She stared, speechless, and he wondered what she was thinking as her eyes roved over his body, but there came a time, all too quickly, when she met his gaze, narrowed her eyes, pressed her lips tight, and bent to pull her dress up, holding it to her chest as if they were not lovers at all but strangers.
That simple act made him feel many things but mostly hopeless.
He offered a humorless laugh. “Come now, darling. We are beyond that, are we not? I have seen every inch of you—touched every part of you.”
A tremor shook her, but at least she did not cringe.
“That doesn’t mean you will tonight,” she snapped. “What are you doing here?”
Hades’s impatience made his body vibrate. Why did she feel entitled to anger? She had defied him.
“You are avoiding me.”
He wondered how long it would have taken her to return to the Underworld if he had not sought her out tonight.
“I’m avoiding you? It’s a two-way street, Hades. You’ve been just as absent.”
“I gave you space,” he argued, because he’d assumed that was what was best, yet Persephone rolled her eyes. “Clearly that was a bad idea.”
“You know what you should have given me? An apology.”
She tossed her dress aside and whirled around, heading into the bathroom, where she removed the rest of her clothes. Hades followed as she stepped into the bath and sank into the steaming water. She didn’t seem to mind the heat, though it had already turned her pale skin a bright red. She kept her knees pressed to her chest, and as he spoke, her arms tightened around her knees.
“I told you I loved you.”
It wasn’t as if he had hoped to keep Leuce a secret for malicious reasons. As selfish as it may have been, he hadn’t wanted to admit to turning her into a tree. It was abhorrent behavior and something she had criticized Apollo for.
“That’s not an apology.”
“Are you telling me those words mean nothing to you?”
She tilted her chin, anger flashing in her eyes. “Actions, Hades. You weren’t going to tell me about Leuce.”
“If we are going to speak of actions, then let us speak of yours. Did you not promise me you wouldn’t write about Apollo?”
He knew he was being a little unfair, but of the two things they were discussing, Apollo took precedence. He was a god with power and a taste for blood.
“I had to do it—”
“Had to? Were you offered an ultimatum?”
He couldn’t keep the bite from his voice, and his tone drowned out the part of him that was actually concerned she might have faced some kind of demand from her job. New Athens News was owned by Kal Stavros. At his question, Persephone looked away, setting her jaw.
“Were you threatened?” he continued.
She did not respond. She was digging her heels in against his anger.
“Did any of it have anything to do with you?”
She stood from the bath without warning, water rippling off her body, and clutched a towel to her chest.
“Sybil is my friend, and her life was ruined by Apollo,” she said, standing so close he could feel the heat coming off her body. “His behavior had to be exposed.”
Hades inched closer, tilting his head as he did.
“Do you know what I think?” he whispered furiously, letting his arms fall to his sides, fingers curling into fists to keep from touching her. “I think this is all a game to you. I pissed you off, so you wanted to piss me off, is that it? One for one—now we’re even.”
She scowled. “Not everything’s about you, Hades.”
He gripped her hips and drew her close, voice rough. “You promised me you wouldn’t write about Apollo. Is your word worth nothing?”
She flinched, and he felt it in her whole body, a desire to create distance between them.
“Fuck you,” she spat with tears in her eyes, and as much as he hated to see it, he smiled.
“I’d rather fuck you, darling, but if I did right now, you wouldn’t walk for a week.”
He snapped his fingers and teleported to the queen’s suite. It was where she usually got ready for events in the Underworld, and it would be her home for however long it took to end Apollo’s hunt.
As soon as they had appeared, Persephone pushed away from him.
“Did you just abduct me?”
“Yes. Apollo will come after you, and the only way he will have an audience with you is if I am present.”
“I can take care of this, Hades.”
“You can’t and you won’t.” He hated to say it, but in this instance, it was true. She couldn’t go up against a god—not one as seasoned as Apollo.
