Chapter One

"Goooood morning, Southwest Seattle! And what an unseasonably warm day for October, ladies and gentlemen! We're talking upper-eighties all week..."

It had taken me six years, but I had finally managed to tune out the sound of the human meteorologist, Duane Dwight, as he nervously adjusted his tie on screen for the hundredth time, despite desperate hand gestures from the crew to stop fidgeting. Of course, he couldn't because one of the college interns was making goo-goo eyes at him from on set and he was afraid of someone catching wind that he was sleeping with someone fifteen years younger than him.

I didn't ask for any of that information.

Didn't even Google it.

I'd accidentally made eye contact with the fucker at a coffee shop and suddenly every single dirty little secret the dude had hidden away for years was laid bare from the doctor games he used to play with his cousin to is this considered kiddie porn while scrolling through social media. I even got to see his court date where they sealed his suspicious records.

I sighed, reaching for my foam cup of coffee to take a sip.

Dude's gonna get arrested in the next year or so anyway.

I heard Bethany coming before I saw her.

Her heart was pounding like crazy. It was always pounding, because she was always anxious. The female brought a whole new meaning to anxiety disorder. There were times I felt that panic as if it were my own, which was just a thousand reasons why Bethany was insufferable.

The other being that Bethany was about as friendly as a porcupine with trust issues.

Her steps were muted by plush carpet as she crept down the hallway and came around the corner, only to stop briefly when she saw me sitting at the round little kitchen table in the small galley kitchen that came with our suite. Her curly black hair was a tousled mess, her mascara smudged under her tired bloodshot red eyes. She was wearing a silk blue hotel robe holding it closed because it looked like she was mysteriously missing the belt to hold it closed.

Let me guess, it's tied around the bedpost this time?

I rolled my eyes as I pretended to be interested in my phone, which was nothing more than a barrage of texts from Kali. It ranged from a picture of her homemade bento lunch to random GIF images, then full length fucking novels about feelings and shit.

I heard Bethany creeping to the coffee maker in the kitchen. She was almost tiptoing, which was fucking hilarious considering we both knew she was there by now. She was timid, and she'd been more so since D'Angelo went missing.

Missing, I thought grimly as I reached for my cigarettes.

"Must you?" Came Bethany's exhausted plea from across the table the moment she sat down.

"You know, I find myself asking the universe that a lot," I said, flipping the top off the box and tapping a cigarette out between my fingers, watching Bethany's face screw up in displeasure, "Usually got my answer in the form of a backhand." Bethany curled her lip, but said nothing as she looked down into her coffee mug.

She was a fucking walking disaster.

I was honestly a little surprised, actually.

I'd read Bethany like a fucking brochure the moment I saw her.

Pretty, confident, curious. She could be playful and fun for sure, but only Mother was privy to that— thank fuck. However, beneath all of that was the seed of hatred she'd done well to tend to. It made sense why she was in the position she was in.

She'd stewed and brewed for years over her inability to convert Lucifer back to Heaven. It had been her whole goal when she seduced him and became pregnant with her first child. She had been desperate for that status, that power.

Except when Yhwhwa had condemned her actions, and thus her child, she'd panicked and thrown the baby at Lucifer. She'd dusted her hands off the whole thing and quickly tried to move on as if it never happened.

Problem was that she'd enjoyed the idea of being a mother. She enjoyed sex, enjoyed being loved.

She enjoyed.

An angel of her status enjoying carnal desires? No bueno for the god who enjoyed his angels pure and simpleminded. It was easier to control people that way. Of course, bringing that up around Bethany always set her off.

How dare you mock my faith! I have no need for a higher power when I trust in the power of my holy Father.

Mmhm, then explain why you spent all night with your legs open for a Greek goddess, whose unleashing unholy hell upon the universe?

Of course, the entire time I toyed with the idea of pissing Bethany off, I could quickly see this morning wasn't a good idea for it.

Bethany had taken out her phone and kept anxiously checking her texts. She was opening and closing her chat with D'Angelo like he'd answer any minute. The last message she'd sent him had been a simple are you there. She'd sent it over a week ago, and D'Angelo had left her on read.

