Page 5 of Whiskey, Thieves, and Bastards
Persephone just grinned at me and Hades puffed up his chest with pride. Those two were unsettling. Persephone wasn’t someshrinking kidnapped god. Something told me she was dangerous as fuck and Hades let her do whatever she wanted.
“How are you on your Greek gods?” Hephaestus asked.
“Obviously not as good as we thought,” Benji said.
“Persephone’s story got changed over time, but the truth is there,” Hades said.
“My mother originally named me Kore. It meansmaiden. I think she intended me to work by her side as a forever virgin. My father is Zeus and the stories of him being a rapist are true. He didn’t care if you were family or even his daughter. I ran away to the Underworld after that and found myself. I found Hades, too.
“Zeus and my mother pitched a fit about me coming home, but I wanted nothing to do with either of them after that. My mother caused a blight, and the Underworld was getting overwhelmed with souls of people who died of starvation to get me to come home. So, we lied about the pomegranate seeds to appease her and so I could come back to the Underworld.
“When I got to the Underworld, I changed my name to Persephone. Do you know what it means? It meansthe destroyer.I’m a God of Spring, but I’m also a God of Rebirth. Sometimes, to regrow crops, you have to burn the field.
“There are a lot of fun loopholes to my magic that I’ve discovered over the years. Something can’t be reborn unless you kill something else. Getting rid of the Coalition means a new era of human and supernatural relations being born.Technically,if I deleted all the data pertaining to New Eden, the leader of the Coalition is going to look like a raging lunatic when he starts ranting about dangerous supernaturals murdering everyone and breaking out of a facility that doesn’t exist. It would help with the rebirth.”
Kat, Jezebel, and Calamity all started hooting and laughing.
“Listen, I know you’re a god and you run an entire realm of the dead, but the best thing you ever did was doing right by thisone when she needed you and winning her love. She’s a keeper,” Kat said.
Persephone preened and Hades looked like he was the luckiest man alive, even though they’d been togetherthatlong. Hephaestus just rolled his eyes.
“Don’t get him started. He’s written epic sagas, sonnets, couplets, stories, and some fanfiction about how much he loves her and it’s all terrible.”
“Are we sure that’s a good idea?” I asked. “I get how bad it’s going to look for Hannibal, but it silences every living victim of that place. No one can talk about what was done to them there.”
I wanted Medusa to get her revenge on her terms. I didn’t know about this whole fury thing, but whether she wanted to go on a killing spree turning them all to stone or just tell the whole world about what they did to her, I’d have her back.
“No, this is good,” Medusa said. “I lived through the eras where it was the victim’s fault and if you made a big deal about it, they painted you as hysterical and locked you up or burnt you as a witch. I just get vibes off Hannibal and the rest of the Coalition that they’d spin anything we said in a way that seriously pissed me off. I think it would be poetic to let Hannibal look like the hysterical one.”
“Are you sure?” I asked.
“You just don’tknowbecause you’re a man,” Jezebel groaned. “I was getting stalked by some Duke ages ago and I made a big deal about it. I fled the country before they could punishmefor that because he painted me as insane. I’d never lose my shit over a man like that.”
“I lose my shit over men all the time,” Benji moaned. “Have youseenCas and Pax?”
“Not like how she’s talking about. You’re adorable about it, not a menace. It’s the one time you’renota menace,” I said.
“Where do you think Dionysus went? Pax snuck a ride,” Benji asked.
“Probably to unleash the Mad God on Athena until she tells the truth. Everything this time. Can’t say she doesn’t have it coming. He was a terror when Hera cursed him and he remembers everything he did. Sorry, aside from Persephone, you got stuck with the misfit gods the other gods either don’t want or have a beef with,” Hephaestus said.
“Iwant you,” Medusa said.
Frankly, I did, too. I wouldn’t have found our mate without them, and we couldn’t even be with her without Hephaestus and his glasses. They all goteveryonewhere they wanted to be after New Eden fell, and now that I knew my mate was okay with it, Persephone’s plan was pretty genius.
Dionysus better rein in the Mad God while he had Pax, though.
Iwas feeling safe and content. I was surrounded by my family and friends and I wasn’t anywhere near the Coalition anymore. I was wrapped up with Cas and Benji kept nuzzling me and whining until he knew I was feeling better.
And I could see my friends were happy. Hades and Persephone were iconic. Jezebel, Kat, and Calamity were eventually going to be iconic. Hephaestus was happy with his workshop and shop cats, but he’d always make time for me.
I felt from the change in the air that Dionysus was coming back. It was subtle, but if you’d been around gods, you could always feel when they were coming and going. Pax would be back, too. There was just something comforting about Pax.
I yelped and bolted out of Cas’s arms when I saw a face I’d never wanted to see again. Athena was beautiful. She had black hair and ice-blue eyes with this perfectly regal face. I didn’t know what she wanted, but I was sure it was to ruin what I had here.
I ran straight into the garden as another panic attack overtook me. Dionysus was the one that came for me. Cas was really good at helping me through a panic attack, but Dionysus had been dealing with them for much longer, before we even knew what they were. He wrapped me up in a massive hug.
“Why did you bring her here?” I hissed.
