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GEARY TOOK A STEP BACK AT THE SIGHT OF M&039;ADOC AND the Dolophoni at least that&039;s who she assumed they were There were three of theroup, these were all women Dressed in black leather, with black hair, nails, and lipstick, they looked ed, with eyes so dark, she couldn&039;t even see where the pupils ended and the irises began All they needed was snakes in their hair to be even

Oh wait, one of them had that Black snakes slithered out of her ponytail to curl around her neck and hiss at them Lovely Just lovely

Solin moved to stand in front of Geary and Kat "This is over, M&039;Adoc"

"No, it isn&039;t Not until she&039;s"-he indicated Geary with a jerk of his chin-"dead Now either you and Katra can hand her over and leave or you two can bleed"

Solin let out an exaggerated breath "Looks like I&039; then Unlike some people I know"-he duplicated M&039;Adoc&039;s action, indicating him with his chin-" I keep my word"

M&039;Adoc narrowed his eyes before he turned his head to address the women over his shoulder "Kill theht Before she could even blink, Kat turned to her and grabbed her Kat whispered so in Atlantean and then she kissed Geary fast on the lips

Stunned beyond belief, Geary closed her eyes as she felt soh her body and Kat stepped away to confront the others For a full ten seconds Geary couldn&039;t move as indescribable power filled her It was comparable to when she&039;d held Apollyer, deadlier And this tie and not someone else The poas incredible It was as if her brain was alive and growing

And when she opened her eyes, she no longer saw in the sa was more vibrant

now More vivid

The snake-haired woed the punch and returned the bloith one so fierce, it knocked the wo Literally She cleared the ground by a good five feet before she slammed into the wall and fell to the floor The snakes hissed and strained in anger

Kat dispelled her attacker every bit as easily But Solin appeared to be reticent to strike his However, when the woed his round, then turned to face M&039;Adoc

The three woht They took a step forward in unison

"Enough!"

Geary was expecting it to be Zebulon, but it wasn&039;t Instead, there was another Dream-Hunter as leaner than M&039;Adoc and Solin He appeared between theely obeyed hi and braided down his back He was dressed all in black and held a look that said "I&039;m in the mood to kill anyone who pisses me off" But more than that, there was an aura of power around hi that it actually made the hair on the back of her neck stand up

"Whose side are you on, D&039;Alerian?" Solin asked as he wiped the blood away from his face with the back of his hand

"Ours," another man answered as he appeared beside D&039;Alerian Equal in height to D&039;Alerian, he wore his black hair cropped short and had on a pair of jeans and a -button-down shirt His eyes seemed to be a blue so pale, they looked colorless Those eyes were eerie and deadly as they settled on Geary with purpose

M&039;Adoc ss"

It was D&039;Alerian who answered "No We can&039;t let you kill the hu and this isn&039;t who and e are We protect, we don&039;t assassinate"

Kat and Solin exchanged a puzzled frown

"What&039;s going on here, M&039;Ordant?" Solin asked the newco M&039;Adoc into custody"

M&039;Adoc cursed "Are you insane? You can&039;t do this"

D&039;Alerian turned to face him "Yes, we can, and yes, we are"

The women looked confused but didn&039;t interfere as D&039;Alerian covered M&039;Adoc with soht, but it held hiht and constricted ht that all he could do was curse them

"It&039;s called a diktyon ," Kat answered Geary&039;s unasked question "It&039;s so Arteh how they"-she indicated the Dream-Hunters-"ended up with one

of them I don&039;t know"

D&039;Alerian looked at the woer required Furies, return"

They vanished instantly while M&039;Adoc continued to curse the others "Do you understand what you&039;re doing? What the gods will do to us?"

D&039;Alerian&039;s eyes were sad and dark "Sometimes our worst ene the very thing they fear us to be, and that we can&039;t allow" He aze "You understand that you can never speak a word of us to anyone?"

Like this was soht "Who would ever believe me?" she asked seriously

D&039;Alerian nodded in approval He took a s from his pinkie and placed it in Geary&039;s palm "I knohat you plan and I wish you luck with it Give this to Persephone and tell her that Neco supports you, that you&039;re calling in the favor she owes him"

Geary was baffled by his actions and his words "What?"

He closed her hand over the ring "Don&039;t question it, Megeara Just do it"

Grateful and a him "You&039;re a bossy bunch, aren&039;t you?"

One corner of M&039;Ordant&039;s lips twisted "You&039;ve no idea" An instant later, he vanished with M&039;Adoc in tow

D&039;Alerian offered her a kind s on?" Solin asked D&039;Alerian as he turned to leave

The huain as he addressed Solin over his shoulder "Nothing that concerns you, Skotos Just know that we&039;ll keep M&039;Adoc away from you"

She saw the suspicion on Solin&039;s face "Given our history, ould you do that?"

