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He was gone, the elevator shutting behind me, sounding louder than a door slamming before I could say another word. This would make the matter of the portal harder to fix, not that I could say that was my primary focus. No, instead, he had reached into my chest and ripped my heart out. I had loved him. Not how we had both wanted, I'm sure. At first, he had been an annoying demon that followed me around, but somethingchanged, and he was more. The worst part in all of this was that he was right. I was a coward. I followed the rules set by my father, but not because I wanted to, because his words had the power to make me do it.
I wasn’t sure how much time passed before I pulled myself out of my thoughts and crossed the room to salvage my destroyed laptop. Cerberus huffed as I knelt down, and I sighed, glancing over at him.
"Yeah, he did a number on this," I muttered. On me, really.
As I set the pile of pieces on the table, I felt the insistent call of my father. My fingers absently ruffled my hair and rubbed at the back of my neck. I was sure he wanted an update, telling him I had Bellamy, and lost him probably wouldn't go over well.
In a blink, I was standing in his throne room. He loved the dramatics, so I knew I'd find him perched atop his rightful place. Cerberus trotted over to him, and he reached down to give him warm attention. The room was marble and gold, like the rest of the palace. The swirling of the cream slabs of marble on the floor held my attention as I waited for him to acknowledge me. I finally lifted my head when I heard him speak. The rest of the room was unchanged. The large, heavy drapes still hung on the floor-to-ceiling windows that revealed the black and red landscape of Tartus. Dead and dried flowers still inhabited the flower pots. My father didn't have a green thumb. Surprising, I know.
"Son, how is your search going?" The King of the Underworld glanced up, expecting an answer, because that was what he was when he sat up there.
"Uneventful," I said. The half-lie tumbled from my lips, and I kept my shoulders straight, hoping he couldn't sense it.
"What of the hunter they have informed me you have been around?"
Who the fuck did he have spying on me?
"She has the same goal," I said.
"Ah, yes, it wouldn't be anything else? Something on the sentimental side of it all?" Was that a hopeful gleam in his eyes?
"No," I replied. Too quick, too unemotional. My father's brow lifted, and a smile spread across his face.
"Oh, son, Alastor, do we need to have the talk?"
"I'm pretty sure you've told me about the birds and the bees," I sighed. He unfolded from the throne and crossed the room. He was the picture of sophistication, everything he had hoped I'd be. Flowers sprouted up in the dead pots next to the door as he got closer.
"I miss the flowers when your mother is away," he said as he eyed them. He might not show his disdain for my ability to my face, but I knew it had to be there. How could it not? "Do you know how I knew your mother was the one?"
Lifting my brow, I stayed silent because I knew he was going to tell me either way.
"She wandered here, much too far from home. I was a surly God back then."
"Was?" I scoffed, and he pointedly ignored me as he continued.
"She came into my domain, sprouting color and life behind her. And instead of shying away from me in fear, she stood her ground when I found her snooping in my library. She was looking for a cure for her mother and was told I held it. I locked her away in my dungeon."
"How romantic," I snorted and rolled my eyes. I had heard this story a million times.
His gaze shifted to me, but he had gotten lost in the memories. "I was going to break her down, punish her for trespassing. When I went to retrieve her, she squared her shoulders and poked me in the chest, calling me a bully. She had no fear of me. I knew then I loved her. So I gave her the pomegranate seeds, six of them, to keep her here for at least six months. I had to make her feel the same way. She didn't at first, so full of fire and anger. I thought she would murder me in my sleep." He smiled in remembrance.
"I'm not kidnapping anyone," I informed him. Yes, it was my first instinct, but I could get her to fall for me without that.
"Don't discount it, son, sometimes you have to go to the extremes for love," he said. "It worked on your mother. We are clearly in love, even if her witch of a mother steals her from me for six months each year. I should have fed her twelve seeds and kept her the whole year long."
"Is that all you wanted me for? To check on my progress and tell me to kidnap the hunter?"
"So you love her?" He grinned like a cat that ate the canary.
My eyes rolled to the ceiling. This would be embarrassing if other people were here to witness my father's glee at the prospect that I might have fallen for someone.
"You have to move carefully with her. If Artemis catches wind of your intentions, she will stop you."
"You don't care that she is mortal?" I asked, confused why he wouldn't stop me.
"Is she?" His smile widened further. He knew more than he was saying.
"What do you know?"
