by Bella Klaus
He flashed me a wide grin that made me flush. “I put some of my best spies on the cat to follow her wherever she went. When they reported that she’d been burrowing through tunnels, trying to reach what was beneath the wards, I ordered them to do anything they could to help her.”
“Do you know why she was trying to reach me?” I had asked Dami this question before, but she had made a vague comment I hadn’t quite understood.
“My guess is that you formed a contract with her before leaving to see your mother, and she’s been trying for centuries to fulfill it.” He stepped into the pool, standing in the water to his waist, and helped me inside.
The water was thick and slippery, reminding me of the juice of the soap berries I’d once grown in my greenhouse at home. I lowered myself into the bath, letting the liquid slide over my skin like a warm balm.
Hades positioned himself behind me with his larger legs surrounding mine and my back resting against his broad chest.
“Can I see her?” I asked.
“I can tell my people to track her down,” he rumbled. “No one’s been keeping a watch on her since the trial.”
The leaves behind us rustled, and something moved on the edge of my vision. “Over there.”
Hades raised a hand, making something squeak. He lowered his arm and laughed. “Dryads.”
I glanced from side to side. “Where?”
“Stop scuttling about and show yourselves,” he said.
Quiet footsteps rushed toward us, and a pair of child-sized creatures stood at the edge of the pool, holding hands. The tallest of them was the green-skinned girl who had spied on me from behind the tree.
Her hair seemed to be made of lemongrass, decorated with a chain of daisies. Next to her stood a smaller girl with mahogany skin with hair that was a mix of branches and autumn leaves. She dipped her head and stared at me through her dark lashes.
“Alright.” He waved them away. “Off you go.”
They burst into giggles and jogged backward into the tall raffia leaves.
“Wait.” I placed a hand on his chest. “What do they do?”
“They’re the garden’s custodians. Harmless little creatures but prone to mischief.”
Questions rattled through my mind, but a wave of dizziness had me stumbling to the side, making him catch me before I landed in the water with a splash.
“Why don’t we sit face-to-face?” I slurred.
“Some of the poison has already gotten into your system.” He ran his hand up my arm, working out the last vestiges of the black liquid. “I can’t have you falling asleep and drowning.”
“Good point,” I murmured.
Hades produced a small loofah, and for the next few minutes, he ran it over my skin, making sure that all traces of the poison were gone. I leaned forward, my muscles relaxing under his ministrations, feeling like we had done this before.
My throat thickened. “How can you seem so strange and so familiar?”
“There are many ways to erase a person’s memory.” He arranged my hair atop my head and massaged the sides of my neck with his strong fingers, working through the knotted muscles. “Cursed objects, memory enchantments, but the only way to make sure the forgetfulness is permanent is by making the victim drink from the River Lethe.”
“What is that?” My body stilled. The Compendium of Magick hadn’t mentioned the Underworld or anything else about Greek mythology, but there had been a recipe for a forgetfulness potion as well as its antidote.
“It’s one of the rivers that flowed through the Underworld and was incorporated into the Fifth Faction,” he replied. “The color is a deep turquoise that is unmatched by anything in nature. Does it sound familiar to you?”
I shook my head.
Hades exhaled a long sigh. “All that matters is that you’re here.”
“What will you do if you find out I’m someone else?”
“Persephone—”
I pulled out of his touch and turned around, meeting his eyes, which were a deep and sorrowful blue. “Please.” I placed my hands on his chest. “Everything we’ve discovered so far indicates that I’m a completely different person. Will you allow me to leave once our deal is over?”
He averted his gaze and nodded, the muscles in his jaw tensing.
“Really?”
“If, by the time you hand over the magic, you decide you wish to leave, I will fulfill my end of the bargain and provide you with the accommodation and a living allowance.”
I stared at him for several heartbeats, looking for signs of deception. Hades might not be a demon, but he’d spent enough time with the creatures to pick up some of their bad habits. It was impossible to know if he was telling the truth or lying by omission.
“The contract I signed in blood is unbreakable,” he said. “If you return to Hell, it will only be by your own free will.”
“Alright,” I said with a nod.
His gaze dropped to my lips. “That doesn’t mean I can’t do what it takes to make you want to stay.”
Heat pooled between my legs, and I squirmed where I knelt. “What kinds of things do you think would make me change my mind?”
“Nobody knows this body better than I.” He raised a finger and trailed it from my cheekbone and over my jaw. “I’ve spent tens of thousands of years learning how to tease out every ounce of pleasure and taking you to heights you could never imagine.”
The pulse between my legs thudded, and my core twitched. If this was part of his plan to make me want to stay in Hell, I would have to decline.
“What happened to Persephone?” I asked, hoping to change the subject.
His chest deflated with a long exhale. “We argued, and she left early to spend time with Demeter in Mount Olympus.”
“What did you argue about?” I turned, trying to meet his gaze.
Hades held me in place. “It was a trivial misunderstanding.”
“It had to be pretty bad for her to leave you.”
“Whatever it was, I’ve forgotten,” he muttered.
