Chapter 7

To say that I gaped like a fish would be a complete understatement. There was no way to describe this man as big and his beauty was the unconventional kind, a lot more wild in its allure in comparison to Lucius. Even with that though, he was a far cry than what I had pictured Hades to be. It was a stark contrast to how he was portrayed in myths and legends but I should have known the inaccuracies of such things because of Lucius. I had assumed he would have been somewhere in between the Disney representation and a living corpse that was a few days past its sell by date. Never did I imagine him to be – well him.

Instead of a ghoulish being with a personality to match, I literally fall into the arms of an incredible handsome and happy man that would definitely make the top 10 of the hottest men that I had ever laid eyes on. The curse of being a god, they get to be extraordinarily beautiful, must be such a burden to bear.

Lucius cleared his throat bringing my attention back to the man my thoughts had been lingering upon and my boss who was looking a little green at the gills. I shook the thought off. Lucius was never jealous, probably because he knew that I wouldn't be too unwilling to kiss him if he asked. His problem was he didn't like to ask, he preferred women to beg him. Men and their damned egos, I thought scathingly as I eyed Lucius who was sending me a pointed look that failed to pierce through the lusty fog in my brain. I physically shook my head back and forth to try and return some normality to my thoughts. Hell was definitely screwing around with my mind.  

"Sorry about that," I spoke with a breathy tone of voice that had my eyes widening before I coughed to try and restore my voice back to normality. "Umm, it's nice to meet you Hades." I held out my hand to the man in question with a shaky smile upon my lips and was more than startled when he grasped my dainty hand in his giant one and lifted it to his lips and placed a light kiss across my knuckles.

"No Miss Savannah, I assure you the pleasure is all mine." He grinned at me some more and gave me a hearty wink before tucking my hand into the crook of his elbow. "Come, dinner will be served shortly. Lucius, you family is here."

Snapping my attention to Lucius, I noted that he didn't look at all surprised at the revelation and simply readjusted Danny upon his hip before making his way towards the entrance to the castle leaving Hades and I in his wake. The two of us exchanged glances, me with raised brows but Hades was full of nothing but amusement.

"Come on, time to meet the family." He chuckled to himself and then proceeded to drag me towards the entrance of the huge crystal castle that loomed over us.

I was surprised on the initial brightness inside the crystal building. The translucent effect given outside of the castle did not permeate to the interior and all of the walls were completely solid, the walls covered in cheerful red paint with black floors and skirting but it seemed to illuminate the place rather than create a gloomy effect. I raised my head and spotted the cause. The ceiling was just a complete row of orange and red crystals that shone brightly illuminating the corridor in warmth and light.

I didn't time to take in the various paintings and photographs hanging on the walls in guilt frames as Hades tugged me at a rapid pace. Well- he was walking slowly but his long legs meant that I had to jog to keep up with him.

Several twists and turns later I could hear hearty laughter and the loud chatter of several people coming from a room a few feet away. Hades slowed his pace slightly and allowed me to catch my breath, laughing when he glanced down to see me huffing and puffing. Still I was there within a few seconds and upon our entry, the entire room fell into silence. Never in my life had I felt so awkward than I did in that moment and I was reluctant to lift my gaze from my shoes. The gentle pat on my hand told me to grow a pair. So, biting nervously on my bottom lip, I lifted my head up and allowed myself to take in the other people standing within the room.

It was like that first day working with Lucius and all of those extraordinarily beautiful people that just so happened to be wandering around. Actually, I thought as I squinted at a few of the people milling around, they were vaguely familiar. There were only 3 or 4 people present that were complete strangers but the glint of their irises told me enough. They were demons. Not exactly a surprise considering the location we were in.

Shifting uncomfortably under all of their stares, I looked to Lucius for guidance but he was nowhere to be seen – neither was Danny. The room was huge but had an enclosed feel, probably because of the book shelves that adorned every wall. The ceiling was decked out with leaves and vines that had tendrils of black, red and purple running through them while a large ornate chandelier hung proudly in the centre of the ceiling giving fractured warmth to the room. The strange captivating beauty of the room did nothing to ease my frantically palpitating heart.

 Glancing up at Hades with wide frantic eyes, the man just took one look at me before he let out a chuckle and patted me on my shoulder with his giant hands. I made to chastise him but we were interrupted by a voice that had me wincing as if I had just been whipped or dealt a kick to the gut.

"The protected one I assume," The voice was filled with disdain and was almost as if she was talking to someone completely worthless and beneath her attention.