Of course, poor fucker couldn't answer when his head wasn't attached to his shoulders, but Bethany didn't need to know that.

Right now anyway.

I got up from the table, deciding to give her space to stew. I went to the hotel balcony and shut the sliding glass door behind me as I lit up a smoke.

Seattle was a mortal city. Still in its infancy. Yet there was something so beautiful, so unreal about a city like Seattle. The hustle and bustle of daily life, of having a mundane routine. Mortals everywhere rose with the morning sun as they took their showers, ate their breakfasts, stopped for coffee, then headed to their silly little jobs that barely kept their daily lives aloft. Barely a single one thinking beyond the skyscrapers reaching for the sky, a sky that was darkening in the north as a storm swept in.

Fucking Duane Dwight, you lying sack of shit.

Of course, it was hard to blame the meteorologist for something that was a much bigger problem.

A ping on my phone had me pulling it from my pocket to see a text message.

Hex, we need you to come in today. Marsha and Rae are booked solid.

Part of me was a little bummed. I had hoped today would be a nice day off where I could just smoke, pig out on whatever Mother had stashed in the fridge this time, maybe stop by and see Kali on the way into Styx. Unfortunately, when work called, I came.

I finished my cigarette, almost flicking the butt over the balcony, but Mother would have my ass over her knee, so I put the smoldering remains out in a small glass ashtray on a side table before I stepped inside.

Just in time for Mother to come down the hallway, behind Bethany.

Mother was exactly what you thought of when you thought of a beautiful Greek goddess. Flawless smooth skin, rosy cheeks, sweet delicate features, sharp intelligent blue eyes, full pouty lips, hair a soft platinum blonde that framed her exquisite face. She, too, only wore a blue hotel robe that she didn't even bother to hold closed as she leaned over and placed a kiss on Bethany's head.

Bethany flushed and didn't look up. If anything, she lowered her face more.

I saw her shame, her embarrassment, her confusion.

She was an archangel. Known for her purity, her intelligence, her strength. Yet here she was, happily taking a Greek goddess into her bed, playing whatever games Hera asked her to play, because Bethany, for all her miserable selfishness, did love Hera and it confused her. It made sense considering angels were still new to the whole gay thing apparently.

"My love," Mother said the moment she saw me and I smiled in greeting as she came fluttering over to place gentle kisses on my cheeks, "You look so sad this morning, what happened?"

"Work called," I said, making Mother nod in understanding as she stepped back to let me kiss her on the forehead, "I'm just gonna grab another coffee and head out. Is there anything you need from me before I leave?" I met Mother's eyes.

She was always so brave to meet my eyes.

I read her without meaning to.

She was excited. She was in a good mood. Not only had she been able to please Bethany last night, but she'd been able to successfully kill D'Angelo to keep him out of the picture and things were going so smoothly in the lab that it could be any day now that Mother was ready to finally take revenge on the world that had hurt her.

Except she was hesitating, and that was what confused me, but I couldn't read anything that indicated why. Why was she fucking around? Wasn't now a good time to launch something against Hades, throw him off, make him scramble so we could swoop in and finish him off?

"No," Mother said, as if she knew what I was thinking and I frowned at that as she glided into the kitchen for coffee and I followed her, feeling Bethany watching us closely from the table, "We have plenty of time, my love, patience. We want everything to fall into place perfectly for it to work. I have seen Hades vanquish many an enemy. He's still got his guard up."

"Sure," I admitted with a shrug, filling up a thermos with coffee, "But at this point, the dude could be behind a fortress wall and we'd still have him. Why dink around?"

"Hades always has an ace up his sleeve," Mother replied calmly as she stirred about half a cup of sugar into her coffee, "I want to see what he has planned before I take another step."

"Fine," I sighed in frustration, "But the sooner this shit ends, the sooner we can rest. What's so hard about just taking a nap, mother?" Mother laughed at that, turning to look at me for a moment before she gave up on her diabetic coffee monstrosity. She cupped my face in her hands, warm and soft with delicately French manicured nails.

