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Somewhere close by, my mom laughs. I can tell she’s crying, but she’s keeping it quiet.
“Everybody knows that.” Poseidon sounds exactly like he’s lying in a hammock on his ship. My brain probablyisshutting down, because I know for a fact there’s not a hammock in here. “Mention Hades’s name anywhere on the globe, and all the guys say he’s a sweetheart.”
My mom giggles, and I hear the moment she gets caught up in her laughter and loses control of it. “I—” A strained gasp. “Excuse me for a minute.”
She rushes for the door. It opens and closes, and then there are the softest footsteps in the history of the world, running fast. Her voice is distant when she bursts out laughing. In the dark, it sounds like an entire garden. Brigit’s golden voice and Ashley’s rolling brook join her, and you know what? This will be what I miss if I die. Not only being alive. Not only Hercules. Being able to listen to them. I know it’s not the most feasible plan to live in complete darkness for the rest of my life, but I’d do it if I still had this. The party I described in my mind to Hercules.
“Unbelievable,” my dad says. “My own wife. I blame you, Poseidon.”
“Sorry,” Poseidon whispers, but he’s not. He’s smiling. It’s in the shape of the word.
Zeus lets out a soft, cocktail party laugh. He pats my dad’s knee one more time, pats my cheek, and gets to his feet.
“Now.” Clothes meet furniture. He’s probably sitting in his favorite chair. “What should we do about Demeter?”
Poseidon groans. “Are we ever going to stop having this conversation?”
“Since she’s our sister, probably not, you unfeeling prick. I meant—where do you think she’d like to stay?”
“She’ll stay here.” My dad’s firm about this, and fast.
“Um.” Poseidon rustles around. Can’t tell what he’s doing, but he doesn’t sound like he’s in a hammock anymore. “Is this—are you being funny?”
“Does it sound like a joke to you, Poseidon?” These words are diamonds, sharp and precise.
“It all sounds the same coming from you. That’s why I’m asking.”
“Do you think I wouldjokeat a time like this?”
“It wouldn’t be the worst idea.”
My dad moves, shifting like he’s going to stand up, and I hear Poseidon jump to his feet.
“Sweet Mother of God, Hades. Would it kill you to lighten up for once in your life?”
“How did you know he was coming for you? He didn’t, like, get up. There’s an entire other person on top of him.” IwishI could dissolve into laughter, but that would wake up Hercules and take the rest of the energy I have. Maybe for the day, but maybe for my life.
“Instinct,” answers Poseidon. “Live with a high-strung motherfucker like him for long enough, and you get a sense of when he’s—”
“Teasing you?” I ask, innocent.
“Trying to murder me,” Poseidon shoots back.
“He’s a sweetheart. He would never.”
My dad laughs again, but he swallows the sound, and then he’s absolutely cracking up, his shoulder shaking, breathless.
“Demeter can—” Dad seriously sounds like he can’t get enough air, he’s so delighted with himself. “Demeter can stay at your house, Poseidon. You two have a friendship now. You could let her sleep—”
“Hades, shut the fuck—Jesus. Shut the fuck up.” Poseidon’s laughing too. It’s muffled behind his hands, or his arm.
Zeus is the last one to break. He has the prettiest laugh out of all of them. He’s been the one shushing everyone else all this time, but he’s also the first to laugh the loudest.
“I hate all of you,” Hercules mumbles into my legs. “So fucking annoying.”
That makes them laugh even harder.
It’s a long, long time before they can stop. My mom comes into the room three times, still laughing, and leaves again before anybody can stop to tell her it’s fine.
