Page 30 of Hades

Nobody would guess that a man named Henry was a true villain. But Henry Ashford was the villain in Hades’s story. He was the man who took everything from him and turned him into who he was today.

As Hades stood inside the fancy office on the twelfth floor of the city hall, he grumbled to himself and paced. He wasn’t a nervous man. Nothing in life could take him by surprise or stir up nerves deep within him. Nothing besides his father. Henry Ashford would put Hades on edge every single time, even after all these years.

Lucifer sat coolly on the brown leather couch, his foot tapping lightly, but that was the only sign of nerves coming from him. Hades took the situation with his father seriously and very personally, which allowed his siblings to have a bit of a distant and distorted view of how warped Henry really was.

“You good, man. I got you,” Lucifer said, keeping his eyes on his brother.

Hades waved him off in response and continued pacing. Eventually, the door opened, and Hades’s hardened gaze met his father’s. Immediately, he stopped pacing as he stood at his full height, towering over his father and grinning both sinisterly and triumphantly. Henry’s eyes grew large as his head tilted slightlyto look up at his son. Hades had prayed for the day that he would tower over his father, and at sixteen, when he last saw him, that day hadn’t come just yet. Today was definitely that day, and the flash of nerves and fear that crossed his father’s features made Hades pull out his phone and snap a picture. Literally, he snapped a picture of his father’s confused and intimidated expression, allowing a menacing laugh to fall from his lips.

“What are you doing, fool?” Lucifer asked, getting up from the couch and strolling over to his brother. He snatched the phone out of his large hands.

Henry’s eyes snapped over to Lucifer, and Hades saw the moment his father realized both his sons were now twice his size.

“Aye, lil nigga,” Hades snapped. “Eyes on me. You don’t get to look at him.” Henry frowned, his features so much like Hades, as his gaze found his oldest son once again. When he was satisfied that any threat to his brother was diminished, he spoke to Lucifer while keeping his eyes on Henry. “I’ma find a good artist to paint that shit. I want it framed in my office.”

Lucifer chuckled, shaking his head and handing his phone back to his brother. “You hell, boy.”

Hades didn’t respond. He actually took pride in that comment and took it as a compliment. He stared his father down and clenched his jaw. Seeing him after all these years triggered the fuck out of him. Flashes of his mother’s angelic face filtered in his memory as he fought the urge to grab Henry’s throat. Or cry. Or worse… both.

Finally, he realized he didn’t come here to stare at the man who loaned his sperm to his mama to create him. He also realized that his father wasn’t going to speak first, so he took the lead, just how he liked it.

“I’ma cut to the chase. We need a favor, and you’re the only person that can fix it.”

Finally, Hades saw a hint of the father who raised him. A shit-eating grin that mimicked his own flashed on Henry’s face, and he slowly moved over to his desk, looking frailer than Hades remembered. Once he was seated, he finally spoke, his voice conjuring up the worst memories Hades had.

“What makes you think I want to do anything for you, Hades? My wife died, and you took my kids away from me. Now, if Lucifer asks?—”

Hades had never moved so fast. In a flash, he pulled his father over his desk, by the collar of his button-down shirt. He held Henry up to his face, allowing his feet to dangle several inches off the floor.

“There are three people you cannot speak on. Are you listening?” Henry gulped and nodded his head slowly. Hades reveled in how the tables had turned. “Ashley Ashford. Lucifer Ashford. Eris Ashford. Are we clear?”

Again, Henry nodded, and Hades dropped him without warning, causing the older man to stumble and hit his hip against the edge of the desk. When he cried out in pain, Hades didn’t bat an eye. He deserved much worse than that.

“You good?” Lucifer asked, placing a hand on Hades’s shoulder.

“Long as dude acts right.” He gestured toward his father.

“I should call security on you,” Henry grumbled as he limped to his chair, massaging his hip.

“Nig—”

“Aye, man. We come in peace as long as you cooperate,” Lucifer said, cutting Hades off.

Hades mugged Lucifer and stepped in front of him, turning his back on his father. When he was young, that may not have been a wise action, but now, he wasn’t worried. His father was no longer a threat to him.

“I told you not to speak to him, Lu. The fuck you doing? He doesn’t get to talk to you or about you?—”

“It’s clear you aren’t able to handle this, Hades, so let me. The quicker we can get him to agree, the quicker we can leave.”

Hades scowled and wanted to argue. Everything in him told him to protect his brother from the man sitting behind him, just like he had done his entire childhood, but he recognized at that moment that his brother had grown up. Lucifer was way more level-headed than him, and Henry was bound to make Hades lose the only marble he had left in his head, so with a great deal of pain, he nodded and stepped to the side.

Lucifer stepped forward, and Henry grinned. “Glad to see someone can talk some sense into?—”

Lucifer didn’t allow Henry to finish his sentence. His fist connected with Henry’s temple, causing the old man to fall backward in his swiveling chair, his feet now sticking straight up as he tried to catch his bearings.

“Oh shit,” Hades cracked. Lucifer had no idea how proud he had just made Hades. He could die a happy man now. To see his father laid out on the floor before him, just as Henry had done to Hades many times…to his mother… this was a full circle moment indeed.

Lucifer calmly walked around the desk and picked their father up by the collar. He righted the chair and plopped Henry down in it before sitting on the edge of the desk. Henry cursed and made a big fuss as he pressed a hand against his temple, but Hades and Lucifer ignored him.

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