Chapter Twenty-Two

Definitely Apollyon.

He looked almost exactly like the depictions in the documentaries I'd seen. He was described as not only fucking stunningly sexy, but fearsome and badass. However, the documentaries never said where he, or his wife for that matter, had gone off to. Supposedly, they had disappeared shortly before Hades had become established. Rumors said they'd committed murder-suicide in order to avoid the supposed betrayal of the Windstorm clan they had worked so hard to create.

According to legend, Apollyon and Lilith sired at least six kids. Astaroth, Paimon, Windstorm, Belial, Oriens, and Egin. Together, they were supposed to bring about the Christian apocalypse, or so said the archangels. Some legends said they were trying to form their own army to destroy the realms. But the Windstorm clan, whose very first member was Mr. Windstorm himself, were devout followers of Apollyon and Lilith, so a lot of the texts came from their families archives. The archives claimed Apollyon and Lilith simply wanted to get revenge on Yhwhwa for casting them out of Heaven, so they launched a holy war against them. Apparently it destroyed the human realm pretty badly, to the point where Yhwhwa tried to cover it all up with a massive flood to reset what had happened.

In the process, Apollyon and Lilith had lost most of their children, save for Windstorm and Astaroth. They retreated to Hades to find safety. There, Windstorm had met a female and had begun to start a family. Astaroth, on the other hand, had been furious that his parents had fled with their tails between their legs. Supposedly, he'd tried to kill both of them, but he was stopped by the mighty Windstorm and sealed away for eternity... Or something like that.

Apollyon and Lilith once again fled, this time leaving Windstorm to care for the family he had started. From there, the Windstorm had become very tight knit and powerful. Sometime after Hades arrived in the Greek underworld, he offered the Windstorm clan protection and riches beyond their wildest dreams if they gave up their control of Tartarus. The Windstorm clan agreed and that was why the Windstorm clan was so stuffy and rich now.

After that, the texts were blurry at best. The Windstorm clan never confirmed what happened to Apollyon and Lilith. They claimed it was to protect them. Others said they honestly had no clue. Whispers flew that they were dead.

Yeah. Not really.

Considering I was staring Apollyon dead in the face.

"Sup," I said after a moment. Apollyon frowned at that, cocking his head to study me with those fiery eyes. He seemed to be examining me closely. He stepped forward, and despite all the chains on that shiny clean black armor, he didn't make a single sound, not even his massive wings that flared for a moment before folding up behind him, but they didn't disappear, almost like they knew they would be needed soon.

Great.

I realized, as he started to circle me, that I was hovering somehow. Some kind of magic was holding me aloft in the air so he could walk all the way around me, scanning me from head to toe. I almost panicked, thinking I was fucking naked and defenseless, but I was wearing some kind of silky pale blue baggy outfit. I didn't care for the material, too gauzy and almost see-through.

Apollyon didn't say anything for a while, just circled me before he came to stand in front of me again, this stern frown on his face as he stared up at me.

"I'm sorry," I said after a moment, making him arch a brow, "Do I have something stuck in my asscrack or something?" Apollyon's eyebrows slammed down, like he was very displeased with that, but he didn't get a chance to say anything because there was the sound of a door opening somewhere and a relieved feminine sigh.

"Oh, thank the Source, he's still alive." I turned my head to see a female coming into the picture, and where Apollyon was fucking sexy, she was dropdead gorgeous. Her skin was white as snow, her wavy hair as black as night, eyes the color of blood, and sleek fangs that peeked out from her blue painted lips. She wore her own set of armor, shiny and black as well, with a long flowing red cape that trailed the cave floor behind her. She glanced at me for a moment, then went right to Apollyon to cup his face in her hands.

"Oh, lovely, don't make such a face. You're going to scare the poor baby," she crooned, her accent thick and rolling. Apollyon just wrinkled his brow some more in a deeper frown and the female, who I knew was Lilith now, grinned and poked between his brows before she turned slowly to face me.

"My, my," she murmured, coming forward and bringing a long black fingernail to touch her lower lip, "You are just so deliciously cute. Look at those pretty blue eyes and that golden hair. You look so much like Lucifer, it's like someone cloned him-- Ope, well, I guess that's what artificials are in a way, aren't they?"

