Guardian Angel

Chapter Twenty-Six

Chapter Twenty-Six

"Wow, never thought I'd see the day that you would do manual labor."

I sighed, sitting back on my knees away from the garden, reaching up to wipe sweat from my face before turning to pin Hades with a glare. He stood near the backdoor by a basket of vegetable clippings Niko had placed there to collect for the wildlife. Hades gave the basket a grimace before pushing off the side of the cottage.

His heavy boots crunched on the gravel as he made his way over to me.

I looked out over the work I'd managed to do.

To be honest, I was a little surprised myself to be outside in the dirt. It had never interested me to go outside and get dirty. My job was to remain clean and proper, tidy and cleaned up. I had never questioned it, and while there was a small part of me that grimaced at the smell of dirt, meaning I had probably wiped it on my face, I had actually lost track of time.

I'd managed to weed the whole herb garden and replace the plants Kitten had destroyed.

I tried not to roll my eyes.

I couldn't tell what name was worse for my Beast now; a childhood trauma or something cute and fluffy for a not so cute and fluffy being.

Of course, Niko got over the whole thing quickly when he'd spotted me working in the garden to clean up. A second later, he'd thrown his garden supplies at me and left to spend time with River in their room alone with the door locked.

"I'm working my way up from office work," I told Hades as I reached back into the dark soil to fish around for loose weeds and roots. There was a pause as I worked, Hades's eyes on me the whole time before he spoke.

"Not interested in going back to work?" He asked. I shook my head as I sank my hand into the soil, pulling up a handful of weeds and a couple of earthworms that squirmed between my fingers and back into the dirt.

"I mean, it's not like I can leave now anyway," I said, making Hades cock his head, "And you know what? I think this is exactly what I needed. Not the near death experience and the trauma, but I finally get to be alone."

"You call a house full of brats alone?" Hades asked. I rolled my eyes, then blinked and looked up in surprise to see Hades kneeling down on the ground beside me, studying my progress.

"I meant that I can finally have some time to reflect," I said quietly, and Hades frowned, glancing at me.

"Reflect on what?" He asked.

"On everything," I admitted with a shrug, pausing to frown at the soil, then looked at Hades, "What do I want? Who am I? What am I supposed to do now?"

"And you think turning into a homesteading hippie is gonna give you answers?" Hades asked drolly. I laughed at that and bumped my shoulder against his.

"I wouldn't say I'm that into it," I said, then paused to finger the lemon balm with its tattered leaves thanks to the fucking window crashing into it, but somehow it was still going strong, judging from those vibrant roots, "I just need to find some peace, and I've never known a garden to be... chaotic."

"Really?" Hades asked with an arched brow, glancing around Niko's idea of a garden. I smiled.

"Not everything has to be meticulously organized. I think he likes the naturality of letting it do its own thing."

"Is that what you want," Hades asked, making me blink and look at him in surprise, "To do your own thing?" I shrugged.

"I've spent so long trying to be someone else," I said, making him avert his eyes, "I need time to figure out who I am and what I want."