The Golden Rule (Tempting the Fates, Book 2)

THE GOLDEN RULE

TEMPTING THE FATES BOOK 2.

"Listen Fates, who sit nearest of gods to the throne of Zeus,

and weave with shuttles of adamant,

inescapable devices for councels of every kind beyond counting,

Aisa, Clotho and Lachesis,

fine-armed daughters of Night,

hearken to our prayers,

all-terrible goddesses,

of sky and earth.

Send us rose-bosomed Lawfulness,

and her sisters on glittering thrones,

Right and crowned Peace,

and make this city forget the misfortunes which lie heavily on her heart.”

-Ancient Greek Prayer to the Fates

I shot up in bed, my body burning and slick with sweat. It took me a moment to come back to my senses as I stared around my bedroom in the darkness. Hades was not beside me, and my heart thudded wild as I remembered what had happened.

The nightmare I’d awoken from had been the worst one yet. Right after I’d told him I was pregnant, the ground had cracked open beneath us, and Hades had fallen in as I’d saved myself. My heartbreaking screams had been what had woken me up.

Thankfully, none of my dream was true. I was safe in bed, and I could hear Hades scribbling on parchment at his desk just outside the bedroom door. I was also not pregnant, as far as I knew. I lifted the silk sheets up just enough to look at my stomach. It was just as it always was- not swollen in any way. I breathed a sigh of relief. With all the stress that was piling in our laps, adding a child on top of that would have been a recipe for disaster.

Hades and I were on month eleven of dealing with the remaining Olympians and the future of the gods’ rule. We met weekly in Olympus to discuss and debate what should happen to the current system, and who should be taking over in Zeus’ absence.

Last year, after I’d promptly sucked out all Zeus’ powers and handed him his own ass on a plate, he’d disappeared. We had dozens of gods and demi-gods looking for him, but it was as if he’d just vanished into thin air. Even my powers had not been able to locate him, and I was supposed to be the most powerful god of all, at least since I’d drained him of his strength.

The convenience of his disappearance wasn’t unnoticed by the Olympians, either. Some of them (mostly Ares and Athena) believed that I had murdered him to take over his throne. After all, I had been chosen by him to become Queen of the Sky only weeks before he went missing. With him gone, it left me in a bit of an awkward position. Hera refused to return, leaving me to run Olympus.

Since we had defeated Hermes and Persephone, Hades and I had also reunited. That meant I was simultaneously the Queen of the Underworld and Olympus. The remaining Olympians were not pleased with this idea. I wasn’t all that happy, either.

I would have handed over the vacant throne to someone else, had it not been Ares who was threatening to take over. I knew how destructive and powerful he was first-hand. If it hadn’t been for Hades, Ares would have been the cause of my death just over a year ago. The idea of him being in charge was nauseating. We’d be looking at another Trojan War within a week if I’d agreed to let him lead us.

He’d gotten Athena and a few others on his side, but thankfully Hades was just as convincing. We’d attained Hestia, Apollo, Artemis, my mother Aphrodite, and Dionysus as allies. Hera was living quietly on Earth and refused to be of any help to us. Poseidon and Hephaestus were both ignoring any requests we made to contact either of them. I hadn’t seen Poseidon since our first meeting, and I had yet to see Hephaestus at all.

And as for Demeter- Persephone’s mother- she wanted me dead and refused to participate if I was involved. She’d said so at the first meeting before storming out. Talk about awkward.

With Hermes and Zeus gone, those were the last of the twelve Olympians. I was the 22-year-old new girl amongst gods who had lived for thousands of years. And even after all those millennia, I was still more powerful than all of them combined.

But they could never know that.

I had decided it would be best to “lay low” so to speak and live under the radar. Only Hades, my mother, and Thanatos knew the full extent of how dangerous I was. If I showed my immense powers, I feared that my new allies would be convinced I’d killed Zeus for his spot on the throne. And if they did somehow believe that I didn’t try to attempt some coup, I knew the quiet life Hades and I had in the Underworld would be long gone.

We had spent the last twelve months in absolute bliss. During the day we ruled our kingdom, and at night, we made love until we were both dizzy. Apart from the two hours a day I spent refining my skill with Thanatos, we were inseparable.

Our marriage had only gotten stronger after we defeated Hermes and Persephone. The deep passion I had felt for him at the beginning of our relationship was now a raging fire within me, and I never got tired of him. I still got butterflies every time he walked into a room. He had proven time and time again that he was the amazing man I’d first fallen in love with.

The door opened, and I stared up at my husband. The bedroom was dark, but what little light came from the fireplace behind him was enough to make out his features.

“Nightmare again?” he asked, his brows furrowed. His dark black hair hung down into his eyes a bit, but I saw the sincerity in his icy blue gaze.

I nodded. “An awful one, too.”

He walked into the room and waved his hand. Several candles around the room ignited, illuminating the spac with their flames. He sat down on the bed next to me and opened his arms. I leaned into his chest, and he hugged me tight against him.

“Would you like to talk about it?” he asked, stroking his fingers along my back.

“I don’t even want to think about it again.” I muttered, shaking my head. “I’d rather just distract myself with other things.”

“Other things, eh?” I could hear the smile in his voice, though I could not see it. All I could see was the light from the candles dancing around his white button-up shirt. “What other things could you do in the middle of the night?”

I didn’t even have to wave my hands anymore. My powers could be called upon just with a single thought, which was why Than and I were working together. He was teaching me to harness my abilities, lest they’d do something bad before I could stop them.

I blinked, and Hades’ shirt was gone. I lifted a hand dragged a single finger down his chest. He chuckled and lifted my chin up to look at him. I did my best to look innocent, but he knew I’d done it.

“I have work to do, you know.” He grinned, his perfect white teeth gleaming even through the semi-darkness.

“As do I.” I pulled away from him and the door closed on its own. I rose from the bed, sliding the silk nightgown’s straps from my shoulders. The dress fluttered down to the floor and pooled at my feet.

Hades’ eyes were wide with hunger. It didn’t matter if we’d just made love an hour ago, we were always starved of each other. Whether that was a result of my genetics (my mother was Aphrodite, after all) or just who we were, I didn’t care. His hands on my body and his lips crushed against mine were the only things in the world that made me feel better when I was this upset.

He waved a hand, and the rest of his clothes disappeared. He stood slowly and held out a hand to me. I strode forward, taking his hand in mine. He pulled me against him, flesh against flesh. My skin was hot again, this time with passion.

“I’ll never let anything happen to you.” I whispered, cupping his face in one of my hands.

“I know you won’t, baby.” He clasped his hand over mine and brought my fingers to his lips. He placed a kiss on my knuckles and slid his other hand down my side.

I couldn’t let my dream be real. I had almost lost him once, and I’d been willing to throw myself in the path of a bolt of lightning to keep it from happening. I would let Olympus burn before anyone separated us again.

And that thought was terrifying.