Chapter Twelve

"We need to get another meeting," Noe declared as he paced in my office while I finished the last of the prison logs that Hades had dumped on my doorstep the next morning, "We need to start checking out everyone, including Hannibal."

The suspicion that the traitor was Hannibal hadn't faded from Noe's mind, nor my own. Yet, for some reason, it was difficult to imagine him betraying Cain. He worshipped the ground Cain walked on, despite Cain's obvious mistreatment of him. There was more to this than we thought. We were overlooking something, or rather, someone.

But who? What?

"Zelios, message Malachi." Noe insisted, coming up to my desk to smack his hands down on it, looking at me intently. I frowned for a moment, surprised by his insistence before I reluctantly pulled open my laptop and sent a message out to Malachi, as well as the rest of my brothers. Noe was right, we did need a meeting, however, I was finding it difficult to think about how I would communicate with my brothers. Most of them wouldn't want to take the time out of their day to read anything. Even the email I sent out might be useless to them, except maybe Malachi, but I needed to contact all of them, not just one. I sighed wearily, reaching up to pinch the bridge of my nose between my fingers when I felt a brush of air tickle my skin.

I looked up as Noe came to stand by my side, looking down at me. He still looked sad and guilty over what Hades had done to me, and there was no way for me to comfort him with words. So I reached out and took his hand in mine, smoothing my thumb over his bruised knuckles, making him lift his eyes to meet mine. Periwinkle orbs that made my heart soar.

While Hades's curse was a foul one, I thanked him each day that he didn't steal my sight. I don't know what I'd do if I wasn't able to see those beautiful eyes of his, gazing at me as if I were the only god that existed in the world. It warmed me to the core of my soul. I leaned over, placing a chaste kiss on top of his hand. Pink colored his cheeks as he cleared his throat, shifting a bit. I smiled at his awkwardness.

It was so adorable.

So Noe.

Apollo had honestly angered me before. I had wanted to tear him apart for the price he asked, even though I was the one willing to do it-- for Noe. However, I would also thank him each and every day for giving me back what mattered most in my life. I pulled Noe closer, turning my seat so I was facing him. I took both his hands into mine, pulling him so he was sitting in my lap now. He licked his lower lip anxiously, his eyes dropping to my lips. I leaned in, ghosting my lips over his, waiting for him to take charge. Hesitantly, he pushed his lips against mine, hard and hungry. I groaned from deep within my throat at the softness of his lips, the heat of his breath, the little moan.

Unfortunately, it didn't last long when the door opened and Noe leapt back. I stiffened in my seat for a moment before turning to face Thanatos, who had entered and looked uncomfortable at having ruined our moment.

"Uh, sorry," He said slowly, looking anywhere, but at us, "I probably should've knocked. Yeah, next time I'll just knock." I rolled my eyes and gestured Thanatos into the room. Thanatos shrugged, still looking a bit awkward as he shut the door behind him and approached me, holding his hand up and conjuring a file folder, handing it over.

"Hades sent this over. He wants it done by tomorrow night at the latest." He said grimly. I frowned, taking the file and pulling out a small stack of papers, all with small font. An entire list of new inmates and what was to be required for them. I grimaced as Noe stomped his foot, clenching his fists.

"What the hell is that," He protested angrily, then gestured a hand at me, "He's already weighed down with enough work to kill a human! Is Hades stupid or something? We're trying to find a traitor that could bring about the downfall of the underworld and all he cares about is torturing his own son." Thanatos gave him a droll stare, folding his arms over his chest.

"There are some things you need to learn about the gods, kiddo," He said, making Noe twitch at the nickname, "Gods aren't humans. They may look like humans, act like humans, and have feelings like humans, but they're still not humans. Zeus castrated his own father and ate one of his lovers so that his daughter could pop out of his skull. Suffice it to say that our family ties mean nothing. Zelios could be Hades's lover and Hades could still treat him like shit." I made a face of disgust at his example and Thanatos merely shrugged it off. Noe scowled.