"Don't get too close, Lily," Apollyon warned, coming forward to take her by the wrist, pulling her back from me, "We don't know anything about him yet." Lilith grinned.

"But he's a son of Lucifer, and if he's a son of Lucifer, he's a son of sweet Hades. We can trust both of them, can we not? After all, if it wasn't for Lucifer, you would be dead. Were it not for Hades, I would be dead. We owe them a great deal," she pointed out, making Apollyon's eyebrow twitch.

"All Lucifer did was talk," Apollyon growled, making Lilith tsk.

"How rude. He did a lot more than that," she said, then shrugged and turned back to smile up at me before turning back to Apollyon, "Get him down from there. He needs to learn to walk with that new weight." I scowled in confusion, then gasped as suddenly whatever magic was holding me up let go and I hit the cave floor. I groaned in pain as Lilith turned and whacked Apollyon in the chest.

"I meant let him down nicely, damn, baby!" she exclaimed, making Apollyon simply stare straight ahead with a bored expression.

"You didn't specify."

"I shouldn't have to. He's just a baby."

"Not... a fucking baby... Fuck," I groaned, trying to push myself up, but it felt like I was carrying the weight of the fucking universe on my shoulders. For a brief moment, I almost felt sorry for Atlas.

"Oh, oh, get up carefully, sweetie," Lilith said, coming forward to lay her cold hand on my shoulder, "Your wings are still tender."

"Wings...?" I looked at her, confused, then grimaced as I felt something heavy on my back shifting and moving like it had a mind of its own. I looked up to see a pair of black leathery wings sprouting out from my back, spreading out and reaching for the ceiling.

"Those don't look like angel wings," I managed, noting the webbed look that reminded me a lot of a bat's wings, but somehow much bigger and much scarier looking, especially with the tips having some kind of sharp talon.

"Of course not," Lilith said with a grin, "Your daddy is an angel, but your other daddy is a god. Yhwhwa specifically made sure his angels couldn't procreate with gods. Or, well, he tried to anyway. He kind of sucks at his job, doesn't he?" I grimaced at her, then looked across the cave to where Apollyon watched with an intense stare.

"What the fuck am I doing here?" I mumbled.

"Oh, this isn't really you," Lilith said, making me frown and look at her as she backed up to give me space to struggle to stand, "This is your astral form. Your spirit. We could never allow your physical being to be here." She grinned and leaned in again, putting her hand up so she was acting like she was whispering a secret to me.

"We're in hiding," she said, then backed away, "Plus, it would be incredibly mean of us to yank Hades's baby out from under him. He specifically made us promise not to play with any of his babies."

"Sure feels like I'm being played with," I muttered, struggling to stay standing as my wings shifted and fluttered, "Gods, these things hurt." Lilith nodded.

"They'll be quite a pain in the back," she said, then paused as if waiting for me to laugh and I just stared at her and she sighed, "Okay, I tried. Anyway, yes. It takes some getting used to. You should've seen Apolly when he got his wingy-dingies. He was stumbling like a drunkard all over the place. Now look at him. He can stay upright, unless he's drunk. And boy is he a cutie-patootie when he's drunk--" Apollyon cleared his throat loudly and deliberately, and I was surprised to see that he was blushing kind of hard, even in the dim lighting.

"Right," Lilith added, "Anyway, time to get down to business. We see you've taken an interest in our grandson, River." I blinked, then looked at her.

"You know River," I said, making her beam, "That means... I was right! He does have your blood in his veins."

"Oh yes," Lilith said with a cheerful smile, clasping her hands together excitedly, "He's our favorite grandbaby. He's such a sweetie. Ah, if only Magdalena were still around. She was such a good friend of mine. I purposely sent her to Cypress. I guess you could say I was playing matchmaker."

"But she was a succubus. The Windstorm clan hate succubi," I said, then paused, "Or just females in general." Lilith's smile faltered for a moment before it returned, but this time a bit more sinisterly as her fangs peeked out of her mouth.

