The Forgotten Witch

27 ~ Hades

"Don't you dare blast those doors!" Lexi commanded from inside Hades's bedchamber. 

"I am not blasting anything!" Hades shouted, although he blamed this on adrenaline as he glared at the blond braid tied around the handles. "I need to know you're alright in there."

"I'm fine. I have Josef in custody and he's going to unlock the door for you."

"Very well. And I didn't blast any doors. That was Z."

"Someone had to take action. This is not a potions class." Z threw Melinoe a sidelong scowl, and she glared back at him from her position on the staircase. From the looks of her white knuckles, she appeared to be throttling the railing.

"Good magic takes time," she said casually, pretending not to care, although she wasn't fooling Hades. He guessed she had been shaken by Z's display of power downstairs. She also knew that her incubus was not the only one facing judgment.

A pale head appeared through the door and smiled politely, giving Hades a good look at the villain. He had striking gray eyes set inside rugged features, with locks of rippling, golden hair that actually glowed, illuminating his face like stage lights. A handsome villain. The worst kind, and Hades prepared himself for the worst as Josef untied the braid and jerked back inside.

The door clicked open, and Lexi greeted them in her linen shift dress, looking frazzled but unharmed. She held Josef captive with the sash, and Hades immediately noticed she held her other arm behind her back.

"Lexi, what happened to your arm?" When he reached for her, she flinched away.

"I burned it grabbing the sash," she said. "It was thrown into the fire, but I realized it didn't burn. So, I used it to capture Josef."

"Let me see the damage you did to yourself." Hecate pushed to the front of their group, pursing her lips as Lexi reluctantly lifted her arm. Her skin was flushed crimson and pocked with fresh blisters. Hecate clicked her tongue. "We need to get you healed straight away. Hades, take the sash from your mate."

Hades cursed himself for not acting sooner, and he extracted the sash from Lexi's grip as he leaned in to kiss her cheek. "I should not have left you."

"It all worked out," she said as Hecate hauled her toward the staircase. "The children are in the bathroom. You'll need Josef to set them free."

Hades stepped into his room and glared at the yellow braid securing the bathroom door. Now the voices of his children registered in his brain. They included a fussy cry from the crib, and Hades waved his brother toward it. "Will you see to Juniper, Z?"

"You want me to soothe a crying babe?" Z said as he shuffled grudgingly toward the crib. "She wants her mother."

"Of course, she does. Just dig deep. I'm sure there's a mother inside you somewhere." Hades jerked on Josef's lead, dragging him along as Ely's muffled cry guided him to the proper door.

"Daddy, we're trapped in the bathroom! I don't have my sword."

"Your sword is useless against magic," Elm scolded him. "It's plastic."

"You'll both be free before a sword is necessary." Hades stopped in front of the door and glared at his captive, the scoundrel who had turned his life into a three-ring circus. While Josef's aura was subdued under the sash's influence, Hades had to admit, the wings were impressive. "Open the door."

"Lovely children, you have," Josef offered as he hurried to untie the braid. "Clever as they come. But they would have to be, under the tutelage of a lord." He smiled and bowed humbly as the door clicked open, but Hades wasn't interested in Josef's praise. The villain had invaded his home and bedded his nymph. There would be no mercy coming from this lord.