“If you despise mortals so, and I am not the woman you seek … Then why keep me here? Why not allow me to leave?”
He chuckles softly at this.
“Because I can,” he says, pressing his mouth closer to my ear as he trails the backs of his fingers down my neck. “Besides, who said anything about despising you? After all, you are still in the running to become my next wife.”
With that, he finally straightens and he steps back from my chair.
I warily turn to watch as he turns and strides toward the doors leading out of the dining room, leaving me alone at the table.
I sit there for a moment, stunned by the turn of events. I had hoped to prove myself to him, to gain some sort of leverage in this dangerous game I’m playing. But now, I realize just how little power I truly have.
Hades pulls open the doors but pauses to glance back over his shoulder at me.
“Another thing, mortal,” he says. “You are never to speak of my wife to me again.”
“Why?” I ask before I can stop myself.
I don’t expect him to answer, so I’m surprised when he remains standing still in the doorway, a flurry of emotions flickering across his face. Then a stone mask of emotion settles over his features as his next words pierce me to my core.
“Because she is as good as dead to me now.”
He steps from the room before any more of my questions can bubble out, and I’m left staring at the cracked doors in stunned silence. I can just make out the silhouette of a guard before the doors open again, and I’m given no choice but to follow him as I rise from my chair.
My mind is a mess of thoughts as the guard leads me back through the empty halls and up the spiraling steps to my room in the tower. I barely even register the sound of the door closing before I hear the clicking of the lock.
In a daze, I move to sit on my bed.
A tiny flower of hope has begun to blossom in my chest. Perhaps there’s even more to this story than I realized, and it’s given me an idea.
One that, hopefully, won’t involve me having to seduce him.
One that could solve things for everyone here … but first I must find a way to speak with Persephone.
Or, at the very least, get word to her.
10
Hades
“Has Eris done as I have requested,” I ask, not bothering to look at Deimos as I throw open the doors to the room.
“She has, my king.”
“And Persephone?”
“She will do exactly as she has been told,” Deimos says.
“Good, then everything is going to plan.”
“Yes, my king.”
“Make sure that she does not get time alone with any of the women, particularly the mortal.”
Deimos bows his head in acknowledgement of my order. “Is there anything else you require?”
I pause, resting a hand on the back of a chair as I consider his question for a moment.
“Yes, actually,” I say, turning my gaze to Deimos. “I want you to personally keep an eye on Persephone. Eris may have done as I asked, but I do not trust her.”
