Guardian Angel

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-One

To say I was anxious was a massive understatement.

Perhaps pulled so taut, a rope ready to snap, sanity frayed, ready to split.

I managed to do a good job of containing it, however, as I sat at the end of the breakfast table, watching the rest of my family eat. Or rather, what few were allowed to reside in Niko's humble abode while Hera continued to hunt for us.

Niko was shoveling away at a bowl of cereal, taking bites out of the cinnamon rolls he'd baked to perfection. Mine sat untouched on my little saucer plate, cream cheese glaze gleaming in the lights overhead. Beside Niko, River was still mostly asleep. He was calm and quiet, eyes hooded, as he took slow little sips of his coffee.

Yiuwa was also half asleep, but not so much that he took a morning off making Rowan his plate of food. He'd piled Rowan's plate with food, provided him coffee and juice, and Rowan just stared at the table, clearly lost in thought.

Hades was also uncharacteristically quiet. He just drank his coffee and scrolled through something on his tablet, pausing every so often to take a bite of cinnamon roll... his fourth one.

The morning was strangely calm and peaceful given everything that had happened to lead up to this moment. Yet, I could still feel panic brewing inside me. I had addressed the main problem, and while my body still ached a little inside, I was healed and I was ready to do something about it, except how did I start?

Where could I start? The problems just kept piling up in our laps. How were we going to track down Jasper? According to Niko, Jasper barely went to the compounds, barely revealed himself, and spent most of it in hiding... Except Hera wouldn't just bench her prized Beast. It was like Niko said, Hera was planning something and it had something to do with Jasper. She was getting too comfortable, ready to break out the big guns, and get down to business.

We needed to stop her before she made her first move.

But a glance at Hades told me that might be easier said than done.

I didn't blame Hades for his feelings concerning Hera. At the end of the day, Hera was his little sister. He'd raised her from infancy to adulthood. He sacrificed so much for her, and while he wouldn't come right out and say it, I knew he loved Hera. He had to if he was willing to invent an entire new species just to help her.

But the rage I had for Hera was stronger than Hades's love for her.

The fury. The betrayal. The hurt. The agony.

Hera had left a trail of bloodied tortured corpses in her wake in her pursuit of killing Hades, and for what? Because she felt he hadn't done enough to protect her? That in itself was infuriating to me, because I knew exactly the things Hades had gone through for her. I wasn't saying she needed to be grateful, because she had her own trauma to deal with, but going out of her way to torture and kill the person who kept her alive was agonizing.

I couldn't imagine how hurt Hades was.

And I couldn't imagine Hades willingly taking her out.

Even after everything she'd done.

Because Niko was right, again.

Hades shook hands with Zeus now. They shared lunch dates and met up to discuss politics and socioeconomic differences. They could smile at one another now. Despite everything Zeus had done to him. Despite everything, it still shocked me that Hades could even smile at the god. And while he had certainly changed since his time with Hera, it didn't change the fact that Zeus got away with what he had done, and while Hades could argue that fact all day, it would remain the same.