Queen

"It's time for you to wake up, Darling," I heard a deep velvety voice whisper in my ear. My eyes fluttered open and I jumped as I saw Hades looking down at me with a large grin.

"You scared the hell out of me," I said as I lifted myself from the couch.

"Sorry," he laughed. "But you need to see this."

He sat next to me and picked up the remotes from the TV and turned it up. My eyes widened as I read the headline and my heart skipped a beat.

Dimitri Russo Arrested From Underworld Palace After Sexual Assault Video Surfaces The Internet

"Early this morning, the full elevator footage on the night of August 18th was found online. The footage shows Dimitri Russo brutally attacking and sexually assaulting Queen SinClaire.

The need for an investigation has been terminated due to an anonymous call prompting Juva police to test Mr. Russo's DNA. Authorities have confirmed it matches the one in the elevator..."

I covered my mouth in shock as I looked at Hades who was grinning from to ear. "Thank you so much!" I hugged him and he laughed as he hugged me back.

"Of course." I pulled away and looked back at the TV when I heard Syn's name.

"The manhunt for Syn SinClaire has been terminated after this newfound discovery. We have reason to believe that Dimitri Russo has been purposefully tampering with evidence to frame Mr. SinClaire.

We don't know whether or not you're watching, but the realms thank you for saving our Queen of Hell. We have the family of the Queen here for some words of encouragement to return home," the reporter said.

The camera turned to Xyla and Felix and I rolled my eyes. She was fixing her make-up in a small mirror as she didn't notice the camera on her and Hades laughed beside me. She tapped her glossy lips and when Felix nudged her she gasped and held a hand over her heart.

"Queen, if you're out there...come home. We miss you so much and we hope you're safe. I love my sister to death and it pains me to see all of this happen to her. But I have faith in Syn's love for her that she will be returned safely," she said hopefully as one single tiny tear fell down her cheek.

"As for my brother," Felix spoke up. "We're not close and I'm sorry for that. I'm sorry that I didn't believe your innocence in all of this when I should have. Syn came back after dying and I felt like I didn't know who he was so I was afraid. I apologize to all the realms."

"Ugh, turn this shit off," I groaned. "Has Syn seen this?" I said as I looked around the room. "Where is he?"

"He has something important to do," Hades said with a shrug. "He didn't tell me but he said he'll be back soon."

"And Bezy?" I asked.

"He went with him."

"Aww, that's adorable," I said with a smile. I could only imagine how annoyed Syn would be with Bezy and it was incredibly cute.

"It was," Hades laughed as he stood up. "You should get ready, I'm taking you home."

"Okay." I got up quickly and rushed to the restroom to get ready. I had no idea I'd be this excited to go back home after everything. I guess I missed everyone a lot more than I thought.

I removed my clothes in front of the mirror and took a deep breath as I looked at myself. I looked the same as I did before, only my eyes and hair seemed to be different. As I looked longer though, I noticed there was something else. Amidst all this shit going on, I looked happier. Which I assume I could only thank Syn for.

My hand instinctively went to my neck where my necklace used to be but I found it empty. That would have to be something that I'd find. It always kept me company when Syn wasn't with me.

I took a long shower and let the hot water scald away my worries. Things were finally going okay for the most part after all these weeks. We were going home, Syn was back and we were going to be married soon.

The idea of getting married again scared the crap out of me but I needed to let it go. This time would be different. Especially since I planned on letting nobody except close friends know this time.

When I was done I blow-dried my hair and put on a robe. I scurried your my closet and threw on jeans and a large t-shirt. I looked at myself in the mirror but didn't feel like styling my hair so I tried tying it up as I walked back into the living room.

My short hair kept falling out of my grip and I gave up on the ponytail and decided to let the curls fall where they may.

"You can get rid of the contacts," Hades laughed from the couch.

"Oh right," I said as I realized they were still in. I quickly removed them and walked to the trash and threw them away.

"Ready to go?" He asked.

"Yes, I'll make the portal," I said as I walked to an empty part of a wall nearby. "I assume the lock has been lifted."

"Yes, it has."

When I was done I stood up straight and Hades turned the lights and TV off in the apartment as he came to me. "Let's go."

I walked in and stepped in front of the palace where four guards were. They all dropped to their knees in sync when they saw me and I shook my head. I didn't know if I trusted them but soon I'd found out their loyalties and if it wasn't with me...I'd have to get rid of them.

Hades held the door to the palace open for me and my heels clicked through the empty foyer as I looked around. Mia was the first one I saw as she ran down the stairs and pulled me into a tight hug. She sobbed into my shoulder and I wrapped my arms around her tightly.

"I was so worried," she cried.

"I'm okay, don't worry," I said as I rubbed her back.

