Chapter Twenty:

"You're late." I pulled my jacket around my shoulders as the salty ocean breeze whipped strands of hair across my face, souls shifting restlessly in front of me. Hermes kicked at a sandbank and Poseidon smiled, trident gleaming gold and bronze in the early morning light.

"There was some discussion after you left last night about whether or not it was a good idea to help you after your little display of power."

"And yet, you're both here." I gazed down at the tablet as more souls joined the line though, compared with other mornings, the load today was light.

"Thank Hermes for it," Poseidon said. "I was in favor of letting you drown," he said, smiling. "Metaphorically speaking, of course. You're becoming more powerful every day, which makes both of us a little leery. Hades' gifts are impressive, mind, but you're poised to become something else entirely."

"You control the oceans, tides, storms and all marine life within each, and you're worried about me having the ability to poof people places whenever I feel like it? I thought you'd be giddy at the prospect."

The first boat approached the dock, water churning and frothing in its wake and I glanced from it to the lines and back again, tapping my foot impatiently as Hermes leaned against a salt-flecked boulder, inspecting his fingernails.

"Did you agree to be Hades'?"

I bristled at Hermes' casual tone. "That's none of your goddamned business," I said, motioning the first soul forward. "Meghan Barns, Elysium. I don't see the point in asking me that in the first place, other than to be a nosy git, as usual," I continued as Horace helped her onto the dock.

"If you had, it would explain why your gifts were suddenly heightened to reflect the change in status. Watch it," Poseidon hissed, flashing his weapon at a soul who careened into him, half-crawling his way towards the line for Tartarus.

"I don't feel it's necessary to answer that inane question. I'm here, that's all that should matter. Thomas Cinna, Tartarus."

"So, it doesn't matter to you that you banished your boyfriend without a second thought?"

"If my boyfriend trusted me a little more, I wouldn't have had to do that in the first place. As long as he's in Greece, far away from here, I can do what I need to without interference on his part, which is a good thing. And we can't be anything else until he deals with his feelings for Persephone. Daphne Clark, Elysium."

"He knows how he feels about you, or he'd be back here right now, making your life Hell for sending him away. The fact that he's leaving you alone at all says a lot," Hermes said pointedly.

"Are the two of you going to help, or just stand here, talking my ear off?"

"We're keeping you company," Poseidon said, sending a stream of white-hot light towards the sand, which burst to life in a brilliant display of gritty, crystalline glass spikes. "You're doing just fine, by the way, not that I had any doubt about it."

"So, Hades was right, and you guys really are nothing more than distractions."

"If we hadn't told Fiery Britches that we'd help you, he'd be here now in all his emo glory, and whether or not you accepted him, he needs to learn to treat you as his equal, not just some woman he's banging in exchange for assistance with the souls."

"Finnick Day, Elysium. You know," I said, turning towards Poseidon thoughtfully. "You can be a right haughty bastard most of the time, but once in a while, you completely surprise me. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you actually cared about me."

He smiled. "I won't tell you that you're like a little sister to me, or that your presence here makes the Underworld a more pleasant place to be because that's all mushy stuff, but-"

"Emma!" Hermes' urgent voice cut through the conversation and I whirled around, stomach jumping into my throat when I saw the Tartarus dock, teeming with freshly sorted souls, all of whom shoved and punched each other, scrambling out of the boats. Jasper fought back, unfurling a long golden whip from his belt, but it didn't matter because the dock was already creaking and groaning under the constant back-and-forth shift of hundreds of feet. With a giant SNAP, the boards broke, plummeting everyone down into the River Styx.

***

"Son of a bitch!" I thrust the tablet into Poseidon's hands, racing across the beach. Souls emerged from the waves, sputtering and stumbling their way to dry land and I felt my face go beet red and ash white in the span of a minute as the implications hit me.

"Emma-"

"No, don't say a goddamned word," I warned Hermes as he pressed his lips together into a disapproving scowl.

What the hell was I supposed to do now?