"That still doesn't explain why he's not doing anything about the Titans." He muttered. Thanatos pinned him with an intense stare.

"Because it's not his job. Malachi volunteered himself and his brothers to take charge of the Titans. It's your guys's jobs. Everyone is counting on you, not Hades. Hades didn't sign up for it." He responded, making Noe glare at him impatiently.

"Yeah, but if the Titans take over the world and destroy the other pantheons, it will be his problem." He ground out. Thanatos waved it off as if it didn't matter and I could just feel Noe getting angrier by the second. I cleared my throat at him, making him twitch and scowl at me. Thanatos sighed and took a seat in one of the leather chairs on the other side of my desk, folding one leg over the other.

"Not to mention, Hades doesn't sit back and sip martinis all day. He's busy too. He has eight thousand years of meetings to attend to. And he's even worse with Persephone being gone to visit her mother. You guys aren't the only ones suffering," He grunted, averting his pale blue eyes and running a hand through his hair to sweep it out of his face, "I'm getting calls left and right. There's something going on in the human world." I frowned curiously at him and Noe leaned his hip on the side of my desk, arms folded over his chest.

"What'd you mean?" He asked. Thanatos stared at him, then at me.

"I don't know, but whatever it is, I'm carrying enough souls to fuel a rocket ship to the furthest corners of the universe. Men, women, children. Whatever those humans are doing up there, it's bad. Granted, it's not as bad as the Holocaust or that Ghengis dude, but it's pretty bad. It seems every year the human soul count down here keeps going up." He explained, making Noe cock his head.

"Wait, you're collecting the human souls? I thought most of the human souls were being taken by the Christian God since the humans seem to really like him." He pointed out. Thanatos shook his head, running his thumb down the side of his mouth, eyes averted.

"Both the Christian Heaven and Lucifer's domain are flooded," He said, making my eyes widen and Noe's jaw drop, "There's no more room. God doesn't know what to do either. He only has so much power, even as a main higher being. He called Hades for help. He's even checking into other pantheons. That's how flooded it's getting. Humans are dying about as fast as they're born."

"Because they're stupid," Noe said dryly, making me raise an eyebrow at him and he shrugged innocently, "Well, maybe if they stopped trying to make things better, things would actually get better. Let nature take its course." Thanatos snorted.

"As if. The humans keep trying to improve lives that don't need improving. I miss the simpler times," He said, looking at me as I nodded nostalgically, "Back during the ancient times. Oh sure, most people didn't live as long as they do now, but at least I was usually only busy during major wars, but oh no! No, now I have to run places faster than Hermes does. He's only busy relaying the deaths to each god in the pantheon to let them know one of their worshippers died. Bet you he and the Christian God are buddy-buddy."

"Well, it's gonna get worse," Noe said, making Thanatos glance at him, "If the Titans are free, they'll kill anyone they come in contact with and if they kill all of the gods in all of the pantheons, they'll be strong enough to even overthrow the Christian God. Lucifer will probably shit himself and go into hiding. He's not a god, but they'll still try to kill him and absorb his powers like the rest. Right now, the whole world is relying on us to keep the Titans at bay. How are we supposed to do that when Zelios can't even get a wink of sleep? It's been a week since he's gotten a decent night of sleep."

"Not our problem," Thanatos answered, making Noe throw his hands up in exasperation, "Sorry, little man, but it's true. The rest of the gods have their own problem. Civil war is seconds away each day in the Egyptian pantheon and Thor's taken off again so now his pantheon's in panic. And don't get me started on the Japanese pantheon. It's like they thrive of tormenting each other. There are thousands of pantheons out there and each one has their own issue. You need to solve your own."

"This is ridiculous." Noe muttered.

"It's politics," Thanatos sighed wistfully, looking down at his lap, then scrunched up his nose, "Or, religion? Oh, who even knows the difference anymore? Either way, everyone's busy right now, even the humans, whatever those boogers are doing."