"Don't fret, my sweet," she murmured, stroking my cheeks with her thumbs to comfort me, "It'll all end soon and then we can rest. Then we can enjoy what the universe has to offer."

"I just want to nap, Mother."

"I know," Mother said softly, her blue eyes turning to liquid as she sniffed daintily, "Did you sleep at all last night?" I moved away from her as I screwed the cap on my thermos, heading to grab my jacket off the back of my chair.

The whole time, I knew Bethany was watching and listening. She wasn't just chillin' and having a cup of coffee, because despite Bethany's confusing feelings for my Mother, she was scared and she was cautious. And she did not trust easily, no matter how much she loved someone.

The proof was in how she'd raised D'Angelo.

She didn't even trust her own son to know how she was involved in this shit.

"I slept fine, mother," I said, making Mother raise an eyebrow skeptically, "As fine as I could anyway. Listen, I have to go, but Kali texted me earlier and said there was trouble at Point G in Hades. Security said someone has been playing around the property. Might just be stupid kids, but it could be a threat, so maybe send someone in to check on things." Mother smiled.

"But you'll be in Styx," she answered. It was her way of saying oh, so you're in the neighborhood, you can check on it.

"Yeah, doing my job," I pointed out. Mother stared at me for a moment. I could tell she wanted to argue, but she didn't. She was fighting the maternal instinct to just keep me away from my particular job, but she'd been the person to give it to me in the first place, so what did she think she was doing, keeping me away from the job?

"Perhaps afterwards," she said at last.

"Alright, fine, but, Mother, can you do me the biggest favor in the world?"

"Of course, my love."

"Can you belt your robe," I asked, making Mother grin slowly now, "I love you, mother, but not enough to see your tits bounce every time you move."

"Shut up and get out of here," Mother said, moving to come up behind me, delivering a playful swat to my backside and I rolled my eyes with a smirk as I headed for the door, "And tell Kali I said hello!" I shut the door behind me and headed down the carpeted hallway to the elevator.

I wasn't going to risk teleporting in a mortal building, especially with cameras on every fucking corner and a phone in every hand. I made a mental note to tell Mother that, should she ever invest in the mortal realm, to make sure she got rid of the Internet here.

I rode the elevator down, went through the lobby where mortals scattered like flies, checking in and out, dragging luggage. Families leaving for vacation were scrambling with luggage, luggage carts, flight tickets, and the like.

I started to head for the revolving door, only to feel something small whack into the back of my legs. I turned around to see a tiny mortal human gaping up at me, clearly horrified. It made sense when mortals were, on average, smaller than otherworldly beings.

"Jacob! You silly boy! I am so sorry, sir." I looked up to see his mother running over to scoop him up. She had him in her arms and turning away without another word, her thoughts racing in a panic.

My god, he's fucking huge. He looks like a gangster. I can't believe Michael let Jacob run off like that! What if that guy is a pervert? Ugh, if he thinks I'm going to shut up about the separate rooms now... Her thoughts made me grin, and surprisingly, my grin was making the little mortal smile over his mother's shoulder at me. He made grasping motions that I think was supposed to be some kind of wave, so I waved back and he giggled.

I turned and headed outside on the street.

Even more crowded there.

By now, the morning rush hour had begun. Traffic was backed up by four blocks, foot traffic even further, car horns honking, music playing from shops and taxis. It was so much stimulation that for a second, I felt my skin crawl. I felt the itching, creeping sensation of my Beast protesting all the noise. A growl started in my throat, but I swallowed it down and decided to push my way through the foot traffic to find a secluded alley on the side of the hotel.

In the end, it didn't take long to get some level of privacy around back.

Luckily the hotel's daily delivery of supplies was once again running late, so I was able to hop up onto the loading dock and step back under the blindspot on the camera.

I teleported from Seattle, Washington, USA, to Styx, Hades.