"The souls can't progress to their intended destinations anymore because of-"

"I know what the River Styx does."

"And without a dock to sort them, everyone else will-"

"What do you want me to do about it? Tell them 'sorry, you can't die today, come back later'? Hundreds of souls just became trapped between the land of the living and the dead forever, many of whom might possibly turn into evil, immortal Furies."

"We need Hades here, Emma."

"No! I said that I could do this, dang it!"

He grabbed my arm, yanking me back. "And this is beyond your control. Call him."

"No need." Hades appeared, walking towards us across the black sand beach and I felt my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth.

"Hades, I'm so sorry - I don't know what-"

He held up a hand to silence me, surveying the damage. "What happened?" He asked Jasper, who stepped forward.

"Milord, I'm sorry but the dock couldn't handle the weight of all those extra souls, and when they started fighting, it just collapsed."

I refuse to feel guilty about this. Docks must collapse all the time.

"We can still utilize the Elysium dock, as they're far less likely to cause a scene. Horace, please make sure the Elysium line gets to where they need to be. If nothing else, that'll make this unfortunate situation a little better."

"What then, milord?" Horace asked as I accepted the tablet from Poseidon, sidling to the head of the line.

"I'm still figuring that part out. Emma?" Hades gestured at me to continue and I cleared my throat, though it was a nervous sort of sound and didn't do anything to calm my rattled nerves.

"Casper Delacruz."

One by one, the souls disappeared onto a boat and as the line dwindled, I felt the tightness in my chest ease slightly. We'd figure this out, one way or another, though I wish I could clearly see the direction it might take, if nothing else than to squash the guilt currently coursing its way through me.

"Emma, I need you to go back to the castle," Hades said as I called out the last name and I frowned, pocketing the device.

"I can't do that until all the souls are sorted and, last time I checked, that hasn't happened yet."

"The only way we're going to get rid of the Tartarus group now is by calling Kronos here himself. It's bound to be messy, but he can take them without a boat, and you can't be seen by him."

"Are you trying to be funny? You want to willingly invite your diabolical father straight into your home?"

"Do you have another idea?" He countered, stalking me as I paced back and forth across the beach.

"Do I need to remind you what he almost did the last time he was here? What he still wants to do?"

"Which is why I need you out of sight and as far away from here as possible as I attempt to clear up your mess."

Ouch.

I backed away from him, eyes wide and he checked himself, reaching out a hand to me. "Emma, that's not what I-"

"No, I get it. This is your job, and I just screwed things up for you. Try not to let him kill you," I said as I shoved my way past him, Hermes and Poseidon pausing a second before following me out. "I don't need chaperones," I snapped, and Hermes levitated in front of me, arms crossed over his chest.

"I don't think you realize yet how serious this is," he said, and I stopped short.

"When I said that I knew what the River Styx did to those who touched it, I meant it, so back off. I'm already feeling crappy enough as it is."

"The souls who fell into the water will never move onwards, will most likely turn into Furies and will, inevitably, attempt to kill you, and my guess is there's a high chance of success if every single one of them chooses to attack at the same time. Tell me, Emma, exactly what is Hades supposed to do about an entire army of immortal Furies?"

"I don't know, but you're acting like this is somehow my fault!"

"You convinced Hades that adding an additional boat at each dock and therefore double the number of souls on the docks, would be a good idea, and look where that got you. I knew it was a disaster from the start-"

"You did not you moody little liar," Poseidon interjected, arms crossed over his chest. "You praised the decision, and Emma's leadership skills, the second you found out about her proposal and the council's approval of it."

"That was before this all happened, and-"

"So, now your support's conditional on how well she does or doesn't do in a new position created by her with Hades' begrudging consent? You're unbelievable."

"When the two of you are done with your pissing match, we need to discuss what to do next," I said as I entered my suite, Bailey rushing us, tail wagging and tongue lolling.

"There's not much we can do at this point other than wait and hope Hades comes up with a solution."

