Persephone was now pregnant, and Hades had gone just as crazy as Cerberus was over babies. He turned an entire wing of his castle into a nursery and wanted bodyguards on Persephone at all times.
Hephaestus was in the process of building a forge in the Underworld to rival his volcano and had taken on a few apprentices. He had an entire cyclops clan who wanted to learn from him. It was beautiful.
We’d all settled into our jobs, and some Underworld vets were a little upset with me for stealing their clients. A few of them didn’t and took me under their wings. The Underworld had dogs and cats, but they weren’t any breeds I was familiar with, and some animals they had domesticated for pets were so far beyond my scope. They were absolutely adorable, but some of them appeared to be mammalian and avian at the same time.
I was closing my clinic and locking the door to go home when my phone rang. Hades programmed my father’s number into my phone, and I squealed when I realized it was him. I had missed him.
“Hi! How’s the Kitsune?”
“Back with her people, and she brought a few extras back to Hell with her. Getting all of them out of a magical prison was difficult, but we managed. I’m home now. Care to pay a visit to your dad?”
“Oh, my god, yes! I’ve missed you.”
“Bring your men. I’ve already had a wing of my castle redesigned for all of you. I’ll come to pick you up in an hour.”
“We’ll be waiting.”
I felt my eyes mist up. I thought Hades was going overboard, turning an entire wing into a nursery, but now that I knew my father had done the same thing for me, it was pretty fucking impressive that a dad would do that for their kids. My stepdad told me I couldn’t paint my walls black when I was going through my goth phase, and I was still a little angry about that.
After meeting my dad, Solron, Charley, Finn, and everyone else living in Hell, I was super curious about it. I even wanted to meet Bael despite knowing I might not even be able to look him in the eyes after Solron over shared about their sex life.
I opened a portal and stepped into Hephaestus’s forge. I loved visiting him here because he looked the same as when we first met—shirtless and covered in soot. He wore that look exceptionally well. He was closing up shop for the day. He caught me when I ran to him and flung myself in his arms.
“Hello, little Hellspawn. How was your day?”
“My father called. We’re all invited to Hell. Want to come?”
He spun me around and set me on my feet.
“I’d love to. Some residents I’ve met have been a little extreme, but I still liked them. Your father has a lot of honor, and I’d love to see his home.”
“Do you think Hades is going to let my monsters leave Persephone’s side to visit my dad?”
“Hades can have his pick of monsters who can guard her. He might not act like it, but he likes Pavlina, Demos, Tryphon, and Kimon the best. Their bickering amuses him, even if he won’t even crack a smile, and he pretends to be annoyed by it.”
We opened a portal back to Hades’s castle and found him to ask permission. I expected an argument. I knew I irritated him, and my monsters were technically his employees. His wife was pregnant, and they literally just found out it was safe for her to do so. I wouldn’t blame him if he tried to say no. That didn’t mean I wouldn’t fight with him about it, but I could understand where he was coming from.
“Go, all of you. You deserve a vacation for everything you’ve done. I know I was asking a lot from all of you not to kill my entire family, and you pulled through. Barbatos told me all about Hell while we were forming an alliance. Go live it up and try not to piss off Hell royalty.”
“Thank you!” I said, jumping up and down.
Hades just gave me this cheeky wink.
“I want you to remember this the next time you feel the need to set my clothing on fire.”
Hades had this easiness about him now. I guessed that was fatherhood and knowing he didn’t have to worry about Olympus anymore. I was glad because he could be an ass when he wanted to be. If he