Cursed [malexmale]

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Nineteen

"We're sticking to St. John's plan," Athena said after a long silence following St. John's disclosure of the artifact, "It's the only solid one we have that could work whether Atlan shows up or not." None of the other gods seemed to protest the idea, and with that, the meeting was adjourned, mostly.

Most of the gods vanished as soon as the meeting was over, probably desperate to escape the tension in the room from having so many gods who hated each other. However, a few stayed behind, including Aphrodite, Hera, Zeus, Hades, Athena, and Lucifer. Hannibal, Menoetius, Arikos, and I remained behind as well.

"Maybe you should return Anexius to Apollo," Lucifer said as we approached them, and Hades cast me a quick glance, then scoffed as if the idea was ludicrous, not that I disagreed. Apollo and I had gotten dangerously close recently and I wasn't sure where it was headed. I was sure, however, that I didn't want to know. It could be disastrous and it could be too difficult and right now, there were more important things to worry about than our relationship, whatever it may be now.

"No," Zeus spoke up, sounding surprisingly serious now as he shoved his seat in and gave Hades a begrudgingly grateful stare, "Apollo has gotten too close to the Atlantean. It's better this way." Hades frowned now. Hera nodded, putting her hands on her hips, her stern blue navy pinstripe suit and skirt a dead-set match to her personality.

"Zeus is right," she replied, "Apollo has to worry about more important things. And after his last attachment, it's best he remains as he is. The last thing we need is another dark day in Greece." I wasn't sure if they were honestly saying this out of worry for Apollo, or just that his relationships would be an inconvenience to them. Either way, it bothered me.

"Speaking of a dark day in Greece," Zeus said dryly, turning to Hades, who arched a brow, "You should stay until the mission is over. Just in case."

"Just in case," Hades echoed, obviously not intrigued by the idea. Lucifer narrowed his eyes on Zeus.

"If you think for one second you can--"

"Oh, please," Zeus scoffed, "I have no interest in Hades right now. I have more important things to worry about, like our impending doom and the fact that my fucking house was blown away by an Atlantean cunt. Find a place to stay for the night and we'll execute the plan tomorrow at dawn." Hades stared at him for the longest time, like he was trying to gauge the truth of Zeus's words and Zeus just shrugged.

"Or don't believe me. I couldn't care less. If you'll excuse me, I have a palace to rebuild." He vanished a second later. Hera cut Hades an irritated glare, then vanished after him.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say she was jealous," St. John said dryly. Lucifer glared at him, but Hades didn't seem to hear him. He was too busy thinking about something else.

"Where would you like me to go?" I asked after a moment. Hades blinked, snapping out of his trance to look at me flatly.

"Stay here. To be honest, I didn't like taking custody of you. There's a reason I outlawed slavery, but since yours is bound by the Source, you have no choice. Besides, I rather you stay here and keep an eye on everything for me. Lucifer and I are going to stay the night, but we'll be at Ares's place. I have no doubt he'd welcome you there too," he explained. I nodded and St. John made a noise of supreme disgust.

"I'll have to stay too then. Great. Just what I wanted; spending a Saturday night on Mt. Fuck Up," he said dryly. Hades gave him a bored stare.

"Nobody invited you."

"Unfortunately, wherever Lucifer goes, I go," St. John returned. Hades looked less than pleased and Lucifer just sighed, running a hand through his hair before giving me an apologetic stare. I just offered him a smile until I noticed Hades was looking at me intently. I glanced at him as the others started to converse about the plan tomorrow.