Not me, though, because turning to me for guidance would be stupid now, considering.

Stop the self-pity party, Emma. You know what he meant.

"But, if he calls Kronos here, it could make things worse," I said, shuddering as I remembered Tartarus, and the day I died.

"He wouldn't attempt to take Hades' kingdom again so soon after he failed," Poseidon said, lounging back against the couch cushions. "If he does, though, we're ready for him."

I sank down next to him, staring into the fire as I felt tears prickle the corners of my eyes. "I just created hundreds of Furies."

"No one blames you," Poseidon said, draping an arm around my shoulders as Hermes cleared his throat behind us. "Almost no one. And besides, we don't know how many of those souls will revolt, only that they can't move on. You were trying to help, Emma, and I think you should get credit for it," he added, seeing my tense, anxious expression. "Hades knows-"

"That I said I could do this and failed him?"

He's never going to trust me again.

"No. That you successfully sorted most of the souls who came to you for help and didn't think about dock overcrowding, or how riotous the group today would become."

"Still, I should've done something when the fighting first began."

"And put yourself in danger by attempting to break them up? C'mon, Emma, even Hades himself would tell you that's a stupid idea. What if they knocked you into the River Styx by accident?"

"Well, at least then I'd be immortal like Hades wants."

"Hades doesn't want-" Hermes began, and I whirled around to glare at him.

"What rock have you been living under for the past couple of years? Of course he wants that, Hermes! It's been at the top of his list of things-to-change-Emma's-mind-about since I first stepped foot in the Underworld. Being his soulmate means nothing if I'm dead."

"Why hasn't he just done it already?" Hermes mused, gazing back at me speculatively, and Poseidon squeezed my shoulder in warning as I felt myself tense up.

"I'm sure he'd like to, but he knows if he did that, I'd find a way to kill him."

"So much potential, though, not just in terms of your gifts, but what you could do for the whole Underworld. I wonder..." Hermes pursed his lips together in thought and I felt a strange undercurrent of anger shoot through my body, igniting my blood.

I wanted to rip him to shreds for assuming I could be used-like my mortality was nothing to the gods other than a minor inconvenience, one which could be snatched away whenever they felt like it. Worst of all was knowing how easy it would be for any of them to do just that, to make the choice for me. Where was their sense of right and wrong? Just because you could do something doesn't mean that you should.

My hands curled into fists at my sides. I felt unmoored, like a ship without an anchor tossed back and forth between what I knew I wanted and what I should just walk away from.

"You'll wonder nothing, Hermes, not unless you're prepared to suffer the consequences of taking Emma's free will away from her," Poseidon said, watching me nervously. "And I don't think you want to push her right now."

"No, really, tell me again how useless I am as a mortal," I said, eyes narrowed to slits. "Tell me how Hades has to keep saving me because I can't save myself from stupid immortal beings who want me dead. I dare you."

That was the first lesson Hades taught me-never dare a god-not unless you really meant it, but I was too far past caring at this point to heed the warning. I liked Hermes-he was like a brother to me where I'd become a sort of pseudo-sister to both him and Poseidon-but even siblings fought on occasion, and this was me calling his bluff. I felt power rise to the surface, like a pot set on boil for too long, and briefly wondered about the source, but Hermes was already backing away from me, hands held up in supplication as his gaze flitted from me to the door.

"Emma, you're looking a little crazy 'round the edges, so maybe this isn't the best time to-"

"She's gonna kick your ass, little brother," Poseidon said, a wide-toothed grin splitting his face. "And when she's done with you, I think I'll have a crack at you myself, just for sassing her. We have no idea what Hera gave her, and quite frankly, I'm not too keen on being around for it when it does fully manifest."

"Ehh..." Hermes' face scrunched up like it did when he was unsure what to do next, and as I took a small, teasing step towards him he balked, sprinting as fast as he could out of my room and down the hall.

"Coward," I muttered, and Poseidon laughed, warming his hands by the fire.

