Revelations [malexmale]

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Eighteen

"Why the fuck is our prisoner curled up under a heated blanket watching Jimmy Fallon and eating goddamn shrimp?"

I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose between my fingers before looking up to see Cain standing in the entryway to the small private dining room Hades and I often used to take our breakfasts. Cain was decked out in a brocade corset over a charcoal turtleneck with black skinny jeans and spiked heels that made him taller than his twin by another inch. If anyone had a complex about being short, it was Cain.

"We went over this. Torture doesn't work as well as we think it does. Anyone will say anything to make the pain stop. Even if it's a lie," I explained flatly, picking up my coffee cup and taking a huge gulp. I paused to look into the blackness of it, smiling as I knew for a fact Hades always took his with cream and sugar. The male had an outrageous sweet-tooth. Cookies, cakes, tarts. I'd seen him eat most of a cake we bought once for our anniversary. When I'd asked him about it, he'd blamed it on Niki, one of his servants, who proceeded to assure me he wasn't very fond of cakes, especially those belonging to other people.

"So what," Cain demanded, cutting into my thoughts as I rolled my eyes, "You don't pamper the asshole who came here to kill your fiance. That's total bullshit! And how can you just sit there while Hades is probably having his entrails torn out?" I took a deep breath and counted to five to avoid reacting instantly to his words. His fears were warranted, as I'd been having nightmares since Hades had vanished.

However, panicking wasn't going to bring Hades back. I reminded myself how Hades would react if our roles were reversed. He would know exactly how to stay level headed and focus on the task at hand. He'd also hit me if he knew I was panicking instead of planning.

And right now, we were at a loss with what to do.

Drekari refused to say anything at this point. He was so angry, so bitter.

On top of that, everyone was crowded at Hades's palace. All of our children were in the palace, bickering or pacing, trying to come up with some kind of plan. Yhwhwa and Michael were spending an ungodly amount of time together. Rowan was with Yiuwa and Xiphrus, trying to make a plan as well. Yet everyone was coming up ended handed. What were we supposed to do without any information to go on? We couldn't go barreling in after the Shifter without knowing what we were getting into. We were as good as dead, the universe as good as destroyed, if we didn't tread carefully.

So all we were left doing was playing a horrible version of the waiting game.

"Cain, sit down, grab some tea," I said, taking a sip of coffee. Cain made a noise of supreme disgust, but he didn't argue. He grabbed coffee from the pot in the kitchen before he came back and sat down, folding one leg over the other and glaring across the room at the wall.

I looked at him, taking a moment to admire how much of Hades I really saw in him and his brothers. Cain had Hades's temper, his sarcasm, and also his fear. Though Cain's blue eyes were sharp and fierce with anger, there was a flicker of fear in those crystal depths. He was terrified for his father, and for his brothers, terrified of everything that was happening. And his lack of control was driving him insane, something I knew was vital to someone who suffered from the level of anxiety that Cain did.

The running joke in the family was how Cain was the absolute worst of the worst, but when I'd spoken to Hades, he said the truth of the matter was that Cain was actually the most fragile of all of his sons. Cain was smart, but emotionally stunted. Hades was convinced Cain was at least somewhere on the autism scale, in that Cain didn't quite pick up on social cues the way other people did. He was temperamental as well when things didn't go his way. When he lost control, his anxiety flared up and he'd lash out. He was scared of being abandoned, scared of losing those around him, scared of change.