A small flower of curiosity blooms. What would it be like to just…obey him?
Heavens help me.
Containing my reaction behind a mask of indifference is like trying to stop my heart from beating.
After years with the Order, I know how to operate under someone’s thumb. But this is different. I’ve been the only one keeping me safe and making decisions for myself, despite the Order’s involvement, since I was three years old. Who knew the simple idea of submission to a powerful being like Hades would be so…enticing?
And it shouldn’t be.
Maybe I’m broken.
“I’m a better partner than I am a puppet,” I insist.
In a move I don’t even see him make, he steps into me, his shoulders blocking my view of all the others. He doesn’t speak as he studies me with silver eyes gone diamond sharp as if he’s trying to figure out where my soft, squishy, vulnerable parts are. Then he leans forward just slightly, and I know he means these words for me and me alone. “I don’t do partners.”
Am I a puddle on the ground yet? I clear my throat. “That sounds…inefficient.”
I was going to say lonely, but I have a feeling he’d know I’m talking about myself, too.
His lips quirk almost imperceptibly, but then he turns serious. “Things will go better for you…if you heed me.”
Why do I feel like there’s a deeper meaning to his words? A warning, but one meant to help me. I don’t picture Hades as the helpful type. Is this about the games-and-winning thing again?
With a whoosh, the sound of the waterfalls returns.
“What are you doing, brother?” Poseidon calls out from across the platform. “Your poor mortal looks scared half to death.”
Hades doesn’t move, doesn’t look toward his brother. Instead, he lifts a single eyebrow at me. “Is that what you are, my star? Scared?”
10
Rock. Hard Place. And Me.
Something in Hades’ expression and voice is different from a second ago. Or maybe I’m reading him wrong. It’s difficult to tell, but I’m pretty sure he’s now putting on a mask for the others. Playing a part for them. I don’t like it.
Meanwhile, he and Poseidon are still waiting on me to respond.
What’s the safest answer here? Hades has only given me hints about what’s going on, but my gut is telling me that if the other deities see weakness in me or division between us, they’ll pounce. Growing up as a loner in the Order taught me that the hard way.
I clear my throat and raise my voice. “He was just…laying down some ground rules.”
Hades’ slow, pleased smile teases parts of me I didn’t know I could feel. He leans closer, lips brushing my ear, breath sending shivers cascading through me. “That’s my girl.”
I hate that infantilizing shit…and yet my body hasn’t gotten the message. I’m going to pretend he didn’t just push a whole lot more buttons I didn’t know I had until right this second. “I’m not your anything,” I whisper back.
He doesn’t seem to notice as he finally pulls away, smile completely gone as he turns to face Poseidon, who’s watching us with eyes sharp and curious.
“You selected an interesting champion, brother.” The ocean god looks me up and down. “And a thief of all things, by the looks of her.”
Asshat. My eyes narrow before I can stop myself. “Secure the services of a lot of thieves, do you?” I ask him.
Poseidon’s eyes darken half a second before he raises his arm to backhand me. With a speed that renders him nearly invisible, Hades shifts between us. He says nothing, doesn’t touch him, but his brother goes ashen. After a moment, Poseidon snarls and stalks away.
I’m left blinking. Hades protected me.
Me.
Logic tells me it’s because he needs me to win their stupid contest, but I can’t help how I feel like I can breathe a tiny bit easier.
Just for a moment.
Anyone close by also seems to drift farther away, maybe because tension now rolls off Hades like steam off a geyser.
In a nervous move, I tentatively raise a hand to my hair, which is still short, but I can tell it’s curled on top and maybe styled into some sort of twisting effect with… I pause. Then drop my hand abruptly. “Is this a tiara?”
I glance at the other mortals. Each and every one of them is wearing a headpiece that matches their clothing, but they’re all in the style of the ancient Greek laurel diadems. What I’m wearing definitely doesn’t feel like leaves.
Almost like my nerves calmed Hades, the tension eases from him. The change is subtle, but from up close, I can see it.
“I thought women loved tiaras?” Now he couldn’t sound more bored.
“The point is to not stand out.”
“Why?”
He can’t be that unaware. “Are the histories right that you’ve never chosen a champion during the Crucible?”