"Emma." Hades entered, hesitating a moment before sliding his arms around my waist, pressing his lips to my hair. "I'm sorry, love."

"Is it done?" I stepped out of the embrace, ignoring the dejected look he gave me in return. I didn't need his apologies-they meant nothing to me if we still had to deal with the souls of the dead.

"Not quite. Kronos agreed to take half the remaining Tartarus load but insisted I deal with the rest myself. As for the ones who fell off the dock..."

I squeezed my eyes shut, knowing where this was probably going to go, and not wanting to hear it, all at the same time.

"Three hundred souls became Furies." He said it softly like he thought I was going to break, and truth be told, I wasn't sure I wouldn't.

I did that.

"So many. So many to worry about now."

"If I thought that there was a chance of this happening, I would've returned the second you sent me away," he said, and I reeled back like he'd slapped me. He saw my reaction and reached out, again. "That's not what I-"

"You've said a bunch of things in the past twenty-four hours that you didn't mean to say, Hades, and quite frankly, I'm sick of the excuse. You claimed me as your soulmate and partner, but I don't really think that your heart was in it, or you wouldn't be trying to cover up the things I say and do. Tell me, were you actually glad that I recommended the dock expansion, or were you just trying to save face in front of your advisors?"

"No one could've foreseen-"

"Just answer the damn question."

He gazed down at me, expression torn, and I knew. He didn't have to say anything, but I could see the gears working in his mind, trying to spin this one around so he didn't hurt my feelings further, but if we couldn't have an open, honest discussion when things were falling apart around us, how could we hope to be okay the rest of the time?

"I'm just going to...find somewhere else to be..." Poseidon said behind me, sneaking out the door, and I almost laughed at the absurdity of it all, save for Hades, who glared at me, nostrils flared.

"You don't think that I value your ideas? Your opinions?" He asked, voice low and brooding.

"I know you don't, not fully, and I also think that you knew the dock expansion wouldn't work and didn't say anything to me about it at the time, which is just as bad as if you'd pushed them off the dock yourself."

He eyed me for a few seconds, eyebrows lifted in challenge. "Are you, by any chance, insinuating that I'm ineffectual at my job? That I'm slacking off in my duties?"

"I'm saying," I said, stepping closer to him as he watched me, expression wary. "That you let your feelings for me overshadow your expertise and because of it, those souls are now Furies."

"You shoulder no blame for this, of course," he said accusingly. "You wanted to be my equal, and I'll continue to treat you as such if you'll do the same for me."

"Bullshit, Hades. Questioning my leadership abilities and letting me make a complete ass of myself is not treating me like an equal."

"You sent me away!" He snarled back, face inches from mine. "You didn't give me the chance to help you with the soul load and do you know why I stayed away? Because it's what you wanted. You said you could handle it, and I allowed it, though it killed me to be parted from you. That won't happen again."

I regarded him coolly, though I knew what he was really saying.

I can't trust you alone with the souls anymore.

He may as well have shouted that at me, too.

"So, my flying solo..."

He shook his head. "This is the only way. We're better together, and especially now that so many vengeful, angry spirits are roaming the Underworld, if I hope to have even the slightest chance of protecting you, I need to be here. End of discussion."

And there it was-protecting me-same as he'd done nearly every minute since I first arrived in the Underworld. Problem was, it was exhausting having to constantly be protected at all like I was a fragile package.

"Well, since you clearly don't need me," I said, gathering my laptop and notebook together, "I'll be in the library."

"Love..." He moved to grab me, but I stepped just out of reach.

"No, Hades. You've made your point, and now I make mine. You don't get to decide things for me because you're scared my ideas will get me killed. Have you ever stopped to consider that maybe I've been living on borrowed time, anyway? That Kronos' death blow should've been the final end of me, and both you and Hera interfered in the Fates' plan?"

"That's ridiculous."

"Is it, though? Think about it for a second. If I were just another random soul, would you have brought me back to life, or sent me onwards to Elysium? The only reason you didn't was because I'm your damned soulmate, but that's not good enough."

