Lexi needed a breather after her conversation with Clary. It wasn't that she didn't like the goddess of honesty. Clary was intelligent, respectful, and humorous. Lexi could easily see why Hades had chosen her as a consort, and if Clary hadn't assured Lexi she had no intention of returning to the underworld, Lexi might have been more jealous of her.
But, there was just so much honesty one could take, and once Clary had excused herself, Lexi snuck into the dining room to escape the drone of conversation. Unfortunately, this triggered her memory of the testosterone-infused holiday dinner. The table had been cleared, and the candelabras were replaced by an evergreen wreath encircling a winter village scene made from pieces of hand painted ceramic. It was the first of many Christmas embellishments that would follow as the weekend progressed, but it was the dissected body of the turkey that Lexi remembered as she stared at the festive table.
Why had it taken her so long to realize her hypocrisy? How could she claim to be concerned for the welfare of animals when she was still supporting their premature demise? If it hadn't been for her preoccupation with helping Hades to bed, she might have emptied her churning guts in the bathroom. That would have been a terrible insult to Chef Pastille. So, where was she to go from there?
Lexi let her thoughts run rampant as she made for the stable to see her old friend. As soon as she stepped onto the path however, a whole new set of questions surfaced. How could she leave Jackie O, knowing that her extended absence would likely trigger her horse's depression again? Was there no way to bring an earthbound creature into the underworld without causing its death?
By the time Lexi reached the stable, she was stifling tears. Knowing Jackie O could read her emotions, she composed herself before walking up to the stall. The stable light had been triggered by dusk, and Jackie O's mane shimmered under the soft glow. She greeted Lexi with a happy nudge on the cheek, and Lexi nuzzled her back, feeling a fresh wave of emotion as she breathed in the earthy scents of horse and straw.
The tinkling of female laughter drifted down from the hay loft, accompanied by a lusty moan and the sound of wood planks creaking. Lexi took a few steps back, craning her neck to get a look through the slats of the railing. It didn't take much to realize what was going on over her head. A pair of lovers were upstairs, hidden by the neatly stacked bales of hay. But who?
Being naturally curious, Lexi strained to listen, and her blood froze when she heard the voice of a man. A seductive and eerily familiar voice. "Oh, Clary. It has been so long."
Her first instinct was to bolt from the stable, but her legs would not move, and her ribs felt like they might fracture into a million pieces if she took a breath. Lexi could not bear the thought of catching the man she loved in the throes of passion with another woman, and the fact that they were gods and tended to consort to their heart's content did not make the idea any easier to take.
Pressing her cheek against Jackie O's neck, Lexi tried to focus on the snorts of the horses rather than the sounds of sex above her. But it was impossible to ignore. She had to know. As stealthy as falling snow, she made her way toward the staircase and padded up, her heart thudding like a fish on the deck of a boat. On her way up, she questioned her motives. What was she thinking, spying on two people getting busy? She was no pervert. She nearly turned around to abandon her mission when she heard the voice again.
"You smell delicious. I think I have missed that most of all."
Lexi fell to her knees, overcome with a fierce pain in her chest, like her heart had been tackled by a rugby team. Hades always commented on the scent of her skin. How it intoxicated him. This could not be happening. How could Hades do this to her? It was too soon. She clutched at her stomach as she contemplated whether or not to confirm her suspicion. Would she be able to recover from it? Was this the first in many tests she would have to endure as the consort to the god of the underworld? He was so powerful, and she was a meager demigod.
Heavy panting took the place of voices, and Lexi's pulse increased, matching the intensity of the couple making love a few yards away. It was now or never. She rallied her resolve and crept up the remaining steps, squinting through the dim light at the writhing bodies. The man was kneeling, taking the woman from behind as she leaned over a bale of hay. This was Hades' favorite position, and Lexi bit her lip as she remembered their recent liaison beneath the falls at the cave of Hypnos.
Ignoring the knot in her throat that threatened to choke her, she studied the man. The first thing she noticed, besides his bare ass, was his hair, which fell past his ears. Hades's hair was neatly trimmed, apart from the cowlick that never seemed to lay flat. The man before her also appeared slimmer and paler than Hades. Relief washed over her, but she forced herself to continue watching. She had to confirm it was not Hades behind Clary, but Kade.
