Chapter Thirty

Kratos attacked hard and fast.

There was no hesitation in his attacks, no lax like there was before. He was in it for real this time, which only spoke volumes of how he felt about this kid of his that was supposedly not his. No wonder I couldn't convince him otherwise. They were threatening the kid, whoever he was.

"Lea," I said, stepping back from another of Kratos's attacks, making her look at me as she fought off the second shadow, "Go get Rowan and Yiuwa and head to Valhalla! Look for an infant half-imp slave working under Thor and bring him to Lucifer!" Lea looked at me bewildered. The first shadow cursed and vanished on the spot, making Kratos pull up short.

"No! Fuck! Hades, you son of a bitch!" Kratos snarled, whirling back to me. I glared at him.

"You're a fucking coward, Kratos," I said, making him stiffen, "If you won't protect the kid, I'll fucking do it on my own.

"You're just putting him in more danger!" Kratos protested.

"Hades, is that even important right now--" Lea started.

"Yes!" Kratos and I exclaimed in unison. Lea threw her hands up in defense, then kicked the second shadow one last time before she vanished on the spot, leaving me with the shadow and Kratos, who drew close to me, ready to attack.

"If anything happens to that kid because of you, Hades, I will never forgive you," Kratos growled. I narrowed my eyes.

"I'll die before I let anything happen to him," I stated. Kratos stopped at that, looking at me in confusion. The second shadow glared at him.

"Don't even think about it, Kratos," he warned, "You honestly think they'll get to him before us? You think they can save him when not even you could save him? If you think what Thor does to him is bad, just wait what the Shifter has in store for both of you if you--"

"Oh, shut the fuck up," I threw my hand out and god blasted the little fucker straight through a wall and into the ocean on the other side. Kratos snapped his head to look after the guy before he whirled on me, clenching his fists and charging up a set of fireballs.

"Do it," I challenged him, making him narrow his eyes, "And just add it to the list of shit you regret." Kratos paused. The flames in his palms dwindled. He looked back out where the shadow was sputtering and floundering in the water, then back at me. He studied me for the longest time.

"For once in your life, Kratos, just fucking trust me," I seethed. Kratos ground his teeth together.

"I can't," he ground out, making me tense and take a step back, "But fuck me, I don't have a choice." Without a word, he spun around and sent the flames rolling through the air, colliding with the shadow that had just managed to get out of the water. The thing screeched in agony, throwing itself back into the water to put out the flames. I approached Kratos, who eyed me warily.

"If anything happens to him, I'm going to rip your heart out," he threatened.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, keep talking like that and I'll think you still have a crush on me," I said, making him roll his eyes. There was another loud crash and we turned to see three more shadows appearing in the doorway. They immediately seemed to recognize what had happened between Kratos and I because one launched an attack directly at him. I blocked the attack and blew back one of my own, sending electricity screeching through the air at them. I managed to catch one, knocking him to the ground, but the other two dodged the attack and went after us.

Cursing, I caught the first one coming after me, flipping him head over heels, but he caught himself and spun around to attack my head. I spun out of the way and sent a god blast careening toward him, except he leapt into the air and dodged it, landing in the rafters above.

"Great," I muttered, "A fucking spider monkey." The shadow bared its fangs.

"Close, but not quite," he responded, and a second later, he was shedding some kind of skin and in his place was a much bigger male with muscles hopped up on steroids.

"Shape shifter," I cursed, backing up and charging an attack up. I launched it at him, but he blocked it with his bare fucking hands and leapt down from the rafters, landing right in front of me and scoring a suckerpunch right to my gut. I flew back and hit the wall, sliding down and gasping for breath, jerking my head up as the creature lunged for me. I caught my breath and rolled out of the way, popping back up and landing a solid kick to his side that was probably nothing more than a tickle to him, because he grabbed me by the leg and swung me around, smashing me into Kratos, who had just managed to subdue one of the shadows while the other was charging up an attack.

"Get your fat ass off me," Kratos snarled, shoving at me as we managed to scramble to our feet.

"Fucking pardon you, you've got at least a hundred pounds on me."

"Pure muscle, baby," Kratos muttered, then spun around to block an attack coming at me. I spun around with my back to Kratos's just as the shape shifting shadow came at me from behind. With our backs together, we launched attack after attack, but it was turning into nothing more than a block and attack fest that appeared to be leading nowhere.

"Shit! Any info on how to stop these fuckers?" I demanded, blocking another attack just barely and nearly toppling into Kratos, who cursed as he barely blocked an attack on his end.

