His brows rose high in surprise for only a moment before he scowled and the table disappeared. It reappeared in front of me a moment later. This time, there was an egg on it.
My sinuses started to burn with the need to cry, and I didn’t fully understand why. Only that I was so fucking frustrated I wanted to scream, but I couldn’t even do that because of those gods damned druids.
I partially stood and heaved the table with all my might. It was heavy but oh so satisfying to listen to everything crash to the floor a second time.
The egg that dotted the top of Hades bare foot brought reality back, though, and I went from angry to terrified between one heartbeat and the next. My hands started to shake. He considered me, his expression carefully devoid of all emotion. But his eyes…those flickered with red.
The table disappeared and reappeared with a piece of that weird troll fruit on it. Feeling sick, I sat on my stool.
It took two tries to pick up the knife, and the blade shook so badly that I had to drop it when the fruit rolled off the plate. The fruit wasn’t even hard. I covered my face with my hands and tried to pull myself together.
“No,” he seethed. “Not again. No more tears. No more sorrow. Make this torment end.”
I took a few calming breaths and lifted my head to show him my dry eyes. His hard gaze flicked over my face. Slowly he flexed his fingers, stretching them from the fists he’d clenched. Hoping that meant the immediate danger had passed, I picked up the knife again.
Hades abruptly fell to his knees before the table and extended his arm over the surface. His palm smacked down beside the empty plate next to my fruit.
“Yes, Goddess. Take what you will from me. A finger. The hand.”
My gaze flew to his, and I didn’t try to hide my “what the fuck is wrong with you” expression.
“Not my hand then,” he said. He withdrew it from my plate and ran his fingers through his dark hair.
“Will it be my tongue to silence me then? Or perhaps the other appendage you find equally repulsive?”
It took a second to understand what he meant. And another to realize I was still staring at him with open horror showing on my face. He tilted his head at me, his full lips parting slightly.
“What game is this?” he asked with soft, deadly intent.
I swallowed hard and dropped my gaze to the table. He leaned in, bracing his hands on each side of my plate.
“I hate games,” he said with such violence that I visibly cringed.
He growled and pushed away from the table, returning to his muttering about blood and pain. Only this time, there were mentions of pleasure, which seemed to agitate him more.
His slowly increasing anger wore at my composure, and I only managed to eat half the fruit before I couldn’t do it anymore and fled the room.
“So be it,” he said softly as I cleared the door.
CHAPTERTWELVE
His cryptic wordsfroze me in place.So be it?So be what? What did that mean? Was it because I left the room before I’d finished eating?
I didn’t know and couldn’t ask. So, I stood in the hallway and struggled to slow my panicked breathing while I waited for him. Staying put seemed like a better peacekeeping option than running ahead. However, Hades didn’t come storming out into the hall like he usually did after I upset him.
That ever present light breeze played with my skirt as I took another slow, calming breath and noticed the scent of fresh bread and fruit had vanished. A hint of something familiar, smoke mixed with how it smelled outside just before a storm, lingered in the air though.
Doubt started to worm its way into my head, and I took another step closer to the room. Seconds ticked by and my fear grew. What if he’d somehow left? What if I was alone now? I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to hope for that or fear it.
Why was everything so confusing? I crept closer to the door, glancing between it and the long, empty hallway.
One moment, the doorway was empty, and the next, Hades stood there.
“Look at her. So uncertain. Choosing her game. Plotting.”
I was so relieved he was still there I couldn’t even bring myself to be offended or worried about the plotting bit. The torchlight from the room backlit him and gave him a halo of yellow-gold. He had never looked more god-like than at that moment. My heart skipped a beat, and my breathing, which I’d worked so hard to steady, came out in a shaky exhale.
Gods, he was beautiful.