It was a vast difference from here to there. Seattle had been warm, just a little humid, with air thick with pollutants. The mortal realm, according to Mother, had gotten more and more difficult for their species to endure. The air was thick and filthy no matter where you went, and while we were otherworldly beings incapable of dying from something like pollution, it didn't mean we were comfortable.

Meanwhile, Styx was a larger metropolis with surprisingly cleaner air that was rich with the smell of sizzling foods, perfumes and lotions from shops. Seattle was certainly crowded, but it had nothing on Styx. Made sense when Seattle was barely 200 years old and Styx was an ancient city.

It didn't take long for me to get to work.

The Winged Serpent was a special kind of brothel. Designed specifically for young incubi and succubi coming into maturity, a safe place for them to receive energy without being abused, and limiting certain species of erotia from imprinting. Much like the mortal realm, The Winged Serpent had security up the arse. Cameras surrounding the building, tracking each individual who entered, a front desk where a keycard was required to enter the lobby.

It was funny calling this place a brothel when it looked more like a doctor's office.

The main entry was a small glass vestibule where the front desk was, a round 3D metal logo of a winged serpent coiled around the letters TWS. A large beefy looking security guard sat at the tiny desk, doom scrolling through his social media and smiling every so often when pictures of his family came up on his feed.

"Andre," I greeted the large Nubian werewolf, who looked up from his phone in relief.

"Dude, Hex, you're just on time," Andre greeted him, tucking his phone away and reaching for my keycard, "Marsha got called away and we've only had one guest in the last hour. Things'll start picking up after school gets out for lunch, so we need someone on deck."

"Call me Superman," I told him as he swiped the card and I was let inside, giving Andre a salute before I headed for the second front desk in the lobby.

The lobby itself was sleek and modern with soft sage green walls, pine flooring with colorful rugs, plush armchairs, a coffee table with magazines that ranged from BDSM to vanilla. There was also a pamphlet with our current servers, as they were called.

Beni, Marsha, Rae, Titi, Monaco, Twiggy, Mei, and Lilo.

All professional adult incubi and succubi whose life's work was to integrate their people into their culture and society, in a healthy and safe environment. The owner, Diego, had created the place with the intention to bring erotia into the future. No more desperately seeking relief on the streets or in abusive brothels that stole half their wages, restricted their activities, among other heinous crimes.

The Winged Serpent was a professional establishment with properly paid workers, reasonable hours, paid protection...

Oh, and the healthcare was fantastic too.

It was no wonder Hades had chosen this place to tend to his favorite grandchild.

I headed behind the front desk, taking down Marsha's little plaque that read her name and a small message of attending to a guest, back in five. I sat in the creaky office chair, dropping my bag on the floor and sliding my thermos of coffee in the nearby holder.

While there was a small part of me that ached for routine, that ached for that mundane life that mortals so often took advantage of, I was restless sitting behind a desk, pretending to be a secretary for this place.

Under the guise of an incubus named Hex from Seattle, I had easily slipped my way into their ranks, thanks to the Mother and my ability to read the owner like a book.

Diego truly believed in good in the world, despite his horrific past. The incubus had been sold into slavery the moment he was born, passed around like a hot potato through the Greek pantheon before he was dumped in a sewer somewhere to die. He'd been rescued by Theo's soldiers soon after, underwent serious surgeries to repair all the damage from centuries of torture and abuse.

Diego started The Winged Serpent in hopes of helping other erotia like himself. A safe place to receive energy, magic, power, without sacrificing their dignity, their morality, or their bodies.

All I had to do was recite some pretty poetry Mother had written for me and Diego was sold on me. The guy hired me on the spot as the front desk, and perhaps some day I would graduate to a server, but for now, I was stuck behind the desk, watching eager faces approach the desk.

Luckily, conversation wasn't a big thing at the front desk.

Most of the guests were too excited or too nervous.

"Oh thank god, you made it." I turned in my seat to see Diego coming around from the back room. A surprisingly short incubus with dark brown hair and dark brown eyes, his tanned skin marred by pale and dark scars, and a few fun random tattoos dotting his arms and legs.