"They're trying to wear us out, so we need to think of something fast," Kratos cursed.

"Yeah, no shit! Again, any info?"

"Darius is the shifter," Kratos explained, blocking another attack that singed his palms, "Camila is the were. They both excel at magic combat and hand-to-hand."

"So what you're saying is we're kind of fucked?"

"Only kind of," Kratos muttered, "We need to coordinate an attack together and blast them away long enough to get away."

"So the plan is to run away?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, did you have a better plan? Please, enlighten me, considering you were the one that asked for my help in the first place," Kratos snapped. I rolled my eyes.

"Fine, but we need to move fast. I'm getting depleted fast," I warned. Kratos nodded.

"On three, we need to change position."

"Wow, haven't heard you say something like that in a long time," I muttered, making Kratos actually bark a laugh before he shouted three. Together, we launched ourselves out of the way, ducking as both oncoming attacks collided and sent a blast of smoke rushing through the room. I ducked and rolled, popping back up to my feet as I bumped shoulders with Kratos. I held out my hands, summoning the last bit of energy I had for this fight as electricity exploded from my palms and coiled into a powerful concentrated ball. Kratos did the same with flames and they merged together in a crackled screaming ball of power.

"Shit," Darius muttered as he backed up near Camila, who stepped forward, clearly thinking she could handle our attack.

And she didn't.

The blast shot out and seared right through her, splitting her in half down the middle and sending her remains scattering into ash that blew away while the remaining energy barreled toward Darius, who sprinted out of the way. We took our chance to vanish from Lea's beach house and teleported clear across the country to a beach.

"Holy shit," I exclaimed, landing in the sand on my knees. I panted, looking down at my singed fingertips, then glanced over where Kratos was seething in pain over palms that were blistered and bloody from the magic. Cursing, I got to my feet and stumbled over, landing by Kratos, grabbing him by the wrists. He snarled in pain, baring his fangs at me, but I ignored him and sent in a blast of power, healing his palms as quickly as I could with minimal pain.

"Damn," Kratos muttered breathlessly, "You've gotten better."

"Considering medicine is my profession, I better have fucking gotten better," I responded, then heaved myself to my feet, peering up in the direction of Lea's house, spying a column of smoke, "Shit. They're going to track us down again. We don't have time to fuck around. Let's head back to my place. Lucifer's probably moved on from there and is going to come here next to look for me."

"Any reason you're hiding from your boyfriend?" Kratos asked dryly.

"He's too cuddly," I lied swiftly, "Come on, let's head to Hades." I didn't give Kratos much time to agree or deny as I touched his shoulder and together, we vanished from Atlantis, reappearing in my throne room.

It looked the same way we'd left it. Kind of destroyed from the last couple fights with scorch marks all over my nice walls and ceiling, not that you could tell considering they were already dark on their own as they faded to green toward the ceiling.

"What is this?" Kratos asked, looking around in awe.

"My palace," I stated, reaching for my phone and Kratos frowned at me, then at the device in my hand, "And this is a phone. I'll share that info with you later. Right now, I gotta see where Lea is at with getting a hold of your kid."

"No way she's done that so soon," Kratos muttered, "Fighting Thor is like..."

"Fighting a fucking jackrabbit," a voice said, making us blink and look up to see Lea coming through the double doors of the throne room with Rowan and Yiuwa... and a very young imp child. The child was small at seventeen, looking more like thirteen maybe, with long snow white hair down to his waist and vivid seafoam green eyes, his skin dark in color like coffee. A pair of little black wings and a swirling pointed tail finished signified his imp genetics.

"Kratos!" The kid yelled, those eyes filling with tears.

"Kalen!" Kratos abandoned my side and went right to the kid, catching him up in his arms and hoisting him off his feet. The kid immediately broke into a round of sobs, clinging to his neck and hanging on for dear life.

I watched them, briefly surprised by Kratos's reaction. I hadn't seen this soft side of Kratos since... fuck, since the beginning of our relationship. Gone was the gruff angry soldier and in with this... father. He clung to the kid and didn't put him down, like the very thought of releasing him was a nightmare. The kid appeared to share the sentiment as he held onto Kratos's neck, sobbing into him.

Lea came over to stand beside me, touching my shoulder with one hand while her other was hiding the way her lip quivered. Rowan and Yiuwa looked on in surprise, also caught off guard by Kratos's tenderness for the kid.

"Did you have a lot of trouble?" I asked Lea at last. Lea blinked back tears and shook her head.