 I gulped and swung my head around to see a blonde woman with a slim body and that definite look in her eyes that told of her self-confidence. Without a doubt this woman could replace Rachel McAdams as the leader of the Mean Girls. Not to be stereotypical but she just had that look about her. I didn't regret it though because, although she wore more clothes than most man chasers I knew, it was clear that this demon woman was not against using her wiles to get the attention of men and using it to her advantage. The way she wore her toga just spoke volumes.

"My name is Savannah Holmes not protected one." I retorted, suddenly feeling very defensive. I felt like my first day at work with Lucius when I had totally thrown him with my less than sugary introduction to him. Right now I felt the same emotions rolling through me, indignation the first and foremost in my mind.  Raising my brows at her I posed a question that I was sure would annoy her more than anything else. "And who exactly are you?"

The woman looked completely furious as she stumbled back a step. Incredulity was plastered across her features as he red eyes bored straight into me. No doubt if looks could kill I would be six feet under by now. Trying to seem more confident than I was, I folded my arms across my chest and smiled innocently at the woman, as if I really truly cared about the answer. In response, the woman narrowed her eyes at me and the walked away with a flick of her blonde hair that was filled with attitude.

Hades snorted from behind me and gave me a playful nudge in the arm.

"By the way that was Claudia, she's a lower demon but she fancies herself to be Lucius' mistress though I have it from Lucius himself that he never slept with her, at least not whilst she was demon-kind."

He chortled to himself for a few moments before striding away from me to talk to some other people who were milling about the room. I noted that they all held tall crystal flutes filled with an bubbly golden liquid inside. Most managed to keep up an interested look as they conversed to their neighbours while sipping on their drinks but there were also a few bitter looking men and women who slouched against the walls or hid in the shadowy corners of the room. I shivered as a few of them brazenly met my gaze, their faces being amongst the ones I saw on my first day at Satani media. It was quite clear that they didn't favour my victory bought me any brownie points in their opinion.

The entire affair confused me though. I had assumed that we had gone down there for damage control and other business but instead people were standing around gossiping and drinking from fancy champagne flutes as if they were at some high class mixer. To top matters, Lucius and Danny still hadn't come and the people who were there made me extremely uncomfortable. I edged my way to the opposite side of the room where there stood a set of double doors that were wide open revealing a huge dining room beyond.

Taking a quick glance over my shoulder and noting nobody's attention on me, I skipped through the open threshold into the dining room and let out a breath of relief. Relief to be away from the masses was shortly lived however, as a man appeared suddenly appeared before my eyes. If my eyes hadn't deceived me,  he had been part of the wood panelling that lined the room and had literally seeped from the grains of the wood to form the real and solid being that stood before me. I blinked a few times but when a grin appeared on his face, I knew that even my imagination wasn't good enough to create something that beautiful and radiant.

The wings protruding from his back were a big clue to his heritage, the grey and black feathered appendages giving the appearance of a full and bloated storm cloud the moment it release a barrage of rain on the masses. It was almost as if the moved and undulated like a read tangible mass of swirling smoke and morning breeze every time he so much as moved an inch. It was difficult to discern how such a man with wings like those would choose to hide himself in the woodwork.

"Hello Savannah Holmes," the man greeted with a twinkle in his purple irises that were surveying me from top to toe, more through curiosity than lechery. "I am Castiel."

I grinned and held my hand out for him to shake but he just eyed my outstretched hand for a long moment before returning his gaze to my face. When I brought it back slowly while giving him a perturbed look, he laughed lightly and shook his head like he was mocking himself.

"I'm so sorry, that was a human custom wasn't it? I'm terribly sorry, I've spent little time in the earthly planes so I do not know much about their culture and customs." He gave me an apologetic smile while running a hand through his silvery blonde hair. He then extended his other hand towards me and smiled down at me while gesturing to the outstretched hand with a nod of his head. "Shall we try again?"

Without a moment of hesitation, I placed my hand in his and shook it firmly before attempting to pull my hand from his grasp. Castiel however, only tightened his grip on my hand and when I looked up into his face with fear in my eyes, I noted that his purple irises were no longer visible but were clouded with white. With a deep shuddering breath, Castiel reeled backwards and looked at me with fear, horror but also awe.

"The things in store for you?!" he shook his back and forth. "Sorry, I sometimes get these feelings. It's unclear, but the only thing I can say to you is be careful. No every face is as friendly as it may first appear to be."

"If everyone could please move into the dining hall and we'll start dinner." Lucius' voice rang loud and clear from the next room causing several voices to murmur back and forth before footsteps could be heard approaching the doorway.

