He recognized he had a reputation when it came to card games, and a loss to him came at a great cost, but he was not interested in a bargain with anyone here—except for, perhaps, the mortal parading as a false oracle. He liked the idea of giving him an impossible challenge, something along the lines of: Stop being a fucking creep.
He would fail spectacularly, and then Hades could rid the world of his soul.
“Let’s play Never Have I Ever!”
Hades groaned. He hated this game.
Hermes bounded toward the kitchen and reached over the bar, which was followed by the sound of glass clinking as he managed to gather several bottles of liquor in each hand. “With shots!”
“Okay,” Sybil said. “But I don’t have shot glasses.”
“Then you’re all going to have to pick something to gulp,” Hermes said, strolling toward the coffee table in the living room and arranging the bottles on the table.
“What’s Never Have I Ever?” Zofie asked.
“Exactly what it sounds like. You make a statement about something you’ve never done, and if anyone has done it, they have to take a shot,” said Hermes, which was exactly why Hades hated the game. It was the last thing he wanted to play with Persephone in the room.
He’d done everything in the fucking book because he was ancient—things he had never had the opportunity to tell Persephone about.
He considered lying but knew Hermes would call him out.
Fuck me.
He would not forgive Hermes for this.
Everyone gathered around the table in the living room and had to watch as Ben invaded Sybil’s personal space just to squeeze beside her on the ground.
“Me first!” Hermes exclaims. “Never have I ever…had sex with Hades.”
A warm flush rushed from the top of Hades’s head to his toes. Forget summoning Hecate to torture Ben. Hades would summon her for Hermes.
“Hermes,” Persephone hissed.
Forget Hecate. Perhaps Persephone would execute him on her own. She looked murderous enough.
“What?” Hermes grumbled. “This game is difficult for someone my age. I’ve done everything.”
It wasn’t until Leuce cleared her throat that Hermes seemed to realize the issue with what he’d said. Persephone wasn’t the only person Hades had slept with in this room, and the reminder wasn’t a pleasant one—for any of them.
“Oh. Oh.”
An awkward silence followed as both Persephone and Leuce took a shot, and while he kept his gaze trained on Persephone, he could feel the strain between them.
Without prompting, Ben went next. “Never have I ever stalked an ex-girlfriend.”
Hades could taste the lie, and no one drank because no one here was a sociopath.
“Never have I ever…fallen in love at first sight,” said Sybil, and despite the statement being for Ben specifically, the mortal did not seem to notice, or perhaps he didn’t care, because he took a shot.
Helen was next. “Never have I ever…had a threesome.”
Hades could feel Persephone’s gaze burning into him before she even finished her sentence, but he did not wish to look at her as he raised the bottle to his lips to drink. When he did meet her gaze, she looked pale, except for her cheeks, which were turning a warm, rosy red.
It was not as if they hadn’t discussed this before—well, not exactly this. He’d explained his long life, so his varied sexual partners and experiences were to be expected, but perhaps he should have been more specific.
This was no way to learn about what he’d done, even if it was all in the past.
He was desperate to be beside her, to have his arm around her, to whisper in her ear how much he loved her and no one compared.
But as the game continued, things only got worse.
“Never have I ever…eaten food off someone’s naked body,” Ben said, and Hades had to drink.
“Never have I ever…had sex in the kitchen,” Helen said.
Another drink.
“Never have I ever had sex in public,” Sybil said.
Another drink.
Hades never thought he would say this, but he was getting tired of drinking. Each time he did, he felt Persephone’s energy change and morph into something dark and angry, and it recoiled from his own.
He didn’t like it.
“Never have I ever…had sex with a priestess,” said Hermes.
“That’s a lie,” said Hades.
“Is it?” Hermes asked, surprised, and then shrugged. “Hmm. Okay.”
Hades did not drink.
Helen continued the game, declaring, “Never have I ever faked an orgasm.”
Hades watched in relative horror as Persephone lifted her glass to her perfect lips and drank.
What a fucking lie.
He narrowed his eyes. He was the only person she had ever had sex with, and he knew he had never left her unsatisfied or wanting.
“If that is true,” he said, his gaze unwavering, burning into her. He hoped she could feel what he intended to do to her—how he would make her beg for release, how he would shatter her so thoroughly she would feel the aftereffects for days. “I will happily rectify the situation.”
“Oh,” Hermes hummed. “Someone’s getting fucked tonight.”
“Shut up, Hermes,” Persephone snapped.
“What?” he grumbled. “You’re just lucky he didn’t carry you away to the Underworld the moment you lifted that glass.”
He’d thought about it, but it was far more rewarding to fuck her here where everyone could hear her come.
She had no idea what she’d done.
“Let’s play another game,” Persephone said quickly.
