“Onyx says she is, so I’m one-hundred-percent sure.”
A petite blonde woman bursts into the room before I can say anything. Her wavy hair is perfectly styled and flows down her back. Her heart-shaped face is cute, and her gray eyes are a shade darker than mine. The woman wears a long, flowing blackdress. There’s something so familiar about her, but I can’t put my finger on it.
Her gold sandals make hardly any sound on the polished floor as she glides over to Hades. “What is with all the commotion?” When she reaches him, he pulls her in for a very passionate kiss. Feeling awkward, I look away with burning cheeks until they finish.
“Leviathan’s home, Seph. And he brought a surprise.” Hades nudges her to look over at us.
Seph’s dark gray eyes light up as she looks at Levi. When she sees me, she freezes. “Melinoe?” Shaking herself out of her shock, the small woman practically sprints toward me. When she reaches me, Seph crushes me to her in a hug that’s surprisingly strong for someone two inches shorter than I am. “I missed you so much, baby. I know it’s only been three hundred years, but don’t you ever go that long without checking in again! I was so worried about you.”
“Um,” I say as I look over at Levi for help. I don’t know who Melinoe or this chick is, but I am definitely not who she’s looking for.
Levi shoves his hand through his hair roughly, guilt radiating from his slumped posture as he watches us. “Seph,” he calls, trying to get her attention. She reluctantly pulls back and glances at him. “That’s not Melinoe. That’s Izzy, my mate. I’m sorry. I haven’t found Melinoe yet.”
“What?” Seph pulls back to look between Levi and me. She runs her gaze over my features, her expression falling as she does. “Oh.”
“I’m sorry,” I whisper, feeling like I’m going to cry from disappointing this random stranger. I need to get ahold of myself, stat.
“You don’t have a thing to be sorry about, sweetie. I’m Persephone, but you can call me Seph. It’s nice to meet you,Izzy. Congratulations on finding your mate, Leviathan.” Seph offers me a kind smile and a comforting squeeze of my shoulders before letting her arms drop away from around me.
I want to make her feel better, since she’s been nothing but kind to me. As I’m staring at her, it finally clicks why she looks so familiar. “I don’t know who Melinoe is, but you look almost identical to my grandma, Melanie, if that helps any.”
“She’s my daughter, and you look almost exactly like her. Your eyes are a little lighter, your hair’s a little more golden, and you’re a bit taller than her, but, other than that, you could be twins.” Seph brushes a strand of my blonde hair off my forehead, her gaze wistful. She then heads back over to stand with Hades, who hugs her against his front. He plants a sweet kiss on the top of her hair.
“You don’t think…” Levi trails off as he and Hades do that silent communication thing siblings do. Aiden and I do it all the time, and it annoys my mom so much. It’s great.
Hades tilts his head back and forth as he considers it. “I mean, it’s a possibility.”
Seph laughs, the tinkling sound filling the entire throne room with a lightness that wasn’t there before. “Care to fill the rest of us in?”
Levi looks between Seph and me before focusing on her. “We’re wondering if Izzy’s grandma could possibly be Melinoe. It’d explain how she’s part mage and partcura. It would also explain her spirit mage powers.”
My eyebrows raise. “How would that be possible? Assuming she’s from this realm, why was she on Earth? And why did she end up with my granddad? He’s cool and all, but not exactlygive up your realm and live like a humancool.”
Seph gives me a small, sad smile. “Melinoe never really fit in here. With her affinities being nightmares and spirits, she was ridiculed by othercuraher age. As soon as she was old enough,she started spending as much time in your realm with humans as she could. I don’t know if she could find her mate among humans, but it’s not out of character for her to find love there. I hope that’s where she’s been all this time, not in trouble.”
I feel kinship to Melinoe with never fitting in and never getting along with peers because of your powers. If she really is my grandmother, that raises another issue. “Wait. If Melinoe is my grandma, wouldn’t that mean Levi and I are related?”
Levi chuckles at my confusion. “No, little raven. Melinoe isn’t Hades’s biological daughter. I’m not related to her by blood.”
“But she’s my daughter in every fucking way that matters.” Hades’s voice brooks no room for argument. He glowers around the room, like he’s daring someone to disagree with him. No one does. I wonder what the story is there, but I should probably wait on asking until the angry ruler of this realm calms down.
Seph rubs her hand soothingly over Hades’s front. “She and I both know that, honey.”
As Hades is glaring around at everyone, Aggie poofs into existence in front of me, interrupting the conversation.
“Hey, kid. So, I’ve had the other ghosts looking into the magic drain…” Aggie trails off as she looks around the room. Her wide eyes take in the black and purple throne room, the scores of silent guards, and finally, Hades. She lets out a little scream when she sees him before she huddles behind me. “There are two of them! Oh, God, that’s horrifying. Where are we?” she whisper-shouts over my shoulder.
“Hell,” Hades supplies unhelpfully with a shit-eating grin. I glare at him for intentionally messing with Aggie, even though I find how scared she is of Levi, and now Hades, hilarious. “How did you get here, ghost?”
“Aggie seems to have no problem following Izzy between realms. The best I can figure out is that she absorbs some of Izzy’s magic by spending so much time around her.” Levi’stheory is news to me. I didn’t realize Aggie got special powers just from hanging out around me. Hopefully, my magic isn’t hurting her. Even though she gives me shit, I still care about my pain-in-the-ass ghost.
Aggie gulps at both Hades and Levi talking. “Really, kid? You couldn’t have a found a mate from somewhere nice, like Aruba? It just had to be Hell.”
I snort. “Next time I find a mate, I’ll make sure to specify that he can only be from a tropical paradise.”
“You do that, kid. The things I put up with for you, I swear.” Aggie huffs, and I can’t help my laugh. She’s so dramatic.
“Holy shit.” Archer’s mouth is opening and closing in shock as he stares between me and Aggie. “I can see a ghost. That’s the second coolest thing that’s ever happened to me.”