"You call, I come," I replied. Diego gave me one of his thankful smiles.

"Muchas gracias, Hex, I really appreciate it. We're approaching spring break here soon, so many guests come during that time before they go on vacation."

"Yeah, it's no problem, D. Although, I gotta say, I'm getting kinda anxious sitting at the desk all day," I said as casually as I could. Diego smiled knowingly.

"I understand. Soon, Hex. There is so much to learn. Have you been asking Beni questions to learn more?" He asked. I tried not to make a face at one of the most popular servers on staff.

And also my current enemy.

Beni was the only thing that stood between me and my target.

He was a confident, professional server and he was also my target's exclusive server.

Beni was known for being kind and gentle and understanding in the bedroom, to put it bluntly. The guy was good at understanding what his clients wanted and he never went beyond that. He was also protective of his clients, or more to the point, he was overprotective of my target.

Made sense considering my target was none other than Hades's favorite grandchild, Wren.

Wren was, by all rights, but blood, a prince of Hades and Hell. The baby of the infamous Cousins group, and the youngest child of Alaric and Death. An adopted American incubus found in the deserts of the United States and also the next incarnation of Lust. The kid was a walking gunpowder keg. He wasn't officially listed as Hades's favorite grandchild on fucking billboards or anything, but from what I'd seen and heard through the grapevine, Hades adored Wren.

So it made sense why Mother had me tailing him.

Except what more was there to it? Sure, he could get pregnant, which therefore gave him value to Mother and that made sense, but Mother didn't seem too keen on capturing Wren. In fact, all she'd told me to do was keep eyes on him at all times. I wasn't even allowed to interact with him beyond civil conversation, not yet anyway.

From the way things were going, it sounded like Mother intended for me to impregnate him, but that seemed like such an odd decision. Yes, he was certainly powerful, but no more so than the previous incarnation of Lust or any other incubus, so why was she so intent on keeping an eye on Wren without capture as the ultimate goal?

Mother had her motives. She always had her own motives, but this was the one time I couldn't quite get a read on her intention, which put me on guard. Mother didn't block me out unless it was important and it directly involved me.

It pissed me off.

"Oh yeah," I said, averting my eyes toward the front entrance where the first of our college student clientele was checking in with Andre, "Yeah, no, he's been super helpful, but you ever wonder if, like, maybe one of his client's left their dick in his ass or...?" I looked at Diego, who was covering his mouth and staring up at the ceiling as if he were praying for some kind of god to give him the strength to contain his laughter.

"Okay, never say that in front of him, please," Diego said, then paused as I wheeled around to check in the first student, "I'm going to leave you to work now, but for the love of everything sacred in this world, Hex, maintain professionalism to some extent. If not for my sake, then Wren's because Beni's been the only one who's been able to deal with him." I said nothing to that as I faked a smile and took the first client of the morning, checking them in and sending them through a keycard protected entrance that would take them to the back offices, which was really just a nice way of saying a prepared bedroom to service the client.

Of course, Beni was the only one who got a mini fridge in his room.

I tried not to roll my eyes out of their sockets at the thought of the prissy ass bitch who thought he was some kind of incubus tamer. Like, yes, we get it, you're distantly related to Eros, but is that really a brag? Apparently the dude was psycho.

Beni was a nothing special incubus who just happened to be the second cousin of the Greek god, Eros, and happened to be really good at his job. Yes, that little smidge of godly DNA gave him a little boost, so he was the most desired server on the property, but the dude's personality was rotten, or at least in my opinion.

He was the kind to talk in a fake low husky voice to turn you on, stroke you a little bit here and there. Maybe finger you. Then plowed you like a goddamn goat before taking off.

Or at least, that's all I had ever heard coming out of Beni's room whenever he was with Wren. I'd passed a few times delivering to clients and servers, and there wasn't a single peep out of the Hades spawn. All I'd ever heard was Beni's gross fake husky voice act and grunting like a bull before it was over and Wren was walking out, looking the same as he always did.

Kid was insanely awkward.

