Then Hades stepped to the edge of the pit and everything went calm.

  Without the rush of the ward drowning them out, the Titan's cries could be heard clearly. They weren't simply stirring, they were wide awake and very aware of their situation. While the ward had raged, they sounded sad and hopeless but in the peaceful quiet, the Titans' resonant voices bellowed out of the pit, promising violent retribution. The fact that Hades could stand there so casually and listen to the threats of his old gods impressed me, and calmed me.

  “Bring her,” Hades said simply.

  Cerberus brought his sister forward. She didn't struggle or beg. Hydra walked proudly to the pit and faced Hades as if he were the criminal.

  “At least remove the collar,” Hydra said.

  Hades narrowed his eyes at her and then shifted his stare to me. “Do you still have the key, Elaria?”

  “I do,” I admitted. “But how do we get her in the prison after we take the collar off.”

  Hades gave me a look.

  “I know we outnumber and outrank her in magic, but I don't feel like fighting her. Do you?” I asked.

  “If you make us battle you, I will kill you, Hydra. I know your weakness; you will be dead before you make your first strike,” Hades said. “Is that clear?”

  Hydra nodded crisply.

  Hades held his hand out to me, and I gave him the key. He turned Hydra around and unlocked the collar, clicking it closed again as soon as it was free of her neck. Then he handed the collar and key to Slate.

  “Tighten your security, Gargoyle,” Hades said imperiously. “If I have to deal with another one of your collars, I'll hold you accountable.”

  “Understood.” Slate tossed the collar at a boulder so hard that the metal exploded.

  The sound echoed off the stone with a cacophony great enough to briefly silence the Titans. We all grimaced at him.

  “What?” Slate huffed. “I didn't want to cart it back to the Zone.”

  “Goodbye, Heidi,” Cerberus said softly.

  Hydra turned away from her brother and went to the edge of the pit without returning the farewell. “Do it,” she said to Hades.

  Hades laid his hand on Hydra's head and a shimmering, golden glow seeped down to cover her. As soon as she was encased in magic, Hydra jumped. I rushed to the edge of the pit in surprise but even though the ward had gone calm and clear, I couldn't see her. The bottom of the pit was too far down, shrouded in shadows. But the Titans had stopped their threats to welcome her. Hydra had survived the fall.

  “She's okay,” Cerberus said in relief.

  “I'm so sorry, Cer,” I whispered.

  “I'm sorry too, El. My sister.” He shook his head. “I can't believe she'd do this.”

  “You can't hold us forever,” a deep male voice rose from the depths of the pit. “We've been awakened, Hades. We will find a way free.”

  On Cerberus' left, Hades stared down into the pit with us. He didn't look so confident anymore. Hades moved his hands forward to reset the ward, but I stopped him.

  “Maybe I could help.”

  Hades looked at me in surprise.

  “I woke them,” I said. “Perhaps I can put them back to sleep.”

  “You're going to sing the Titans to sleep?” Hades lifted a skeptical brow.

  “She's not alone.” My Aunt Adelaid stepped up with the other spellsingers.

  “Not by a long shot,” Banning said as he and my lovers joined them. “We can do this, El. All of us together.”

  I smiled at Hades.

  The Lord of the Underworld chuckled and waved toward the pit. “By all means.”

  The Spellsingers and my lovers joined me at the edge of the pit as Cerberus stepped back. There weren't enough of us to ring it completely, but we weren't setting a ward, just singing. We clasped hands; my lovers to my right, and my family to my left.

  “What shall we sing?” I asked them.

  “Your choice,” Adelaid said.

  I thought about it and nodded. “Do you know 'Sleep' by Joseph & Maia?”

  “That's a rather saccharine choice,” Uncle Eilener said with disappointment.

  “We don't want to rile them up,” Aunt Daphne chided him. “It's a good choice.”

  “Very well,” Aunt Genevieve said. “Proceed.”

  It would be the second time we worked magic together, and my aunts and uncle looked excited by the prospect. I didn't share their enthusiasm. The last time we'd sung together, we had nearly exterminated an entire race. But this wasn't a battle, it was a lullaby. Hopefully, the last lullaby the Titans would ever hear.

  “Kyanite, if you would, please?” I asked.

  Of course, my love.

  The gentle strumming of a guitar could barely be heard over the shouting of the Titans, but it was enough for us. The Spellsingers' voices rose in harmony to accompany it, and I felt my lovers' magic rush down the line of our joined hands to fill me with power.

  Except it didn't stop there.

  The energy of the RS flowed into me until I was near to bursting with it. It filled my voice with power and then seeped down my arm and into my Aunt Adelaid. She glanced over at me in amazement, and then every spellsinger down the line followed her gesture; their eyes widening as the power hit them.

  The song remained soft and lulling, but it crackled with our magic until it became a physical thing. A pulsing, writhing mass of energy formed before us and my family's focus shot to it with even more wonder. A spell, even a spellsong, is an intangible thing. It doesn't have substance; it altered substance. And yet, there it was. I was pretty sure it was the first time any of us had seen one of our spellsongs take form.