"Oh yes, I know all about the stupid laws Windstorm implemented. I don't know how he turned out that way considering how much I had to spank him. Gods, it's like no matter what you try to teach children, they simply will not listen," she said, "I suppose he got what was coming to him anyway."

"Nice way to talk about your kid," I muttered. Lilith cocked her head, but kept that smile on her face.

"Oh, no, see... I do not trust any of my children," she said with a chuckle, "Why should I after what Astaroth did to us?" She looked at Apollyon, who shut his eyes hard and his jaw clenched, like the reminder was a bit too painful to bear.

"But never you mind that," Lilith said, waving a hand dismissively, "We're not here to discuss the past, but the very bright and beautiful future that I see lies ahead of us."

"Bright and beautiful future?" I asked dryly. Lilith smiled and came forward now, reaching out and taking my hands in hers. My instinct was to shake her off, but I found myself unable to move at all. I stared at her, a little panicked because this was something the Mother had always done to me when I wouldn't listen to her.

And somehow, as if sensing that, Lilith immediately stepped back and I was able to take a step back myself.

"Oh," Lilith said, her expression turning sad now, "I'm sorry, that wasn't meant to scare you."

"I'm not scared," I snapped defensively. Lilith blinked, then smiled slowly now.

"No, I suppose not," she murmured, "You are strong and fierce like your daddies. Righteous and just. You seek revenge on Hera and her puny army of worms for hurting you, for hurting your family. And you're kind of itching to put the assholes who hurt our River in the ground. I got that right, right?" I frowned.

"For the most part," I muttered. Lilith smiled.

"Good. Nothing would give me the shivers more than watching that slimy bitch choke on the flames of Tartarus, and I mean that for Hera and the Windstorm clan," she added.

"The Windstorm clan? Even though they're your children's children?" I asked. Lilith scoffed.

"You see how they treat my River, how they've treated you. They've dared to raise a finger against the purest of the bloodline. Magdalena may not have been of my blood, but she was of my soul. Magdalena was the only friend I could trust in the world, aside from my Apolly. I knew she was right for the job to convert Cypress. He was already being poisoned by his father. It was only a matter of time before they rose up and attacked Hades, and that I could not allow."

"What's your relationship with Hades?" I asked. Lilith glanced at Apollyon, who averted his eyes, so she turned back to me.

"Hades protected us," she said, making me frown, "He knew all about us. He promised he'd protect us as we made our escape."

"I thought you left after Hades arrived."

"No, we left just as he did," she murmured, then sighed, "Ah, he was such a sweetheart. He gave us everything we'd need to get away and hide from our treacherous babies. And lucky him! The Source blessed him with many a wonderful baby. I must admit, I'm a bit jealous. What I wouldn't give to have just one loyal child... But alas, no matter what you do for your children, they will never be thankful. I'm not saying times were hard, they certainly were with Heaven trying to kill both Apolly and I."

"But anyway, that is neither here nor there," Lilith said after a moment, "Right now, we must face the task at hand and that is that Apolly and I give you our blessing to marry River."

"All this just to tell me it's cool I marry your grandson?" I asked dryly. Lilith grinned a little, teasing her lower lip with her fingernail before she looked at Apollyon, who frowned slowly.

"Well, that and you will need a little help learning how to use your newfound abilities and while Hades and Lucifer are certainly good teachers, even they don't have the powers that an angel mutant has," she admitted, making Apollyon stiffen.

"Lily, no--"

"He needs a teacher," Lilith exclaimed, gesturing to me, "He needs someone to show him the ropes and he already knows the basics. You just need to show him what you superpowered antichrists or whatever can do. There are things you can do that no god or angel can do. Surely he will have those abilities as well." Apollyon grimaced.

"If I were to show up and offer that to Hades, he'll kill us," he said, making Lilith frown, "Hades helped us once, but he won't do it again, especially if it involves his son. He specifically told us to never touch or speak to any of his children. We're already toeing the line by summoning his spirit here. Once Hades catches on that it was us who connected to him, he'll come gunning for us."

"If we explain things, he'll understand," Lilith said simply, "He's a logical god. For once."

