Hades paused for a moment, then said, “She has threatened my future with Persephone.”
“No one but the Fates can truly threaten your future, Hades.”
“Perhaps, but Hera can turn her scorn on Persephone,” he replied. “And that would be my fault.”
“Is it your fault because you love her?” Hecate asked.
“Isn’t that enough?”
“Your greatest battle, Hades, will be recognizing that Persephone too has made the decision to love you. So there is no fault, only choice.”
It was a pretty sentiment, but he was dealing with gods—gods like him.
“That was before she knew the consequences.”
“You think so little of her love?” Hecate asked.
Hades flinched. He opened his mouth to speak but shut it once more.
“If you continue to project your doubt on her, then you do not deserve a future with her.”
They were harsh words, but Hades knew they were true.
“Now, would you like some tea? It will take your mind off things.”
“I think I’d rather have a clear mind, Hecate. I know what you put in your tea.”
She arched her brow. “Does all that alcohol give you a clear mind?”
“At this point,” Hades replied, “yes.”
Hades returned to his office, still on edge. His short conversation with Hecate made him want to see Persephone even more, if only to confirm that she still wanted this— them, their future—but once more, his fears overwhelmed him.
What would it take, he wondered, to feel such assurance?
He scrubbed his face and crossed the room to pour himself a drink. It was probably best that he put off seeing Persephone until he had a shower and
real sleep anyway. Besides, it was likely she was at the hospital with Lexa, and he did not wish to intrude on their time together.
Just as he set out a glass, his phone rang. Hades answered without a greeting, though Ilias did not need one to offer his update.
“Persephone’s at Iniquity,” he said.
Hades was overcome with a sudden coldness that settled heavily in his stomach, but the shock quickly melted into something far more fierce. Once more, his uncertainty welled.
This was part of his life he had wanted to shield her from. It was one thing for her to know and attend Nevernight, another thing entirely for her to attend Iniquity.
“What is she doing there?”
Ilias’s hesitation assured Hades that he would not like the answer.
“She was dancing,” he replied. “But Kal has summoned her to his suite.”
Hades teleported, appearing beside Ilias, who had yet to hang up his phone.
Despite this, he began updating Hades on the situation as they watched what was transpiring inside Kal’s rented suite via a panel that acted as a one-way window into his room.
Numerous underworld criminals worked within the walls of this club under the close scrutiny of Hades’s staff, and while many of them believed they were being watched via a monitor, there was an additional element to each of these spaces that ensured they never worked outside Hades’s rules, including a network of secret passages that allowed observation.
Hades could not take his gaze off Persephone, who stood opposite Kal dressed in black. He hoped she at least thought of him as she had dressed, because every curve of her body was on display. The light poured over the high points of her face, creating dark hollows under her cheeks and making her look stoic and severe.
“Who brought her here?” Hades asked.
“We do not know,” he replied. “But it does seem Kal did not expect her.
He sent two of his employees to confirm her identity. They have been detained.”
Hades glanced at Ilias. He would refrain from asking for details for now, given that he would likely wish to punish them just as severely as he intended to punish Kal.
He turned his attention back to the two.
“I want every detail of your relationship with Hades,” Kal was saying. “I want to know how you met him, when he first kissed you, and all the scandalous details from the first time he fucked you.”
Persephone’s mouth twisted. “You’re sick.”
“I’m a businessman, Persephone. Sex sells. Sex with gods sells better, and you, my sweet—you’re a gold mine.”
Hades’s fists tightened as Kal continued to speak.
“I’m not the only one who’s slept with Hades,” Persephone pointed out.
“But you’re the first he’s committed to, and that’s worth more than the words of a fuck buddy,” Kal replied. “He’s invested in you, which means he’ll do anything to protect you and the details of your private life.”
While Hades had expected Kal to do something stupid after he’d rejected his offer of partnership at the Hellene Racetrack, he had not quite expected this attempt at blackmail. The mortal was daring, to be sure, though he was about to discover just how powerless he was against a god.
“But you’re rich,” he heard Persephone say.
“Not like him, but that’s what you’re going to help me with, and in exchange, you get to save your friend from certain death.”
Suddenly, Hades understood what had drawn Persephone here in the first place. He’d been angry before, but now he was incensed to discover that Kal had played on such a weakness. He had dangled hope before Persephone while also breaking the rules.
It was Kal’s final strike.
Hades called to his magic, and the darkness took the form of vipers, slithering from the shadows toward Kal, whose gaze was set so intently on Persephone, he did not see them until it was too late, until they had wound their way around his body like vises, rising to strike the moment he moved.
He offered a small, satisfying cry, body freezing as he faced the beady eyes of Hades’s serpents.
It was then Hades entered the room, choosing to manifest from the darkness behind Persephone. He noted how she straightened with his presence. There was a part of him that had not wanted to interrupt, wondering how far she would have gone to save Lexa, but he thought he knew her choice already, and he could not let her agree to Kal’s bargain. He had already explained the implications of bringing a soul back from limbo without their permission, but asking a Magi to do the work of a god was even worse.
“Are you threatening me, Kal?” Hades asked.
“No…never!” Kal’s voice strained as he lied.
Hades paused only an inch from Persephone, a strange electric energy buzzing between them. He took a handful of her hair as she turned her head toward him, capturing her mouth. One of her hands moved to his chest, twining into the fabric of his shirt while the other remained trapped between them. His tongue slid lightly over her lips, and as she opened for him, he brought his hand to her jaw as he deepened the kiss. He liked how she clung to him despite the odd angle, liked how she tasted, warm and wet and sweet, and he was reminded that the only thing he wished to share with the world about Persephone was that he loved her.
He pulled away, teeth grazing her bottom lip, and asked, “Are you well?”
If she said no, he would not let her stay for Kal’s inevitable punishment, but she nodded, her eyes searching his own, troubled, but he did not have time to wonder about what she saw as he turned toward Kal.
“I—I was following your rules! She summoned me!”
The mortal began moving subtly—digging his toes into the floor, tightening his fingers around the arms of his chair. It was enough to put the serpents on edge, and they began to wriggle against his skin.
“My rules?” Hades asked, his footsteps echoing between each word. “Are you insinuating I would approve of a contract between you and my lover?”
“That would be making an exception,” Kal stated, as if he were quoting a contract from memory, though his voice quivered as he did so. “There are no exceptions in Iniquity.”