“Ah ah ah,” the devil said, stepping in front of me. “I can’t let you do that.”
“Let him go!” I had to avert my eyes He’d endured this for over ten years. Over ten years. I couldn’t even imagine.
This is what happens to those that try to help me.
“And what do you propose I do with him once that happens?” the devil asked, coming up behind me.
I turned to him and gripped his arms. “Free him,” I begged.
The devil pulled my hands away from him and cupped them in his own. “His soul will either crumble to dust, or if it’s rotted enough and he’s wicked enough, he will become a demon.”
I shook my head vigorously. “I don’t believe you.” I sucked in my lower lip, my eyes watering. My father continued to shriek, the sound unbearable.
“And why would I lie about this?”
“Because you don’t want to help me.”
“You’re right,” he admitted. “I don’t feel very moved to lessen your father’s suffering after you spent the evening with another man. I’m sure even to measly humans that’s a fair enough reaction. And I do lie—when it serves a purpose. This doesn’t.”
“Please,” I begged, my tears dripped down my cheeks only to evaporate in the infernal heat. “You are the devil, you can save him!”
“I’m not the deity that saves things. I’m the one that punishes them.”
“Please,” I repeated, even though I knew it was useless.
“Take a good look at your father, consort. This is what will happen to your beloved Andre when he dies. Should you choose to screw the vampire again, I’ll make sure his death is swift and soon, and I will make him suffer like none of my souls have suffered—and I will make you watch.”
Heaven help me, I believed him.
I stared at my father. His screams blended with those of other damned souls. It would break me, watching Andre burn. Watching this was already breaking me.
Before I was aware of my actions, I reached for my father once more.
Pluto caught my wrist. “What are you doing?”
I couldn’t take my eyes off of Santiago. “Saving him myself.”
“No,” he said.
“I’m not asking your permission,” I snapped, tearing my gaze away.
Our surroundings changed so suddenly I stumbled. A split-second ago I stood amidst flames, and now I was back in the obsidian palace, in our bedroom.
The devil pushed me back. “You dare much, challenging me like that,” he said, his eyes flashing. “I didn’t bring you there to free your father. I brought you there to snuff out whatever foolish ideas you have about the vampire king.”
He stepped in close. “And if you don’t, it would give me great pleasure to prove to you just how ruthless I can be. I promise you, the stories don’t do me justice.
“Are we understood?”
I worked my jaw. After a second, I nodded.
“Good.” Hades lifted a strand of my hair and rubbed it between his fingers. “Now, you will change out of your clothes and dine with me—and you will eat.”
I scowled at him, telling him wordlessly how much I hated him.
He tugged on the lock of hair he held captive. “Little bird, give me your hate. It makes me strong. And once I use it all up, we’ll see what lies buried beneath it in that heart of yours.”
I thought he would leave while I changed out of the clothes Andre had given me.
He didn’t.
Instead, his hands dropped to the buttons of his shirt. He began undoing them one by one.
I cleared my throat, and he raised an eyebrow. “Yes?”
“You wanted me to change.”
He looked me up and down. “I still do, and you’re not moving fast enough.”
I backed up as those hands of his continued to unbutton his shirt. “Yeah, but I want a little privacy.”
“You are my wife. We will not hide our bodies from each other.” To punctuate the thought, he shrugged his shirt off, and I saw way too much pale, muscled skin. On earth, Hades appeared thin. But here, where he didn’t bother masking his true appearance, he had far more muscle.
I backed up until I’d plastered myself against the far wall.
He sat down on a side chair by the window and sighed as he unlaced his shoes. “You still aren’t changing. I think someone wants me to remove her clothes for her.”
“I’m not going to change when you’re in the room.”
He glanced up at me as he pulled off a shoe. “Little bird, your skittishness is bringing out the predator in me. If I were you, I wouldn’t show any signs of weakness. Then again,” he continued to assess me, “I like hunting tricky souls.”
Hades had given me plenty of warning. I might not like the current situation, but the devil didn’t make idle threats either. I needed to change, or he’d do it for me.
“Where’s the clothing I should change into?” I asked.
He nodded to an armoire. I headed over to it and opened it up.
The entire thing was filled with those same gowns. “I’m beginning to sense a pattern here.”
“Your wardrobe will change when I decide it will.”
Right.
I yanked a random dress from the rack and threw it on the bed. Time to get this over with.