My lips formed a tight line. I doubted that a man whose wife got torn apart by a supernatural disaster would forget the last words he exchanged with her. Especially not one who was still hung up on her after two thousand years.
“Tell me about what life was like before the Great Divide,” I asked.
“Each culture had its own set of gods. We ruled Ancient Greece and the Roman Empire.” His thick fingers threaded through my hair, sending tingles across my scalp. “My names were Hades, Pluto, Orcus, and Dis Pater, and my domain was the Underworld.”
As he massaged my scalp, he explained the Underworld had mostly remained intact after the Great Divide with a few exceptions. The deity who ruled the angels moved the Elysian Fields to Heaven and replaced them with a fiery pit for the souls of supernaturals that required punishment.
I leaned forward, the muscles of my head and neck melting at his delicious touch. Even if my mind didn’t trust Hades, my body seemed accustomed to his touch. Perhaps it was my soul, since it was the oldest part of me, even if Madame Lorraine said it couldn’t be more than a couple of centuries old.
His hands caressed my neck and shoulders, releasing all the tension I’d felt since I had discovered his true identity. Heat surged low in my belly, and arousal pooled between my legs.
“Stop trying to seduce me,” I murmured.
“Do you want me to stop touching you?” he asked.
My head lolled back and fell onto his shoulder. “The poison has addled my brain.”
Hades placed a chaste kiss on my cheek. “You must be in full control of your faculties when I take you.”
“That’s never going to happen,” I muttered.
His dark chuckle rumbled across my back and settled in my sex. “Believe me, it will.”
My traitorous heart fluttered at the challenge, but I forced the sensation away. I couldn’t stay in Hell for long. Not when I had a chance of freedom.
“What are we going t
o do about Samael?” I asked.
Hades growled, all traces of amusement gone. “That bastard would control all nine factions if given the chance, but mine is both the easiest target and the most tempting.”
“Because of all the magical souls?”
“If he harnessed even half the power of my denizens, he could defeat three factions without the help of allies. Then with their combined power, he could control them all.”
“What’s the point of ruling all of Hell?” I asked.
“There are twenty times more souls in Hell than in Heaven, which means twenty times the power.”
My heart leapfrogged. “I had no idea so many people got condemned.”
“The definition of evil is as wide as the ocean,” Hades said. “I don’t make the rules, but I can make sure that only those who deserve it are punished.”
I nodded, the tension around my chest easing at his words. “What’s the best way to stop Samael?”
“Restore the power to the second throne, and the magic will reject anyone who doesn’t belong to the Fifth Faction, including those who have turned their loyalties to him.”
“And if we can’t?” I asked.
“That isn’t an option,” he growled. “The Fifth Faction contains all of the most powerful people to have ever lived. Last year, Samael managed to get to one of them, a former Titan, who rose from Hell and tried to take over Great Britain.”
“Are you talking about the battle that took place in London after Yule?”
“Your mother told you about it?”
I shook my head. “Dami shared a few details.”
Hades nodded. “Samael unleashed chaos in the Fifth Faction, keeping my troops too busy fighting intruders and minor rebellions to help defeat the risen Titan.”
I blew out a long breath. “You managed to keep the Fifth Faction under control with only half the power. Why didn’t you go back and ask for a single throne?”
“Because I never lost faith that Persephone would return to me and take her place at my side.”
My brow wrinkled. Everything about Hades was a contradiction, from his reputation as a womanizer to the blind faith he had that he would be reunited with his wife. A tight fist of guilt gripped my chest at the thought of having to let him down at the end of our bargain.
He pressed a kiss on my cheek. “What happened in the past no longer matters. Now that you’re here to occupy the second throne, the full power of the Fifth Faction will be ours.”
“Hades,” I said with a sigh.
He turned me around and smiled, his eyes bright. “It’s time for lesson number two: the sensual art of tantra.”
Chapter Fourteen
Turning around in the cradle of his arms, I met his smiling eyes. Even after spending an entire lifetime within the confines of Mother’s mansion, I knew that tantra was related to sex.
“Absolutely no way,” I snapped.
His brows rose. “What are you afraid of? Liking what I do to you so much that you decide to stay?”
I placed my hands on his shoulders and pushed myself up. The rapid movement gave me a head rush, and I swayed on my feet with my arms outstretched for balance.
Hades shot out of the water. “Careful—”
“If you call me by your wife’s name one more time, I’ll scream,” I said.
He raised his palms. “If you insist that I call you Maiden—”
“I don’t care what it means,” I said through clenched teeth. “It’s the only name I have.”
My head spun from the warm water, and the poison’s aftereffects. Dipping my head, I pulled a deep breath into my lungs. I’d experienced more in the past twenty-four hours than I had in an entire life, and my nerves trembled from being overstimulated.
“You’re upset,” he said.
“Overwhelmed.” I staggered toward the edge of the pool.
“Allow me.” Hades held me by the elbow and lifted me out onto the grass.
Most of the poison’s effects had washed away in the water, and my steps became more certain the further we progressed down the path. Tall apple trees flanked our way like sentinels, each dipping into shallow bows as we passed.
