Page 52 of Hades

We all saw it.

The kid’s eyes widened the moment he realized what he’d done. How badly he’d fucked up. What his stupidity and arrogance had cost this club. Cost a patched brother, an officer of the club he was trying to join. The color drained from his face. His mouth opened. Closed. Opened again.

Zeus pulled his gun from his holster and shot the kid in the head.

The gunshot cracked through the room like thunder. Sharp. Final. The back of Abyss’ skull exploded outward, brain matter and bone fragments spraying across the concrete. The smell of cordite and burnt powder flooded the air, mixing with the copper stench of fresh blood and the acrid smell of piss as the kid’s bladder released.

Then Zeus turned to the other prospects, his arm still extended. Smoke swirled from the barrel. I had to give them credit—they didn’t flinch. Didn’t look away from the corpse bleeding out on the floor. Didn’t show weakness even as their brother’s blood pooled at their feet.

“Any of you too stupid to learn from this lesson? Tell me fucking now, because I’ve got too much shit going on to babysit fucking children who can’t use their fucking heads.”

Pegasus stepped forward, and my chin dropped. He was a good kid, a solid prospect. He’d make a good brother, someone who could be trusted. But seeing him step forward had me questioning my assessment. My hand moved instinctively toward my piece.

“Prez,” Pegasus began. “We understood the cost of prospecting. Each of us knew what we were signing up for. We won’t let you down the way Abyss did.”

The others behind him straightened, nodding their agreement. Zeus’ arm fell to his side. “Clean up this fucking mess,” he ordered.

They moved fast, scattering in different directions.

Pegasus kneeled by the body and stripped the cut from Abyss. Amphion and Memnon lifted him off the floor, the kid’s head lolling back to expose the gaping exit wound. Thanos and Cycnus appeared with mops and cleaners.

They worked as a unit to clean up after their president. None of them spoke; instead, the room filled with the sounds of their labor. The scrape of mops against concrete. The splash of water mixing with blood. The chemical smell of bleach trying to mask death. Atlas stood beside me, and we watched the prospects work swiftly and efficiently.

“His control is thinning,” Atlas whispered so only I could hear.

“I know.” My jaw clenched so hard my teeth ached.

“The kid didn’t deserve to die.”

“I know.” I sighed, the weight of it settling in my chest like a stone. “He’s got a lot of shit on his plate, and now this mess with Reggie.”

“The mess with Reggie is only going to get worse. Poseidon will be pissed when Zeus tells him we aren’t chasing Alex down.”

“I’ll talk to him,” I promised.

“He needs to tell Rhea the truth, Hades. The guilt is eating him alive, and we’ll all suffer for it, eventually.”

“What the fuck do you want me to do, Atlas? He knows his father was a monster, but until he deals with that, he won’t listen to anyone.” My hands curled into fists. The rage was there, simmering just beneath the surface. Always there. Always waiting.

“Then we make sure he deals with it. Where is Eros?”

“I don’t know,” I admitted, walking to the bar. Atlas moved around to the inside and pulled two beers from the fridge, handing one to me. The cold glass felt good against my palm. Grounding. Real. He stood across from me and waited.

“Let me talk to my father again and see if he’s remembered anything.”

Atlas nodded, but he didn’t move. He leaned his elbows on the bar and twisted the beer bottle against the surface.

“What’s this I hear about you getting a woman?”

My eyes snapped up to his. “What the fuck?! The only person I told was Zeus. You two sitting around like old church ladies gossiping about my sex life?”

“Yeah.” He grinned and took a pull from his bottle.

“Well, that’ll have to wait,” I said, and the beer soured on my tongue. The thought of Lettie made my chest tighten. Made my cock throb. Made me want to burn the whole fucking world down just to get back to her. I wasn’t sure she’d even speak to me again, let alone let me get my mouth on her.

Zeus had given Poseidon seventy-two hours to look for Alex, and not a minute more. He wouldn’t waste resources on a spoiled brat who refused to accept the help she was offered.

I’d spent those hours with him. Riding through the night. Checking every contact. Following every lead that went nowhere. Watching my brother fall apart piece by piece as he realized his sister was gone. Really gone this time. And there wasn’t a goddamn thing he could do about it.