Son of Hades

New Queen

Castiel made each competitor assemble in the throne room during the early 3 A.M. hour. Everyone looked exhausted except for Jasmine, who was wide awake and smiling up at the Prince. Why was Oscar lingering by the doorway beside Xavier? Castiel massages his temples. “I have made several decisions regarding this competition.” he finally says, looking between Jasmine, Oscar and Xavier. Was he purposely avoiding my gaze? “First and foremost Ariel, I'm going to need that note hidden in your back pocket. Thank you — by the way — for failing to tell me it existed prior to this.”

           I close my eyes. My mouth feels dry. Jasmine is the only one who knew about that note, unless Ivana or Harley wrote it. With trembling fingers I hand the note over to him.

         Castiel bites the inside of his lip so hard I see blood. Before I saw it coming, his hand flew across my face and the slap echoes over the quiet room.

           “Castiel!” Xavier shouts in warning.

            I held a hand to my face, tears threatening to look again in my eyes. He hit me so hard that my ears are ringing, and I'm now sprawled back against the marble floor. “Shut it Reyes, or I'll have Oscar here press the button on that little remote he has hidden.” His rage focuses on Jasmine now too. “What is this?” he shouted, grabbing her face so that she has to look.

          “Castiel, your parents taught you to keep your hands off of a female.”

           “Especially your female, right?” Castiel shakes his head, and Jasmine earns a hard smack too.

          Oscar isn't like Xavier; he doesn't have anything at stake or something to lose. He moves forward with urgency but Xavier goes after him. “These girls may have been brought here for you but they fell in love with us. It doesn't matter that you're a Prince. Rules were made to be broken.  Just ask Ariel there, or Harley or Ivana. None of them love you. They want to rule beside you. Look what happened with Serafina and Ariel and now Jasmine too. Just start over. You're better off finding a Goddess the same way your father did.”

            “Don't talk to Castiel like that,” Harley stands up, moving forward between Oscar and Castiel, Xavier hesitating behind them. “because I love him. It wouldn't matter if he were a garbage man or a teacher or an astronaut. I don't care. He's the person I could picture myself lounging in bed with on a Sunday afternoon, drinks and adventures, dancing endless nights away; he's my person.”

             “I love him too,” I stand up on shaking legs, still trying to catch my breath. “not in the same way Harley does, but because of who he is.”

           Castiel is blushing deeply.

            “Too bad he was going to eliminate one of you tonight,” Oscar says, crossing his arms. “told me so himself.”

            Harley and I glance between each other, but I speak before she can. “Eliminate me. Please, Castiel. Eliminate me. Don't ruin things with someone who wants something real. I made my choice in your mother's office.” I go to stand beside Xavier, and his fingers find mine. “Punish me all you want. But please don't eliminate Harley tonight.”

            Castiel smirks and shakes his head as he looks down at our entwined hands, then at the hardly legible note. “I'm not eliminating either of you,” he demands. “Ariel was with me this evening so she isn't the suspect I want, yet every single one of you girls named her. My darling baby girl, Harley, is much too sweet to do anything like this. That doesn't even look like her handwriting, and neither does it look like Jasmine's. She was actually shacking it up with you tonight, Oscar. I saw the camera footage, there's no lying to me about the goings-on here. But who I did manage to catch, was a female in all black trying to make a run for it with a stolen all-access card. Give me that card now.”