He stood, pacing the length of the room.

"This whole time, I thought being in the Underworld, writing your story and letting you train me with the souls was your way of helping me, but I realize now that it was always about you and what you wanted, never mind the fact that I would've been just fine living the life I had before I met you."

"Stop." He was angry now, running a hand through his hair.

"I was happy with you when Persephone was cursed. I could see myself spending the rest of my mortal life here, and thought that maybe, just maybe, you felt the same way about me, too. Then she came back, and things became a complicated balancing act between how you felt about me and your duty towards her. The worst part of this is that you're too stubborn and stupid to acknowledge it, so we're always right back where we started."

"I said stop!" He whirled on me, grabbing my shoulders roughly as I winced and bit back a cry of pain. "I asked Hera to bring you back because I can't lose you. I broke the rules in not relinquishing your soul, and I'd do it all again. Do you understand?"

I did but said nothing, even as he shook me once and held me close.

It was sad, really-this duty and sense of obligation he felt towards me-and there was only one way I could see to stop him from having to save my life over and over again, but it made the blood pound through my veins.

So risky, Emma. You don't know that it'll work.

If it didn't, though, I was trapped here, repeating the same cycle I'd been on for the past four years, and I'd never truly be happy anywhere.

If the Furies find you before you're able to finish it...

I wouldn't let them.

I slid out of his arms, giving him a tight-lipped smile as I moved towards the door. "I'm going to go do some work-don't wait up for me," I said, and he frowned, ever alert.

"Be wary and watchful for now," he said, and I nodded again and stepped out into the hallway, glancing over my shoulder now and then to make sure he wasn't following me. I wouldn't put it past him, but for what I had planned, I needed to be alone.

He's going to kill me.

This was what he wanted for you, remember?

When I reached the throne room, I checked my surroundings one last time like a thief in the night, telling myself it would be alright in the end as I raced down the staircase to the lower levels. I passed servants and staff, their penetrating gazes making me flinch as I thought about the possibility of Hades setting spies on my movement through the castle, just like he had in Portland. I'd tried to seem nonchalant in my dismissal of him, but he was smart and cunning and knew me too well. Had he suspected?

Just make it to the docks. It won't matter after that.

I'd prided myself on my ability to stay mortal on my terms, and common sense screamed a warning at me now, but I wouldn't survive another Fury attack, and I wanted to live, dammit. More than anything.

I stepped through the double doors onto the bank of the River Styx, removing my shoes and socks as I squidged my toes in the sand, gazing out across the endless waters. I hadn't been in the ocean since I almost drowned and, truth be told, I wasn't exactly looking forward to doing it again, this time by choice. But there was only one way I was going to save my life, and this was it.

It's just like taking a cold bath or going for a frigid swim.

Approaching the waters' edge, I gazed down at the swirling luminescence, entranced by bits of opal that tumbled together in the waves. If I did this, it was forever. I could never go back to the person I was before, but wasn't it worth it? Sacrificing a part of myself that I'd so stubbornly clung to in the hope of finding a new life for myself-one which wasn't dictated by the gods? I chose to keep coming back to the Underworld month after month-Hades gave up ordering me around a long time ago, when he realized that I wasn't returning because I was tied to his home but to him-to the couple I'd hoped we might be if we gave it a chance...which of course was now shattered by his refusal to let go of the past.

One step-that's all it would take to permanently alter the course of my life, and I hesitated, thoughts tumbling over themselves like clothes in a dryer.

"'Do not go gentle into that good night, old age should burn and rave at close of day; rage, rage against the dying of the light'."

I jumped and spun around as Poseidon joined me. "I didn't take you for a poet."

He smiled. "There are a lot of things you don't know about me, Emma dear, but I didn't write it. Some silly mortal a long time ago with a receding hairline. Taking a midnight swim?" He gestured out across the water, and I felt my cheeks flush crimson.

"You know why I'm here."

