by Katee Robert
He gives a nearly soundless sigh and leans forward to prop his elbows on his desk. It brings his features into the light. Hades is an attractive, older white guy with salt-and-pepper hair and black square glasses that frame his dark eyes. He’s handsome in a scary kind of way, but he’s never been anything but kind to me.
Not that he’d label it as such. The man has a reputation to uphold, after all, and if I ever pointed out that he got the raw end of our bargain, he’d deny it. Hades doesn’t do charity, but in my case, there’s no other way to describe it. What other man would give an astronomical amount to a thirteen-year-old girl and then send her away with a command to return when she’s twenty-one?
I tested him to see if he’d come looking for me. Letting a week and then a month slip by after my birthday. He never showed to enforce the command. In fact, he seemed surprised when I finally arrived at the Underworld.
So, yes, I suppose Allecto is right in a way; Tink and I are nothing alike, and neither were our bargains.
I clasp my hands in my lap. “Then what is this about?”
“You’re more than welcome to remain in the Underworld once your bargain with me expires. This is your home as long as you choose to stay, and once your time is officially up, the negotiated percentage that I take out of your wages will be halved.” His lips quirk. “But I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out that half of Carver City would happily welcome you into their homes.”
Into their homes, and into their beds.
But not in a permanent way. I’ve been here long enough to watch them find their true loves, one by one. They might enjoy scening with me from time to time, but I’ll always be on the outside looking into those relationships. No invitation to their homes would be permanent. I’m not naive enough to believe otherwise.
There was a time when that knowledge wouldn’t bother me. I’m not sure it does bother me, or if I’m just feeling particularly sensitive right now. “Is that what you called me in here to say?”
“No.” He sits back, once again bathed in shadows. “I called you here to convey an offer to contract out for the next two weeks.”
I raise my brows. Hades is notoriously reluctant to allow this kind of assignation. Both he and Allecto are control freaks when it comes to security in the Underworld, and he can’t guarantee the safety of his people outside it. Most everyone in Carver City is too smart to cross a line, even without constant security surveillance in place, but Hades takes no risks with his people. “I’m surprised you’re even considering it.”
“Yes, well, I don’t have much of a choice. The request came from a territory leader.”
The gaping, empty feeling in my chest roars, and I know the answer even before I put the question to voice. “Which one?”
He holds my gaze. “Malone.”
2
Aurora
“Malone?” I suspected it had to be her, I still can’t keep the shock from my voice, from my face, from my very being. It’s finally happening? Finally, after all this time?
“Yes, it surprised me, too.” Hades watches me closely. “I’m inclined to say no, but Malone doesn’t demand much and it runs the risk of alienating her. However, considering your history with her, it’s a terrible idea.”
Hades is the only one besides Allecto who knows who my mother really is. Who’s responsible for putting her in that coma to begin with. He’s right. I should say no.
If he knew where I’d just come from, he wouldn’t have even given me the option. He would have rejected the offer instantly.
But as I sit here, staring at my hands, darkness rushes into that void inside me. A screaming that demands action, demands revenge. Malone is careful and particular, and in my nine years of working here, I have only truly interacted with her once, years ago when we scened together. If I say yes to this, I will be close to her for the next two weeks. I’ll be close enough to strike, to do something to hurt her as much as she’s hurt me. “I accept.”
“Aurora.”
“Hades.” I can’t quite soften my tone into playfulness. I never talk back to Hades. Never. Partly because I owe him so much, and mostly because of the sheer dominance he exhibits without seeming to try. He’s got himself bottled up right now, but the man can send me to my knees with a single look. Not today. I feel like nothing can touch me today. “I need to do this.”
“You really don’t.”
“This is why I came to you to begin with!” I stop short and make an effort to modulate my tone. “Do not take this chance from me.”
He looks like he’s torn between yelling at me and coming around the desk to wrap me in a tight hug. “Malone will eat you up and spit you out. She will harm you.”
I shove to my feet. “There is nothing she’ll do that hasn’t already been done to me a hundred times over during my years here.” I laugh harshly. “You know me, Hades. I like everything. Pain and humiliation and degradation. Soft words and gentle touches and kindness. It all gets me off. Malone can’t harm me.”
“Aurora.” Hades stands slowly. I don’t know how he manages it, but it feels like his power unfurls through the room. “I would have thought age would make you less reckless.”
The desire to apologize bubbles up inside me, but I shove it down. I am not weak, and I am not a fool. All those years ago, I came to the Underworld with two goals: to keep my mother alive and to get revenge. I’ve managed the first. Now it’s time for the second. “I’m not reckless.”
“You are the very definition of reckless.” He sighs. “But you’re an adult who knows her own mind. I can keep you from Malone now, but the moment the bargain is done, I suspect you’ll be taking that contract.”
I will. Now that she’s finally made a move on me, I refuse to miss this opportunity. “Better to let me do this while I’m still yours.” I’m being cruel, but I can’t help it. If I do something to Malone, Hades might bear the price of it alongside me, but he’s more than capable of navigating the situation. He’ll be fine.