"Not too much. Thor put up a bitch and moan fest, some punches were shared, a shadow showed up, but it was thanks to Rowan, we were able to bring him back here in one piece. He sure can be a nightmare when he's angry," she murmured, glancing over at Rowan, who was watching the pair with his head cocked, like he wasn't sure what to make of their reunion.

I frowned, unsure what to feel or say about that. There was an odd sensation in my chest... I wasn't sure what it was, at least, not without Lucifer here to say something profound, like how I saw my own lack of a father figure here, or how I saw what I wished I'd had with a father here. Or something psycho along those lines that I thought was total bullshit.

I was old enough to know better, old enough not to give a shit anymore. I'd already gone through a set of parents that treated me like shit. I didn't need another parent showing up just to be a total disappointment. Besides, from the looks of it, Rowan shared the sentiment and didn't seem interested in reconnecting. Even if he did, it just wouldn't work out. It never did.

I averted my eyes to give Kratos the peace he needed with his son, turning to Rowan and Yiuwa, who glanced up.

"So, we got what we need then," I stated, "It's time to put the Shifter down."

"I'll get Tristan, then?" Lea offered. I nodded slowly, frowning uncomfortably.

"Something about this seems too easy," I muttered, glancing around. I expected shadows to burst out of the walls or the Shifter to suddenly appear as Kalen, or god fucking forbid Lucifer appeared out of nowhere for a hug fest that really wasn't important right now.

"Don't say that," Lea said, elbowing me in the ribs, "I don't want to deal with anymore of this Shifter's bullshit."

"Ditto," I agreed under my breath, "But something still doesn't feel right about all of this... Go ahead and get Tristan. In the meantime, I'm going to start compiling our data and create this song that's supposed to kill this thing." Lea nodded and vanished on the spot. As she vanished, Kratos had finally put Kalen on his feet and knelt down to get in front of him, wiping the tears from his face before kissing the boy repeatedly on the cheeks and forehead. He brushed the hair back from Kalen's face and tucked it back behind his ears, cupping his face.

"Are you alright? Are you hurt at all?" Kratos asked, studying the boy, who sniffed and shook his head slowly. I frowned, walking over and the boy stiffened at my approach, immediately getting close to Kratos, who looked up at me as he rose to his feet.

"Kalen, this is Hades," Kratos introduced gently, his tone of voice so soft that it barely sounded like his own. Kalen swallowed nervously, glancing between Kratos and I before he ducked behind Kratos further, mumbling a hello under his breath. I smirked at that, then frowned as I looked at Kratos.

"He looks just like you," I said, noting the way Kelan's brow furrowed like Kratos's when he was thinking about something. The way those lips came together thick on the bottom, thinner on top, little fangs just starting to sprout from tender gums. He was young enough to be teething for the second time. Kratos grimaced, averting his eyes. I frowned at that.

"Kratos, where did he come from?" I asked. Kratos shook his head.

"Doesn't matter... Just. Get rid of the thing on his foot," he said. I nodded and knelt down to the kid's level and the kid stiffened, looking startled that I was so close to him.

"Hey, I'm not gonna hurt you," I said quietly, "I just want to see the thing on the bottom of your foot and make it go away, okay?" The kid blinked at that, peering at me from around Kratos. He looked down at his bare feet, then up at Kratos, who nodded to him. He hesitantly picked his foot up to reveal the slave mark there. I took his foot carefully, not wanting to spook him and placed my hand over the mark.

"This is going to hurt just a tiny bit, so just look up at Kratos for me, will you?" I asked. Kalen swallowed at that, then tilted his head back to look up at Kratos, who took his face in his hands.

"Hey," Kratos said firmly, but tenderly, "You'll be okay now. I promise. And I always keep my promises, right?" Kalen nodded, but said nothing as I began to remove and heal the mark on the underside of his foot. Kalen flinched and whimpered a little. Kratos gritted his teeth, but held Kalen still as I finished off the removal of the mark and began to heal it as gently as possible. It took just a few minutes before it was done. He hopped on his foot for a second, like he wasn't so sure about putting his previously injured foot down, but after some coaxing, he finally stepped down on both feet and looked up at Kratos in surprise.

"No hurt!" He exclaimed. Kratos smiled at him in relief, then looked at me, his smile fading and his expression turning serious.

"Thank you, Hades... Seriously."

"No problem. Maybe we can figure out where to send him where he'll be safe," I said slowly, watching Kratos's eyes darken, "He can't stay here in case they come looking for him."

"You said he could stay here in Hades."

"Yeah, no, that's fine, but he needs a home to stay in."

"He's fine here. He's safest at my side."

