I shot him a horrified look. "Don't even think about it." Since magic existed in his world, I was pretty sure there was a way for us to swap places and all, but the price for such a spell probably wasn't worth it. I'd rather do as Dr. Ace recommended and let nature take its course.
Hadrian tipped my chin up. "Just promise me one thing. Don't try to hide anything from me. Don't pretend. If you're feeling silly, then be silly with me. If you want to pick a fight with me, go ahead. I just don't want you to ever feel or think you're alone in this. Because you're not."
I was crying again by the time he finished speaking. "You've been lying to me from the start, haven't you?" I sobbed out in accusation. "You can't possibly be the Lord of the Underworld! Not when you're so good at smooth-talking women like that!"
Hadrian started grinning, but I didn't give a damn. I knew the world's worst menopause was making me ramble like an idiot, but I didn't give a damn either.
"You're really Eros in disguise, aren't you?"
Hadrian threw his head back with a laugh.
"Admit it! Or maybe you're a womanizer like Zeus—-"
"Excuse me."
I stopped talking the moment I saw Mira standing at the foot of the steps leading up to the castle. She looked out of breath, her hair was a complete mess, and she had smudges of soot on her face.
Unfortunately, it did nothing to detract from her still-annoyingly-beautiful looks.
"I apologize for interrupting your lovers' quarrel," Mira began.
"We weren't quarreling," I countered sharply. And we weren't. Right?
"—-but I'm afraid we have a problem."Chapter FiveJust like the rest of the Underworld, the inside of Hadrian's manor was bright and sunny (even without any actual sun shining down on us). We didn't even have a roof, but since I didn't think it ever rained here, I supposed that wasn't a problem.
I half-expected the floors to be of moving lava as well, similar to the cave that made up the second portal leading to the Underworld. But instead it was just good old stone.
As Mira took us down into a small, narrow side hall, I couldn't help sighing silently at how my house tour was turning out. I didn't even have time to savor the sights, with Mira forcing me to half-run just to keep up.
But it's fine, I told myself. Like Mira said, we had a problem, and as LOTUS, I needed to get used to putting my private concerns aside and prioritize the greater good.
So that secret fantasy I had of Hadrian's house tour including sex in each and every room in his home?
Already forgotten.
And the realization that Mira's laboratory being inside the manor could also mean we were housemates?
A matter of discussion, I told myself. Tonight, I'd ask Hadrian about it, he'd explain, I'd show him why it wouldn't work, and he'd see it my way. That's how discussions worked.
But all of that aside...
I deliberately slowed down a bit, and as Hadrian automatically matched my pace, I waited until there was a proper amount of distance between Mira and us before saying hesitantly, "I hope you don't mind me asking, but...I kinda imagined you'd have more people around." The place was beautiful...but gigantic, and the upkeep of it had to be just as gigantic. But so far, we had yet to encounter a single soul, living or not.
"There usually is," Hadrian agreed, "but when the Underworld is on lockdown, our SOP includes making the manor and its grounds off limits to visitors."
"So that leaves..."
"You and me, Gaea and Cronos, our personal security, and the rest of the live-in staff—-"
"Back up a bit," I blurted out. "Did you just say...Gaea and Cronos?"
Hadrian looked at me warily. "If you say you know them from Hercules..."
I rolled my eyes. "No, I don't actually, but even if I did, I don't see anything wrong with that."
"I beg to differ," Hadrian muttered under his breath.
Pretending not to hear anything, I asked, "So Gaea and Cronos...it's really them?"
"Is there a right or wrong answer to this?" Hadrian's tone had become rather careful, and I wondered if it was because he was worried his next words would have me throwing a menopausal fit.
And honestly, who knew?
"How exactly are you guys related?"
"We're their direct descendants."
Sheesh. It was amusing and exasperating at the same time, with how terribly casual he was when dropping facts like that. You'd imagine a Greek god like him to be beautiful, sexy, and lofty, but Hadrian, well, he was beautiful, sexy...and not lofty.
And as for the two other immortals...
Cronos was the god of time and Gaea the goddess of the freaking planet, and if Hadrian was their direct descendant...
"Does that make them your grandparents?"
Hadrian shrugged. "I guess."
Gaaaah.
His grandparents were Cronos and Gaea, and he was still being so casual that I didn't know whether to laugh, cry, or kiss him because he was being too exasperatingly cute for words.