
“Diana?” I look at him, startled. “When?”
“Yesterday. I followed Magda home and I saw her. She’s… she’s pretty, like Ma was.”
He scrunches up one side on his face, uncomfortable.
“Well… don’t you want to talk to her?”
“I will.” He frowns. “I just wish that my life weren’t changing so rapidly all of a sudden. I only met ye a few months ago.”
I give him a funny look. “If you want to call seven a few, then sure.”
“Right.” He gives me a squeeze. “Then just as I… started to feel like maybe I needed ye in my life, ye were kidnapped. I was devastated. And the second I thought I would never see ye again, ye show up pregnant. I mean, that’s already pretty fucking huge as far as life changes go.”
I lean my head against his chest. “Maybe the universe is making up for lost time. No changes for years and then bam, a ton of stuff.”