“But I like this one. It was just getting good,” said Hermes. “Besides, you know Hades is just making a list of all the ways he wants to f—”
“Enough, Hermes!” Persephone snapped, her frustration boiling over.
She got to her feet and disappeared down the hallway.
Silence followed, and after a moment, Hermes looked up at him.
“Well, are you going after her?”
Hades sighed and set his bottle of whiskey on the corner of the coffee table before straightening his jacket and vanishing from sight.
He appeared in front of her, bracing his hands on either side of her head as she leaned against the bathroom door. Her eyes were closed, and he leaned in, his mouth near her ear.
“You had to know your actions would ignite me,” he said.
They crawled under his skin and made him burn alive.
He wanted to fuck her, to feel her come around his cock so hard, she was left with no ability to stand or speak.
“When have I left you wanting?” he asked, his lips grazing the edge of her ear and down the column of her neck. She shivered. “Will you not answer?” He pulled away and lifted his hand to her neck. Her pulse raced beneath his hand.
“I’d really have rather not found out about your sexual exploits via a game in front of my friends,” she said.
It wasn’t his preference either.
“So you thought it better to reveal that I had not satisfied you in the same manner?”
She averted her gaze and swallowed. He could feel her throat constrict.
He leaned in, his tongue trailing the edge of her ear.
“Shall I leave no doubt in their minds that I can make you come?” he whispered and let his hands smooth up the backs of her thighs, under her dress to her underwear, which he tore in two.
“Hades! We are guests here!”
“Your point?” he asked as he took out his cock and lifted her into his arms, letting her back rest against the door.
“It’s rude to have sex in someone’s bathroom.”
Despite her protests, she let him do as he pleased. He kissed her and ground his hips into hers, his cock resting between her thighs, sliding along her entrance, which was slick with her arousal.
“Fuck,” he whispered, or perhaps he didn’t say anything aloud at all, but she felt good.
He thought he would be able to drag this out, to torture her into begging for him, but he couldn’t—not when she was so ready and he could not wait to dive into that heat. He slipped inside her, and a guttural moan escaped from Persephone’s mouth, which was open against his.
She was…everything.
He held her tight and thrust into her, unable to manage much movement, but it was still enough, enough to drive all thought from his mind, enough to make his ears ring, enough to send the blood rushing from his head straight to his cock.
Perspiration broke out across his skin and his breathing grew ragged as he rested his forehead against hers, aware that the door beneath them rocked in its frame. It was so loud, he almost didn’t hear the knock, and when Hermes’s voice sounded from the other side, he wished he’d not heard anything at all.
“I hate to interrupt whatever’s going on in there, but I think you two will want to see this.”
“Not now,” Hades snapped. He wasn’t willing to give this up. He was so close to release—she was so close. He could feel her muscles clenching around him, coaxing him to come.
He let his head fall into the crook of her neck, breathing hard against her skin, when he felt her tongue and teeth against his ear. He stiffened, gripping her tighter.
Fuck, she made this hard.
“Okay, first, it’s rude to have sex in other people’s bathrooms,” Hermes said, his tone taking on a higher pitch, as if he were irritated. “Second, it’s about the weather.”
Fuck, fuck, fuck Demeter, he thought. How was it that this gods-damned storm was ruining even this moment?
“A moment, Hermes,” Hades growled.
“How long is a moment?”
“Hermes,” Hades seethed, and he hoped the god understood what he didn’t say—ask one more question and I’ll burn your balls off.
“Okay, okay.”
Hades took a breath.
Leaving Persephone’s body was torture. It was worse when he had to face his engorged cock, glistening with her.
“Fuck.”
“I’m sorry,” she said, and he frowned.
“Why are you apologizing?”
She started to speak but seemed to decide against it.
“I am not upset with you,” Hades assured and pressed his mouth to hers. “But your mother will regret the interruption.”
That was a promise.
They restored their appearances and left the bathroom. From the hall, they could hear the news reporting on the weather.
“A severe ice storm warning has been issued for the whole of New Greece.”
“What’s going on?” Persephone asked as she came into the living room. Hades was right behind her.
“It’s started to sleet.” Helen was at the window, the curtains parted. Persephone joined her there and looked outside, her arms crossed over her chest, a sign of her anxiety. Hades had heard when the ice had first started to fall, but now it came down like rain.
“This is a god,” the false oracle began. “A god cursing us!”
Silence filled the room at the mortal’s declaration, and while no one would argue the point, it was another to state it in a room with actual gods.
Ben met Hades’s gaze.
“Do you deny it?” he challenged.
“It is not wise to jump to conclusions, mortal,” Hades gritted out.
He really hated this man.
“I’m not jumping to conclusions. I have foreseen this! The gods will rain terror down upon us. There will be despair and destruction.”