Ridiculously tall for his species, but very lean, like he didn't eat much. He usually wore his signature leather jacket with pockets galore, his phone always in his hand and either to his ear, or in both hands as he frantically texted his daddies he was coming home.

I tried not to laugh as I scrolled through a list of the day's appointments.

He was definitely an adult, but the way he dealt with anything involving his parents, he was suddenly flustered and shy. Around his Cousins, he was soft spoken, maybe a little rude. With Beni, he was very professional, as if Beni were just another fucking doctor.

In what fucking world is that supposed to be a compliment?

I paused as Wren's name came up on the scheduled appointments for the day. I glanced at the date, confirming it was Monday. He never came in on Mondays, and never so soon after his last appointment. He'd been making more frequent appointments, but there was no difference in his behavior at any of the appointments.

Interesting...

His appointment was for the evening, which was pretty routine. He had come in a couple mornings the past month, but nothing beyond his usual evening appointments with Beni a few times a month.

Which was already weird considering American incubi, especially, were known for having a high feed drive, meaning they required more than other incubi to stabilize their magic in a healthy way. If he wasn't maintaining a healthy feeding pattern, that could explain why he was so fucking skinny and looked like he hadn't slept in weeks.

Or, he was an outlier with a low feed drive.

Or he was just really easily pleased by Beni's bland two minute hit'n'run.

A ping on my phone had me sneaking it out from under the desk to see that Kali had sent me yet another text. This time, it appeared to be a full-length novel about why they should be allowed to kill new hires. I stifled a laugh at that, shaking my head at her daily rant against the new hires Mother was implementing. Anything to keep our numbers at what she considered a stable level, which seemed funny to me given the fact that the numbers, in the end, were irrelevant when the time came to end things.

I scrolled through Kali's novel, then simply sent her a sticker of a fox giving a thumbs up. She responded with a literal photo of her middle finger and I snorted, shutting my phone off and tucking it away.

If there was anywhere else in the world I'd rather be than sitting at a boring desk job while my Mother plotted the end of an era, it was with Kali. The thought made me frown, because it had been a long time since I had stopped and considered another person.

My world had ended and I had assumed since then that I was nothing more than a ghost to command. Not alive, not dead, but caught between my duty to my Mother and the Beast inside me that refused to be at ease. He wasn't as violent as he had been in the past, but his screams kept me awake at night.

I wasn't going to listen to it.

I didn't have time, didn't have the energy, and honestly?

Didn't have a single fuck to give about anything anymore.

Except Kali had worked on me like a fucking abrasive scour pad, scrubbing away at all the shit that collected on me since things changed. I wasn't going to say I was attached, but I'd definitely found myself thinking about Kali without one of her insane text messages.

Evening rolled around quickly and I couldn't be happier seeing the street lights flicker on outside, neon lights in shop windows blinking to life. Andre had gone home and the evening security guard, a vampire-werewolf hybrid named Malto, had shown up and immediately pulled out his schoolwork.

I sat at the desk, anxiously glancing at the clock. I wasn't sure why I was on pins and needles every time Wren had an appointment. Maybe it was the uncertainty he brought with him, because I still couldn't figure out what made him so special to Mother.

What was worth sending me in for?

I felt Wren the moment he appeared outside the building. His presence came like a drop of water in an otherwise calm pool. He was quiet, gave Malto his keycard, before coming into the lobby and the moment he saw me, his brows dropped down over his coffee brown eyes like someone had just dropped a deuce on his porch.

I tried not to laugh at being able to ruffle his feathers just by fucking existing.

"Well, if it isn't the house favorite," I greeted him as he ground his teeth together, thrusting the card at me like he was throwing a shuriken throwing star. I slid the card, watching Wren look at the entry to the back offices.

He was nervous, which was weird.

Wren was usually pretty good about coming and going without revealing much more than he was satisfied with his service and ready to go back to normal life.

What's got him spooked?

