“I need to talk to my sister,” I blurt out. Alina went through this. She can guide me. Maybe. Or… Or no. I really don’t want to ask her about any of this.
I…
I huff a breath. “Never mind. I would rather you just mark me so I don’t have to worry about being hunted,” I mutter. “Was Alina hunted?” I ask in the next instant. “You didn’t answer my question.”
Instead, he talked about washing my hair.
Which derailed my focus.
“I want you to explain to me what Morpheus meant when he said the Alphas were hunting me,” I tell Hades directly. “And please answer my question about Alina. Is she even still here?” My eyes widen. “Is Reaper okay?” Because Hades also never really answered that, either. Just gave me an emphaticnowhen I asked if he punished Reaper.
That doesn’t mean much.
He could have killed him, for all I know.
Reaper stabbed Hades.
I step to the side and try to walk around Hades to see his back, but he moves with me.
“Alina wasn’t hunted because she went into heat in another dimension. And I’m guessing Orcus claimed her quickly, too.” He turns in a circle as I continue to try to figure out where Reaper stabbed him.
Maybe I’ve lost my mind, but this seems important.
Or perhaps it’s just a necessary distraction.
“The Alphas are hunting you because you sent out a beacon saying you needed a knot,” he goes on, basically reiterating what I already knew.
Which, yeah. Okay. I asked a redundant question. But this is a lot.
“Yes, your sister is still here. She’s in Orcus’s wing with his mate-circle.” He steps into my path before I can circle him again, his palm suddenly on my neck. “And I’m not sure why you’re obsessed with Reaper’s well-being when he can take care of himself, but he’s fine.”
“He stabbed you.”
“Yes, he did. Perhaps you should ask if I’m okay instead?” he suggests, his eyebrow rising.
“You’re clearly fine,” I return.
“Am I?” he asks, still gazing down at me with that arrogantly arched brow. “I just found out my mate’s soul is inside a stranger. One I’ve treated horribly as a result of my need for revenge. And now that Omega is about to go into heat, yet I can’t properly help her without potentially hurting her. So instead, I’m going to risk everything to protect her. Because that’s what a good Alpha does.”
He releases me so abruptly that I nearly fall.
Which, of course, ends with him catching my hip to steady me.
“I’m going to wash your hair now,” he tells me. “Then I’m going to wash myself. And afterward, we’ll go eat, as I’m sure you’re starving.”
A denial graces my lips right as my stomach growls.
Oh, I think.I guess I am hungry.
And tired, too.
When was the last time I slept or ate?
What day is it even?
I don’t have the energy to figure it out. I’m suddenly exhausted. Depleted.Done.
Hades must take my silence as acquiescence because he starts combing his fingers through my hair.