There was true regret in D&039;Alerian&039;s eyes and in his stance as he turned to face Solin The sincerity on D&039;Alerian&039;s face was heart wrenching "I rong for what I did to you, Solin I&039;m sorry"

Solin scoffed in derision "Rote words to you, Oneroi"

"No, it&039;s heartfelt, I assure you" He hesitated as if considering the repercussions before he spoke again

"Things change, Solin, and so do people Even gods"

Solin froze as he finally understood what D&039;Alerian was telling him "After all this time, you trust me?"

D&039;Alerian nodded "Arik did, and you proved yourself by protecting Megeara even when it could have cost you your life You had nothing to gain and everything to lose I think that makes you trustworthy"

Then he did theof all He offered his hand to Solin "Brothers"

"Brothers," Solin said, taking D&039;Alerian&039;s hand and shaking it "Thank you"

He inclined his head to them before he vanished

Kat cocked her head as she frowned over their exchange "What did I just ," Solin said quickly "It&039;s just Oneroi weirdness" He let out a deep breath as he faced them He smiled at Geary "Last I heard, Persephone was on Olyo there, but Kat can and she can take you with her"

Geary didn&039;t understand that He was a god and should be as welcoo there?"

"Solin is under a death warrant," Kat explained "There are too ht if he were ever duh to pop into their backyard"

"Oh," Geary said in understanding Hoful for hiry over them in the past It sounded like he was fully entitled to it

Geary stepped forward and kissed him on his cheek "Thank you for your help, Solin I really appreciate it and I&039;m sure Arik does, too"

Solin nodded "Just aze burned into hers "If you get Arik back, you won&039;t be stupid again Love is a rare thing, Megeara Hold on to it with both hands"

Tears gathered in her eyes as she realized he was speaking fro with her But his words were too genuine to be an arbitrary recitation "I fully intend to"

"Then it&039;s worth it"

That confused her "What is?"

Solin chucked her gently on the chin "Whatever they throw at me" He inclined his head to Kat "You two kids have fun, and good luck" Then he vanished, too

Geary frowned at Kat "Is it just e?"

"No," she breathed, "it wasn&039;t You&039;re justpart of the story Res Some of them were in love and even had families at the ti went through Geary as she noted the ominous tone of Kat&039;s voice "What happened to their fary"

It didn&039;t take a genius to ascertain what that would have led to "He killed theuessed it, she was still aghast that he&039;d be so callous to his own faathered in Geary&039;s eyes as the nitude of their punishine the horror that they h No wonder M&039;Adoc was psycho "Did Solin-"

"No," Kat said quickly, cutting her off "He was the family they tried to destroy and he survived by the skin of his nose"

"Arik told me that, too God, I feel so bad for the to be done for theainst Zeus, and that takes od power than e have" She offered Geary a sht be able to help"

She was right Before they plotted a war, they needed to win a battle, and Geary was ready to take on all of Olyet on it"

GEARY DIDN&039;T REALLY KNOW WHAT TO EXPECT FROM Olyods True, she&039;d spent the whole of her life listening to her father and grandfather tell stories about them But that had only been speculation on everyone&039;s part

Now she was actually here

And it was scary and invigorating to know that those legends were real That things she&039;d taken for granted as fiction weren&039;t Wow

Just like the stories told, Oly The weather was perfect Not too hot Not too cold It was like aday The sky was so blue as to be unreal in its celestial hue, and the reen The air was fresh and laced with a sweet scent She&039;d never experienced anything like this

Dreamy was the only word for it

But what fascinated her most was that she could look down and see the world below in all its glory through the ods isolated from the world

"This is incredible"

Kat smiled "Yeah, I know" She looked around with pride "I was raised here"

Geary couldn&039;t i a childhood like that "Really?"

"Yes" Kat pointed to a large circular gold building at the end of the golden cobblestoned street "That is Arteirl, I used to sneak out of it and run to there"-she pointed to another temple at the opposite end-"to Athena&039;s tehed at the memory "It used tofeud with each other over soo And Artemis wanted me to stay as far away from Athena as I could"

"But you couldn&039;t resist, huh?"

Her s to Arte her"

Geary laughed as she looked around and saw three fawns sprinting across the walk ahead of theli "I can&039;t believe this is real"

"Oh, believe it Scary as it can be" Kat pointed to a huge hall old and ivory that was on a hilltop above thereat hall where everyone gathers to nificent as the rest of the area Truly, it was like walking in a drea?"

"No Persephone doesn&039;t play politics Even though Zeus is her father, she only goes there when she&039;s summoned, especially since Hera can&039;t stand her because she&039;s one of Zeus&039;s bastards She tries her best to stay out of their business" Kat pointed to another of the buildings down the street "She&039;llout at her mother&039;s temple"

Geary followed Kat as she crossed the street and they were almost run over by a blur

"Her!"