"Not that logical," I said flatly, making them look at me, "Hades is adamantly against my marrying River." Lilith blinked, then scowled.

"Whyever so? River is the perfect marriage candidate. He's handsome and smart and powerful and he's actually quite funny when he wants to be," she added. I rolled my eyes, then averted them.

"I mean, I fucking know that, but Hades doesn't give a shit," I replied, making her frown, "The bastard has control issues. He'd never let it go down. That's what I'm working on right now, convincing him this is the best course of action. With your army on our side, we can get rid of Hera once and for all." Lilith cocked her head from side to side before looking at Apollyon.

"What, does he think River isn't good enough for him?" She asked. Apollyon frowned.

"No one is good enough for anyone's children," he responded, which made her shrug as if she understood, "But that's not the point. There's another reason Hades doesn't want River near his son." I looked at him and he stared back. For a moment, I wasn't sure what was going on until I felt something wiggling in the back of my head. It was that feeling you got when you felt like you were forgetting something, except you weren't because someone was just fucking around in your head. I cursed and threw up the image of a peach to cockblock him, but that fucker bulldozed right through it and a headache spiked at my frontal lobe, making me curse and clutch my head.

"Baby, don't be rude!" Lilith exclaimed, reaching for my shoulder to steady me when I stumbled. I peered up at Apollyon breathlessly and watched those fiery eyes flash and flicker for a moment, like there was lightning behind those flames. A moment later, it seemed to settle and Apollyon's expression changed into something I couldn't understand. He saw what had happened to me, that much I knew, but he wasn't disgusted or angry. If I didn't know any better, I'd say it was almost like he understood.

"Hades is trying to protect him," Apollyon said after a moment, making Lilith blink and turn to look at him, "But he's doing it in the wrong way. Shielding this child from the truth will only make it more difficult. Sometimes we need to face our greatest fears in order to move on." I glared at him.

"I'm not scared of anything," I snapped. Apollyon's eyes seemed to soften.

"No, not right now you aren't. But you feel it in episodes," he murmured, making me frown, "You feel it in your nightmares. You feel it when someone touches you. When someone looks at you the wrong way. When you're alone in the darkness of that big empty room in the palace. You ache for something that you are afraid of, because you don't understand that touch... is not always a bad thing." Lilith blinked, then backed away from me to look at me. Apollyon held his hand out to her and Lilith immediately went to him to place her hand in his. Apollyon drew her close and placed a kiss on her knuckles and Lilith smiled faintly at that. He leaned down and touched his lips to her forehead firmly, and his brows seemed to twist in pain for a moment before he drew Lilith to his side.

"Touch from someone who loves you unconditionally, someone who cares for you so deeply, will never hurt. I assure you that River would never, ever hurt you in that way, but my words are meaningless. You need to face him yourself and work through it yourself. If you can overcome this fear, you can show Hades that you are ready. Until then, he will continue to see fear in your eyes and he will stop at nothing to make sure you never feel it again. And I understand that more than you could possibly know," Apollyon muttered, stroking Lilith's hair and touching her cheek, which seemed to make her purr, "Hades loves you dearly. But he doesn't know how to help you properly, because he is scared for you. The only person who can help you is you."

I frowned. That didn't make sense to me, because Hades did not love me at all. I felt nothing, but malice roll off Hades in waves since the day we met. Yeah, sure, he was constantly trying to heal me, but that meant absolutely nothing. The guardians back at the compound healed me, but they went right back to injuring me anyway. Plus, I saw the way Hades looked at me. He didn't want me in that palace anymore than I wanted to be there. He always turned his back on me, always walked away from me, always tried to plant obstacles in my way to prevent me from fucking moving forward.

But I did believe him about facing this shit myself. I just wasn't entirely sure what I was supposed to be figuring out on my own.

A strange fissure cut through the air and Apollyon cursed, stepping forward and Lilith jumped.

"Ope! That sounds like Hades," she said, looking at Apollyon nervously. Apollyon looked at me.