"Alright, looks like Beni is just finishing up with his last client, if you wanna pop a squat, or I can refill the coffee machine for you—"

"I'm fine, thanks," Wren bit off, already turning his back on me. I raised an eyebrow, glancing down at the indicator light for Beni's room. The red confirmed he was still with his previous client. I glanced back up at where Wren was once more nervously staring at the entry door.

Weird.

Quick analysis of his health revealed he was dangerously close to hitting his heat. In fact, a closer inspection revealed confirmation of that. His cheeks were flushed and warm, eyes starting to get shiny, hands fidgeting in front of his groin like he was an actual physical pain.

"Hey, are you feeling—"

"Fine—"

The sound of Wren's stomach making some ungodly whining sound indicated he was hungry. He blushed hard now, clearly embarrassed as he moved over to the water cooler to get himself some of the lemon water.

I watched him. Didn't touch him, didn't pursue him, didn't press him. Normally I would've poked and prodded him until he snapped and Diego had to give me another warning about it, but somehow, I found myself watching him a little more closely than usual.

Wren was pretty good about keeping his appointments. He seemed to come more frequently now, and seemed to be cutting it closer and closer. He'd been a little weird at his last appointment too, but not this hot and bothered.

I glanced at the red indicator light, then back up where Wren was leaning back against one of the walls, closing his eyes tightly. From here, I could hear his heartbeat picking up into overdrive, his breathing growing ragged, his thoughts becoming more of a jumbled mess than anything coherent.

I did catch a flash of someone I recognized, though, and I felt a frown tug at the corners of my lips at the same time I heard the entry door to the back room beep.

Wren and I looked up, both startled.

No fucking idea why I was surprised, though.

It was just Beni opening the door, revealing his client had somehow managed to leave without either of us noticing.

"Wren," Beni greeted in that B-movie sex demon voice that had Wren pushing off the wall and throwing his cup away, "I'm so sorry to keep you waiting, sweetheart." Wren didn't say anything, just immediately went right to him and Beni looked surprised at his quick approach.

"Oh, oh no, baby, look at you," he managed, taking Wren's face into his hands and Wren grimaced, taking his face away in discomfort, "Ah, I'm sorry, but you look rough, sweetheart. I told you, make your appointments ahead of time." He gave Wren a nod, as if asking for confirmation and Wren just nodded before hanging his head, clearly trying to hide the effects of last minute appointments.

"Hex, make Wren an appointment for tomorrow—"

"No," Wren protested immediately, making Beni glare at him with his hands on his hips, "I don't need two appointments in a row—"

"Then let me—"

"No," Wren repeated, making Beni sigh in frustration, "No. Fine, make the other appointment, but it'll just be the same thing. I told you what I like and nothing more." Beni glared at him for a moment longer, then looked past Wren to pin those hazel eyes on me.

"What are you doing? Make the appointment," he ordered, then gestured for Wren to go to the back ahead of him. Wren just nodded and trudged around back. I watched him go, pausing to cock my head at the strange look that passed over Beni's face when he looked after Wren, then looked back at me.

"Hey," Beni warned, keeping his voice actually low now, so it kind of cracked and ruined the whole stern vibe he was going for, "You might want to keep your eyes elsewhere, kid. No one is allowed to touch him, but me. That's not even my rule or Diego's rule; it's Hades's. So if you like your body parts attached to your actual body, I'd look somewhere else for potential clients." I stared at him as he stared back at me.

He was trying to intimidate me, and I could feel the pressure of his magic on me, but it was more like a spring breeze compared to what I'd felt in the past.

I smiled.

"Don't even know what you're talking about, I'm actually somewhat blind in my left eye," I said, making Beni scowl at me as I pointed to my eye and winked funny, "Yeah, it's super weird, like it happened all of a sudden. I hope I don't go completely blind, that'd really suck." Beni raked me with a less than impressed sneer, his arms folded over his chest before he headed around back with Wren, the door closing gently behind them.

I turned back in my seat to face the roster for the next week, typing Wren's appointment in.

Too bad, I thought as I clicked confirm on the appointment, double checking my name was on the confirmation record.

Cuz it looks like I finally have my way in with the Hades family.