"If you'd bothered to ask my opinion on the subject-"

"You would've told me it was a bad idea and then reported me to Hades."

"No," he said slowly, picking up a smooth, flat pebble "I would've escorted you here myself." He chucked it over the surface where it skipped six times and sank. I rubbed my hands over my arms as a light breeze lifted tendrils of hair from my face.

"Oh right, you're on the 'let's-make-Emma-immortal' boat. Forgot about that."

"I want the same thing you do. For you to have the freedom to choose how you spend the next one hundred years of your life, though I've never kept it a secret which direction I personally leaned on that front," he said, folding his arms over his chest as he appraised me. "If you decided, after all, that an immortal life, with all the perks and drawbacks it brings, wasn't what you really wanted, I'd drop the subject forever."

"This is the only way to stop the Furies from killing me-all three hundred of them."

"I know."

"And it means I'd have eternity to explore my relationship with Hades, whatever that looks like."

"Sounds like you've given this a fair bit of thought."

"I just don't know that it's the best option-what if I'm overlooking something?"

"The best choices aren't always the most straight-forward. Sometimes you've got to trust your gut and quiet the voices inside your head."

I rolled my eyes. "Thanks for that, Yoda. What if I do this, and then later regret it? It's a massive decision to make on a whim."

He looked back at me pensively. "Every choice taken boils down to a moment. You may call it a whim, but the decision is the culmination of all that came before. You'll never regret choosing to not die, Emma. Because that's the only alternative. Inaction means the Furies find you, and then you die. Taking a little dip in that," he pointed to the River Styx, "is the answer, and you know it. Now, time to get wet." He pushed me towards the water and I dug my heels in, but he was so much stronger than I ever would be, and I lost my balance, cartwheeling forward before landing hard on my hands and knees...smack dab in the icy waves. "Don't you dare crawl back out," Poseidon warned behind me and I gasped as saltwater lashed my face and hair, the sand and water mixture beneath me sucking me out further. "If you do, you'll become like Achilles, and we both know how that ended. Under, Emma, go under."

I surged forward, arms and legs kicking away from the shore as I took a deep breath, diving deep, and felt a sort of pressure in my chest, like heartburn only more intense, bubbling to the surface, and I jerked and fought the sensation, even as my limbs grew taunt...rigid...immortality zipping through my whole body like a lightning bolt and I writhed and thrashed as my heart galloped through my chest.

Muffled voices, a splash, and I was yanked to my feet again, a single, frustrated growl slicing the air.

"What did you do?"

Hades.

A sickening crunch, a yowl of pain and I thrust my body between the two men as Poseidon stumbled away, blood dripping from his nose.

"It's not his fault, it's mine!" I said as Hades grabbed hold of me, pressing my body to his, another guttural grumble starting low in his chest before bursting out into the crisp sea air and he pulled away long enough to cup my face in one hand, tilting it to his.

"What did you do?"

I licked my lips-tasted saltwater and brine-and looked down at my now slightly-glowing body, like there was a light trapped just beneath my skin.

"I made a choice. So, if you want to punish someone, punish me, not him, because he was just trying to help."

He held me close again as he tried to calm his breathing. "Just tell me why."

"Because I wasn't going to sit around and wait for those new Furies to pick me off."

"I told you before, and I'll say it again, love, I can protect-"

I shook him off like rain on a pissed-off cat. "No, you can't. One or two, maybe, but three hundred? I can't run away from the mess I made, so I found another option. Are you honestly going to stand here and tell me that you're upset that I'm immortal now? After all your pestering on the subject?"

"I wanted it to happen in your own time, not because you felt pressured to do so."

"Was there ever going to be a right time to suddenly decide I wanted to be immortal? I took the only road I could see clearly."

"There were other ways," he gritted through his teeth, eyes flicking from me to Poseidon and back again. "You should've come to me for help, instead of trying to do this yourself. If the Furies found you before I did..."

