Zeus’s eyes bugged out, and I nodded as though he’d given me the go-ahead. “That’s what I thought. You all saw him agree?”

Ernie stared at me like I’d sprouted another eight heads and become a Hydra. Even Remo didn’t seem to know what to make of me. But they both nodded, slowly, as though they weren’t entirely sure what I was up to but were going to go along with it.

Hades chuckled. “Oh, I think I’m going to like you. I agree, my big brother looked like he just handed you the reins to his rule.”

I cleared my throat. “Excellent. What do you want exactly in exchange for not only stopping the Aegrus virus but backing your older brother once more?”

Hades roared with laughter; he even went so far as to throw his hands in the air and wriggle his fingers. “Good gods, Zeus, where did you find her?”

Of course, Zeus couldn’t answer.

“He didn’t, Merlin did,” Ernie said. “He picked her because he thought she was weak, but as you can see she is anything but.”

I didn’t smile at Ernie but kept my attention on Hades. “As I said, what do you want?”

I could almost feel the sands of time slipping by, feel the souls that floated toward us as more and more people died from the virus. Hades chuckled and wiped at his face with a hand. “Well, how about this? You make it so I still get an equitable number of souls that I’m getting from the virus, and we can talk.”

“Well, that’s just plain stupid, and you know it,” I snapped. He froze, as did every other man in the room with me. I didn’t care. Enough of this garbage. “I’ll give you power to make what you want of the underworld. Redecorate, change the colors, change how it’s run. You can be second-in-command at Olympus next to Zeus, above Hera, even.”

Zeus tried to yell around the gag, but Hades just stared at me. Or I assumed he did. “And flip that damn hood off, I want to see your face.”

“No, it’s in my favor to remain hidden.”

“Do it,” I snapped, wishing I had the strength of the siren behind me still to affect people. Miracle of miracles, he flipped his hood back, much to what was his own obvious astonishment. Damn him for being as good looking as the rest of the pantheon. He didn’t fit with the rest, though; he was obviously the black sheep of the family, at least in coloring. His hair was as raven black as mine, but his eyes were a bright blue that shone with power. He glared at me. “Happy?”

I shrugged. “Better than staring at a black hole. Now, back to negotiations.”

“You always this intense?” He arched an eyebrow, and I arched one right back.

“No, but then I’m not usually bargaining for the life of so many people, and the fate of the world.” The words were out of me before I could filter them. Hades folded his arms over his chest and stared me down.

“I like where you’re going with the negotiations. But I want something more.”

“What?” I asked, knowing that it was probably going to be something I regretted. Call it a feeling, but I was learning to listen to my instincts. Finally. I tugged the jacket a little at the bottom hem. Hades had a slow-growing smile that I didn’t like.

“I want there to be an easier way to divorce my spouse. No more of this ‘you both have to agree’ shit. If I want out, I get out. I want that for all of us, and the only ones who can make it happen are Zeus and Hera agreeing.”

My jaw dropped open, and Hades gave me a slow nod. “Now you begin to see the problem, when it is up to those two idiots to lead the way. They are the example, and it is by that example that we, the pantheon, live.”

I spun and glared at Zeus. “Is this true?” He rolled his eyes and nodded. I stalked over to him and yanked the gag out. “Explain.”

“Look, I don’t want to be married to her, but it isn’t up to me, I’ve told you that. It’s in Hera’s court, and it’s what she holds over me. Hades knows that. Until she agrees to the divorce, none of us can be free,” Zeus said.

I spun back to Hades, who nodded again. “True. Which is why I’ve been helping her. If I can soften her up, maybe we can all be free of each other.”

Holy smokes in a kitchen on fire. My mind whirled. “Wait, so all this Aegrus virus, the infighting, all of it . . . is so you can both get divorces?”

Zeus and Hades shared a look that I recognized. A look between siblings that spoke volumes. Zeus finally blew out a sigh, and Hades grinned. “Yeah, I guess it is.”

I blinked several times, horrified. This was how far the pantheon would go to get what they wanted. They’d light the world on fire and let it burn. What a lot of greedy bastards.

“So if I can get Hera to agree to this, then you make it all go away? You make sure that the virus stops killing people?” I wanted to be crystal clear on this part.

Hades and Zeus started laughing at the same time, so hard that tears streamed from their eyes. Ernie drew close to me. “You’re suggesting that you can do something that no one else has managed in thousands of years. And if you remember, Hera hates your guts. Remember? She’s been trying to kill you? Sending the Hydra after you?”

I did remember, but I knew something that the men didn’t understand. A woman scorned, a woman cheated on and tossed aside as though she were nothing . . . I knew that pain as well as anyone. And that was my ace in the hole, the only ace I had. “Is it agreed? If I can get Hera to agree to the new system of divorce, you will stop the virus?”