Hephaestus just grinned at Seraphina.
“Your Fergus is a real hardass.”
She just winked.
“I’m quite fond of his hard ass.”
“The Fae have agreed to trade, but no immigration between realms until Olympus can prove itself as a stable and safe society for their people. That’s fair. Hell only allows realm travel by permission of the kings. Demons may vacation in Olympus with consent, and Hell’s policy remains the same. If a demon claims anyone in Olympus, Hell will enable them to stay. If a demon falls in love and wants to stay in Olympus, they will grant it. The demons apparently don’t believe in denying love.
“Amduscias, Barbatos, and Fergus had conditions, and we all agreed with them. Some of our infrastructure is unsustainable and requires constant upkeep from humans. Even if we paid them wages for it, it’s stupid to make repairs instead of putting in something more sustainable continually. Olympus doesn’tneedgold roads and a lot of things we have built from gold. It’s nice to brag about, but should we really be bragging about something miserable to drive on because of the glare and how it continuously breaks down?
“They also require us to set up financial institutions now that we will pay humans. Olympus doesn’t exactly have banks. Everyone hoards their wealth in their palaces. We need currency. Amduscias has apparently gotten very into television and movies since he got out of prison and thinks it’s a crime we don’t have that here. Hell and the Fae have agreed to give us access to their movies and television. We just need to get devices here to play them on.
“Hell and the Fae will send witches and healers to see if they can learn from Hestia and Artemis in Olympian healing. They will also teach Fae and witch healing to anyone who wants to learn. Not all of it is by magic. Some of it is by herbs and potions. Humans can learn some of it, and Olympus will need as many healers as it can. It’s a good trade-off.”
This was good. The demands were fair, and everyone was getting something in return. I had hope for Olympus now. Eventually, they would start making their own art to share across the different realms. Olympus would subsequently be stable, and maybe some Fae would move there.
I didn’t think Hera would be a part of this. I thought we were going to have to kill her. I could understand why she wanted to leave too. She was still doing her part to make things work from Earth, and she was helping plenty of humans who wanted to go.
This could work. We were so convinced we would have to kill everyone here, and Hades’s big plan wasn’t going to work.
I was so glad we were wrong because this was beautiful to watch.
Chapter 31
River
A
fter alliances were made and they built houses, the Olympians didn’t want us there anymore. No one said it, but I knew why. We still had our weapons just in case we needed them, and Olympians only knew how to defend themselves with magic. We all saw how well that played out before.
Pavlina wasn’t waving Athena’s head around, but it was still in a bag under the bed. I knew they trusted us and understood we kept our weapons if we needed them, but we weren’t required anymore.
There was now a council made up of Olympians and humans. Since they could make houses from magic, most everyone had one now. Alliances were in place, and Hera was ready to head off to London with her people. We weren’t needed anymore, and honestly, we were just in the way at this point since we weren’t intending on staying here full time.
We’d made friends with several of the Olympians while we were here. Hermes and Eros were great and adorable together. Hera was way nicer than I thought she would be. When she wasn’t helping or getting things ready for her move, she was trying to spend as much time with Hephaestus as possible. I was glad about that because it seemed to mean a lot to him.
It was time for us to leave. Goodbyes had been said, hugs were had, and Pavlina had her head. It was time to go home. Serafina and her men had already left, but she swore she would visit the Underworld when she was less pregnant. I also promised to visit her in Hell to meet her new baby. I had no idea if she’d be doing the whole demonic form reveal party with her child, but I figured I might as well see one since I missed mine, and the entire thing was still bizarre to me.
It was a fucking relief to be back in the Underworld, but it was bittersweet. Barbatos turned and pulled me into a hug as soon as we were back.
“River, I’m sorry. I’ve got some pressing Hell business to attend to. I have to go topside with a Tengu to get a Kitsune out of a magical prison. They sent her topside for her safety, and she had little to no guidance. She’s a Kitsune, so it was just a given she was going to misbehave a little. She took it a little too far and got herself arrested. Demons are always to be turned over to Hell instead of prison, but she was mis-classified as a fox shifter. We don’t know if she doesn’t know the truth about what she is, but she has corrected no one at Silverhold Detention Center for the Magically Delinquent. We have to get her out, River.”
I got it. I totally did. I knew he would have to go back eventually, but I didn’t think it was going to be so soon. Even if he had to go back right away, I thought we would go back with him and get a tour of Hell. I’d seen the Underworld, and I’d seen Olympus. I was so curious about Hell now after meeting so many of its residents.
I wasn’t that familiar with Kitsunes, and I had no idea what a Tengu was, but I had some questions.
“This Kitsune isn’t going to end up in some dungeon in Hell because she’s a criminal, right? You aren’t getting her out of prison for harsher punishment?”
Barbatos just threw back his head and laughed.
“We’d never punish a Kitsune for misbehaving. It’s in their nature, and this one is important. She’ll probably get taught how not to get caught next time.”
Demons were so weird, and I wanted to visit Hell now.
Solron flung herself at me and gave me this enormous hug.
“It was nice meeting you, River. This was the most fun I’ve had on vacation in ages.”
