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“Fuck. Is the universe who I should blame?”
“Maybe. At least the universe is only adding people to your world, not taking them away.”
“Aye, truth.” He squints out over the sea, watching as it laps at the shore. His shoulders hunch. “I feel like I’ve lost so much time with Diana. She’s a woman now, not a lass. It will be impossible to get that time back.” He makes an angry sound. “I could have had much more time with her if everyone in my family wasn’t so fucking secretive. Or if my mother had been more persistent about trying to contact us. It should be criminal.”
I tilt my head. “To be fair, I don’t know how long Eros has been in contact with your mother. It could be a new relationship.”
He stares pointedly out at the sea. “Does that really make a difference? I can’t help but feel like…”
He goes quiet for almost half a minute, then heaves a sigh. “It’s like I’ve been living a lie for years. And I don’t know who to be angriest with. Da. My ma. My brothers. How could I even begin solving a puzzle without all the pieces?”
I tug at his shirt until he turns toward me. Offering him a kiss, I am comforted when he presses his lips against mine. I shiver, feeling warmth spreading between our bodies. When I finally come up for air, I give him the gentlest smile.
“You’ve had an undeniably hard start to life.”
Hades schools his expression. “Aye. Not as bad as some, I expect.”
“My question is what you are going to do from here. With the knowledge you have right now and the people you now know are here…” I put my hand over his hand, which rests on my belly. “What will you do for your daughter to make her life better than yours?”
He looks down at my stomach, stroking it tenderly. When he answers, his voice is gruff and hard, the opposite of his light caress.
“Everything. I would do everything differently.”
My stomach growls suddenly and loudly, surprising us both. I wrinkle my nose.
“How about we talk about the ways you are going to change your life while we eat dinner? Ever since you ordered that locally made cheese in the groceries from the town store, all I’ve been able to think about is grilled cheese sandwiches.”
My mouth actually starts watering before I finish the sentence. Hades smirks at me.
“As ye like, my queen.”
He bows and helps me to my feet, patiently walking beside me as I struggle back up the hills.
“You know, Ares called me something strange,” I puff as I maneuver myself up the path to our cabin. “He called me the queen of the damned.”
Hades seems amused. “I wouldn’t take anything Ares tells ye to heart. The one’s naught but a great snake.”
His accent makes it sound like gree-et snee-ak, which makes me giggle. “I have no idea what that even means but I love the way it sounds coming out of your mouth.”
Hades smirks again, his eyes lighting with carnal interest. “Maybe when we get inside, ye can show me more of what ye love.”
I wheeze a laugh. We crest the final hill, the cabin coming into sight.
Leaning against the cabin are Ares and Eros, looking like a perfectly mismatched pair of gloomy twins. Hades stops dead in his tracks, every single muscle in his body tensing.
“Fuck,” he says, sending me a nervous glance. “Lass, I’m going to need ye to run to the neighboring cabin.”
Eros elbows Ares and they both stand up, Ares cracking his knuckles. I lick my lips, my heart beating wildly.
The front door of our little cabin swings open and Magda steps out, her face heavily lined and her expression weary. Behind her follows a younger version, a stunning brunette beauty that I assume to be Diana. She wears a simple blue dress and a white parka, but she looks absolutely regal as she steps out of the house.
“None of that,” Magda says, scolding Ares. “No fighting.”
Ares bares his teeth at her. “Who asked ye for yer permission?”
Magda scowls and puts her arm around Diana, moving away from him.
“That is not why I called ye here and ye know it,” she shouts to Eros. “Yer supposed to talk to each other.”
