Gideon snorted. “No shit. Those guys think Hades is their daddy.”
“Whatever he is to us, he didn't abandon us,” Gage went on. “Hades expects a lot from us because he selected our souls himself. He knows what we're capable of. More than we do, actually. It was when we entered our new bodies that we lost the memories our souls had held of our past lives. We were adults but with no past, only a determination to forge a new future. Hades leaving us to train with another Cerberus was an act of faith, not abandonment. We can only sympathize with what you went through. I'm sorry, Indie. As much as I want to relate to you, I won't twist things to create bonds between us that aren't there.”
I stared at him. It felt so real. So honest. Was it the truth? If it wasn't, Gage was a hell of an actor. But if what Silas said was true, then lying would be second nature to these men. Still, I fell into the moment and couldn't crawl back into skepticism. They were just too genuine. Those eyes. There wasn't a hint of deception in any of them.
“I'm glad you don't share that past with me,” I said. “It's not something I want to bond with someone over. It's something I want to forget.”
“Why?” Garret asked. “It made you who you are. Do you think you would have worked so hard and gotten to where you are if they hadn’t left you in that hospital?”
“I'll never know. But I'd give up every one of my achievements to have known my parents.”
“Yes, of course,” Garret said. “Still, you've done well, and I like the woman you are. Who knows what your parents faced? It must have been terrible to prompt them into giving you up. People are not giraffes, Indigo. It's never easy for a mother to give up her child. I promise you that wherever she is, she still thinks about you, and prays that you're safe and happy.”
I bent my head to swipe at my eyes.
“Well done, asshole!” Gage growled as he jumped out of his chair and knelt next to mine to put his arm around me. “Come here, Indigo Darling. It's all right. You're with us now. You'll never be abandoned again.”
I swiped at my eyes and leaned away from him. “Don't make promises you aren't sure you can keep, Gage.”
He stared at me for a long moment, his lips parting as if to speak, but then he just nodded.
“More sugar!” Gideon declared. “Enough of this heavy bullshit.” He handed me my skewer with a fresh marshmallow on it.
“Thank you.” I took the skewer and looked at the three of them.
Masks or not, they were amazing. I decided to enjoy the hounds for the night. I could wonder if they were monsters in the morning.
Chapter Twenty-One
The next morning, I woke blissful and well-rested. The rest of the previous evening had gone like a dream. Conversation flowed between us, with the men telling me stories of their ghost collecting. Those stories couldn't be made up. They were too detailed and when one of them was telling a story, another would add to it in a way that couldn't be faked. I would continue to reserve judgment, but I was ninety-nine percent sure that the Hounds of Hades were the good guys they swore to be.
And I liked them. A lot. All three of them. Their personalities had shone last night, giving me a clear image of each man. Gage was the most alpha of the three, sometimes to the point of coarseness, but he had a sweetness inside him that, once found, made the bravado endearing. Gideon didn't hide his sweetness. He was a simple, kind man, despite having the soul of a warrior. I think that made him shine all the brighter—that the battles he'd been through hadn't left a stain on his psyche. Gideon was the strongest of the three. And then there was Garret. He was sort of in the middle. A normal guy in a paranormal body. I could have seen myself meeting him at a grocery store or on the street, just as we had met, and dating him. Having a normal, albeit thrilling, relationship.
Oddly enough, talking to them together eased some of the awkwardness I might have felt on a one-on-one date. It waslike going on a first date with your friends tagging along. Less pressure. And the croissant s'mores were to die for. My mouth watered just thinking about them.
And speaking of desserts, I had a plan. I wanted to do something nice for them. They had looked after me and spent a lot of money on me the day before. I wanted to show my appreciation. And maybe I just wanted to pamper them a little.
I rushed through my morning routine and got downstairs to find the kitchen empty. But this time, there was no plate of pancakes waiting for me. I would have assumed it was because the men had said they'd wait for me to get up this morning so we could go out to breakfast, but there was no trace of them. No coffee brewing and no sounds coming from another room.
“Perfect!” I glanced at the clock on the wall and grinned. It was a little past seven. My internal clock must have awakened me, my mind already set on getting up early.
I hurried into the pantry and pulled out what I needed. Normally, I wouldn't bake a cake this early in the morning, but it was the only time I'd be alone long enough to bake it in secret. Smiling to myself, I mixed the ingredients, filled the pans, and got the cake in the oven.
Then it was on to the frosting. I loved pudding as a frosting, but it didn't make the prettiest cake. I went with a cream cheese frosting lightened with pudding instead. The cake was plain vanilla, but once it was out of the oven and cooled—I put it in the freezer to speed things up—I poured a soaking syrup flavored with pineapple in it. I added crushed pineapple to the frosting, then assembled the cake on a pretty stand I found high on a shelf.
In between the layers, atop the frosting, I sprinkled crushed pistachios for some crunch. Then it was back in the fridge for the crumb layer to set up. It was while I was waiting on the crumb layer, sipping a cup of coffee, that the hounds appeared.
“No!” I exclaimed as they came into the kitchen.
They backed up, those green eyes widened in shock.
“Sorry,” I said with a grimace. “But I'm working on a surprise for you.” I swept the room with a glance to make sure there was no evidence lying about. Luckily, the bowl of frosting was in the fridge with the cake. “Could you take your coffee into another room?”
“What about going out for breakfast?” Gideon asked. “We're dressed and ready to leave.”
“After the surprise.” I looked at the clock. “I just need ten minutes.”
“All right, but no snacking.” Gage wagged a finger at me. “I don't want you ruining your appetite, young lady.”