"You have to marry River. You are indeed correct. Without him, you will be weakened and unable to face Hera. The Windstorm clan will follow you when they see your powers. They will see the image of myself and they will do what you command, but you need to prove yourself first. Show them that you are a leader and that you mean business. And protect River. He is all we have left in the world, and I assure you he will make not only a fine husband, but a fine partner in crime, as Lilith calls it." Lilith beamed at that and gave me a little wave. Another fissure cut through and I grimaced, tilting my head back to stare up at the ceiling as something seemed to be splitting the ground open, almost like a bright blindingly blue light.

"Trust me," Apollyon said over the roar overhead, making me look at him, meeting those fiery eyes, "The universe needs you both now more than ever. The universe needs others like you. It is time for us to stop living in the past. It has done nothing, but repeat itself over and over again until now. Do not let the mistakes of the past repeat, Four. Gather your army. Fight. And do not stop until you have received peace." There was a loud crack and I jerked my head up again in time for the light to come pouring out of the ceiling and shine down on me. I cursed, lifting my hands up to block the light from my eyes.

It felt like there was some kind of insane earthquake happening. Rocks and debris crumbled from the ceiling and rained down around me, but it bounced off wherever the light was shining. I blinked rapidly, trying to find Apollyon and Lilith in the raining debris, but when I looked up, all I saw was the tail end of Lilith's long cape disappearing through a door, a door that swallowed itself up and vanished from sight. All around the room, the candles poofed into smoke and disappeared.

A second later, the light overhead was gone and I was surrounded by darkness. I blinked a few times as the sensations around me seemed to change. I no longer felt the rocks of the cave under my feet. In fact, I wasn't standing anymore, but laying flat on my stomach and my head turned to the side. I felt the familiar soft fluffiness of my bed back at the palace and I blinked a few more times as the darkness faded from the edges of my vision and I found myself staring across the room at my closet doors.

"The bleeding has stopped," Hades's voice said from somewhere behind me and I felt some mild tugging and pressure on my back, "Christ on a fucking stick. Those are not angel wings."

"No," came Lucy's voice, and it sounded strange, like he was upset, "They are not." Hell, if I didn't know any better, I'd say Lucy was pretty disappointed. Chalk it up as another thing that made these guys warm and cuddly around me. I rolled my eyes.

"Can I get up?" I asked hoarsely. I heard scrambling and Hades and Lucy were standing in front of me. Hades didn't answer as he reached out to pull at my eyelid and I grimaced, smacking his hand away. Without waiting for a response, I propped myself up on my hands, my arms trembling for a moment from the newfound weight on my back. I glanced back and my wings fluttered a little, almost like they were greeting me. I looked at Hades, who stepped back and frowned. Lucy also stepped back and watched as my wings flared a little, bumping into the ceiling before settling down.

I pushed myself back up onto my knees, sucking in a deep breath as the weight shifted on my back, my skin and muscles pulling in places I didn't recognize.

I tilted my head back in a stretch and my wings followed suit, flaring out again, but this time stretching out instead of up so there was no more ceiling crashing. I sat back and my wings folded themselves up, but didn't disappear. I grimaced.

"These fuckers are heavy," I muttered.

"You'll get used to them," Lucy said, but he still sounded weird, probably bummed I didn't have angel wings. Hades glanced at him, then looked at me with a stern frown.

"You went somewhere," he said immediately, making me raise an eyebrow, "Where did you go?" I cocked my head, then shrugged and folded my arms over my chest and gave him an innocent stare.

"No idea. One second I was getting in the bath and the next I'm waking up in bed. Why? Did I go somewhere?" I asked. Hades's blue eyes flared and glowed bright, and for a split second, I felt something in the back of my head, like Hades was trying to burrow in there to figure out what I was talking about, but suddenly blood gushed from his nose and he cursed, reaching up to clamp a hand over his nose.

"Cool," I stated, scooting to the edge of the bed as Lucy grabbed a bunch of toilet paper from the bathroom and came back to hold it to Hades's nose. Lucy frowned and looked at Hades, who glanced at him, and once again they were having their telepathic conversations that no one else was privy to.

You can't read his mind, you know.

It was worth a fucking try. He definitely went somewhere, that little shit.

Could this have something to do with Apollyon?

Has to. Those wings are not regular angel wings.

They look like...

I know.

