Like a polite groom, I sit down, fortifying myself with another nectar. A casual sniff tells me that Wukong just spiked it with something stronger. Not the best omen. I stare at him, my eyebrow raised in a question. He gives me a gummy monkey smile.
Hades lifts his goblet of nectar. "When I first heard that James and Adelle Thomas had died ... well, even as someone who considers death job security, I needed a moment to process it. They went into the Underworld and to the Elysian Fields the second the Fates cut their life's cord. Atropos, who makes the cuts, is always perfect--at least for the Underworld souls."
I hold it together, and Mom and Dad gasp. This is the first that Hades has ever spoken about my grandparents' whereabouts. I must admit, I've put off asking him.