Hades glanced at Persephone, who looked pale and uncertain. What Ben said was not outside the realm of possibility, but it was also information anyone could spout so long as they were familiar with the history of Greece.
“Careful with your words, oracle,” Hermes warned. His body had grown rigid, and he stood with his shoulders squared and fists clenched. He had taken great offense to Ben’s words.
“I am only speaking—”
“What you hear,” Sybil interrupted quickly. “Which may or may not be the word of a god, and judging by the fact that you have no patron, I’m guessing you’re being fed prophecies from an impious entity. If you had training, you would know that.”
An impious entity could be anything—another mortal filling his head with impious thoughts or even a soul trapped on this earth, whispering to him in the dark.
“And what is so bad about an impious entity? Sometimes they are the only truth tellers.”
“I think you should leave,” said Sybil, though her voice quaked.
Fucking finally, Hades thought.
“You want me to…leave?”
“She didn’t stutter,” Hermes said, taking a step forward.
“But—”
“You must have forgotten the way out the door.” Hermes took another step. “I’ll show you out.”
“Sybil—”
Oh, fuck. Enough.
Hades sent his magic barreling toward the mortal, who vanished from sight.
There was a moment of shock, and everyone looked at Hermes.
“That wasn’t me,” he said and looked at Hades, who made no move to explain what he’d done, which was what he should have done from the beginning—sent Ben to a deserted island.
“I think we all should go. This storm is only going to get worse the longer we stay.” Persephone looked at him. “Hades, I’d like to make sure Helen, Leuce, and Zofie get home safe.”
“I’ll call Antoni.”
The cyclops arrived in minutes, and they filed inside the limo. The sound of sleet was louder in the car and filled the space with a sense of dread.
Hades sat beside Persephone, one arm braced around her while Leuce, Zofie, and Helen sat opposite them.
“Did anyone else really hate that Ben guy?” asked Leuce.
What a ridiculous question, Hades thought. Of course everyone hated him.
“Sybil should keep a blade beneath her bed in case he comes back,” said Zofie helpfully.
“Or she could just lock her door,” Helen suggested.
“Locks can be picked. A blade is better,” Zofie insisted, and Hades couldn’t disagree. Someone like Ben wasn’t going to let a lock get in the way of what he wanted, just like he wouldn’t let the word no stop him.
Hades was glad for the silence because it let him think, though what he had to do next wasn’t exactly exciting. He had to visit Apollo and learn what truly killed Adonis, and he needed to know soon before any other attacks like this took place.
He would much rather return to the Underworld with Persephone and pick up where they left off in the bathroom, but he would have to wait until later, after this task was complete.
She wouldn’t be happy.
Antoni dropped off Leuce and Zofie. They watched until the two were safe inside their apartment before leaving and continuing on to Helen’s home.
The woman sat quietly for a while, but after a moment, she spoke, not looking at either him or Persephone.
“Do you think Ben is right? That this is the work of the gods?”
Hades felt Persephone’s body go rigid against his, and his hold tightened on her.
“We’ll find out soon enough,” he answered.
They arrived at Helen’s, and Antoni helped her out of the car.
“Thank you for the ride,” Helen said as she left.
Persephone burrowed closer to him as the cold filled the cabin, and he gladly let her.
Now they were heading home, and Hades began to dread arriving. He was content to be here with Persephone, warm and in the back of his limo.
He felt Persephone look up, and after a moment, she spoke in a quiet voice.
“Does she really think a storm will keep us apart?”
It was that question that made him realize she had no idea how bad this was going to get.
“Have you ever seen snow, Persephone?” he asked.
“From afar.”
Hades met her gaze, eyes searching. He could not figure out how to communicate what would inevitably happen.
“What is going through your mind?” she whispered as if she were afraid to find out.
“She will do this until the gods have no choice but to intervene.”
“And what happens then?”
Then I destroy the world, he thought.
He chose not to speak, and she did not ask for an answer.
A moment longer and they were close enough to Nevernight. Hades straightened, which also caused Persephone to shift away.
He hated it.
“Antoni, please see that Lady Persephone returns safely to Nevernight.”
“What?”
Hades reached for her and kissed her before she could say anything more. His tongue slid into her mouth, and it took everything in his power not to pull her into his lap, to seal their bodies together, to fuck her in the back of this car.
Instead he stayed focused on her mouth, his fingers tangled in her hair, gripping her tight to keep her in place, to keep him in place.
Fuck, how was this always so good?
He tore from her lips, pleased to see her eyes alight. It was her passion and her frustration.
She wanted him.
His lips quirked and he touched her with the tips of his fingers. “Do not fret, my darling. You shall come for me tonight.”
Then he vanished before he decided not to leave at all.