  And then it plummeted.

  Far below us, the Titans went still, their threats silenced beneath the weight of our magic. I could feel them though, they still clung to consciousness. So, I directed my magic deeper into them; cajoling with words of love and safety while focusing on creating a feeling of lethargy. I put temptation into our song; the enticing pull of sleep.

  And they succumbed to it.

  The song covered the Titans like a blanket; tucking them in for their eternal rest. The violent stirring settled and all was still in the Titan prison. We sang the song to its conclusion; letting it echo out into nothing before we let go of each other and stepped away from the pit.

  Hades came forward with an astonished look on his face. His hand went out—a flat line across the quiet hole—and the mist bubbled up, began to spark, and filled with roaring power.

  The Titans slept on.

  Chapter Nine

  “Elaria”—Uncle Eilener turned to me—“would you mind telling me what in all the blazing hells just fucking happened?!”

  “I believe she shared her magic with us,” Adelaid said with a smile. “I didn't think I could become more powerful than I already am, but you made it happen, Elaria.”

  “The RS did,” I admitted. “And my men made it possible. They fueled us.”

  Adelaid shifted her pleased stare to the men. “Thank you; that was lovely.” She kissed me on the cheek and started walking away.

  “That was lovely?” Daphne asked. “We're not going to talk about this?”

  “What would you like to discuss, Daphne?” Adelaid stopped and looked back over her shoulder.

  “I... I don't know,” Daphne stuttered.

  “We have a new option, Spellsingers,” Adelaid declared. “If we are ever in dire need, we now know that we can call on Elaria to unite us in song and power. Is there anything else say?”

  “Yeah; there is,” Raphael's voice drew our heads around. He waved a hand toward my men. “Can someone give the Griffin a pair of pants or a really long shirt or a towel or something? I can battle monsters all day, but please don't make me walk all the way home beside a naked man.”

  “I was going to shift back into a griffin to carry my mate, but if it disturbs you, perhaps I'll stay as I am.” Gage waggled his brows at Raph.

  “I'm good with that.” Persephone slowly looked down Gage's body.

  Hades' eyes narrowed first at his wife and then at my griffin.

  Gage immediately shifted into his griffin form.

  That did the trick; the tension broke and a soft chuckle circulated our ranks. I slid onto Gage's back, sinking my hands in the soft ruff of feathers around his neck, and we headed away from the prison. As I mentioned, the ward around Tartarus prevented inter-realm travel. So, all of us had to return to Hades before we could go home. Not that I cared. Hydra was trapped and sleeping with her family and no one I loved had died. I was okay with a bit of travel.

  Hades left us briefly, disappearing down a hidden path amid the boulders at the base of the mountains while we passed through. He caught up with us a few minutes later and stepped up beside me with a wooden box in his hands. Hades slid the box onto my lap without a word, and I nodded at him in gratitude.

  Then I noticed a few harpies flying above us.

  “I was wondering where they were.” I pointed out the Harpies to Hades. “Do you think they were hiding from Hydra?”

  “I think they were hiding from the Titans,” Hades mused. “My people are very in tune with their home. I'm sure they felt the Titans wake and now, it looks as if they've felt them return to their slumber.”

  Hades nodded to the right, where a group of centaurs stood on the crest of a ridge, watching us. The horse-men lifted their hands in salute, and Hades lifted his back.

  “I'll be certain to let all of Styx know what you and your family have done today, Elaria,” Hades said.

  “No, don't,” I protested immediately.

  Hades looked at me in surprise.

  “You rule here, Hades,” I pointed out. “You need to be seen as powerful enough to handle anything.”

  “I appreciate the sentiment, Elaria.” Hades chuckled. “But my people know my power; its capabilities and limitations. They know I couldn't have put the Titans back to their rest without help. If I tried to take credit, I'd lose their trust and that is far more valuable to me than my ego.”

  Gage made a huffing caw, his giant, eagle head swiveling to stare at Hades approvingly. “Well said, Lord Hades,” Gage's voice rumbled from his lion chest and out of his beak. “The words of a good leader.”

  Hades inclined his head.

  “Cer, you okay?” I asked my best friend.

  Cerberus had remained in his human form; barefoot with a borrowed cloak over his shoulders. He swung his head to look my way. “Yeah; I'm good. Well, not good exactly but better than I could have been. At least she's sleeping instead of sitting there awake in that pit or dead.”

  I looked down at the box on my lap; the one that contained an orb of Darkness filled with my goddess magic and an orb of Light containing Darcraxis' god magic. Sleeping. Was that what the other half of my soul was doing in the orb? Or was she awake in there; furious and scheming? Did my soul yearn for freedom as all the awakened gods did? I frowned and looked up, away from the box. Sleeping or not, I couldn't let her escape either.

  “Sorry about your wedding, El,” Cerberus said softly.

