Chapter 8 THERE’S A SPY IN OLYMPUS

REBELLE 

Azrael rolls his eyes like a practically feral being slamming the door open is more of an annoyance than a danger. He mutters something under his breath and shakes his head. 

The thing –or man, as I can see – glances around the room, eyes full of rage until his gaze lands on me. His eyes soften, a look of shock flashing through his eyes before relief washes over his entire being. He has thick glossy dark hair and beautiful hazel brown eyes. I dare say he looks a little like me. 

“Saelyra,” (sister) he whispers, staring at me as though he is seeing a ghost. “Vael sa therya!” (It’s really you!) He exclaims, moving towards me with outstretched arms. 

The moment he gets to where I am standing, he pulls me into his arms and buries his face in my hair, a slight tremor wrecking through his entire body. I raise my arms and hug him back –don’t ask me why. I don’t know either – a sense of home and belonging washing through me. The same way I felt with Azrael and the moment I stepped in here. 

“I missed you,” he murmurs, putting back to stare at me like he can’t possibly believe his eyes. “Fuck, you still look the same!” He turns towards Azrael, his gaze accusing. “Why didn’t you tell me you found her!” 

“I don’t see how that is important.” Azrael bites out. “She’s here, is she not? Why would I want to give you information that I have yet to verify?” 

“She is my sister!” The man snaps, turning fully to face Azrael. “You tell me whatever information you have on her, regardless of whether it is verified or not ” 

So latest update, this dude – whose name I am still to learn – is my brother. Or Lilith’s brother or….whatever. You get the point. And it’s just obvious from this short span of time he’s been here that he doesn’t like Azrael and vice versa. 

“Oh Hades, don’t be a pain!” The redhead drawls, moving from her spot to stand beside my brother –Hades. She’s beautiful, and I don’t mean the everyday kind of beautiful. She’s ethereal and I don’t need anyone to tell me she’s a goddess or a divine being. “Azrael probably didn’t want to get your hopes up like last time.” 

Hades? The god of the underworld? The ruler over the dead? 

Azrael narrows his eyes at her. “Lady Clotho, your sister summoned me yesterday. She is not happy..” 

The redhead –Clotho –scoffs, rolling her eyes. “When is she ever?” 

The amount of surprising things I am finding out in the span of twenty four hours bound to drive me insane, sooner rather than later. Rosa would die of jealousy when she hears that I met Hades and Clotho and might probably meet more. 

“She’s worried you haven’t been home for a while,” he explains. 

“Please! We both know worry is not the feeling Atropos gets when I disappear for a while. More like pissed off and furious.” 

“So why do you still do it?” Blonde hair asks, folding his arms. 

She rolls her eyes at him and stretches her palm. “You owe me five hundred gold coins. Pay up!” The man grumbles something under his breath, reaches into his robe and pulls out three neatly tied bundles and places them in Clotho’s palm. “I’ll count them and you’ll be in trouble if it’s a coin short.” 

Azrael shakes his head like the bickering between Clotho and Blondie is part of their normal day. “Since Hades is here, we have a lot to talk about. My office.” 

He turns around and leads us down the corridor to his office. A sense of familiarity hits me the moment I step inside. 

“Fuck, you’re so beautiful!” Azrael rasps, pushing me against the wall of his office, hands roaming over my body touching me everywhere like he can’t get enough. 

I giggle. “Don’t you think that’s getting old?” I ask between kisses. “You tell me that a hundred times a day.” 

“And I’ll never get tired of saying it.” He moves to my neck, planting wet kisses that turn me into a moaning mess. 

“Rebelle!” 

I jolt back to reality at the sound of Azael’s voice, my heart racing like I’m being chased. 

Jesus fucking Christ! What in…. Did I just fantasize about kissing Azrael or was that a memory? 

“Are you okay, Amirykal?” Azrael asks, drawing my attention back to him. He’s standing in front of me, a look of concern on his face. The others are spread around the room, their concern mirroring his. The only person who has her head down is Fera. 

I offer a weak smile, though my heart is still racing. “I’m fine, really.” 

“Come.” He leads me to his desk and pulls out the chair next to Blondie and I sit down, taking in the room. It’s bare, except for the desk, the sofa, the bookshelf and the paintings. Lots and lots of paintings of me and not a single one of him. There’s one of both of us though, where he’s kissing me passionately. 

And yes, before you ask, I have accepted that I might be Lilith like they claim. The coincidences are just too much to ignore. 

“So,” he begins, taking a seat behind his desk. “Now that we have found Lilith, there are a lot of things that could and will go wrong from here. We need to handle them as soon as possible. Firstly, we are not the only ones who know Lilith is alive. They know she’s alive.” 

They?

“How can you be so sure ?” Clotho asks from where she’s seated on the couch. “If they did know, don't you think they would have gotten to her sooner?” 

“Yeah!” I agree. “If the people who supposedly killed me in my past life know of my existence, wouldn’t they have gotten to me before you?” 

Azrael shakes his head. “See, that’s the thing. I have known that you have been alive for twenty-one years. I could feel your presence the very day you were born. But even at that, I couldn’t find you. Someone was deliberately hiding you, making it impossible for anyone to track you down until necessary. If I couldn’t find you, then they couldn’t either.” 

“So…” Hades pressed. “What makes you so sure that they know about her?” 

“Her mother was kidnapped,” Blondie says. He must be of important ranking if he’s interacting so freely with them. “And Azrael here thinks she wasn’t forcefully taken, but compelled.” 

Yeah, he told me that earlier. 

“Why would they want her mother?” Hades asks again, his eyes narrowing with confusion. “Wouldn’t taking her be the logical thing to do? What could a mere mortal possibly do for them?” 

“Except it’s not a mere mortal. It’s Pandora,” he says, leaning back in his seat.

Clotho gasps, eyes wide with disbelief. “Zeus has her hidden. She’s been off the map for more than four decades.” 

I still find it hard to believe she’s a goddess, a fate for that matter. I don’t know what I expected when Rosa would talk about them, but it definitely wasn’t anything close to this. A mischievous little brunette with a cheerful spirit. 

“Zeus just had her name changed. To Serafin,” Blondie explains. 

My eyes widen as the pieces click in my head, finally making sense. “Are you trying to say my mother is THE Pandora? Zeus’s lover? You can’t be serious!” 

But the serious look on their faces told me they are. Dead serious, for that matter. 

“So here’s my theory,” Azrael continues. “Zeus must have deliberately manipulated Lilith’s return. He didn’t have anything to do with her essence being ready to return to the world, no. What I however believe he did is have Apollo control your rebirth send you to Pandora or Serafín as you know her. Now, the reason I could feel you, but not find you is because he had some sort of protective magic surrounding you.” 

“So you think he lífted the magic? Put her life at risk? Why go through such trouble if he was just going to leave her to the vultures in the end?” Blondie asks, as confused as I am. 

Azrael shakes his head. “He didn’t, at least not so everyone could find her. I think he lifted the protection only so I could get access. Think about it. If everyone could get access, then the Celestial Concave won’t need to kidnap Pandora.” 

I gasp when the realization hits me. “That means…” 

“Yes, dear sister,” Hades comfirmed my unspoken thoughts. “There’s a snitch in Olympus.”