As her heart approached its bursting point, a gust of wind swirled around her, sending stray bits of hay into a whirling dervish. A byproduct of her nerves, no doubt. Soon, her fingers began to tingle, which had never happened before, and sparks shot from her hands when she shook them. Horrified, she watched the embers float to the straw-covered floor. Fire in the stable would be disastrous. She needed to get the hell out of there.
With her body vibrating like the aftershocks of lightning, she abandoned her post and crept down the staircase, offering a quick kiss to Jackie O before escaping. She ran blindly toward the beach, using only her keen memory of the path to guide her as she swallowed a sob. While she was almost one hundred percent sure Hades had not been the man in the stable with Clary, her body was not convinced. And, by the time she reached the ocean, her hands were buzzing. The kind of buzz you get when a body part is waking up from a paralyzing asleep.
Lexi stayed well back from the water, recalling the last time her godly powers showed up when she wasn't expecting them. She had conjured some wicked waves that put her flat on her ass, but she needed an outlet for the electricity building inside her. How would Zeus handle it? Would he aim for the ocean?
Fearing an episode in which sparks spewed from her nose, she raised her arms, triggering the immediate release of a pair of lightning bolts. They sailed across the water, crossing paths at the horizon line and exploding with a loud—BANG! A rush of adrenaline coursed through her body more powerful than anything she'd felt before. It was friggin' awesome! Although her hands burned like she had pulled a hot plate out of the oven without a mitt. Was this what she could expect to happen whenever she got pissed? Had she been too hard on Zeus and his need to wield lightning whenever his temper flared?
Just as Lexi prepared to drop into the sand and finish her nervous breakdown, she heard someone call her name. Squinting into the dark, she saw the silhouette of a man running toward her. Based on the sound of his voice and the speed at which he approached, she knew it was Hades, and she exhaled a relieved sigh when she realized he was coming from the opposite direction of the stable.
"Lexi... The lightning... What happened?" Hades's words tumbled out in a rush as he practically collided with her. When he grabbed her hands, they both received a jolt. "Wow! Was that the first time you were able to conjure lightning? Did something trigger it?"
Lexi's hands trembled inside his, and she swallowed down her answer, using the excitement of the moment as an excuse to remain mute. She couldn't lie to him and say she was merely experimenting with her powers. But how could she tell him the truth? What would it do to him? This was his former lover and his son. Hades read her expression with perfect clarity and pressed on.
"I can tell you're upset, Lexi. Did Z say something to you? Was it Kade who was behaving badly?"
"No, Zeus didn't upset me," she said, sucking her bottom lip into her mouth. Damn. She really didn't want to tell him.
"So, it was Kade? He assumes he can get away with anything. What did he do? Did he try to... have his way with you?"
"No, it wasn't me he was having his way with. He was..." She glanced at the ground. She couldn't look into his eyes. "I went to the stable to check on Jackie O and I heard voices in the hay loft. It was a man's voice and he was talking to Clary. Well, not just talking to her. They were... Oh, gods. I thought it was you with Clary. Kade sounds just like you. I had to see for myself, and even after I confirmed it wasn't you, I was so freaked out I nearly started a fire in the stable. I came out here so I wouldn't burn the damn thing down."
It took Hades a moment to process her incoherent ramblings, but he finally pulled Lexi into his arms, holding her to his chest and stroking her hair. "I'm sorry, Lexi. It must have been terrible for you to see something like that...believing I had been involved. Please, know that I would never disregard your feelings that way."
Lexi hugged him tightly, wishing she could climb inside his shirt with him. "I'm sorry, too. If I could have kept if from you, I would have."
"Don't give it a second thought. Kade and Clary are free to do whatever they wish with each other, and so are we. May I walk you to the estate? If I don't hydrate soon, you may be carrying me back."
With her arm wrapped snugly around Hades's waist, they made for the path leading home. Lexi felt like the luckiest goddess alive to be the sole object of his desire, and she would cling to that belief as long as possible. Once Persephone returned to the underworld, she knew it would no longer be true.