  “It's okay.” I sent him a lopsided grin. “I got my man; the party was just frosting.”

  “The party awaits us,” Banning said with a smirk.

  “What?” I looked over at my husband in surprise.

  “The food may be cold, some of it may even be spoiled, but the cake should be fine, and we still have a well-stocked bar,” Banning said. “Everyone is welcome to return with us for a small celebration. We even have guest rooms prepared for any who'd like to spend the night.”

  “I like your style, Blooder,” Uncle Eilener said. “You're on.”

  “I could sure use a drink,” my father added.

  “And I'd like the chance to shove cake in my husband's face.” I winked at Banning. “What do you say, Cer?” I looked at my best friend.

  “I say; I wouldn't miss Banning with cake-face for the world; not any of them.” Cerberus grinned at me.

  It wasn't Cer's brightest smile, but it was trying to be, and that gave me hope.

  Chapter Ten

  After the champagne dried up and the cake was cleaned off our faces, Banning and I retired to our honeymoon suite, AKA his bedroom.

  Rose petals freckled the bed, sunlight from the open windows warming them and releasing their scent. A new day shone brightly and there we were, husband and wife; reunited after being torn apart on the very day we were joined together. I should have been exhausted but, standing there in my stained dress, staring at Banning in his equally sad tux, I wanted nothing more than to feel his skin pressed against mine.

  “Taken from me again,” Banning whispered as he pulled me close and laid his forehead to mine. “Right at our happiest moment.”

  “But this time, you got me back.”

  A shudder ran through Banning and into me. We stood there, holding each other as our bodies finally accepted what our minds already knew; we won. We lived. He held me. That's a win. Far better than my last life. Fortune hadn't been so fortunate.

  Banning finally eased away and smiled down at me. “Shower first?”

  I looked down at myself and laughed. “Yes; I think a shower would be good. There are several places on you that I'd like to lick and as much as I love you, I'd rather they be clean when I do the licking.”

  “Sweetheart, you had me at 'lick.'” Banning scooped me up, kissed me, and carried me into the master bathroom.

  He set me on my feet beside the Jacuzzi tub. The tub, a circular mammoth, dominated the center of the room. A recessed ceiling above it mimicked its shape and added even more glamor with gilded crown molding that resembled an actual crown. Twin sinks sat in marble slabs over dark wood cabinets spread down two walls with the door at their juncture, a crystal chandelier hanging above each. A bay window provided a view of the Kansas forest just beyond the bathtub.

  I stripped as Banning ran the water and added a measure of Epsom salts to it. I smiled in relief at that. Bubbles could be fun, but I was too tired to deal with them. A nice soothing soak without the frills—and with clear water to see all of my new husband—sounded better. Plus, we wouldn't be able to run the jets with bubble bath in the water. That's a recipe for disaster.

  I started to get into the tub, but Banning stopped me. “Let's shower off before we soak. Then we can start the licking early.”

  I giggled as I hurried into the shower. We didn't bother trying to get sexy, just quickly soaped up and rinsed off. Banning was done before the Jacuzzi filled, but I took a little longer with my hair. Then, dripping wet, I tiptoed into the tub and sighed as the hot water closed over my body.

  I had a mere moment to enjoy the heat and the salt working into my tired muscles before Banning moved over me. His insistent lips and tongue revived me more thoroughly than the water did. My hands trailed up his tattooed arms and moved across the breadth of his shoulders to knead his thick muscles as I pulled him closer.

  All of my men had beautiful bodies, but I admit I have a weakness for Banning's tattoos. The mark of his gheara status swirled on one arm above Fortune's portrait; my face on the body of a woman dressed in 17th century, English clothing. It was a little surreal but beautiful. With his shoulder-length, golden hair and the intricate ink, Banning looked more biker than blooder, and I've always had a thing for bad boys. Correction; I've always had a thing for boys who look bad but are secretly sweet. And that's Banning to a T. He could turn badass blooder in a second, but never with me. When we were together, his face would slide into an expression that made my chest shiver; a look of love with a good helping of lust. The very same look her wore now.

  I opened my thighs and Banning settled against me with a groan. Although I could feel him hard and ready between us, we took it slow; luxuriating in every touch. This was our first time together as a married couple, and we both wanted it to be special. We deserved it to be special after the night we'd had. Hell, after the centuries we'd waited for it.

  My fingers roamed Banning's wet skin; relearning the dips and bulges of his body now that it was truly mine. The ropes of muscles in his back led me down to the tight curve of his ass. I squeezed him there gently as he nibbled his way down my throat. My head automatically turning to offer him a drink, but Banning wasn't after blood. He kissed and licked my tender skin as he eased me up the side of the tub until my back arched over the rim. His hot mouth covered the apex of my breast, and I shivered with instant and insistent need. My hips shot forward, seeking satisfaction instinctively. But Banning's hands held me back, pushing my thighs apart more firmly. He moved to my other breast and took his time lavishing attention on it until I was writhing.