Hades turned his head, locking gazes with me. “I haven’t told him who you are. He believes his father is a demon cast off by his mother before he was born.”
That was half correct. She cast me off as soon as she got what she wanted, but I was no demon. Technically, neither was my son, despite his preference for that hulking purple form. In truth, he was the only one of his kind, the first being ever created by two horsepersons. But that was a conversation for another time.
“Where is he?” I asked.
A low groan from behind us pulled our focus to Ben, who stirred in his brother’s hold. Vampire blood stained his lips, but the wound in his chest was slowly knitting together.
“Rosie will know. She’s his mate.” Hades jerked his chin back toward the slight woman. The sight of her swollen belly took on new weight. She was carrying my grandchild. If not biologically, at least in name.
“Are you sure you’re ready to do this right now, Mal? That’s a big step. Maybe we save the world first?” Sin asked, one hand landing on my shoulder.
“No. I need to know him now. I’ve waited too long already. Pan is my son.”
“What about Odette?” Grim asked.
“What about her? She’s a cunt.”
“We’ve established that. They all are,” Chaos agreed. “I think he was more concerned about her threats to harm him if you made contact.”
“She’s not here. They defeated her.”
My brothers exchanged hesitant glances before Sin cleared his throat. “At the risk of being Captain Obvious, you know nothing keeps our kind down for long.”
A handsome fae swanned into the hallway. “Did someone call for a captain?”
“No. If we call for you, you’ll know it. Where’s Sunday?” the vampire with an Irish accent asked, irritation sparking in his tone.
“Gone.”
“What?”
“She’s gone. Off on a walkabout with Pan. She left Rosie the walkie-talkie, but then the sweet girl gave it to me to take over once Remi started shouting in her head about needing help.” The pirate held up a small handheld radio and waved it back and forth. “Crickets so far, so I’d wager all is well.”
“Give it to me,” the vampire snarled, dashing forward in a blur of speed and snatching the device from his hand. “Sunday, report,” he demanded, holding it up to his mouth.
There was nothing but deafening silence.
Knowing that my son was with her, that there was no answer, sent my head swimming. I can’t have gotten this close only to lose him again.
“Try again,” I snapped.
The vampire glared at me. Fair enough, he had no idea why I’d be so invested.
“Sunday? Talk to me, darlin’.”
He was met only with more silence.
“Where did she go?” he asked, rounding on Rosie, which only served to make the other vampire and Remi bristle.
“Aurora Springs. There was a problem with two of the patrol groups. She and Pan went to guard the portal, nothing more, Caleb, I promise.”
“Are the others back?” he asked, stalking off in the opposite direction.
“No, not yet,” Rosie answered.
“At least she didn’t go alone,” he grumbled, adding under his breath, “I’m still going to pinken her arse for scaring me though.”
In a blur of motion, he left, and before we could discuss anything further, we’d entered a large common area filled with shifters, witches, vampires, and more. The low hum of their pockets of conversation held a tension I remembered feeling during times of plague, when people stayed consistently on edge, waiting for a cough, a sneeze, or complaints of fever.