Her eyes glinted, lifting her chin in defiance as she tried to teleport. When it didn’t work, she stomped her foot, and from there, a mass of vines erupted from the floor and crawled toward him.
“You can’t keep me here.”
Hades’s responding chuckle only seemed to infuriate her more. “Darling, you are in my realm. You’re here until I say otherwise.”
He turned and headed for the door.
“I have to work, Hades. I have a life up there. Hades!”
He kept walking, though with each step, her magic surged, and in seconds, the harmless vines she’d sent his way earlier became thick thorns, rising from the broken floor to attack.
Hades turned quickly, dismissing her magic with a wave of his hand.
She stared, mouth ajar. After a moment, she swallowed, and there was a flash of something in her eyes that hurt his chest, a pain he did not understand but had seen in many mortals. It was the shock of suddenly understanding just how powerless she really was.
He let his hand fall, and despite everything inside him that wanted to go to her, to comfort her, he turned to leave once more.
As he did, she yelled after him, her voice breaking with a distinct crack he could feel in his heart. “You will regret this!”
At the door, he turned his head a fraction and answered, “I already do.”
When he stepped out of her room, he found Hecate waiting. The goddess’s eyes were glassy with anger. Hades wasn’t certain what had summoned her, but he had a feeling it had something do with the surge in Persephone’s magic.
“Don’t,” he warned, and while his voice did not waver, his insides shook.
He didn’t want to hear what Hecate would say, because he already knew he had fucked up. He knew it with every beat of his heart, but if he hadn’t gotten her out of the Upperworld and into his realm, there was no end to the list of the things Apollo might do.
At least here, she was safe—and he’d take that in the end, because the one thing he wouldn’t live without in this world was her, even if she hated him.
To her credit, Hecate said nothing, and Hades made a wide arc around her, leaving the palace altogether.
Chapter X
Bakkheia
Hades was distracted, his mind on the final moments before he’d left Persephone in the queen’s suite of his palace the night before. The broken note in her voice tortured his thoughts and clawed at his chest. That night, he’d watched her from his balcony, wandering through the garden. She fit so perfectly among those flowers, like his soul had known to make it for her before she existed.
Even then, with all the knowledge that their fates were entwined, he could not manage to talk to her, to make this rift between them right. In some twisted way, he feared comfort would only seem like he approved of her actions, and he wanted her to know the consequences of dealing with gods.
“My lord?” Antoni queried, and Hades looked up, meeting the cyclops’s gaze in the car’s rearview mirror. “Apologies. We have arrived. Would you like for me to wait for you?”
Hades had asked Antoni to take him to Bakkheia. He’d decided to put this anger to good use and confront Dionysus over his involvement with Acacius, and he preferred to arrive in a mortal fashion, as it would announce his presence. Not only that, but teleporting into a god’s territory was usually frowned upon, though Hades would have been able to do so, given that he shared control of the Upperworld with his brothers.
“That won’t be necessary,” Hades replied. He would choose a far quicker exit when he was ready to leave the God of Wine’s territory.
Antoni looked at him in the rearview mirror.
“Pardon the observation, my lord, but you seem…off tonight.”
That was an effective way to describe how he felt.
He was off. He had been since the night Persephone had confronted him about Leuce, and things had spiraled from there. Now he agonized, replaying every decision he’d made prior and since, and he felt ridiculous.
A horn blared as an impatient driver pulled in behind them, and Hades curled his fists at the sound.
“Apologies, Antoni,” Hades said and stepped out of his limo. As he did, he straightened his tie and turned his head toward the waiting car. The driver’s eyes widened, and he backed up into the vehicle behind him in an attempt to flee.
That was a satisfying enough punishment for Hades, and he strolled to the black doors of Bakkheia, illuminated on either side by strands of red light. The bouncers, two large satyrs, allowed Hades past with only a nod, though he knew they’d already alerted Dionysus of his presence the moment he stepped out of the car. And while he hoped that meant he wouldn’t have to go in search of the god, he had a feeling Dionysus was going to make this very difficult.
