Hades eyes widen and his smile turns into a snarl.
“Show yourself brother!” He commands as he raises my Dad higher with no effort. “Or watch as I destroy more of your corrupt creations!”
The ground trembles and my breath catches when I realise who Hades is shouting to. A small spark of hope ignites in my chest as more clouds circle above us and lightning crackles through the sky once more.
Zeus. The god of Sky and Thunder. King of all the gods.
The clouds part to reveal lightning filled sky and a huge, powerful figure silhouetted between the roiling clouds. Zeus is stood upon a bridge of lighting that sweeps up behind him into the sky.
I crane my head back to see him more clearly and the rest of the pack do so as well. Awe and wonder on their faces as they admire their maker.
“Return to the underworld Hades.” Zeus' deep, bellowing voice is thick with command.
Hades sneers and tightens his grip around my father’s throat.
“Why should I when the guest of honour just arrived.” Hades hisses as he tenses as if he's fighting to remain in place. Fighting the command he was given. “It's taken a lot of effort to get this meeting. I've been slaughtering your wolves and holding them prisoner but you never bothered to help them. Why is that? Have you grown bored of them so quickly? I thought this one was special to you?” He teases as he shakes my dad up at Zeus.
I bristled at the humiliation and helplessness that my Dad is being forced to endure. Thunder booms in the distance in warning. I could have sworn Zeus froze for a second. With so much light behind him from the lightning he is cast completely in darkness. His face in shadow as he stands in the clouds above us.
Hade's caught Zeus' brief show of emotion and grinned, knowing he's hit a nerve.
As Zeus speaks his voice echoes across the forest and thunder rumbles deeply in the sky over head. “I know what you want and I will not free her.”
“Not even to save the son of Hercules?” Hades tuts.
I whirl to the god of death in shock. There's an audible gasp from the pack at this news but my mums expression doesn't change. Her panicked eyes on my dad are unblinking. She knew who her Mate was already.
I know the story of Hercules. Zeus disguised himself as a mortal women’s husband and bedded her. She got pregnant and had Hercules. A Demi-god. Hera, Zeus’s wife was furious at how strong and gallant Hercules was and had driven him mad. In his madness he'd slaughtered his wife and children. He endured the 12 trials as penance for what he had done then later remarriedand had children. One of those sons must have been my Dad. Judging by the way Zeus had reacted when Hades taunted him I knew this was the truth. But Zeus was going to sacrifice him for some women? A women Hades wants that Zeus somehow has trapped?
“Return to the Underworld Brother.” Zeus commands again.
Hades flinches bowing his head. Trying to resist the pressure of obeying the King of the Gods. The air pressure around us feels suffocating as Zeus forces his will down to Hades. Hades takes a step back and lowers my Dad slightly. The panic in my chest ebbs a little. We may yet all survive this.
A heartbeat passes and then Hades slowly lifts his head to look up at his brother. His King.
“You should know by now.” He smiles wickedly. A manic gleam in his eyes. “I don't bluff.”
My heart stops as Hades squeezes his fist around my dad’s throat. Blood pours to the ground then I hear the sickening crack of his neck breaking. My dad’s form goes limp and in one blurring movement Hades throws my dad’s body into the air.
Time seems to slow as my Dad hurtles upward. I hear my Mum scream and sob. The sound tearing my heart in two. I watch in horrified, stunned silence as Caleb, with his three gigantic heads opens his jaws wide. The central head cranes forward and his teeth clash together. The other two heads converge. One grabs a back leg. The other my Dads face. Then they pull.
Bile fills my throat and I think I may vomit as blood and tissue rain down in a torrent.
Caleb's jaws clash together and the sickening sounds of bones cracking shatter my soul as he chews. Then he throws his heads back as he swallows the dismembered, crushed parts of my Dad. The clearing is in stunned silence. As if unable tocomprehend what they just witnessed. My Dad was the son of Hercules and now he's dead. I just got him back after believing my whole life that he was dead. Now he's gone. Killed by Hades. Whilst Zeus stood by and did nothing. Zeus has known Hades for all of eternity. He knew you can't bluff the devil. That the Devil will always stay true to his threats. I glare up at the sky into the silhouetted face of Zeus. How could he let Hades do this?
Zeus lifts his right arm above his head. Forging a huge lightning bolt in his hand. I catch a glimpse of his bearded face and blue eyes. He looks bored and irritated. Like a teacher when their class won't listen. What. The. Actual. Fuck.
The light is blinding. I blink and then thunder rattles the world and lightning splits the sky. There's a flash and a yelp as sparks, dust and debris envelopes the ranch. Zeus's voice carries over the screams and cries and clattering rocks.
“Begone to the underworld Hades, Son of Kronos!”
The ground shudders and it feels like the air is stripped from my lungs at the force of power in his voice. Even the dust is pushed down around us to reveal the smoking, unmoving body of the Cerberus.
Zeus killed Caleb, but not his brother who is the cause of all this suffering? Caleb's death doesn't hurt as much as I thought it would. Not after finding out he had been Hades pet and drugged me so that I had no access to my power. He made me defenceless. I could have saved us all if not for Caleb. My father would still be alive and Hades would be the one destroyed.
Behind the huge dead mass, Hades is stumbling towards Alistair. He grabs him by his hair and speaks into his ear. I can't hear what he says and Alistair keeps his head down, but through his hair I can see him watching me. Expression unreadable. Hades shoves him away as he stands. Alistair shifts his knee to keep from falling and his face flashes with a wince.
Thunder and lightning fill the sky once more and Hades half stumbles under the might of Zeus's will as he climbs into his chariot. A manic, victorious grin on his face. His eyes sparkling with rage and enjoyment all rolled together into the expression of insanity. He gives the reins a harsh shake and the horses leap into the air before diving down into a void directly beneath them. The pit of inky blackness closes leaving charred, reeking earth. The shadowy ropes around us release and they slither away into dark corners like snakes.
