Page 105 of Hell’s Weapon

Khaos chuckles, before talking as if I’ve disappeared. “You’ll keep her on her toes. That’ll be good for her.”

He pays equal attention to Milo, who shrinks under the attention. “You are the biggest surprise.”

Milo looks to me, seeing as Wyatt has been moved off the stage, and I stare Khaos down, daring him to say another word. Thankfully, he gets the message and quickly hands the vials out to the rest of our group, selecting each one from his bag carefully.

When he gets to me, the little glass bottle looks the same as everyone else’s but I see the glint in his eyes.

I eye it sceptically, lifting it to the light.

“Just drink it,” Khaos says, not reassuring me in the slightest.

Moving away from him, so the final contestants can get their potions, I walk across the stage. But instead of exiting via the steps, I move towards Hades.

“If your husband gives me four legs or fur right now, I will kill him,” I tell him flatly and hold up the vial I’ve just been given.

Hades takes a breath, and I see him eye the onlookers that are no doubt watching our interaction. No one else has dared approach the Lord of the Underworld as they’ve moved across the stage.

“I’m sure he wouldn’t,” his lips barely move as he replies, so that no one picks up on our conversation.

“How sure?” I have to forcibly stop my eyes from rolling, because we both know Khaos is as much his nature as his name. I push the bottle towards him.

Hades’s hand wraps around it, and he inspects the contents. He doesn’t show any reaction but I see a dark flash of his power as he drains something from the potion inside the clear glass bottle.

Handing it back to me he shoots his husband a smouldering look, shaking his head.

“Spoilsport,” Khaos mouths, to which of us I’m not sure but I give him the middle finger as I leap off the stage.

I drink the cool liquid as I rejoin the others.

“Did you really just walk up to Hades and talk to him?” Seffy’s eyes are wide as saucers.

“Yeah…” I elongate the word, not seeing the big deal. Especially as she knows the truth.

“He’s the most powerful being to ever have existed.” She sounds awed as she takes a sly look at the Lord’s back.

“Yeah, even the guards seem nervous around him. Well, most of them,” Rio adds.

“So? He has a lot of magic but he’s a good guy, he really cares about the realm and the people in it.” Not that I’d remind him too often of how much I admire him. He knows I wouldn’t work for anyone with less than the high standards he strives for.

“I’ve been reading up on his accession,” Seffy says.

“Really?” So far, that hasn’t been part of our curriculum.

“Yeah, the way he completely restructured the realm is fascinating. He totally deconstructed the distribution of wealth. He seems to really care about equal opportunity and playing to people’s strengths. Not what you’d expect from Hell.”

“It’s far from perfect,” I tell her honestly.

“No, but I bet it will be given another millennia or two.”

I ponder that for a few seconds. Hades currently has no competition to speak of. He could run this realm for another hundred thousand years or more, and Seffy is probably right. He’s made significant strides in the last five hundred years, and he shows no sign of stopping.

“Guys, I don’t feel so good,” Wyatt interrupts our discussion.

I immediately turn to him to find him sweating profusely, and he’s clutching his chest.

“What’s wrong?” I demand going to his side and putting my hand to his forehead, feeling him burning up.

“It’s like the worst heartburn,” he pants, heat emanating off him in waves.