“Go, all of you. You deserve a vacation for everything you’ve done. I know I was asking a lot from all of you not to kill my entire family, and you pulled through. Barbatos told me all about Hell while we were forming an alliance. Go live it up and try not to piss off Hell royalty.”
“Thank you!” I said, jumping up and down.
Hades just gave me this cheeky wink.
“I want you to remember this the next time you feel the need to set my clothing on fire.”
Hades had this easiness about him now. I guessed that was fatherhood and knowing he didn’t have to worry about Olympus anymore. I was glad because he could be an ass when he wanted to be. If he kept this up, I wouldn’t set his trousers on fire ever again.
We didn’t even have time to pack clothes. A swirling red portal opened, and my father stepped through. He was early, and I was a mess. I wanted to be ready for this, and I wanted to impress people in Hell. I enjoyed every single outfit Pavlina made me because I felt like a badass in those. I rarely worried about trying to impress people. I did my own thing, and if people didn’t like it, they could kiss my lily-white ass, but that was before I found out my father was a duke and Hell tortured people for being offensive.
“We haven’t packed yet!”
Barbatos just shrugged.
“You don’t have to. My tailor made clothes for all of you. I told him a little about Pavlina’s skills, and he wants to swap tips. It’s all taken care of. All you have to do is step through the portal.”
This was it. I grew up thinking Earth was the only place with intelligent life. But I’d visited the Underworld, Olympus, and I was about to get my first look at Hell. I was ass crazy excited. I grabbed the nearest hands, and we jumped through.
I don’t know what I was expecting, but we landed in a plush bedroom suite. It was easily the size of my entire house back on Earth. This was way more my style than the palaces in Olympus or even Hades and Persephone’s decorating style. They’d covered the walls in black silk, and the curtains were a deep red velvet. If my stepfather would have let me decorate my bedroom like this as a teenager and we had been unbelievably rich, I totally would have done this to my bedroom.
I threw my arms around Barbatos’s neck.
“This is perfect. I love it.”
“Excellent. There are outfits laid out for all of you. Change clothes and come downstairs. I have a surprise waiting. There’s also a shower big enough for all of you if you need to bathe first.”
He said this instead of ordering Hephaestus straight to the showers to clean all the soot off, and I adored him for that. Just judging by this bedroom, Barbatos lived the high life, but he wasn’t worried about Hephaestus getting his shit dirty. Barbatos turned and left the room.
I hadn’t realized Pavlina wasn’t with us until she came streaking into the bedroom.
“You are not going to believe the bathroom in there. We need to get Hades in contact with Hell plumbers because I want one.”
“I think Barbatos has something nice planned, so whatever ideas you have for water sports will have to wait. I definitely need a shower,” Hephaestus said.
“I just want to play in the water. I’m the fucking Kraken.”
“We all need to shower,” Kimon said. “We’re perfectly capable of doing that without getting kinky.”
I definitely needed to take a shower, and my mouth dropped when I saw the bathroom. The bathtub wasn’t as splendid as Tryphon’s pool, but it was still better than any bathtub I’d ever seen on Earth. There was a wall shower that took up the better part of an entire wall. It would easily fit all of us. The person who laid the tile was a fantastic artisan, and there were showerheads positioned on all the walls.
We got clean without getting nasty, but Tryphon was right. I wanted to play in the water. We got clean without taking too long. I saw the garment bags laid out with our names embroidered in them. I usually would have pitched a fit at the idea of someone dressing me or telling me what to wear, but I was mellowing out. I loved the outfits Pavlina made me, and I was glad my father picked my outfit tonight. I didn’t want to offend anyone in Hell when I just got here.
I was a little surprised at the burgundy gown I pulled out of the bag. It was beautiful and totally backless. I’d never worn something like this in my entire life. I couldn’t even claim I had a lovely prom dress because no one asked me, and I didn’t go.
I slipped the gown over my head and zipped up the side. This had to be some material you could only get in Hell because I’d felt nothing like this before. It was soft and comfortable. I whirled around and took in my people. I realized Barbatos had been watching and getting to know them this entire time, right down to their measurements.
Every outfit his tailor made fit like a glove and fit their personalities. Pavlina had a black leather corset and A-line skirt that made her lithe body look even more impressive. Kimon was wearing these buttery soft brown trousers that had laces all down the side and gave me an ample view of his muscular thighs. Barbatos hadn’t provided him with a shirt either. Demos looked like a flame-haired prince, just like he expected to be treated. Tryphon had a robe similar to what he wore in the Underworld, but this one was purple and blue, and it showed more of his legs and chest.
“You all look fucking amazing,” I growled.
Kimon pulled me to his chest.
“That dress is doing wicked things to my thoughts, baby bird.”
We heard a knock on the door, and then it just flung open. Solron strolled in and grinned at us.
“Welcome to Hell, bitches. You’re needed downstairs.”
“Have I told you how much I love you, Solron?” I asked.
“You’ll finally get to meet Bael. He wants to meet all of you. He’s very curious about you, River. We all are. If your mother was human, you should be too.”
I gulped.
“I’m not going to end up in his dungeon getting dissected, am I?”
Solron laughed like she hadn’t spent a lot of time setting the scene it was totally possible for that to happen here.
“Nonsense. Charley and Finn are here. Why would we cut you up when we have perfectly good witches at our disposal? Right, this way.”
I was nervous about meeting the King of Hell. I was petrified when Solron threw these ornate doors open to a ballroom, and I realized Barbatos had thrown a party. I wasn’t just meeting one King of Hell. There was supposed to be seven of them. I think every single king and every duke was here. I could see Amduscias doting on Serafina on a sofa while she rested her feet.
Every single eye was on us, and you could hear a pin drop. Oh, shit. Had we already offended them? The crowd parted, and Barbatos strolled up to us. He kissed me on the cheek and raised a glass of wine to the masses.
“My missing daughter and her mates! River brought us alliances with the Underworld and Olympus!”
He said that so proudly like I had done anything more than getting kidnapped and going with the flow. Barbatos was the one that negotiated everything and brought an army. Sure, I was the one that stabbed Demeter, but I mostly shot my mouth off and got lucky in all of this.
The entire fucking room started clapping, and I just wanted to sink into the floor and die from embarrassment. I guess you were never too old for the dad you just met to embarrass you.