My limbs obey on autopilot, my hand meeting his in a touch that’s far too brief.
He moves away from me, rinses himself off, and leaves without looking back at me.
I watch every movement, take in the defined planes of his form, then realize he never once took off his boxers.
Yet I saw the outline there, too. His massive size. Stars, it was just as intimidating as the rest of him.
All while I stood here… completely naked.
I blink. It’s not like nudity is new to me. There were certain requirements in Nightingale Village that made me rather acquainted with the concept.
But Hades never once made me feel uncomfortable about my nude state.
Just about everything else, I think, looking down at the soap in my hand.
I don’t have the energy to think about everything he’s said, so I just focus on finishing my shower. I’m pretty sure he thoroughly washed my hair since it feels refreshed and soft. So I don’t bother with anything other than cleansing my body. Then I step out of the shower and jump when it magically shuts off.
“Stars,” I whisper. I’m in the Human Realm and still surrounded by magic.
As evidenced by the neatly folded warm towel that appears on the counter in front of me. The one I dropped on the floor before has disappeared, too.
“Okay.” I’m not even going to question it. I’m just going to accept the fluffy haven, dry myself off, and…
And face Hades, I think, sighing.
He said he was getting me clothes.
Maybe his closet magics things into existence, too.
Wrapping the towel around myself, I run my fingers through my damp hair and head toward the bedroom, just as I hear Hades demand, “Why are you here?”
I freeze, thinking he’s talking to me for a moment.
But Morpheus answers with “I let you lead last time. And we all know how that ended. So I won’t be doing thatagain because, unlike you, I refuse to make the same mistakes as I did two thousand years ago.”
“I’m not repeating my mistakes,” Hades says, the calm tone he used with me in the shower nowhere to be heard. “That’s evidenced by Maliki being here.”
“Funny, that,” Maliki drawls. “It seems everyone else knew to meet here except for me. So why am I here, again?”
I slip out of the bathroom and see Hades clench his jaw, his focus on Maliki. “The only one who knew to meet here in an emergency was Orcus.”
“And you didn’t feel it was important to let your hired babysitter know to bring his charge here in the case of an emergency as well?” Maliki asks.
I frown at him referring to himself as ababysitterand me as acharge.
Hades glares at him. “I wasn’t anticipating the need. Orcus and I agreed on this location many moons ago.”
“Before Serapina,” Morpheus murmurs. When Hades shifts his narrowed gaze toward the God of Dreams, Morpheus holds his hands up and adds, “Sometimes clarifications help when asking for forgiveness.”
“You have nothing to do with this conversation, and you certainly have no business being here. So why don’t you kindly fuck off?” Hades suggests.
Morpheus simply smiles. “No.”
“She’s not your Omega.”
Morpheus cants his head. “Oh? Is she yours?”
Hades steps up to him, and a chilling energy sweeps through the room. “Careful,Cousin.”
