Cyane shot to her feet. “You said if I wanted to leave, I should follow you.”
“And you did leave—the ballroom. I saved you from Hermes’s clutches. You do not belong where the gods walk. You’re nothing but a mortal, a mere plaything to them.”
“I thought you were going to lead me out of this place!”
“You thought wrong.”
“You just said I don’t belong here, Cerberus.” She took a step closer to him. “I’m not supposed to be here, right? You saved me from drowning, then told me to say my final words, that I’d broken some law. Then I was woken up and dressed to attend a party, only to be led away shortly after I was forced there to begin with.” Cyane wrang her hands, fuming. “I don’t know what’s happening, I’m confused, I’m scared. None of this makes sense… but somehow it makes all the sense in the world.”
Cerberus cocked his head mockingly in answer.
“Why am I here?” she whispered.
She wasn’t above begging, in fact, she’d get down on her knees right now and beseech him if it meant clearing some of the confusion in her head. Thiswarriorconsidered killing her not long ago—and she knew she needed to remember that—but he was also the only one who felt right to her.
Maybe because he was the only one who agreed that she didn’t belong.
He can be persuaded.
His gaze flared in the opening of his helmet, going from a dark brown to a deep, fiery red. They were like the last dying embers of a lava field before it cooled into basalt or the first spark of fire when a star formed. She’d never seen anything like his eyes in the world above. They had the power to mesmerize.
Things this terrifying and this beautiful didn’t exist.
It was wrong that this man had such beautiful eyes.
And I can’t even see the rest of his face.
Without realizing it, she reached up.
He grabbed her hand before she could touch him.
Cyane stilled as his hand tightened around hers. She thought he would be warm to match the ruby glow in his eyes, but he was frigid—so unlike the fire in his gaze that it froze her veins. The cold slid over her flesh before it slipped deep within, holding her soul hostage in an embrace she wasn’t ready for.
It wasn’t right.Thiswasn’t right.
She tried to tug her hand free but it remained his hostage. A shiver wracked her body.
“Don’t be scared,” he said.
His words stopped the rapid chill taking her over.
His fingers loosened on hers, and she realized she didn’t want him to let her go. Not yet. She gripped him, keeping them linked together when he went to pull away.
“Why am I here?” she asked again.
“Lord Hades brought you here.”
It wasn’t enough.
“But why?”
Cerberus removed his hand from hers. A deep crease formed between his brows, taking away the fire in his eyes and the cold of his touch. The moment was broken.
He strode away from her, and the giant dogs all stirred from the bed and jumped up to follow him. One came to her side and sniffed her dress.
Cyane hugged her one hand to her chest and then cupped it with the second. What’d she done to make him so angry so quickly?
“Fix your hair, straighten out your dress, and prepare yourself,” Cerberus snapped. The dogs gathered around his feet. “Hades has requested your presence for the Day of Dancing.”
