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Hades said nothing. He was not surprised that Helios knew why he had come, it was the reason Hades was here. Helios was all-seeing, which meant he witnessed everything that occurred on Earth. The question was, had he chosen to pay attention and would he choose to share with Hades now?
Helios was a notorious asshole.
“He is not hiding. I see him now,” the god answered.
“Where, Helios?” Hades said between his teeth.
“On Earth,” the Titan replied.
Since Helios had fought on the side of the Olympians during Titanomachy, the God of the Sun felt that any aid he offered after their victory was a favor, one he did not have to bestow if he did not want to.
“I am in no mood for your games,” Hades said darkly.
“And I am in no mood for visitors, but we must all make sacrifices.”
A spike of anger rushed through him, manifesting in a set of black spikes ejecting from his hand. Helios’s eyes drifted there, and he smiled.
“Still struggling with anger, I see. How will you conceal your true nature from Demeter’s daughter? Will you find more souls to torture?”
“Perhaps I will begin with your son.”
Helios’ mouth tightened. His son, Phaethon, had been in the Underworld for a long time. The naïve boy had attempted to drive his father’s chariot and lost control of the horses. He was struck down by Zeus after causing great destruction on Earth.
“He was a stupid boy who did a stupid thing,” Helios said, dismissing Hades’ threat.
“This mortal is a murderer, Helios,” Hades said, trying again.
“Aren’t we all?”
Hades glared.He should have known that appeal would not work. Helios had no real sense of injustice, having helped his granddaughter, Medea, escape to Corinth after she had killed her own children.
“Is it a bargain you want?” Hades asked.
“What I want is to be left alone,” Helios snapped with more vigor behind his words than anything he had said since Hades arrived. “If I had wanted to get involved in mortal affairs, I would have descended with the rest of you.”
“And yet you use their land for your cattle,” Hades pointed out, noting the shadow that passed over Helios’amber eyes.
He had found the Titan’s weakness.
“Perhaps I was wrong to set my sights on your son when you care more for your animals.”
Helios’ hands tightened on the arms of his throne. For the first time since Hades had arrived, the god straightened.
Helios coveted his cattle—also called the Oxen of the Sun. They were immortal, and he kept them on the island of Sicily, guarded by two of his daughters. Anyone who harmed them would incur his wrath. Odysseus and his men had learned that the hard way.
But Hades did not fear Helios’wrath, not when it came to a mortal who dared to cheat death and not when it came to facing the unraveling of his fate with Persephone.
“You ask for blood, Hades.”
“If you are asking me if I will slaughter a few heads of cattle to get what I want, then yes, I ask for blood,” Hades replied.“I will revel in the thought of your agony as I sit upon my throne with fifty of your cattle in the Underworld.”
Tense silence followed Hades’ threat, and he could see and sense Helios’anger. It burned his eyes and raged between them, as hot as the sun’s rays.
“The man you seek is being protected by your brother.”
Hades already knew that was not Zeus; the God of Thunder would never protect a mortal who had broken one of his most coveted laws.
“Poseidon,” Hades hissed.