Or something along those lines. I lost interest in screenwriting their dialogue and slid off the bed to the floor. My legs wobbled for a moment, but I quickly caught my balance and sighed in relief that I didn't faceplant on the floor for once.

"Wow," I said after a moment, making them look at me, "I am fucking starving. Do we have potatoes? I want french fries. And not just the large combo meal at MickeyD's, but like, six of those. Or a whole cow." Hades scowled, then looked at Lucy, who shook his head as a response.

"Perhaps wait here," Lucy said at last, stepping away from Hades as he staunched his nosebleed, "I'll bring you something to eat. River would also like to check on you, considering he's the one that found you in the tub." I tried really hard not to react to that, but it was fucking hard when my wings didn't get the fucking memo and fluttered as a response, making Hades narrow his eyes. Lucy seemed to almost smile, but quickly wiped it off his face when Hades shot him a glare.

"Let's give him a moment, Hades," Lucy said gently, touching Hades's shoulder. Hades shrugged him off and stormed past him to the door, stopping short to turn and glare at me.

"Do not leave this motherfucking palace. On foot or in the sky, I will find you and I will drag you back here myself and I guarantee you will not like it," he warned, then turned and left the room. Lucy watched him go, then turned back to me.

"He's just worried," Lucy assured. I smirked.

"Yeah, sure. I won't be terrorizing the locals," I replied, making Lucy frown, "Yet." Lucy looked uncomfortable with that response and left the room, shutting the door behind him. I breathed out a sigh of relief at the tension they took out of the room with them. I immediately went to the bathroom to look at the wings on my back.

"Holy fuck, that's cool," I murmured, turning to the side and watching my wings flutter a bit before unfolding slightly, like they were trying to show off for me. The talons at the tips curled a little, then extended, almost like a coaxing finger.

This was way cool. Definitely better than a pair of feathery chicken wings, that's for damn sure. They were definitely creepy, but in the coolest way possible. They looked a lot like Apollyon's, and Apollyon was a badass, so knowing we had something in common was kind of exciting. If Apollyon could be that amazing, the potential for me to get there was high, right? We obviously shared some similarities. Could I be that badass? Could I lead an entire army against the Mother? Whoop her ass and stuff it back into the dark hole she came from?

"Oh yeah," I said, answering myself as I turned in the mirror again. I turned to face the bathroom door, then stopped when I saw River in the bedroom, staring at me with his lips parted slightly, his eyes wide.

"Hey," I exclaimed, "Look, I got wings!" River stared at me for the longest time, then surprised me when he came forward and managed to put his arms around me without hurting my wings or back. All I managed was a little oomph as my face plastered against his chest. His hands gently stroked my arms and I felt his relieved breath against my neck. It took me a moment to realize he was probably freaked out after seeing me laying in a pool of blood in the tub. I tried to copy what he was doing to me, putting my arms around him and gripping at his jacket. I expected him to say something about wrinkling his jacket, but he didn't say shit about it.

"Fuck, you scared the shit out of me," River hissed, pulling away to look at me, "And don't tell me not to touch you. I need to feel that you're really here." I smirked as he cupped my face in his hands, then leaned in and captured his lips, making him go still. I did what Hadrian told me to do and kissed him gently so I didn't bust our lips on our teeth, and when River opened his mouth a little, like he was going to say something, I took my chance to dip my tongue in there, feeling around for his fangs and once I found them, I just tongued them gently so I didn't cut my tongue again.

As a response, he groaned. But not like he was in pain or anything, but in a way that told me he liked it.

Fuck yeah, I was learning fast.

My intention was to suck on his fangs like Hadrian told me to do, but suddenly River was grabbing me by the arms and pushing me back. I blinked at how quick the kiss ended and it took me a moment to realize it had ended. He was staring at me in shock, and after a moment, I felt completely stupid for having done that.

I'd gotten overexcited about the wings and the idea of being as strong as Apollyon. For a brief moment, it was almost like I was high, because I felt so light and... I don't know, maybe even happy? But I'd done something stupid as a response and immediately regretted it.

I cleared my throat.