He takes off his glasses and pinches the bridge of his nose. “I dislike you attempting to manipulate me.”
“I’m just speaking the truth.”
“You are willing to say anything to convince me to agree to this. Don’t deny it.” He cuts me a sharp look. “But you do have a point.”
I press my lips together. Pushing him now won’t guarantee victory, and it might just backfire. So I force myself still and wait while he thinks about it.
Finally, Hades shakes his head. “I’ll allow it.”
Relief makes me a little dizzy. There’s no guarantee that Malone’s offer would stand in another few weeks once I’m free of Hades’s bargain. I won’t get another chance like this, to get close enough to her to strike. “When do I start?”
“Tomorrow.”
“You goddamn fool.”
I don’t look over as Allecto storms into the gym. I just increase the speed on my treadmill, feet pounding in time with my racing heart. “I’ll talk to you when I’m done.”
“The fuck you will. You’ll talk to me now.” She stalks to the treadmill and reaches past me to slap the bright-red Stop button.
I stumble as the track suddenly stops moving. “Hey!”
“What the hell are you doing, Aurora?” She’s practically vibrating with anger. “Why the fuck did Hercules just tell me that you’re about to go spend two weeks with Malone?”
“Because I’m going to spend two weeks with Malone.” I try to say it calmly, rationally, but it comes out spiked. “She offered. It’s an opportunity I can’t miss.”
“An opportunity.” She looks like she wants to strangle me. “An opportunity to do what?”
I could hedge, but the truth is that if anyone will understand, it’s Allecto. “Kill her.”
My friend stares at me for several long beats as if waiting for the rest of the joke. She finally shakes her head slowly. “No. Absolutely not. Your mother just died. You aren’t in your right mind.”
“My mother died twen
ty years ago. That wasn’t her.”
“Don’t try to twist logic with me now, not when the entire reason you bargained so much of your life away with Hades was to save her.”
Something cracks inside me. I didn’t save her. No one could save her. It didn’t matter what I did, how high I reached for assistance. My mother was lost to me the moment she entered that fight with Malone. I look at Allecto, trying to make her understand. “I have to do this.”
“No, you don’t.” She glances at the door as if she’s going to charge up to Hades’s office and tell him everything. “She’s going to kill you.”
I grab her arm, holding her in place. “She won’t get a chance to.”
“Yes, Aurora, she will. Malone is one of the deadliest people in Carver City, full stop. She’s ruthless and ambitious, and she cuts down people who cross her without a second thought. If you move against her and fail, she’ll kill you. If you somehow manage to succeed, her people will kill you. There is no outcome where this ends happily.”
“That’s fine. I don’t believe in happily ever after. Not anymore.”
Allecto sighs and steps onto the treadmill to take my shoulders. “I can’t say I know how you feel right now, and I’m shit at comfort, but this is not the right course. You are not a killer.” When I start to protest, she speaks right over me. “She is going to twist you up, break you down, and you’re going to end up hating yourself because you’ll start to care and won’t be able to take her out.”
“I will not start to care about Malone.”
Allecto snorts. “Aurora, you already care about her. You’ve been eye-fucking her for years.”
I try to jerk back, but she tightens her grip on my shoulders, keeping me in place. “I have not.”
“You sure as fuck have.” She shakes her head. “You fall in love with everyone you sleep with. And she’s Malone. You’re already fucked, and you’re too stubborn to realize it.”
I poke her in the chest. “I do not fall in love with everyone I sleep with.”
“Prove it.” Allecto releases me and glares. “Gaeton.”
“He’s my friend, of course I love him.” He’s a brutal giant of a man with a surprisingly gentle heart, and we’ve been scening for years.
“Isabelle.”
My skin goes hot, and I try to fight down my reaction. “She’s different.” Who wouldn’t fall at least a little in love with a woman like that, so shiny and new to kink and embracing it full-heartedly with her two men? The fact that one of them is Gaeton only makes playing with her more enjoyable.
Allecto holds my gaze and starts ticking up her fingers with each name. “Meg. Hook. Jafar. Ursa. Alaric. Stop me when I find one that you haven’t been at least infatuated with.”
“Stop it.” I glare. “There is nothing wrong with caring about people.”
“Don’t get pissed now because I’m right.” She drops her hand. “And that’s not even getting into those jackasses that you dated. Finn. Hazel. Oliver.” The last of her fingers go down.
“You’re supposed to fall in love with the people you date.”
“Uh huh.” Allecto snorts. “And look how well that worked out. I was cleaning up the heartbreak tears for weeks after those relationships went down in flames.”
“Heartbreak after a breakup is also a normal thing.”
“You will fall for her, you will hate yourself for doing it, and then you won’t be able to go through with it.”
I hate how her words feel like daggers aimed right at the heart of me. “You are such a bitch sometimes.”
“Ooh, fierce words from the asshole who’s planning murder.” She shakes her head. “Killing Malone won’t fix anything. It’s only going to compound that horrible mess of emotions you’re refusing to address. It won’t bring your mother back or make time go in reverse.”