Thanatos was right, as usual. There was no way to ask for help from the other pantheons. We got lucky saving Noe with Apollo's help. Other pantheons weren't so lucky. Every belief had its own battles to fight and couldn't risk getting involved with more. The last thing everyone wanted was more enemies.

Like countries, the pantheons were allied with only certain groups. And, unfortunately, the Greek pantheon, as powerful as we were, were also not the friendliest. We were best known for our conflicts. Our Titanomachy had nearly destroyed the world. It was twelve times worse than the Great Floods. So right now, the Greeks weren't actually allied with anyone, only had peace treaties that were only barely held up by the Fates.

The Titans were our problem.

Malachi and the rest of my brothers, including their righthands, had all agreed to this job and we alone could up hold it. It was why, even if I did have a voice, I wouldn't complain. I knew everyone was tense. The world was becoming darker and colder by the seconds. While the sun still shined, there were still shadows that crept amongst the trees.

A beep interrupted my thought process as I looked up to see that Malachi had responded, as well as Cerberus, Cain, and Theo. Kyros had responded for Charon, who very seldom used the Internet.

I tapped my fingernail on the desk to get Noe's attention. He instantly came to my side to look over my shoulder at the computer at the message.

Malachi had agreed to a meeting tonight at eight. Noe relaxed, but only slightly as he pushed away from my desk just as Thanatos was getting to his feet.

"Well, Zelios," Thanatos said to me, making me look up at him as he stared at me with sympathy, "I'm glad I didn't have to reap you and your oracle. Good luck in your endeavors. If you need me, you know where I'm at... But please don't need me." With that, Thanatos was out the door, closing it behind him. Noe watched him leave with a scowl as he leaned on my shoulder, having finished reading Malachi's message.

"He's such a know-it-all," He muttered, then averted his eyes and rested his head against mine, warming my heart at the physical contact, "But he's probably right... Damn it, isn't there some kind of spell? Or a god of traitors or something? God of big mouths?" I chuckled at that and opened an empty document on the computer to type my response.

No. They all have big mouths.

Noe laughed quietly at that and I looked up at him, just to catch a glance of his periwinkle eyes dancing and his precious smile. He blushed as our eyes met and he cleared his throat, backing off now.

"Ah, I'll let you get back to work." He mumbled, then hurried out of the room. I smiled. His bashfulness was endearing. It was much easier not having to hide my feelings for him. He, too, seemed to think the same considering how much he cuddles up to me. Of course, we still weren't sharing rooms just yet as we wanted to ease the servants into the kind of relationship we had. Though, most of the staff, whoever was left anyway, seemed to accept it.

I was only allowed to keep a handful of my servants. The rest were forced to find work elsewhere, much to my displeasure. It only added more work as I needed to make my own meals and clean my own messes. I managed to hang onto a few that would keep the house clean most of the time as well as someone to guard my main lobby now, aside from Noe. I also kept my guardsmen, but they could only be called upon in times of danger. However, now Noe was safe from being attacked by the inmates and he returned to tagging along with me while I made my rounds, but I refused to take him down to the Titan's prison, much to his annoyance, but he knew very well why I refused.

And unfortunately, the new work Thanatos had brought to me from Hades included a visit to the Titan's prison.

I left my paperwork behind and left the palace, trying to avoid being caught by Noe so we wouldn't get into yet another argument as to why he couldn't come with me to that part of Tartarus.

I took the stairs down the side of the large trench going around my palace. The air seemed particularly thick with misery and woe today. Prisoners wailed and screamed as their punishment was dealt in the harshest of manners. I walked by a few cells where the prisoners were being whipped by molten barbed whips, by guardsmen that appeared to be black skeletons, a new addition thanks to Hades and his cruelty.

The prisoners of Tartarus were the worst of the worst, the slimiest of the slimiest. It was extremely rare to find a human evil enough to be thrown into such a hell hole. Most humans had some kind of conscious that kept them from going too far, and even then, most humans nowadays were Christian and, should they have done something truly evil, Lucifer would take them and torture them in a manner similiar to Tartarus. Lucifer wasn't pure evil, however. He was the Devil, yes, but he was just the owner of a lot of rotten souls and he also cradled a few of them, turning them into his own minions, or demons.