Once Hades stepped through the doorway, he was greeted by a loud and crowded club. The music was so loud, it vibrated his bones. Red laser light cut through the darkness and billows of white smoke clouded the air. It was supposed to be hypnotizing, but Hades found it suffocating. He edged along the dance floor to the stairs and headed to the second floor, where it was quieter and far more intimate. A few people leaned over small tables, talking in hushed voices, while some shared space, taking up large plush chairs to kiss and explore. Then there were some who openly fucked, the darkness unable to mask the sounds of pleasurable intercourse.
No one seemed to mind, not the exhibitionism or the voyeurism, but Hades had no intention of lingering. Being on this floor reminded him of how badly he’d wanted to comfort Persephone when he’d taken her to the Underworld. He’d wanted to touch her, kiss her, caress her. He’d wanted her to find pleasure in his arms, but he’d left instead, and now the distance between them felt like a hopelessly deep and jarring chasm.
He continued down the hall, which was wide and full of seating. A wall of windows overlooked downtown New Athens, providing a glittering backdrop for the sin that took place here.
Dionysus had a unique repertoire of powers, among them the ability to inspire madness and ecstasy, and he could apply them to myriad situations—from the murderous to the erotic. It was no surprise, given that the god was the first to create wine, a drink responsible for lowering the inhibitions of many mortals. At the root of it, Dionysus was the cause for much disruption, and he reveled in the chaos.
It was just one reason Hades preferred to keep his distance, yet here he was, seeking him out for the discord he’d caused.
He came to the third floor, reserved for private suites. The hall was dark, and doors bearing red numbers ran the length of it. There was an energy to the air that put Hades on edge, and while he knew part of it had to do with being in another god’s territory, there was something darker beneath—a desperation that called to death. He may have ruled over that realm, but it was unnerving to feel how it lingered within these walls.
Hades paused before the seventh door and entered.
Inside, the suite was dim, but Hades did not need any more light to know what was occurring before him. Dionysus relaxed in a large chair, arms stretched out over the back, while a woman knelt between his legs, working her mouth and hands over his cock. There were other people in the room too, all engaged in various sexual acts, and Dionysus’s magic hung heavy in the air, magic that had worked these mortals into a frenzy, unable to think of anything but their carnal need to fuck.
“Hades,” Dionysus said in acknowledgment, and as he nodded, the gold coiled in his hair glinted in the light.
“Dionysus.”
“Excuse the display,” he said. “Just making sure everything is in working order, given I have been plagued with dreams of castration.”
“How unfortunate,” Hades commented.
He shrugged. “I quite like the pain.”
Of course he would, Hades thought.
“I’ve been expecting you,” Dionysus said with no hitch in his voice despite the woman’s vigorous work between his legs.
Hades was not surprised. “You’ve been busy, from what I hear.”
“What have you heard?”
Hades only waited a beat before responding. “A lot,” he replied.
“From which you have made a lot of assumptions.”
Hades raised a brow. “I do not assume,” he said, though there was an element of guilt that accompanied those words as he recalled how much he assumed when it came to Persephone.
“Isn’t that why you’re here?”
“Look who’s assuming,” Hades replied. “And here I thought to give you the space to explain yourself.”
That was the first comment to break Dionysus’s cool facade. His eyes narrowed slightly, his fingers curled, then he sat up and his gaze fell to the girl, still valiantly engaged in her task.
“Leave,” he commanded.
She looked up at him and obeyed, allowing his cock to slide from her mouth. She rose, using his knees for support, and left.
“I would apologize,” Hades said, “but it does not appear she was able to hold much of your…attention.”
Dionysus’s lips flattened, and he stood to restore his appearance. He was just as tall and large as Hades. He wore a gray suit with purple accents, and his hair was long and braided.
“Usually I am not deterred by exhibitionism, but you tend to have an unnerving effect.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”