"No time" A faint voice drifted back to theely re but dust was left in his wake

"That happen a lot?" she asked Kat

"Yeah, he&039;s always in a hurry You have to be really careful or he&039;ll run you down It&039;s like being hit by a Mack truck, too Bloody bastard"

Okay no hostility there

But luckily no one else tried to mow them down as they walked the short distance to the s Geary paused outside to look up It was only about half as tall as everything around it and not very large Though it was still beautiful and bigger than any home Geary&039;s family had ever owned, it lacked s around it had "Why is this so sed as she looked up at it "Demeter isn&039;t one for pretense She&039;s very si forward, Kat opened the door to a massive foyer that was made of marble so white, it hurt her eyes to look at it The entire room was surrounded by columns that were carved to look like people

And as Kat and Geary entered, one of the ht opened its eyes to stare at thes you here, Katra?" the statue asked in ancient Greek

Kat was co statue was addressing her, while Geary gaped at it

"I want a ith Persephone"

"She is in the garden," a female statue answered before she pointed to the opposite set of doors "But she is not in a happy mood, so be warned"

"Thanks, Chloe"

Befuddled, Geary trailed along through the doors that opened of their own volition into a entle as it stirred the scent of hyacinth and lilac "Ooo, nice"

At least that hat she thought until they heard so is crap, Moht, cadent voice whined from the bushes in front of the to be co the earth, plant some crap, do this, do that Blah!"

"Seph?"

The bushes rustled before a sled out from between them Geary hid her smile as a very petite and extrereen overalls and a white T-shirt, she had dirt smeared across one cheek and on the tip of her nose Her hands were covered by large gardening gloves while green and brown leaves were stuck in her upswept hair that stillher hands out and sent the gloves flying to the ground

"Hi, Kat," she said as if completely unperturbed by the fact that they&039;d overheard her complaints

"What&039;s up?"

"I wanted" Kat&039;s voice trailed off as a small set of flowers started to move toward the woods

Persephone blasted thehed, then sent her gloves to go pull up ?" Kat asked with a frown

"Revenge," Persephone said proudly "It&039;s a ss in life that mean so much"

Kat cocked a brow and looked at Geary before she asked for clarification "Revenge on who and for what?"

"My arden "Sticks odforsaken place nine rateful for it Meanwhile all I want is to be

with ful look "Have you any idea how hard it is to go nine months out of the year with no sex when you&039;re married to such a fine piece of od of fertility instead of the god of death?" She paused in her tirade as she finally saw Geary over Kat&039;s shoulder "And you are?"

"She&039;s a friend Megeara, meet Persephone"

Persephone frowned sternly as she raked a gaze over Geary&039;s body "You&039;re not the Fury Megeara, are you?"

"No, but I was named after her"

"Ah" Persephone extended her hand as her features softened "Nice toback at Kat "What brings you two here?"

"We"-Kat indicated the two of them with a wave of her hand-"are in need of some serious help"

Persephone scoffed " I&039;ave Geary a hopeless seara, but bear with me I&039;m so horny I could die and arden Weed! What is she, insane?"

This was definitely oddess

"Yeah, and on that happy note," Kat said with a hint of laughter in her voice, "it&039;s your husband who brings us here"

"Oh, what&039;d he do now?"

"Made a pact with a Dream-Hunter anted to be human Now the Dreaet hi summation Kat had come up with Geary would have never been so succinct

Persephone screwed her face up "That&039;s a bummer You know Hades doesn&039;t like to let anyone leave

Ever He&039;s kind of attached to those souls"

"I love Arik," Geary said, her voice cracking "I&039;ll do anything to get hied at Geary&039;s words

Persephone motioned for her to lower her voice "Don&039;t say that too loudly around here There are a lot of folks ould take you up on it, and bargaining with a god is what got you guys into this mess in the first place"

"I&039;m sorry," Geary said quickly "But I do love hiods have really screwed her over They&039;ve taken al that we ht be able to help her just this once"

Persephone shook her head "You know the rules, Kat"

Geary frowned "What rules?"

"Quid pro quo," Kat said irritably "You have to give sood"

Oh, that was just wonderful But it still didn&039;t stop Geary She had to get Arik freed "Tell me what I have to do"

Persephone looked surprised by Geary&039;s response "She&039;s an eager little bunny, isn&039;t she?"

"She&039;s desperate, Seph Of all people, I think you can relate to what it&039;s like to be taken away from the one you love"

Persephone nodded "Yeah, and you picked the rightD&039;Alerian had given her "Wait!" She pulled it out of her pocket

"One of the Oneroi gave ive it to you and to tell you that Neco wanted to call in his favor"

She saw the pain in Persephone&039;s eyes as she took the ring from Geary&039;s hand Persephone&039;s eyes shimmered froertip "Hoas he doing?"