I had only met him once, a passing by when he and Hades met to make a pact over land. He'd been very tall compared to me, as I had been a child upon our first meeting, and while he smiled, there was a dark sorrow that hung heavy in his eyes. I remembered asking my father about it.

"Would you be sad if I rejected you from my home?" Hades had returned in questioning.

"Of course." I replied incredulously. Hades may not be the father of the year, but he was still my father.

"Exactly," Hades had muttered as he signed their peace treaty, "Be grateful that I keep you and don't toss you down into a dark pit. That doesn't mean I won't punish you if you defy me, however." Funny how I just now remembered those words. A chill stole up my spine as I descended into the pit of Tartarus where the Titans had now called home.

It was a clammy air, thick and hot, like the rest of Tartarus, but still eerie. Someone was singing in one of their cells, further down. It sounded much like Philotes, Adrian's mother. I hadn't said anything to my father, but I had lifted quite an amount off her torture, for Adrian's sake. While she was still incredibly weak, she wasn't being beaten to a bloody pulp. Of course, that wasn't to say the same was being experienced by her husband.

I headed down one side of the giant pillar that sat at the center of the room. I frowned, approaching it and waving my hand out. A cell carved itself into the center pillar, its wrought iron gates clattering up and open before abruptly slamming shut.

"Ooh," A voice crooned, making me narrow my eyes, turning my head to see Rhea leaning on the bars, peering at me through greasy locks of auburn hair, darkened by blood, "I see we're having a new inmate." I cocked my head to narrow my eyes at her. I sent a bolt of power blasting against her doors, sending her stumbling back into the dirt. She bared her teeth at me, but said nothing more as she crawled back to the bars and peered out to watch as I cast a specific spell over the bars.

"I bet if I made a deal with Hecate she'd open the gates for me." Rhea teased, licking her chapped lips. I almost told her that Hecate would never do such a thing when I remembered there was no way for me to speak. Of course, I didn't need to tell Rhea that as a familiar voice laughed hoarsely. I turned my head to see Phoebe leaning against the bars of her cell almost seductively, her long black hair falling over one shoulder.

"He can't speak," She mocked, making Rhea cock her head curiously, "Hades cursed him." Rhea's eyes brightened at that as she turned to look at me.

"Is it true, little one? Did my son really do such a thing to you?" She asked, trying to make it sound as if Hades were the vile one here. I lifted my chin indignantly, turning my back to the goddesses so that I could return to my duty, but Rhea refused to relent as she held her hand out to me, her long nails chipped and rimmed with blood.

"My precious grandson. Why would he do such a thing to you?" She called to me. I ignored her and she lowered her hand, looking surprisingly dejected. Phoebe's blue eyes glinted in the dim lights as she tightened her grip on the bars of her cell.

"You stole my oracle, you whelp," She sneered, making me tense as I struggled to recount the spell in my head, "He was mine. I own him. If you think Apollo can keep reins on him for long, you're wrong."

"Enough," Rhea protested bitterly, "I refuse to let you speak to him like that."

"Oh, come off it, Rhea, you bitch. Biologically he may be your grandson, but I think he'd slit his own throat before calling you grandma." Phoebe snapped in irritation, makin Rhea's eyes flare angrily as she clenched her fists.

"I don't care. And who asked you anyway? I told you to keep your hands off Hades's realm." She added icily, making Phoebe laugh almost maniacally.

"This is all your fault anyway, you dumb bitch! If you had just let Cronus digest those goddamned brats of yours, we wouldn't be in this mess! We would still be ruling over the greatest empire in the world!" Phoebe yelled, her voice echoing off the walls. The other inmates started to become restless because of her arguing.