Castiel swept his arm before him to allow me to walk in front of him. At the table, he pulled out the chair for me like a proper gentleman, smoothly tucking me into the table before he took the seat beside me.  All too soon the table was full, not a single seat was available meaning there were at least 30 people within the dining hall. Lucius managed to get a seat next to me and it wasn't difficult to miss the presence of a certain terrible twosome.

"don't worry Savannah, he's napping and there is a very reliable lady with him if he wakes up early." His voice had been gentle and soft as he addressed me causing several people at the table to frown at the man in confusion. Clearing his throat, Lucius sent a hardened gaze up and down the table, sending several people back into the cushions of the high backed chairs as they cowered away from him.

Satisfied with their reactions, he cleared his throat one more and then laid his arms before him on the table and rested his hands together, palm to palm so that it appeared at first glance as if he was about to pray. The gravity in his face and his voice when he began speaking displayed that prayer was the last thing upon his mind.

"Ladies and gentleman of the council, I have grave news indeed." Several people leaned forwards at this, some out of the eager need to hear gossip but others looked rather worried. "My granddaughter is dead." Several voices started to murmur around the table but Lucius shut them up with a firm glare. "Hellhounds. Now you don't have to be a genius to come to the conclusion I have. We have a traitor and let this be a warning to you all, I will not rest until I find the person responsible. No punishment will be harsh enough but let's just say my kindest treatment would be to cut out your entrails and feed them to Cerberus while you are still alive." He sent another glare around the table ensuring that he made eye contact with each and every person at the table.

Pushing up from the table Lucius walked around the edge of the table, passing extraordinarily close to each and every person. Jealousy flared up inside of me when he leant next to the blonde I had an altercation with earlier and whispered into her ear. Feeling my attention on the pair, Claudia smiled at me as she ran her hand up and down Lucius arm while pressing her body closer to his. I shook my head in disgust.

"Now on a happier note, business is booming." Lucius clapped his hands and several men is white togas appeared in their doorway, their hands laden with plates of food that smelt absolutely delicious. I was grateful that the demons' cheering hid the rumble of my stomach. "To celebrate my homecoming and the arrival of the mighty Savannah, I have had this feast prepared for you all."

By that point, Lucius had returned to his seat and with a clap of his head the waiters moved into the room with fluidity and ease.  I was absorbed in watching the formalities of hell and was paying such attention to the waiting staff that it was difficult for me not to catch the look that passed between Lucius and 5 of the waiters. With intense curiosity, I noted those particular staff whispering in the ear of a certain person as they laid a dish before them, one of them just so happening to be the man beside me, Castiel. I caught a word or two of the whispered conversation but had no clue what their conversations had been about other than it was about something after dinner.

Shrugging it off I turned to Lucius and smiled at him but as per usual, nothing can be happy for long. Waving a hand in front of his face, I finally managed to garner his attention.

"What's wrong Luce?" I whispered leaning next to him so that I could feel the heat of his body warming my face.

"She's gone, my little star isn't here." He whispered. My heart beat in my chest at the implications. To me it sounded like he had lost another of his secret love children. With a click of his fingers, he summoned a waiter to his side. When a short man with a slight pot belly approached us, Lucius leant close to him but said loud enough for us to hear. "Where is star?"

The little man quickly grew pale and stammered; probably sensing that danger was on the horizon for him.

"My Lord, she went to the surface with you at your last term on earth." The short man tugged at his toga and wiped at his receding hairline. "We haven't seen her since you left."

A roar of complete rage and misery left Lucius' mouth as he flung the table with all of his strength as his wings burst forth from his back. The table lifted up off of the floor and soared across the room missing several people who had managed to duck out of the way. A few people weren't so lucky and were now imbedded into the wall along with the table, giant splinted of wood protruding from their bodies as they stared wide eyed at their leader. If I wasn't so scared myself, I would have marvelled at Lucius' impossible strength that allowed him to toss a giant solid wood table across a room.

I did nothing but gape in silence which was obviously the wrong option because with a click of his fingers, two other servants moved forwards with the heads bowed.

"Clean this up." He demanded coldly. Without any other preamble, he held his hand for me to take and he guided me from the room leaving his guests in silence. I forced myself not to tremble as I allowed him to remove me from their presence. I didn't want to think who this star was and what had happened to her. Instead I focused intently on the man beside me who was so consumed with his emotions that he probably knew nothing of his whereabouts as he was too busy mumbling incoherently to himself.

Three words stood out to me however and they did nothing to cure the uneasiness within me. "They will die."

Please excuse errors, i felt bad for having written anything that I cranked this out in a rush and only jsut finished it about a min or two ago. with that said, I hope you enjoy. I know it may seem like there are a lot of characters and names to remember but I will get a cast list up for you soonish so you don't have to try to memorise too many names lol