The plants seemed to recognize me, even if I did not.
Hades guided me to a daybed that consisted of giant raffia leaves folded at their stems. He sat beside me and pulled me down, so I lay on my side with my head resting on his muscular thighs.
“Relax for as long as you like,” he murmured. “Nobody can enter this garden except you.”
“You got here just fine,” I muttered under my breath.
“Only because you were in my arms.” He ran his hand down my back. “I gifted you this patch of land the first time you came to the Underworld.”
“When you abducted her.”
He paused.
“Don’t bother correcting me by saying you abducted me all those thousands of years ago.”
“Persephone wept the first few days of her captivity here, and I brought her to this land and let her turn it into her personal paradise.”
“Why would you keep a crying woman against her will?” I asked.
This time, when he didn’t reply, I cracked open an eye to find him staring out into space. I placed a hand on his bare chest. “What?”
“Thirty thousand years ago, I hadn’t learned how to love,” he said. “I was cold, heartless, and the tears of a maiden didn’t sway my heart. All I wanted was to possess her.”
The words landed like a boulder in the gut. Hades was that old? He had to be exaggerating. I huffed. “You haven’t changed.”
“Persephone taught me to love.” He gazed down at me, his eyes twinkling. “I’ve learned a few things about subduing women when they’re upset.”
My skin tightened at the thought of him and all those other women he’d learned to satisfy over the two thousand years of not having a wife. Queen Mera had tried to comfort me by implying he had a short attention span, but I now found those words irritating.
How could he be so caring and gentle and flirtatious if he planned on discarding me the moment he took control of Persephone’s power? I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to clear my head. What on earth was I thinking? I wanted him to let me go… didn’t I?
“What if I cried?” I asked. “Would you force me to stay?”
“You wouldn’t cry,” he said with a confident smirk.
I spluttered. “How could you possibly know?”
“Because your soul thrums in my presence and your body sings. Even if she’s made you forget, part of you knows you belong with me.”
All this talk about my attraction to him was messing with my head. Of course my body would react to his beautiful, strong physique, and his experienced touches. I placed a hand on his knees and pushed myself to sit up.
“Are you alright?” He stared down at me with a worried frown.
“What else do I need to do to get Persephone’s back pay?”
He blinked a few times as though reeling from the abrupt change in conversation. I glared up at him and scowled. Maybe someone else might fall for his charm, but I’d been forewarned.
“There’s an exercise we used to do to connect our magic,” he said.
“Does it involve having sex?”
He grinned. “Only if you want.”
“Which I don’t.” I raised a hand, and one of the trees above us deposited a fig leaf on his lap. I rose to my feet and positioned myself in the middle of the clearing.
Hades choked a laugh. “You’re going to need more than a fig leaf if you want to make me look decent.”
Without meaning to, my gaze dropped to his crotch, where the leaf balanced ten inches above his lap. Its broad surface cast a shadow but couldn’t completely conceal his shaft.
I ground my teeth. “Can’t you strap it down or something?”
He smirked. “Would you like to try? I remember one time when Persephone used her kiwi vines to—”
“No.” Turning on my heel, I headed out
of the clearing, my nostrils flaring in outrage.
Kiwi plants were sweet and sacred. They wrapped their little tendrils around my fingers and comforted me whenever I was sad. If I was really Persephone—which I wasn’t—I would never use those plants or any other to pleasure a scoundrel like Hades.
My hands curled into fists, and I stormed down a path of raspberry canes, toward where I would have put the exit.
I knew five Greek gods—Mother, and the other four in her so-called coven. None of them acted like Hades, who had probably corrupted himself by consorting with demons. I also knew all about incubi—seductive male demons who could shapeshift into a woman’s fantasy so they could seduce them to feed on their power. Hades was no different.
He appeared in front of me, dressed only in a pair of loose pants. “Go back to the bench.”
“Why?” I glowered up at him. “So you can work your dubious charm?”
His brows rose. “You think I’m charming.”
I spluttered. “Why are you picking which word to listen to? The key word in that sentence was dubious.”
“Go back.”
“You can’t make me.” Lightning crackled off my fingertips.
Hades narrowed his eyes. “Why have you reverted into a brat?”
“Maybe I’m unaccustomed to your constant innuendos and smut.” The moment I said the words, my heart sank.
Even if Hades made the occasional comment, the only reason he’d gotten naked was to help me with the poison. And most of the time, it was clear that he pined for his wife.
After one lingering look at my body, he wiggled his fingers and dressed me in a tank top and yoga pants that were infinitely less revealing than the fig leaves.
“Kora,” he said in the kind of sharp voice I imagined he would use on misbehaving underlings.
I stiffened.
“You cannot collect Persephone’s magic or connect to her throne without first connecting magic with me.” He swept an arm toward the clearing. “Are you ready to fulfill your end of our bargain?”
My heart shriveled at the absence of his warmth, and I got a taste of what it was like not to bask under the light of his attention. I pulled back my shoulders, tightened my stomach muscles, and raised my chin. This was exactly what I’d asked for—a way to give him what he wanted without getting entangled.
