They sat in companionable silence, watching the fire, close to dying, but never quite guttering out completely. It continued glowing, often sparking embers of frustration as Hades’s will kept it alive.
The subtle heat that it gave off made Cerberus long for warmth to return to his body. If he threw his hands in the hearth, would he purify Melinoe’s touch and make Cyane’s return? He pondered it for a while, but decided not to risk the ring he wore around his thumb.
Fire wasn’t his friend after all. The dark gloom and flowing waters of Styx were the forces that embraced him. He was drawn to water, not fire.
Cerberus pulled his gaze from the hearth. “You may have new enemies. At this very moment, Hecate mourns the loss of her followers.”
Hades swirled his drink. “When a god gives a gift, it will always make others jealous—or worse yet, feel entitled to my attention. Besides, Persephone never liked having so many carrion-eaters around.”
Cerberus bristled. Persephone didn’t like death at all, especially murder.
“So the gift was ultimately for our queen,” Hades said, leaning back.
“It was as much for her as it was for you.” Cerberus reached up, took off his helmet, and set it on the floor by his seat.
Hades’s gaze moved to his face, and his mouth curled into a smile. “As handsome as ever, my friend. Our mortal guest has changed you. How very fun.”
“She challenges my loyalty.”
“Sex has a way of doing that, doesn’t it? I’ve always thought our dear, delectable Aphrodite might be the most powerful of us all.”
Cerberus’s head tilted. “Sex?”
“Sex, the joining of two bodies, the battle of give and take, the horrid twisting thrill that clouds one’s mind as they seek to dominate or be dominated. To take control or to relinquish it. Sex brings the highest men to their lowest and the lowest men to their highest. Gods, mortals, animals, none are spared this dilemma. None are immune to Aphrodite.”
The thrill I feel, the hardening in my loins.
“Have you taken our mortal to your bed? I know you watch her constantly and that she sleeps in your haven.”
“No, I have...not.”
Cyane's imperfect, curvy figure filled his head. It took an immense amount of willpower to keep himself from following her into the bed, from feeling the rest of her. Her long, wavy brown hair begged his fingers to toy with it, and he longed to cup her fertile breasts in his palms.
“Do you not want her for yourself?” The question burned his throat with distaste. Hades would never share,never, and if he did have intentions for the mortal like Cerberus thought from the beginning...
A picture rose in his head of Hades seducing Cyane as Cerberus guarded them. He imagined himself as Hades, and the possibility filled Cerberus with as much displeasure as it did exhilaration. Cerberus and Hades were the same in physical form, but to picture Hades having her, while he couldn’t…While the mirror-image played out… Cerberus wanted to rake his nails down his face and destroy the connection.
He understood now why Cyane fell away from him. Why she’d reacted with so much fear.
He tightened his hand into a fist and grazed her ring of hair.No wonder she insists on seeing her tribute. Trust?What was trust but a lie with a visage like his? Cerberus’s face wasn’t his. It had a history that wasn’t his own.
Hades smiled slowly. “Why? I’ve already told you why. She’s here to serve.”
Cerberus flashed his teeth. “Who will she serve?”
“You’ve changed.”
“Have I?”
“I must confess,” Hade's smile dropped, and he sipped his drink. “I didn’t see this outcome when I planned to bring the mortal here. But now I feel magnanimous, and since I know you will never betray me, I will not take offense to your questioning. Or the curiosity that plagues you regarding my actions.
“I may be supreme, but I suffer the same wiles of desire as everyone else. We have more in common than you think, and whoever you fuck, I get to fuck too, my brother. It’s quite a delicious notion, sharing my flesh with you.”
Cerberus stiffened angrily.
“A new god has not been born in ages, not since the mortals turned their back on us and chose to believe in false gods. This decay on our kind has been frustrating.” Hades scowled. “The goddesses deny us their flesh. I had no choice but to steal and coerce my queen, and look what that has given me.” He waved his hand. “Nothing. Nothing but villainous lies, treason, and power plays.”
Hades handed Cerberus his half-drunk cup of nectar, and Cerberus took it, swallowing the rest. He played with hellfire and needed the liquid to soothe.
