He finally looks at me again, his tormented expression undoing something inside me.
He looks ravaged.
Pained.
And above all else…contrite.
“I never meant for your first heat to be in this maze, Serapina. That’s why I said you don’t deserve this place. But I know I can properly protect you here, and your safety matters most right now. I… I’ll do whatever I can to help you find comfort here. But I will notforceyou to do anything you don’t want to do. Despite what you might think of me, that is not who I am.”
He stands there, looking utterly defeated. And I’m pretty sure my heart breaks for him.
Which is ridiculous to an extent. He’s not been kind to me. He hasn’t earned my wavering emotions.
But this is no ordinary situation for either of us.
“So what happens now?” I ask him, glancing around. “Am I supposed to run? Because I don’t particularly feel like being chased or hunted right now.”
He huffs a laugh, but it lacks humor. “No, I imagine not.” He clears his throat. “I can show you the home I created. There’s a bed. A kitchen. Magic similar to the onein the cavern. And I… I can attempt to manifest other things, if you like.”
“Can you manifest Maliki or Morpheus?” I wonder aloud, and immediately regret it when Hades winces. “They can’t come in here, can they?” I guess, my stomach twisting.
“Not in its current state, no,” he replies, looking visibly uncomfortable again.
“Can they enter in a revised state?”
He studies me and then nods. “Yes. I can revise the wards to allow them entry, if that’s your desire.”
The words feel loaded, like he’s testing me somehow. “If I say yes, are you going to hold it against me?”
“That you’re even asking me such a question shows how badly I’ve fucked things up between us,” he replies, sighing.
I don’t say anything since my inquiry is a valid one. I don’t know how he’ll react if I say I want Maliki and Morpheus here.
Maybe he’ll allow Maliki entry, but probably not Morpheus.
And I… I want them both here.
Maliki offers me comfort.
Morpheus gives me answers.
I’ve only ever trusted my sister?—
“Oh!” My eyes widen. “Is Alina okay?” I thought Hades and Morpheus were going to fight and that’s why Maliki shadowed me to his brother’s place in the Hell Fae Kingdom.
But Hades mentioned that an Alpha issue was the reason the cavern was no longer safe for me. I was so distracted by whythisis a safer location that I didn’t seek clarity on what he meant.
“They’re all fine. Orcus took her to an undisclosedlocation until… until your heat has passed.” He swallows and looks away. “We agreed to separate if found again. Alina might be claimed, but the feral Alphas won’t care.”
“Oh.” That… that makes sense. Not the feral part, but separating. “They need to protect Thea, too.”
“Her designation won’t be as obvious until she’s thirteen or so,” he tells me. “Though, yes, it is likely she’s an Omega, just like her mother.”
I nod. “That’s what Alina told me, too.”
“Has she shared any other details?” he asks. “Like information about what to expect for your heat? Or your need to nest?”
“She’s given me some basics about what a nest is, but essentially said I should talk to Maliki or Morpheus about my, er, heat.” Warmth spreads up my neck. “Sorry. I…” Yeah, I don’t know how to finish that, or why I just apologized, so I simply stop talking.
