Page 82 of Curse the Flame

At the same time, Aiden cups his mouths and calls out one word: “Blacksmith.”

As if on cue, a massive figure steps out from one of the caves. Tall and broad-shouldered, thick with muscle, he has bronze-colored skin and a mess of wild curls around his face. My first impression of him is that he’s some sort of swarthy pirate, but then I see the massive hammer in his hand.

Hephaestus. That’s gotta be Hephaestus.

Standing close behind him, a smaller figure appears. The most I can see from my spot—and only because I’m tapping into Persephone and using the goddess to boost my own senses of vision and hearing—is that she’s dressed in white and she has pretty pink hair.

Seriously.

It’s pink, and I’m super jealous.

Unlike Ares and Hades, the man who is Hephaestus doesn’t use his godly powers to make a point. He’s big enough and strong enough that all it takes is a bit of muscle and a whole lot of vengeance to pick Troy up by his breastplate and⁠—

Holy crap! He just tossed the guy off of the mountain!

Okay. I know it’s a war and all, but that? I don’t want to see that.

Luckily, I don’t have to. Because while Troy is still in flight, familiar arms wrap around me from behind. I don’t even have to turn to look up and see that it’s my husband. I know exactly who has used his shadows to return to me.

The battle is over, and Aiden is here.

I would’ve expected Aiden to grab me, open a portal to the Underworld, and whisk me away before anyone could give him a reason to stop. Only he doesn’t, and I’m only a little surprised by that—until Alex returns for Daphne, a proud look on his face that lasts only as long as it takes for Hades to grab him by the front of his tunic and haul him to the tips of his golden sandals.

Even Alex knows better than to test my husband right now. Not after we all just witnessed Hades’s ability to reach inside an immortal, pull out his immortal soul, and leave the mortal body completely vulnerable.

Troy is dead. No doubt about that. I’m pretty sure Alex doesn’t want to be, either.

Now, do I think Aiden is going to kill my cousin’s husband? Nah. Doesn’t mean that Alex knows that…

Looking down his nose at the pretty boy sun god, Aiden says, “Tell my brother to clean up this mess.”

“I don’t know if Dad will be back in the Other soon⁠—”

Aiden’s eyes turn white. Beneath his tan, Alex goes pale.

“You told me that Zeus orchestrated all of this. That his purpose during this latest incarnation was to stop Kronos from upsetting the balance between the old world and this one. Between the mirrorside and the Other. His presence here might have thrown it off more, but if I know Zeus, he’ll be watching the fruits of his labors. Trust me, Apollo. He will come.”

Aiden blinks. His eyes shutter, then open, and when they do, they’re the deep, delicious black I know and love again. Dropping Alex, he reaches out for me, finding my hand easily though he never once removes his gaze from the cocky sun god.

“Understand this. All of you. Everything I did today, I did for my blossom. That’s all. And now, I’m takin’ her back home where I can keep her safe and make sure that Tartarus stays closed before Zeus tightens his wards on the prison. Them titans ain’t gettin’ out again, I promise you that, but we did what you asked. We helped. And I’d rather enjoy my wife among the shadows and the flames than claim her where everyone can see. Does anyone have a problem with that?”

Whoa. Big words from a man who spent more than a century as a virgin, but lucky for me, I know he can back them up.

Huh. I never thought it would be war and fighting and a little homicide that got my baby going like this, but if he needs to prove to himself that I’m his… I’m game. After all, he did all of that for me just like he said.

Me? I’ll do anything I can for him.

I’d hope he would figure that out by now, but when he finally rips his powerful gaze away from Alex, searching for me, I see hesitation in every inch of his beautiful face.

“I almost lost you, Blossom. The thought that the worlds could end and there would be no more Willow… forgive me if I won’t be able to settle my god down until he’s bed his wife and reminded himself that she is right there with him.”

I notice how careful he is to blame his possessiveness on the dark god inside of him. That might’ve worked, too, if I hadn’t spent the last three seasons getting to know every part of Aiden Murphy.

“That’s Hades. What about you, baby?”

He pulls me close, twisting me in his embrace so that I’m helpless but to feel his hard chest and even harder erection as he pushes himself against me.

“I waited eighty years for my wife to return to me. I waited three months with her in my realm before I knew what it felt like to have her wrapped around my body. Now? I don’t think I can wait a second more to come inside of her and prove to us both that she’s right where she belongs: with the man who would’ve waited an eternity for her love if that’s what it took.”