“Enough.” I shake my head as if I can dispel her words. It’s never that easy. Allecto knows me well enough to know exactly the right thing to say to have her words set up residence in my head. “That’s enough. It’s my choice and I’ve made it.”
“Aurora.” Some of the fierceness bleeds out of Allecto’s tone. “If you really want her dead, I’ll take care of it. It won’t fix anything, but at least then you’d be safe.”
I stare. Now it’s my turn to wait for the joke to land, but I should know better by now. Allecto doesn’t joke about things like this. She sure as hell wouldn’t choose to start now, with this topic. “What?”
“It’ll be a mess. She’s a strong leader, and her territory is stable, and the ripples will affect the rest of the city, but if you need this done, I’ll do it for you.”
For a moment, I actually consider it. Allecto’s good, and she can likely do exactly what she’s offering. One moment Malone will be moving through this world, the next she will be a memory. Just like my mother.
I take a slow breath and finally shake my head. “No. I can’t ask that of you.”
“You aren’t asking; I’m offering.”
I shake my head again. “It has to be me.”
Allecto scrubs her hands over her face. “Fine. But don’t you dare beat yourself up when you change your mind. There are people capable of murder, and you’re even one of them when you get heated, but an assassination is a totally different animal.”
It’s irritating that she doubts me. “I’m more than capable of doing this.”
“Sure. Capable.” She turns for the door. “That’s not what I said, though, is it?”
She’s gone before I can come up with a response. I don’t care what Allecto says or how many theories she has about me developing feelings for the people I have sex with; none of that has to mean anything. Malone isn’t just anyone. She’s the enemy.
I huff out a breath and turn back to get the treadmill going again. As I take up the steady pounding rhythm of running, my traitorous mind flickers to the single scene I had with Malone all those years ago. I agreed to it out of some perverse desire to understand the woman who hurt my mother. I didn’t expect Malone to systematically dismantle all my defenses and shatter me to pieces. The woman is the single best Dominant in Carver City. I’d know—I’ve been with them all at this point.
It doesn’t matter.
I’ve already agreed to this assignation, and I’m going through with it.
I’m going to kill Malone.
3
Malone
I’ve never had a problem taking what I want. The world respects power and power alone, and that’s particularly true in my world. In the past, it’s been a simple matter of seeing something and going through the necessary steps to acquire whatever it is—whoever it is.
As I sit in the chair across from Hades’s desk, it’s with the uncomfortable knowledge that I don’t know what he’ll say in response to my request to contract Aurora out. The old man has a soft spot for the girl, and has ever since she came to work in the Underworld nine years ago. It’s not exactly a fatherly love, not with the games we all play, but he cares about her. It colors his perspective, ensures that he won’t be able to make this decision based on possible gains or compensation. He’s making it emotionally.
Because of that, I can’t guarantee what his answer will be.
After all, I didn’t expect him to make me wait a full twenty-four hours for a response, and yet here we are.
Hades steeples his hands in front of his face. He doesn’t bother with a greeting. We both know why I’m here. “There are conditions.”
Something like giddiness courses through me. He’s going to say yes. I keep my expression cold and unmoving through the ease of long practice. “I expected as much.”
“Aurora is too reckless to put hard limits in place, so I will do it for her.”
That surprises me enough to raise my eyebrows. “You don’t trust her to know her own mind after nearly a decade in the Underworld? Hades, you’re getting soft.”
“Violate the terms of this contract and see how soft I am.” The quiet menace in h
is voice has me going still. Hades might be an old dog, but he’s still got claws and teeth. There’s a reason why all the territory leaders, me included, respect his territory as neutral space. My mother taught me never to walk onto a battlefield unless I was sure I could win. I’m not entirely sure I could win a conflict with Hades, and because of that I’m forced to play these polite games.
“What are your conditions?”
“No blood play. Nothing that could scar.” He considers me. “No breath play or water play.”
I’m not exactly surprised, but it’s interesting that he feels the need to vocalize this list. “Those are the rules of the club.”
“And you won’t be in the club, so it requires stating explicitly. If you harm Aurora, I will destroy you.”
This is a fault line I could exploit if I so wished. Everyone looks at Hades and assumes the way to hurt him is to hurt one of his lovers—Megaera or Hercules. Very few people look deeper to realize that, no matter his cold attitude, he takes the protection of his people seriously. Especially Aurora.
He’s not the only one in Carver City that feels that way. If I harmed the girl, most of the territory leaders would turn on me. Even Ursa might, and she’s been my closest friend for years.
I lean back and cross my legs. “I have no intention of damaging your little princess, Hades. I just want to play with her.”
“Why now?”
I shrug, feigning nonchalance. “Now’s as good a time as any. Word has it that her bargain with you is almost expired. It’s my last chance to enjoy her.” Enjoy her. Such simple words that don’t come close to describing the fire in my blood whenever I’m around that pretty submissive. It’s been years since that single scene we shared, and I can barely be in the same room as her without wanting to wind her colorful hair around my fist and drive her to her knees. To make her cry and beg and orgasm. She ignites all my worst impulses, tempts me to forgo the control I value so highly.