I heard other footsteps on the stairs and I turned to see Cain almost stumble down. It was weird to see him so clumsy when he was far from it. He practically ran to me and when he was by my side, he hit the side of my head and I glared up at him.

His eyes were red and watery as he glared down at me and I prepared myself for a big brother lecture I was used to after all these years.

"You should've told me!" He snapped.

"I'm sorr-,"

"If I'm not supposed to protect you then why the fuck am I here?!" He yelled. "I promised dad that I-"

His breath caught and he turned his back to me and covered his hands with his face. "Cain, I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I wasn't thinking about it."

"I guess I can't fully blame you. I would've forgotten anything you told me anyway."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Remember the night that you came home and Bezy told me what Dimitri did and I told you Cain knew?" She asked.

"I remember," I said.

"We found out that Eve took his memories."

"How does Eve know Dimitri?" I questioned.

"We have no idea, we did a bunch of background checks and even followed him but found nothing. Right now we're just waiting on his cell phone records but I guess that's not important anymore," Mia said.

"Actually, I'd like to see that. When will you have them?" I asked.

"In about an hour," Cain answered.

"Show me, when they come-,"

A commotion at the doors made me turn to them and I saw Caspian drop the luggage he was holding when he saw me. He sped to me and I yelped as he lifted me into the air for a hug.

"I'm so fucking glad you're okay," he said. I hugged him back but a scream made up let go of each other and I turned again to see Cleo and Gen.

I sighed and they came to me for another hug. I wasn't surprised to see Xavier and Lucifer come in and hug me next but soon I wound up with tears in my eyes as everyone told me they missed me.

"Where's Syn?" Lucifer spoke up.

"He's taking care of something. He should be back soon," I said.

My head turned to the door as James walked in with his fingers hooked into the straps of his backpack. I expected him to go to Lucifer but he walked straight towards me and gave me a huge hug. Everyone seemed surprised by his actions but I hugged him tightly and relaxed.

When he pulled away, he looked up at me and smiled. "I'm glad you're okay."

I smiled back but my smile faltered when his irises flickered a green shade before returning to their normal colors. It was so quick that I must've imagined but it left me in momentary confusion.

"Love the new hair," Cleo spoke up with a nod.

"Thank you," I laughed softly.

Our eyes widened as Cleo's stomach grumbled and we all turned to her. "What? I'm fucking hungry."

Mia laughed and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "I'll order pizza, how does that sound?"

"It sounds like you want me to be fat, Mia. Luckily for you, it all goes to my ass. Make that pizza extra cheesy, babe. Ooh- and get wings and breadsticks and-"

"We'll get it all," Genesis assured.

I gave Cleo a look and when she noticed it she quickly diverted her eyes away from me. Strange.

"I'm going to take James to Ethan's house," Lucifer said. "I'll be right back."

"Bye James," I waved.

He looked at me sadly for a moment before waving back and following Lucifer out of the palace. I turned to see Hades lingering against a wall far away from our group and I waved for him to join us.

Hades was always the loner type though. He was like a lone Wolf you could always find alone at any sort of gathering. When he resisted and began walked towards the door, I did the one thing I knew would make him stay.

"Hades, stay and join us for dinner," I yelled after him. Everyone turned in his direction and he stopped walking and slowly turned back to us.

"Stay, we'll have more than enough pizza," Genesis said.

Hades looked at the group sweetly and shot me a glare that made me laugh. One thing about him was that he was a sweetheart. He may reject an invite in private but he couldn't say no in front of everyone like this.

"I would love to," he said quietly.

Gen walked to him and locked her arm with his as she led him into the dining room. Within seconds he seemed to loosen up with her and I looked at them in awe. I didn't know how she did it, it was like her happiness was infectious.

She and I still hadn't talked one on one since everything happened but I knew we needed to. I missed her as a friend and besides, she'd be my mother-in-law again soon.

We followed them into the dining room and everyone engaged in random conversation for the next hour until the pizza arrived.

"This is amazing," Cleo said with a full mouth. I laughed at her as I ate and after a while, Lucifer walked in with a large black folder. He held it up and when he got close to the table he threw it on.

"Dimitri's phone records in the past three months," he said.

I looked at the size of the small folder and frowned. How was he sneaky when he had a call log of this size? Xavier must've been thinking the same thing because he looked at it and scoffed. "That's not a lot at all."

"That's a good thing," Lucifer said.

"How?" Mia asked.

"Because that means the calls that he does have, are incredibly important," Cain answered.

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Author's Note
Ughh finally, it feels like everything is coming together😭

Oop, what do y'all think the call log will reveal?👀
And before I forget! James' eyes...SUS
Lmk your thoughts ✨