“Eat,” he ordered, waving his hand outward. The table where his helmet and other glove sat was now covered in a variety of fruit. “And get some sleep.”
She glanced at the bed to find it even more luscious than before, with several of his hounds sitting atop it, watching her. Their eyes equally as bloody, as ruby red as him. They truly were his.
“You will not return to the ballroom until this new day is over,” he said.
A final gift. “Thank you.” Her voice came out a croak.
The tension grew again, and his gaze bore into her naked flesh, threatening to root her back to the spot. Cyane gritted her teeth, exhaustion flooding her being. She unrooted her feet, bypassed the table, and climbed into the bed, putting herself between the hounds. They settled around her as she slipped under the blanket and pulled it to her chin.
She peeked out from under the blankets to find Cerberus. He appeared as tense and uncomfortable as she was.
She wanted him to come to her, to finish what they’d started. In the dark, at least. His face made her stomach turn even if it was an ethereally handsome one. She didn’t have the courage to beckon him, didn’t even know if he wanted her the way she wanted him.
Warmth was all he spoke of… though she still could feel the phantom touch of his palms sensually exploring her chest.
When the room felt like it ought to erupt into awkward, tension-fueled flames that screamed for their bodies to come together, the darkness rushed in around him, and he disappeared. Her heart fell as she searched the shadowy corners for his presence. His helmet and glove were gone.
Cyane slipped farther under the blanket, wishing the darkness would take her away too.
A Soul, a Drink, a Fire
Cerberus returnedto the ballroom to find that Hades and the resurrected Trojan horse were gone. The only ones that remained were those who drew power from the carnage that was left behind and those who mourned the dead.
Hecate, who cried over her Underworld Lampade nymphs and followers, the Keres who sought the souls that lingered, and the few servants that cleaned the mess the higher beings ignored.
The sheer curtains that remained were soaked with blood, turning them into crimson, wet ribbons that the surviving lamiae tore with their fanged teeth.
Cerberus turned around as one of his hounds approached him with a fresh wraith of a soul. The hound dropped it at his feet, and Cerberus knelt to suck it up into his belly. Some of his hunger abated.
But it was not as satisfying as he needed it to be.
“Sweet Cerberus, I’ve missed you.”
He stiffened as Melinoe’s arms drew around him to hug him from behind. Any remaining warmth he carried from Cyane was replaced with ice.
“Melinoe,” he muttered, detaching himself from the goddess’s embrace. He turned to face her. She still wore the black dress from earlier. She was accompanied by an entourage of ghosts screaming and crying behind her, ones that didn’t disappear when looked at directly. He wasn’t the only one who’d scavenged from the remnants of Hades’s entertainment. “Where is our lord?”
The goddess’s eyes darkened. “How should I know? I assume he went to that hidden study of his.”
Cerberus moved to leave.
Melinoe grabbed him. “Why does my father ignore me? Why does he hate me so much?” Tears filled her eyes as Cerberus shook her off him again. Her grip, despite its iciness, was far too similar to Cyane’s for comfort.
“I can’t answer that, ask him for yourself.”
“But you know! I know you do! If anyone knows Hades’s mind, it can only be you. Please… sweet Cerberus, my love. Tell me what you know.”
Love?The word coming from Melinoe’s lips sounded like rot. He knew the answer to her question, as did several others in the court, Hecate included. But a creature that disgusted Hades, even a royal goddess, disgusted all his followers, too.
“You’re the only one who talks to me, you’re the only one who listens when Mother isn’t around,” she whispered.
Melinoe reached for him again, and he drew the darkness toward him, vanishing before her touch could spoil his mind. Hades’s daughter quickly fell from his thoughts as he arrived in his lord’s study.
Hades sat in his usual chair by the fire, where only embers burned, with a cup of nectar in his hand. Cerberus moved to sit down across from him.
“Three more days until my queen descends,” Hades said.
“Yes.”
