Page 40 of Hateful Prince
Hades shrugged. “I don’t know what his involvement in all of this is outside of the fact that he was your doctor and is likely the reason I got sent here when I lashed out with my powers.”
“And you don’t think that’s significant?” Kai questioned.
“I think everything is significant, but I don’t know what any of it means.”
Gods, this was frustrating. “Why were you stalking Dahlia, Hades? Maybe Temperance was trying to get her away from you?”
“Then why would he send me here too? That doesn’t track, Viking.”
No. I don’t suppose it did.
Caspian saved me from answering. “So are you really Hades? As in the god of the underworld.”
“One of,” I snapped.
Cas frowned at me. “What do you mean ‘one of’? He’s the only one you hear about. Well, him and that other one... Lucifer.”
“Ignorant cur,” I snarled. “Hel is every bit as powerful as her counterparts.”
The pirate held his hands up. “Fine. Fine. No need to get all snippy. I was just wondering where the southern accent came from.”
Hades sighed and ran a hand through his hair as though he got this question all the time. “The South got the accent from me, Captain.”
“I beg your pardon? Aren’t you Greek?”
He chuckled. “I’ve been around for eons. Immortalized in stone by the Greeks. That doesn’t make me Greek.”
Caspian shot us wary looks and whispered, “They’re literally called The Greek gods.”
Hades leveled him with an exasperated glare. “And you’re Captain Fucking Hook. What’s your point?”
Cas glanced between me and Kai. “I thought it quite obvious, but fine, I’ll spell it out for you. You sound like Foghorn Leghorn.”
Realizing this was going to carry on until one of them killed the other, or more likely until I killed one of them, I heaved a sigh. “The gods have always existed, Caspian. Civilizations claimed the ones they interacted with as their own, some giving different names to the same deities. It doesn’t make the gods an exclusive part of that civilization.”
“It’s like rocket and arugula,” Dahlia offered.
“Beg pardon?” Caspian asked.
“You know. Eggplants and aubergines. Different names for the same thing.”
“Yes, but Lucifer and Hades are two separate individuals.”
“Because they claim different realms but contain similar powers. Just like Dahlia and Cain,” I pointed out.
Now everyone’s attention was on me.
“What do you mean, like Dahlia and Cain?” Dahlia asked, using a parody of my voice.
I pinched her thigh. “Behave, brat.”
“We are two sides of the same coin, baby doll. Your power compliments mine. Because you were made for me.” Hades said the words with such confidence even I had to believe him.
“We’re still working on the banshee theory?” Kai asked.
Hades shook his head. “Dahlia’s powers far surpass that of a simple banshee. She doesn’t follow any of the rules of their kind. Yes, she has their scream, but that’s in addition to her ability to see, touch, and manifest actual souls.”
“Masterson said the side effects of my scream were caused by my telepathy. Just call me Dark Phoenix,” she added in a grumpy mutter. When it became obvious none of us understood the reference, she rolled her eyes and changed the subject. “Manifest, is that what we did earlier?”