Daimon: Guardians of Hades Series Book 6

It’s impressive. These gods, huh, thinking they can eat what they want and not put on a single pound. Well, when he gets fat, I’ll have to say that I told him so.”
Eva didn’t look as if she was buying it.
For a split-second, Cass did.
Daimon scowled at her and stomped towards the kitchen. “Like I’d eat this crap.”
He shoved the wrappers into the bin, turned back towards the living room and froze.
Cass stood in the doorway, clutching a dark glass bottle that had silver scrollwork and bands overlaid onto it.
She gave him a painfully slow once-over. “Your body is a temple.”
He narrowed his eyes, daring her to say anything more than that.
With a wicked, saucy smile she murmured, “What I wouldn’t give to worship it.”
He huffed, glaring at her. “You worship the god, not the temple.”
“Oh, I could worship you. You just have to stop fighting me.” She set the bottle down on the counter.
“Not going to happen.” He stepped towards her, but she stood her ground, blocking the exit. If he wanted to get past her, he would have to move her, and the victorious glimmer in her eyes said she knew he wouldn’t do it. He wouldn’t risk touching her.
He stepped up to her, raised his hands and planted them against the doorframe on either side of her head as she leaned back to avoid contact with him.
“Can’t worship what you can’t touch.” He lowered his hands and stepped, appearing on the other side of the doorway.
“That’s what you think,” Cass whispered.
He frowned over his shoulder at her. Wanted to ask what she meant by that. The look in her eyes as she casually flicked her long fall of wavy black hair over her bare shoulders challenged him to do it, so he let it roll off his back instead.
Or at least tried to.
It plagued him as Marek appeared with Caterina and then Ares appeared holding Megan to him a split-second later, as if they had all sensed the bounty the women had brought into the house and wanted their share of it.
Aiko busied herself with setting the cartons in the white plastic bags out in a line down the middle of the long mahogany dining table, passing comments with Megan and Eva as they set some plates out. He was glad Eva and Marinda had proposed getting takeout, giving Aiko something to do with them. She needed a moment of normal, a brief reprieve from the pain.
They all did.
Ares fussed over Megan, helping her down onto some cushions, and Megan swatted at him, trying to stop him. Daimon fixed his focus elsewhere, helping Aiko open the containers and using a spoon to smack Valen on the back of his hand when he tried to steal a piece of chicken.
Valen glared at him, noticed Eva was watching and clutched his hand to his chest. “Did you see what the mean god did to me, baby?”
“The mean god will do more than that if you try to steal more food.” Daimon gathered the lids of the containers.
“I might help him.” Eva smiled when Valen scowled at her.
He raised his hand and clawed at his black T-shirt over his heart. “She wounds me when I’m sick.”
“Sick is your default setting,” Ares muttered.
Valen huffed. “Whatever. No one loves me. I get it.”
He rolled his shoulders and pouted. Eva sidled over to him, planted her hands to his chest and leaned in close, so their black clothes blended together. She gazed up into his golden eyes.
“I love you,” she whispered.
Valen clammed up. Averted his gaze. Might have even blushed.
Everyone noticed the shift in the air around him, how it went from playful to awkward in the blink of an eye, but it was Ares who had the balls to jump on it.
“Don’t tell me you haven’t told her you love her yet?” Ares straightened, shook his head and issued Valen one hell of an unimpressed look as he sighed.
“He hasn’t.” Eva shrugged, a playful edge to it.
“I have,” Valen bit out, and tiny arcs of electricity sparked around his fingers. He glared at each of them in turn as everyone stared at him, none of them looking as if they believed that. “I fucking have.”
“When?” Eva turned a curious look on Valen.
He looked at his feet and grumbled, “First time you told me.”
She frowned, her lips flattening, and was silent for a few seconds before she said, “When you covered my ears and spoke—”
“You told her in the language of the Underworld?” Marek cuffed Valen around the back of his head, causing the long lengths of his violet hair to shoot forwards and fall over his face.
Valen swept them back. “So what? I still said it.”
“Say it so she can hear it.” Cal shoved Valen at Eva.
Valen growled, his golden eyes rapidly brightening, and looked as if he wanted to attack them all.
But then he sighed, shifted foot to foot, and muttered, “I love you too.”
Eva bit back a smile. Ares and Marek groaned. Cal sighed.
“What?” Valen looked at them all in turn, shrugging his shoulders as he raised his hands at his sides. “Not good enough?”
Valen huffed.
“Fine.” He grabbed Eva’s wrist, pulled her into his arms and brought his lips to her ear as he closed his eyes. He whispered, “I fucking love you. You know that, right?”
Eva wrapped her arms around him and ploughed her fingers into the choppy sides of his hair. “I do. Fucking love you too.”
Valen kissed her hard and disappeared in a swirl of black smoke.
Cal waved his hand through the vapour trail of the teleport and grinned. “That’s him gone for two minutes. I say we eat it all before he gets back.”
Daimon sank into his seat that almost resembled a western dining chair with the legs cut off, the wooden seat sitting directly on the tatami mats with a cushion on top of it, and the low back offering him some comfort. It had taken months to convince Esher to switch from just cushions