Page 216 of Psycho Gods

I pulled away, but the corners of my mouth lifted into a grin as she fussed over us like we were children.

“Nonsense. I’m sure someone has produced another child by now.” She winked, and the king shook his head at her antics.

The royal blood was renowned for being too powerful to procreate.

They’d lived too long.

Immortality was both a curse and penance.

Before our mother, no woman had been strong enough to bear a child of our family’s legacy. The embryos killed the mothers, and consequently themselves.

We were the king’s miracle children.

We were his secret.

“Hades, prepare their room,” the queen boomed authoritatively as she smacked John’s wide bicep and tsked. “They’re withering away. The boys clearly need to eat. They don’t look well.”

She snapped her fingers at the king.

“Yes, Athena,” the king said, then he grumbled under his breath about meddling women and went off to find a servant.

Aunt’s smile fell as he disappeared down the hall, and she turned to us. “Now that Hades is gone, tell me, boys. Honestly. What’s going on? You don’t look well, and I can feel your energy. It is disturbed.”

“We’re not sure.” I rubbed at my sternum. The emptiness was a tangible chasm.

Her frown deepened. “Now that you’re back at Olympus, we can figure this out.” She leaned forward and gave us both kisses on the cheek.

I withstood her touch because I knew she needed it.

With a dramatic flourish of her gown, she led us down the hall where the king had disappeared. Toward the kitchens.

Her heels clacked loudly across the white marble floors.

Servants ran out from the wings to polish the floor behind us as we walked, and I ignored the bustle of the palace like I always did.

“What have you boys done?” she asked, her eyes filling with fear. “I gave you the jewels because you said you were in love. Yet you come back appearing wan and depleted. Did she reject your advances?”

“She accepted,” John said, and his voice cracked like just thinking about Aran being realms away was killing him.

It made sense.

It was killing me.

“That’s not our problem. Something else has gone wrong,” I said as she led us deeper into the castle.

She stopped walking abruptly, and all three of us halted.

Her olive-toned skin leeched of color, and she looked like she’d seen a Minotaur. Her eyes were unfocused, and she grabbed at her emerald necklace. “I think I know what’s wrong,” she said cryptically. “It’s the enchanted jewels.”

John’s eyes widened.

Her fear was contagious.

“What do you mean?” I demanded as I pulled my twin behind me, a reflexive protective instinct I’d never grown out of. “What did you do?” I shouted, my skin crawling with worry.

Her head snapped in my direction. “It’s not what I’ve done—it’s what’s been done to her.”

Chapter 39