"Oh, shut up, Phoebe," Themis muttered from nearby, leaning on the bars of her cell, arms folded over her chest as she tossed her dark hair over her shoulder, eyes hidden behind a tattered purple clothe, "You're just trying to start something and, no offense, but sitting in a dark cell with my own feces to keep me company isn't exactly putting me in the mood to hear your whiny voice."

"I couldn't agree more." Tethys, titaness of basically anything freshwater, said. She was on the other side of Rhea's cell, her unruly brown curls tied up with a piece of her ripped chiton, her hazel eyes surrounded by dark circles from lack of sleep.

"You know I'm right," Phoebe boosted hatefully, pointing a crooked finger at Rhea, who curled her lip at the gesture, "If you just listened to your husband like the rest of us--"

"If you start another fight, I swear to the gods, Phoebe, I'll beg Hades's boy to torment you." Coeus snarled from his cell, his long black hair falling over his shoulders as he lunged for the bars of his prison, cat-green eyes flashing. Phoebe started to speak again, but I was also getting annoyed by her constant snarling. I threw my hand out and conjured a gag similar to the one that Hades had used for me, a thick black tar that shot out and captured her mouth, covering it completely and wrapping around to the back of her head to secure itself. Her protests became muffled and each Titan in the room heaved a big sigh of relief. I started to turn around, but caught Rhea's eyes as she gazed at me.

"If you let me go, I can give you your voice back," She offered, pressing her cheek to one of the bars, "I won't let the others hurt you, sweetheart." I turned my back to her and she gave a frustrated growl before giving up on her attempts to sway me, at least, until I started to go and she was back at the bars, holding her hand out to me.

"At least take my advice." She tried. I paused, glancing at her out the corner of my eye. She swallowed against the dryness of her throat and kept holding her hand out to me, as if hoping I would take it.

"I know you seek the traitor who works for us," She whispered, making me narrow my eyes and turn to face her fully, but she held her hand up at me to stop me, "But I cannot tell you who it is. Not because I wish to protect us, but to protect him. He is only doing what he's obligated to do. He has someone very important to him here. I ask that, should you discover him, that you do not put him away here. Keep your eyes on us. We're far more active than he is." My eyes flickered at that as she retreated back into her cell to sit down cross-legged, watching me through the darkness.

I reluctantly left, knowing there was no way for me to get more information than I'd already gotten.

But her words played in my mind.

Someone very important, a Titan. Whoever the traitor was was close to one of the Titans, but how? A husband? A brother? A lover? A son? It couldn't be Diodorus. I already knew both his parents and that he was an only child. The only thing he loved were video games, and possibly one of my guardsmen, but that was a different story. My mind wandered back to Hannibal, but his parents weren't technically Titans. His adoptive parents were and he never spoke of them. I only knew that his eyes would become dark and he would suddenly turn bitter and cold, more or so than usual.

And yet, I still didn't write him off. He was still a suspect.

I returned to the palace and met with Noe again before we left Tartarus to go to Inferi where the next meeting was. Rhea's words still spun in my mind as we arrived in Inferi. The rainfall had picked up recently, pouring down and flooding the streets. No one walked the cobblestoned streets just down the hill from Malachi's home. I paused to glance at the plants that grew around Malachi's home, a special plant called a Lix. They were plants that looked like sleek rubber, marbled black and green that seemed to sway gently under the rain. They usually tended to trap their prey and ensnare them, going towards the nearest orifices in hopes of finding some kind of bodily fluid, usually blood. And while most plants didn't make a noise when you cut them, the Lix did. They squealed and screamed when they were cut and bled like any animal or person. I still wasn't sure where their origin was from. Just that Malachi used them as a security measure since Lix were very intent on capturing their prey and used their unique muscle structure to reel their prey in.

We entered Malachi's lobby to find that Abel was already there, sitting on the front desk with his arms folded over his chest, one leg folded over the other. Today, his long black scaled tail was free and laying off the edge of the desk beside him, the end curling up and down to signal his boredom. The moment he saw us, his blue eyes brightened.