"First of all, they didn't and secondly, when are you going to realize that I can handle myself? That I'm actually capable of having a thought without you telling me what to do? I wasn't going to hide out in my rooms like a scared little schoolgirl forever, waiting for the Furies to come for me, or for you to get killed trying to save me, and the sooner you realize this, the better."

His mouth turned downwards, pressed into a paper-thin line. "This will have consequences."

"Fuck the consequences," I snarled. "This was my choice."

"So you keep saying," he said, stepping towards me, "but I think you'll care when you hear the opinions of the Fates. They may not be so kind about this seemingly reckless and ill-thought out plan."

I frowned, confused. "Free will doesn't apply?"

"Not when you take matters into your own hands, Emma."

"Taking matters into my own hands is the whole idea of free will! So it's okay for a god or goddess to make me immortal, but the second I do it myself, it's against the rules?"

"You've messed with the balance of human nature. Despite what Poseidon, or even Hera, will tell you, no god can make you immortal without getting permission from the Fates first. What you did was unheard of."

"Trying to save me from the Furies would mess with the balance of nature, too, you know. Or does that not count?"

"Preserving life and changing its form are two entirely separate things. Something I could've told you, had you sought me out. But once again, you neglected to involve me in matters which directly impacts both of our lives. I convinced myself that would stop once you were here on a more permanent basis, and it saddens me that I was wrong."

"This wasn't done to spite you, brother," Poseidon said, laying a hand on Hades' arm. "Even if you're right about the Fates, she's more or less safe now from anything that wants to hurt or kill her. We'll deal with the rest as it comes."

I shivered violently, rubbing my hands up and down my arms as Hades wrapped me in his embrace, abandoning the fierce scowl.

"Let's get you inside and cleaned up. Poseidon, I'd make myself scarce for a while if I were you."

Please stop picking on him, Hades. He had good intentions.

He shouldn't've been here in the first place. Maybe you would've changed your mind had he not pushed you in and-

Are you really that thick-headed? You're just sore that he was here, and you weren't. Get over it, okay? I regret nothing.

You might, depending on what the Fates say.

I'm not afraid of them.

You should be, because I don't know how this will end.

Poseidon smiled. "One of us had to have the balls to do it-too bad that wasn't you."

Hades rushed him, fire in his eyes, but I slapped a palm to his chest, leveling my gaze with his.

"He's baiting you. Let it go."

"Track me down sometime, Emma, if you ever grow tired of this whole macho He-Man act. It's already grating, and I'm not around him all the time like you are," Poseidon drawled, flicking a piece of lint off his shirt, and I rounded on him.

"You're not making this situation any better by being an absolute git," I said, a little bit of bite entering my voice. "I appreciate what you did for me today, but if you don't disappear, now, Hades will try to kill you, and I don't want him to have to live with the guilt."

He smiled, bowing gracefully as he twirled around and strode from sight, and I shivered again, this time feeling the exhaustion deep in my bones, like I had a cold and severe jet lag all at the same time.

Hades bent over me, scooping me up in his arms as he turned us towards the castle again.

"You'll feel strange for a few days, but it should subside," he said, carrying me up the marble staircase. "Of course, you'd know this if you bothered to come find me in the first place."

"We're not doing this again," I said, twisting until he set me on my feet. "I don't owe you an apology, Hades. Not when this is exactly what you wanted for me."

"What I wanted was for us to be a team-for you to trust me enough to confide in me, and instead you let Poseidon help you."

"Let? I let him help me?" I rounded on him, teeth clenched. "He poofed out of nowhere to push me into the waves, but I made the decision to do it long before he ever showed up. Now, can we please drop the subject? I'm freezing, slightly on the hungry side, and I have some Furies to beat to a pulp," I said as I strode to the bathroom, stripping as I went. Hades paused in the doorway, arms crossed over his chest, piercing me with eyes which glowed in the dim light. "I'm kidding. About the Furies, that is."

"Forgive me if I had a hard time believing that."

I glanced at him around the shower curtain. "Welcome to Emma, 2.0."