"Is he, though?" I challenged. Kratos ground his teeth together. He knew I was right. Until we eliminated the Shifter, the kid wasn't safe. It would use him against Kratos and the last thing we needed was someone as persistent as Kratos on the wrong side.

"What happen?" Kalen asked, confused, giving Kratos's hand a squeeze. Kratos took a deep breath, then looked down at Kalen, his expression pained.

"I need to... we need to take you somewhere safe, Kalen."

"Okay. Kratos come."

"No, I can't come with you," Kratos said, making Kalen stiffen and tighten his grip on Kratos, "I'm sorry, but it's not safe that you're with me right now." Kalen shook his head quickly and practically latched himself onto Kratos's waist.

"No. Kalen not leave. Kratos not leave. Together forever. Promised!" He added angrily. Kratos sighed, wiping a hand down his face before he pried Kalen off him and got down to his level.

"I know I promised that, and I wasn't... I didn't realize the situation at the time. It'll be better for you to stay here in Hades. He'll find you a much better home--"

"No," Kalen repeated, this time stomping his foot, "Mama say Kratos stay. So Kratos stay forever." I glanced at Kratos, who sighed again, like he wasn't sure how to deal with the kid now. I frowned. Kalen was still an infant by imp standards, so the fact that he was speaking was a miracle in itself. He definitely had strong genetics, meaning they were probably Kratos's. And he mentioned a mother, so Kratos clearly had someone he'd shacked up with to create the little guy. How that had happened was beyond me. Kratos wasn't easy to get along with, and something told me Thor didn't appreciate slaves sleeping with one another, or anyone who wasn't their master...

A forced conception, I realized. I wasn't entirely sure if the infant was the goal, but here he was. A pretty dainty little thing with a heart of gold and powers unlike any imp had probably ever experienced. Gods and imps did not mate. Xenon and Dorean were the only exception I'd heard of, and even then it was weird. Imps had been enslaved for years, and gods were far, far above them in hierarchy. It was almost dirty for them to conceive with an imp. Fucking an imp and impregnanting an imp were two very different things.

So clearly Thor had been fucking around with his slaves, and the thought infuriated me to think he was experimenting with living beings the way he did. Sure, I experimented once in a while, but my shit was currently consensual. What Thor was doing was sick.

And clearly Kalen was dependent on Kratos, who was probably the only living relative he had, judging from the way Kratos talked. Kalen's mother was either dead or incompacitated somehow. Leaving Kratos the only person to take care of him.

The situation stressed me the fuck out. My intention was to lock Kratos in Tartarus, or straight up wipe him from existence, but it was different now with Kalen actually in the picture. Especially the way he grabbed onto Kratos and didn't let go, the way he looked at him with those green eyes like his entire world revolved around Kratos. Because, honestly, it probably did.

"Shit," I muttered, making Kratos glance at me dryly, "What? This situation just gets more and more complicated... Look." Kratos narrowed his eyes, tightening his grip on Kalen's hands and Kalen looked at me warily, clearly not trusting me either.

"Look," I said again, "You can stay with Kalen." Kalen's eyes brightened and he perked up, making Kratos scowl.

"I mean after this shit is over with," I said, making Kratos look at me in confusion, "He needs someone who understands him and gives a shit about him to take care of him and while I can think of quite a few people who would love to do so, that's not what Kalen wants, or what his mother would have wanted. They clearly want you and only you. So... if you help me with this Shifter business, help me take this bitch down, then you're free to take Kalen wherever you want in the realm. As long as you work for me, that is." Kratos eyed me for a while, like he was debating the idea before he looked at Kalen, who looked at him expectantly.

Kratos sighed, letting go of Kalen to stand up and face me. He studied me for a moment, then held his hand out.

"Fine." I inclined my head and took his hand, giving him a firm shake that he returned before we let go and I stepped back.

"In the meantime, he needs to be somewhere safe while we get to work on this Shifter shit," I said, making Kratos nod in agreement, "And I think I have just the place for him. Now we just have to convince him it's safe." Kratos grimaced, glancing at Kalen, who looked back and forth between us suspiciously.

For a baby, he was fucking smart.

Just like his dad, who eyed me like he still wasn't so sure about our agreement. I met his eyes and projected my thoughts to him.

Don't worry, I said, watching his eyes widen in surprise, Kalen will be safe. I promise. Kratos stared at me for the longest time before he swallowed thickly and gave me a nod. I called in a favor, and while Kalen threw a temper tantrum unlike anything I'd ever seen before, he did behave after one stern look from Kratos.

After that, it was finally time.

Time to get rid of that motherfucking Shifter.