"Uh, so I got wings," I said dumbly. River blinked, looked behind me at my wings, and I was expecting awe or something, but he just grimaced and looked back at my face.

"Four... Did you see him?"

"Huh?"

"Did you see... Apollyon?"

"Yeah," I said slowly, then frowned and shoved his hands off me, "Okay, that was kind of fucking rude. You're doing that thing again where you pretend we didn't just kiss. If you don't like it, you can just say so. You don't need to bring up-- Hey, I thought you didn't even believe in Apollyon. What's the deal?" River stepped back and wiped his hands down his face for a moment, then averted his eyes and I was surprised to see his cheeks darken.

"I need a moment."

"Why?"

"Because if I look at you again, I'm going to want to kiss you," River replied under his breath. I blinked, then glared at him.

"Then fucking kiss me, asshole. This whole time I thought you hated it and didn't even like me, so why don't you just--"

"Four," River said, his voice strained and he blinked a few times before he looked at me and I noticed there was a red tinge to his orange eyes, "My mother was a succubus. What do you think that makes me?" I stared at him blankly.

"I dunno. Sexy?" I asked. River covered his face with his hands again, but this time he just kept them there, like he wasn't sure how to react to anything at the moment. I scowled.

"What? Are you saying you're part incubus? Is that supposed to freak me out or something?" I asked, which made River peek at me through his fingers. I cocked my head and reached up to take his hands off his face and those eyes flashed brightly, both in shock and excitement. I could feel it in his hands, feel the slight tremor there. Plus, I wasn't blind. It was hard for a dude to hide the fact that he was aroused. It's not like our dicks played nice in public.

"I'm not a complete idiot," I said, making River frown, "Yeah, I know you got incubus in you, so what?"

"That doesn't... Unnerve you?" River asked grimly.

"No? Is it supposed to? Cuz, fuck, have I got some news for you," I said, raising an eyebrow and gesturing a thumb back to my wings that flared out as a response, "These babies make me the fucking antichrist. You sure you still wanna marry me?" River looked at my wings for a moment, then looked back at my face now. He squeezed my hands in his.

"I will always want to marry you," he said. I blinked.

"Want to marry me?" I asked. River smirked half heartedly and surprised me when he leaned in and pressed his lips to my forehead.

"Yes. Want to marry you. Not need. Want," he clarified. I stared at him as I tried to absorb that information.

He said want. Not need. Not I have to marry you for my own safety and this is going to be the worst decision of my entire life. Want. He wanted to marry me. At first I had trouble translating that in my head. He was definitely speaking Greek, and while I knew what the individual words meant, combined they didn't make sense entirely and it took me a moment to realize it was because nobody had ever used want and reference to me before.

Nobody wanted me.

Nobody had ever wanted me.

No guardians, no other soldiers, no other artificials, not my supposed fathers.

I will always want to marry you.

But River wanted me.

Fuck if I knew why, but he wanted me. Me. Even thought he spent a shit ton of time around me and I said all sorts of dumb shit, he still wanted to marry me. Even though he knew who I was, he still wanted to marry me.

"Gods, you're dumb," I managed. River smiled now.

"Perhaps. But we can be dumb together."

"Hey, what's that supposed to--" River cut me off when his lips touched mine, nice and gentle and slow. I sighed against his lips, relieved that this time he was the one to start the whole thing so I didn't have to feel like the only idiot trying for something here.

Fuck, where do I put my hands?

I eyed River's slicked back curls and settled for just wrapping my arms around his neck, pulling him in to intensify the kiss. He moaned and wrapped his arms around my waist to keep from putting pressure on my new wings, wings that seemed to have a mind of their own, because as soon as we started kissing, they flared up and popped one of the bulbs in the vanity, making River and I curse as the electricity sputtered and spit from the missing bulb and the other four went out, plunging us into a dark bathroom.

"Oops," I muttered. River smirked, then paused to glance into the bedroom before looking at me.

"And Hades?" He asked. I shrugged.

"Hades can suck my dick. He doesn't control who and what I do. You can start doing your weirdo wedding plans again. I'll talk to the big guy. Again. One last time. After that, doesn't matter what he says. We're getting married in two months. Whether he likes it or not."