"Zelios, Noe! Glad you guys showed up so fast. I didn't want to have to run into someone like Theo or..." He didn't finished his sentence as a second later, Theo appeared in the lobby with Sept at his side. Theo wore a pair of leather pants and just his dark heavy cloak that covered one shoulder today. His unruly red hair was swept back from his face, his red eyes scanning the room until they spotted Abel and narrowed.

"I heard that." He stated, folding his arms over his chest and sticking his nose in the air. Abel wrinkled his nose childishly.

"Guess it's not just your mouth that works overtime." He responded dryly. Theo's eyes flickered dangerously, but he didn't dare go after Abel, not in Malachi's home. Malachi refused to have fist fights in his home, especially with Dorean around, who frightened easily at loud noises and gods knew my brothers liked to make loud noises.

"You would know." Theo boosted at last. Abel bleghed and rolled on the front desk as Theo smirked in satisfaction. Sept didn't look too pleased, though, as a frown worked itself onto his face. Sept, too, only wore black leather pants. His golden eyes were outlined in thick black eyeliner, looking very exotic. His dark hair was pulled back into a ponytail from his face.

"I would ask if there's anything new," Theo said, looking at me now and making me frown, "But I feel like it'd be useless." Noe glared at him.

"Yeah, well, I still speak English. What do you wanna know?" He asked sharply. Theo's eyes darkened and I could see threat in his eyes that made me narrow my eyes at him. He looked up and caught my look, then looked away uncomfortably.

"None of your business, kid." He responded instead. Noe looked like he was seconds away from bashing Theo over the head with his foot when Sept came to stand between them, close enough to Theo so that I could see Theo's hand playfully brush Sept's backside. Noe wrinkled his nose at him and looked at me, grumbling under his breath.

"Goddamn." Was all he said. I smiled sympathetically at him, reaching out to ruffle his hair affectionately. Noe blushed and came to stand closer to me, looking much more comfortable there.

A few minutes later, the rest of my brothers appeared. Cain came in Hannibal, wearing his usual skimpy outfits that were probably illegal in several countries, and Hannibal dressed in his heavy black coat, his hair hanging over his face. Charon, in his black cloak, came with Kyros, decked out entirely in white. Cerberus arrived with Leon, both looking a bit flushed, probably from drinking.

"You look totally wasted." Cain commented with a smirk, looking at Cerberus, who grinned.

"Is it that obvious? Ah, nah, you wouldn't believe the gift Hades gave me for that whole oracle thing." He said wickedly, elbowing Leon good-naturedly, but Leon looked surprisingly ill at the reminder and his grin faded. Cain frowned curiously at that, cocking his head.

"What'd he give you," Theo snorted, "A Milk Bone?" Cain burst into laughter and even Abel cracked a grin at that. Cerberus scoffed.

"Nope, sent me a pureblooded fae. Nice and young, just how I like them." He responded, putting his hands on his hips. His tone was mocking, as if to say haha I have one and you don't. Cain scowled now, glaring at him.

"How come he gave you one? I never get anything." He looked positively distraught at the idea of not being paid attention to. He was used to having people notice him, mostly because of his clothing choice. Cerberus grinned, then glanced at me apologetically.

"Even though it was kind of not cool wanting to kill Noe and all, my attempt got me a pretty piece of ass." He joked. Noe grimaced, folding his arms over his chest.

"Yeah, you're welcome. So glad you're enjoying your sex toy." He replied heatedly.

"Aw, come on," Cerberus whined, coming over to Noe to ruffle his hair, making a foreign sensation of hot jealousy rush up my spine as Noe squirmed away from him with a scowl, "At least we're all alive and happy. Except Ariel over here." He gestured a thumb at me, making Theo and Cain snicker. I rolled my eyes and looked away from him as Cerberus waved his hands in surrender before coming over to put an arm around my shoulders, making me bristle at the contact. He knew very well I didn't enjoy physical contact-- and the smell of his breath when he was drunk.

