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He is the god of the dead

The king of the underworld,

With both his names being synonymous,

He was the eldest son of Cronus.

His mother was Rhea.

He's Hades.

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Liam scoffed. "So you're leaving the fractures unattended?"

"Well..."Pedro said with a slight shrug. The heat coming off him was comforting as compared to the cold night. "...we planned on taking her to--"

"Send her to the hospital and they'll ask questions." Liam leaned forward as Zion loosened the grip on his neck. He spoke directly to his restrainer. "And if you tell them about the Crocottas, they'll think your crazy. Trust me, you don't want to be in the hospital when they label you as crazy."

Zion grunted. "I'm not letting you near her. She's under our protection. Any harm to her is directed at us. And I won't ask again, who are you?"

"He's Liam, our newcomer," Pedro answered and smiled when Liam sent him a glare for the nickname. "He came along with Henry and a female named Emily."

Pedro turned to me. His brown eyes brightened under the moonlight. "She's fun though. Did I forget to mention that?"

Liam exhaled in frustration. "You have no choice. Let me heal her."

Zion jumped in before Pedro could utter a word. "And how can an ordinary person like you heal her?"

Liam grinned. "That's the thing. I'm not ordinary. I'm more like you for a better explanation."

Well, that explains a lot.

"You possess a god?" Zion said with an eyebrow raised.

Liam's expression remained unchanged. "All I'm trying to say is, I can heal her. You can seek help from the hospital and put Gem at risk.  I don't mind."

Pedro observed him. "Since when did you start calling her nicknames?"

Liam's jaw ticked as he had just realized his mistake. He turned to Zion. "So what do you say?"

Zion watched him for three seconds before glancing at Pedro. They seemed to share a silent communication before Pedro gave a slight nod. Zion dropped his arm, releasing Liam, and stepped away. I suddenly felt warm fingers at my side before Pedro shifted me closer to him. His hand remained there as a protective gesture. I tilted my head at him. He looked back with a small smile.

"You don't have to protect me the whole time," I said.

"I realized that, Chocolate. But even kings need help -- one way or the other."

Liam left Zion's side and walked to us. He grimaced when he glanced at Pedro's hand. "Can't you go a day without your boyfriends hovering over you all the time?"

"For the record, I'm single." Pedro jerked his head at his brother. "It's big bro here who's in a relationship."

Zion gave him the stink eye. "Since when did you become a priest to dedicate me to someone? "

Pedro smiled satisfactorily. "Ever since I called myself a saint."

"Saint my ass." Zion wrinkled his nose.

Pedro touched his chest with an expression of mocked hurt. "Is that what you say after I helped you to heaven."

"More like escort me to hell," his brother muttered back.

I turned to Liam who stood before me. His green eyes seemed to glow in the dark as he scrutinized me. And for the third time tonight, my body involuntarily shivered.

"I can't heal her like this," He said without shifting his gaze anywhere else.

I squirmed on the huge rock. "What do you want me to do?"

Liam gave a side glance at Pedro. "I don't think your boyfriends will approve."

"Then step back, we don't need you anyway." Zion's pride got way ahead of him.

I sighed and rolled my eyes. "Both of you should quit being annoying. He's trying to help. Besides, he fought against the crocottas for my sake and I don't think he planned on hurting me."

Zion folded his arms and looked away, mumbling under his breath.

Liam smirked and sat by me on the boulder. "I want you to relax alright? It'll only make things worse."

Make what worse?

Dread crept into me as I thought of many possible things. Liam rose his hands and held them on both sides of my head. He tried to lighten the mood with a fake smile and applied a bit of pressure.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled and I noticed his eyes contort into that of a cat's for a mere second. The green in his iris glowed a hitch brighter and I was captivated by them. Then he shut his eyes and breathed.

Not a second later, I felt something. Pain shot up my arm like fire and exploded in my head with blinding whiteness. A scream tore through the forest and It took a second to realize it was mine. I thrashed with surprising force to escape the torment.

Liam cursed. "Hold her."

I never registered the thick arms that wound around me, holding me to a firm chest.

Pedro.

I felt the bones in my arms and ankle snap back to their origin but its pain was drowned out by my agonizing scream. I felt dizzy and nauseous. Liam's hand pressed harder against my temple. I went in and out of consciousness as continuous waves of torment raked throughout my body.

Then it stopped.

I slumped against Pedro's chest. My throat felt dry and shallow and I took deep breaths. My skin was coated with thin sheets of sweat. My disoriented vision narrowed on Liam. He watched me with a slight hint of worry before completely burying it.

He dropped his hands. "Try moving your arms and legs."

I did and exhaled in relief when zero pain signaled back. Zion leaned against a tree, his expression stiff as he glanced somewhere else.

When his brown eyes met mine it softened. "Are you alright?"

I nodded.

"Does it always have to be this painful," Pedro asked from behind me.

Liam rested his elbows on his knees.  "You prefer being bedridden in the hospital for days?"

"Good point."

I shifted a bit and noticed a deep red stain on Pedro's white shirt. "You're hurt." Worry laced my voice.

Pedro lifted his t-shirt to show the left side of his flat abdomen. There was no wound. Surprise turned me speechless. I could swear there was supposed to be a wound. It can't be the crocottas because they do not have red-colored blood.

"Incredible healing. One of the nice perks of housing gods." Liam answered my thoughts.

"Henry mentioned something about that." Zion leaned away from his tree and approached us. "Since Pandora isn't a god, he was referring to Pedro. All this time he wasn't normal."

Pedro smiled. "I'm sure Henry just wanted to spice up the situation. I can't be housing a god. But if I am, awesome!"

Zion narrowed his eyes in warning. "This is not a game, Pedro."

"Stop being a mother chicken."

"That's enough," I cut in before Zion could retort back. "Right now we need answers." My eyes met Liam's. "like finding Henry and who he works for. We had also planned to meet Gwen after the party. Any idea on where she is?"

"Yeah..." Pedro scratched his head. "She said there was an emergency and had to meet Henry. Something about helping him catch up with Ancient Greek -- courtesy of Mr. Metallic butt. Gwen asked for a ride and so I drove her home."

My jaw dropped. "What!? You drove her to meet Henry!?"

"Give me some slack. That was before I knew he was a horse."

I have a present for you, sweetie. I'm sure you'll love it.

I felt my throat constrict and gulped. This can't be happening. "It all makes sense now," I said in a daze. "The present...the present is Gwen."

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