“You’re right. I said the past was in the past, and here I am, dwelling in it. Let’s get dressed. I need to brush my teeth and—”
The sudden shift from snuggling against Hades in the pool to standing beside it was a bit disorienting. But I didn’t mind the jeans and the comfortable sweatshirt I wore, my minty fresh mouth, or the way he still held me. I pulled away enough to see he wore dark jeans and a black t-shirt.
“Thank you,” I said, holding out my hand to him. “I feel more like myself again.”
Everything still felt so confusing, though. I said I was Ashlyn, but I didn’t fully feel like Ashlyn anymore.
Hades leaned down and brushed his lips against my neck. I closed my eyes, letting the sensation ground me, and realized Hades had always had the answer for who I was.
“You never doubted, did you?” I asked.
“What?” he asked, continuing to nibble at my sensitive neck.
“Who I was,” I said, wrapping my fingers around his biceps to steady myself.
“No. From the moment I woke, I knew you.”
His teeth scraped my skin roughly, and I shivered. My thoughts drifted to what was next for us, and what I’d forgotten hit me.
“Where are the others? Is Megan okay? Eliana? Oh, my gods! Fenris and Oanen. We have to go back to the lake!”
He teleported us, but instead of the lake, the living room solidified around us. Everyone was there. Zotera, Eliana, Megan, Oanen, and Fenris.
Fenris had Eliana snuggled on his lap, and the two were sharing one hell of a kiss that I could feel all the way to my toes. Oanen had his arms wrapped around Megan from behind. She had her head turned to glare at Adira, who sat calmly next to Thanatos in the archway to the kitchen. The pair were tied to black, stone chairs with luminescent rope. Zayn and Zotera stood behind them.
“Are you okay?’ Megan asked, spotting me first.
“Am I okay? Are you okay? What happened? How did Oanen and Fenris get here?”
“Don’t ask,” Oanen said.
His words broke through Megan’s glower enough that her lips twitched with a partial smile.
“They broke free of their bonds, and Fenris rode Oanen home,” she said.
“Why did you have to say it like that?” Oanen asked, closing his eyes and shaking his head.
Fenris broke away from Eliana’s kiss long enough to shoot Oanen a grin.
“I’ll let you ride me any time you want to keep it fair.”
Eliana shut Fenris up with more kissing. I knew it wasn’t only kissing. She was feeding like she was starved. And considering what she’d been doing at the beach—holding Megan back—it made some sense. But I was still fuzzy onwhy, though.
Megan was watching me when I looked at her again.
“What happened out there?” I asked.
“You drank Zayn’s memory potion.”
“I kind of figured that part out when I started remembering all my past lives. I was talking about why Eliana had to bear hug you and why she’s starved right now.”
“Sorry,” Eliana said, tearing away from Fenris.
“You have nothing to apologize for,” Hades said, his arms wrapping around me from behind. “You spared my daughters and Ashlyn from untold anguish with your selflessness.
“As for Megan’s response to you, it’s a bit complicated. My daughters were made to judge mortals, not immortals. However, when you remembered who you were, you became a mortal version of Persephone, carrying all of her wrongs.”
I cringed and glanced at Megan, knowing Persephone had done more than her share of bad things to be dragged to hell.