"Well, at least you get to fuck your pretty daemon, right? Oh wait, oracle. He's an oracle now. I think you're the first person to fuck an oracle, Zelios. I praise thee." He snorted in laughter, pushing me away and going back to Leon, who shoved him away with a disgusted curse, only to result in Cerberus whining. I looked at Noe, who sighed and shook his head before catching my eye. He just smiled up at me and warmed my heart.

Our moment was ruined, however, as Malachi and Adrian came into the room. And shockingly enough, Dorean was right behind Adrian. Dorean looked much different than the first time I had seen him. Upon meeting him, Dorean had been a very small timid creature that still insisted on wearing as little clothing as possible.

Now he'd gotten a bit taller, maybe an inch or so taller than Adrian. His snow white hair was about shoulder length now, if not an inch or two longer, held back by a burgandy hair clip, making his silver eyes seem much bigger and child-like. He wore a loose white shirt that hugged his torso with billowy sleeves to match his jeans. He was carrying a small stuffed toy shark and was chewing on one of his claws. His point ears jutted out from past his hair, his small black bat-like wings fluttering, his matching tail dragging on the floor behind him, lightly layered with velvet feathers.

Adrian had picked Dorean up in Inferi. The imp had been a former sex slave for Wind Storm, a now deceased man that worked for Malachi. I wasn't sure where his name came from, however, and had a strong feeling that Abel had something to do with it. Him and his sick sense of humor.

"Why is he here?" Abel asked instantly, offended by his presence. He was one of many that didn't look at imps as a person, but rather property. Adrian gave Abel a pointed stare.

"He wanted to come with, so I let him. He's learning bigger words. So I thought it would be okay to have him listen to us." He said. Cain rolled his eyes.

"Fantastic, just what we need." He muttered. Dorean looked uncomfortable now, probably half tempted to leave, but surprisingly, Noe was the one who spoke up.

"Ignore them," Noe told him, making Dorean look at him, startled, "They're buttheads anyway." Sept smirked at that, his arms over his chest. Hannibal scrunched up his nose in distaste. Cain and Abel both glared at him, then seemed to realize their identical reaction and looked in opposite directions.

"Anyway," Malachi said, his voice strained, "We have new problems. First of all, the traitor who ratted out Noe is still out there, wandering around. The Titans are about to make another move, oh yeah, and Zelios can't speak now, so we're knocked down a peg." I gave him a droll stare to which he answered with a weary sigh.

"I know it's not your fault, Zelios." He responded, to which Theo scoffed, making everyone glare at him.

"It's true," Theo drawled, gesturing to Noe and I, "If these two love birds didn't care more about themselves, we wouldn't be having this problem right now."

"Oh, sorry," Noe muttered bitterly, making Theo shoot him a dirty look, "But you know, maybe if you two didn't care more about each other, we could've just killed you while Epimetheus was inside you."

"Gosh, that sounded dirty." Cain snickered, making Cerberus snort with more laughter. Theo turned red in the cheeks and looked seconds away from snapping Noe's neck, but I blocked his path to my Noe and he pulled up short, glaring up at my face, considering he was a couple inches shorter.

"You better put a muzzle on your bitch, Zelios, before I do." He sneered. I narrowed my eyes and went to grab his throat, but Sept stepped in my way and I stopped an inch before I almost strangled him instead.

"Please forgive my master." Sept stated firmly. Even though he spoke politely, his eyes spoke of threat and normally someone would have cut him down for it, but I respected the strength he had to defend his childish master, so I inclined my head and retreated, but took Noe on my other side, away from Theo, who was silently fuming and popped Sept hard on the butt, which combined with his leather pants, made a loud crack sound. Sept shot him a dirty look and much to my surprise, Theo beamed playfully at him. As soon as he saw everyone staring at him, though, his smile faded and he glared at us.

"Fuck off." He snapped, folding his arms over his chest. Sept just rolled his eyes and Malachi cleared his throat.

"Well, if we're done acting like jackasses, we can get down to business."