Kat gave her a sad s on her thumb before she nodded "Well, there you have it Neco is trading in his favor for this, so it&039;s Neco you owe"

Who is Neco? Gearyto understand exactly as going on And who she owed for this favor

"Neco is D&039;Alerian"

Geary was floored by the news "Why would he trade his favor in for me?"

Persephone brushed away her tears "Because entle man He doesn&039;t like to see anyone suffer and he hates injustice I i he feels they&039;ve taken from you"

Still, Geary didn&039;t understand "Isn&039;t that hard to do for sos?"

Persephone didn&039;t respond

Kat, on the other hand, scowled at the , isn&039;t it?"

Persephone gave a subtle nod "But you can&039;t tell anyone, Kat No one I won&039;t have Neco punished again Father was more harsh on him than the others because he was his son If he ever learns this"

"Don&039;t worry," Kat assured her, "I won&039;t tell anyone Keeping secrets is what I&039;m best at"

"Good," Persephone breathed "They&039;ve all been through enough"

Geary shook her head "But I don&039;t understand I thought the Oneroi were the sons of Hypnos and Morpheus?"

"Some of the Oneroi are," Persephone said quietly "Neco is my half brother He was born of Zeus and D&039;Aria, one of the original Oneroi So long as one of their parents is an Oneroi, then they inherit those powers and are given those duties"

Geary rubbed her brow as she tried to uys have the hed "Believe me, we know"

"Yeah, and you don&039;t ever want to try and figure out Kat&039;s It&039;s scary" Persephone craned her neck to look around the yard "Couys, we have to hurry If one, she&039;ll launch a tornado or soarden, in the next they were in a dark, stinking cavern Geary held her hand to her nose in an effort to squelch the awful s her features up in distaste, Persephone waved her hand in front of her face "Cerebus&039;s dinner

We picked a bad tih a door that opened into a large throne roo ebony walls But what held her enthralled was the gorgeouson a black throne that was th black wavy hair, he was absolutely stunning

And ripped

Dressed in black leather arod of death It sent a ripple of fear over her, but even so, she understood why Persephone had been attracted to hi

And as Persephone neared him and he saw her, the look of joy on his face actually made Geary&039;s heart ache He rose slowly to his feet

"Seph," he breathed as if he were drea, he scooped her up in his arms and twirled around with her "Oh, ain before he kissed her soundly

Kat cleared her throat Loudly "Sorry for the interruption, but before clothing starts to fly or disintegrate, I wanted to remind you two that you&039;re not alone"

Persephone blushed at the sarowled at them He took a step toward Kat, but his wife stopped hiht, Hades We have to be quick before one and thinks that you&039;ve kidnappedwe need is for her to call out my father"

Hades cursed under his breath "Like I fear that bastard"

"Hades," Persephone chided

He relented, but by his face Geary could tell he did so reluctantly "So why are they here?"

"They co a soul"

He scowled at his wife "Whose?"

"Arikos," Kat said

Hades looked even more confounded "The Skotos?"

Geary nodded

"He&039;s not here"

"What?" Geary asked in disbelief, her heart sinking

"Arikos hasn&039;t made his way here," Hades repeated "If he had, I would know it I have a bone to pick with that bastard, too"

Kat ignored Hades&039; heated tone "We were told he&039;s on the other side of the river Styx and isn&039;t able to cross M&039;Adoc killed him and didn&039;t bury hi"

"Why would M&039;Adoc do that?" But before they could answer, Hades shook his head "That little bugger

Trying to pull one on me He doesn&039;t wantbastard And you" He looked at Megeara "You&039;re the human Arikos bartered for You&039;re supposed to be here in his stead So have you coe places with him?"

Geary couldn&039;t speak as fear took root in her

But before she could think of so to say, Persephone slapped Hades on the ar the spot she&039;d hit, he scowled at her "Start what? Arikos and I had a bargain"

"So what?" Persephone asked in an irritated tone "Do youto stand there and ain," he said defensively

"Yes, and ain, too, and look how that&039;s turned out I can&039;t believe you would do this to soht you were different"

His features turned placating "Baby, I am"

"No, you&039;re not You&039;re just like themYou intend to break up two lovers and for what? A stupid, ain You who kno much it hurts to be away fro so cold andho back"

His dark eyes snapped fire "You have to coaze on hi here, but I have a choice about where I sleep once I&039; ground "You wouldn&039;t dare"

Persephone put her hands on her hips as she stared down the man as practically twice her size It would have been coe on the outcome "You break these two up and it&039;ll be a cold day in Hephaestus&039;s forge before you enter et Eros to make you impotent Yeah Forever That&039;ll teach you"