“Why?”
“Obviously because of your moral compass.” He rose to his feet and restored his appearance. After a few moments, he turned to face her. “I wanted time to think about how to show you my sins. To explain their roots.
Instead, it seems, everyone wishes to do it for me.”
Persephone frowned, but at his admission, her expression turned gentle.
“I’m sorry, Hades,” she said, voice quiet.
Hades frowned. “What are you apologizing for?”
“I guess…everything,” she said. “For coming here…for telling you no.”
“It’s okay. It’s a lot to ask of you right now,” he said. “With Lexa and your work. And I have put a lot on you tonight, shown you a side of me you haven’t seen before.”
“You aren’t…upset?”
He would not say he was upset, not with her, and while he would have liked to end this night engaged to her, it was more for his own peace of mind when dealing with Hera.
“Do I wish you’d said yes? Of course,” he said, and before he could continue, she spoke.
“I’m just…not ready.”
“I know,” he said, pressing his lips to her forehead.
When he pulled away, she was crying.
“Tell me,” he implored as he brushed her tears away.
“I ruined everything,” she said, pressing her face into his chest, her arms twining around his waist.
“You ruined nothing, my darling,” Hades assured. “You were honest with yourself and with me. That is all I ask.”
“How could you want to marry me now? After I have told you no?”
How could he not? She had told him no, and with good reason.
“I will always want to marry you because I will always want you as my wife and queen.”
It was the truth. He felt it in his soul, though he wondered if tonight had fractured her truth.
“Will you show me more of this place?” she asked, rubbing at her face to erase the tears.
“More of Iniquity?” he asked, surprised, feeling a little of the warmth drain from his face.
“Yes,” she said.
“Do I have a choice?”
They had just reconciled, and he really did not feel like fighting anymore, though he had to admit, the fact that she had asked to see more and not left him in a hurry was promising.
“If I am ever to be your queen? No.”
She had a point. If she eventually agreed to marry him, she was going to inherit more than a kingdom.
She would have an empire.
Chapter XVIII
Fucking Cake
Hades led Persephone from Kal’s suite and into the private hallway where he’d watched them earlier. She noted the one-way mirror, pointing at it with her thumb.
“So you spy on all your staff?”
“Think of them as tenants,” Hades said. “And yes.”
He placed a hand on the small of her back and led her through a network of passages until they reached his private suite. This one overlooked the public floor of Iniquity. Persephone went to the row of windows, which flashed bright with red light and then darkness, looking below at the crowd.
“When I was down there, I felt possessed,” she said.
Hades came up behind her, caging her body, and while she watched the floor, he watched her.
“You said you wanted me,” he said.
“I did,” she said, then turned toward him. “But it was ruined.”
Hades stared down at her. “What did you see?”
She shrugged and answered, “I wanted you and I imagined you there, touching me and filling me, and then all of a sudden, it wasn’t me beneath you. It was Leuce.”
He frowned and brushed his fingers along her jaw. “It wasn’t real. You know that?”
“It felt real in the moment,” she said. “Was it magic?”
Hades glanced over her shoulder, and Persephone followed his gaze.
“It’s more of a drug,” he said.
It was one of Hecate’s creations, and the side effects were different for everyone.
“Are you saying you drug everyone who enters this club?”
“It is part of why people come to Iniquity. Whoever gave you the password should have warned you.”
At his comment, she shut down. He could see it in her eyes and the press of her lips.
“Show me more,” she said, stepping to the side to escape him, or at least that was how he felt, as if she were running from him, putting more distance between them, but he said nothing, only leading her from the overlook and back into the dark passageways of Iniquity.
This time, he took her to the lower levels, and as they rode the elevator down, she stood opposite him, studying him, as if trying to figure out exactly who he was.
He didn’t like it.
“Where are we going?” she asked, as if she wanted to be prepared for whatever laid beyond this elevator.
Hades stared at her for a moment. “I’m not sure what you expect to find here, but it isn’t what you are thinking.”
“And what am I thinking?” she challenged.
“The worst,” he replied.
She did not deny it, but then she said, “Knowledge changes perception, Hades.”
When the doors opened, he offered his hand, and he felt a little more relief when she accepted. As they stepped into a darkened hallway, he spoke. “This part of the club is reserved for guests who possess a token for entry,” he explained. “An obol.”
“I see you have repurposed the idea of paying to enter the Underworld.”
He chuckled, though coming into possession of an obol was not as easy as it was in ancient times. The ones Hades issued were gold, not silver, and they were tied to the soul, which meant as soon as the possessor died, the obol disappeared. It also made forgery impossible, as each of them was unique to the grantee.
He did not give them out lightly, and because he was the only one who could grant them, he could ensure those who were given a token were honest—at least, in the ways that counted.
He continued leading Persephone down a darkened hall and into his office. It was similar to the last in how it was structured, a wall of dark windows allowing him to peer down at the activities on the floor below.
Unlike the public side, there was no dancing here, no loud music. This was not a place members came to let go of their inhibitions, though now and then, someone would get too drunk and spout off, and they were promptly escorted from the building.
This was a space to set aside differences. A place to establish connections.
It was the pulse, and Hades kept his finger on it at all times.
He watched Persephone as she peered down at the bar, and he hoped it was rather underwhelming.
No blood, he wanted to say. Or whatever she’d imagined after her encounter with Kal.
Her fingers traced a line down the window.
“Can they see us?”
“No,” Hades said.
In fact, from where they sat, this part of his office was mostly in shadow but would appear as a solid black wall. Despite this, none of his members were ignorant. They knew every movement they made, every word they spoke, was being recorded. It was the price they paid for their membership at Iniquity, but in exchange, they received his resources, which were invaluable and, as many were discovering, needed to survive in this part of New Greece where he too ruled.
“So you spy on them from up here?”
She looked back at him from over her shoulder, and he liked the way the light haloed her, even if her question was delivered with an element of coldness.
“You can call it spying if you like.”
She turned back to the window. After a moment, he heard her intake of breath as she began to recognize faces below.
“That’s Madelia Rella,” she said.
“She is in debt to me.”
“How?”
“I loaned her the money to start her first brothel.”