Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 81937 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 410(@200wpm)___ 328(@250wpm)___ 273(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81937 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 410(@200wpm)___ 328(@250wpm)___ 273(@300wpm)
Lucky me.
I down the whiskey and grimace. I prefer my drinks sweet enough to make my teeth ache, but desperate times and all that. I take the second glass and weave my way through the room to the door that leads to Hades’s office. Or at least his public facing one. Very few people are allowed in his private office, and I’ve never been curious—or fatalistic—enough to investigate.
I knock on the door as I open it. The room is dimmer than I expected, and I hesitate just inside the door. Even knowing Hades doesn’t harm the people under his care, I’ve long since learned the hard way that there are exceptions to every rule. I press my lips together to keep from calling out like some kind of heroine in a horror movie.
“Come in.” He sounds as drily amused as ever. I hate that. I’ve always hated that. Being in the room with Hades makes me feel like I’m just short of understanding some kind of inside joke. He makes me feel like a silly child without even trying.
I straighten my spine and put some belligerence in my step as I move past the low couches to his massive desk. If I didn’t know better, I’d suspect he shifted the lights in the room with the intention of creating shadows where he sits now. I carefully set down the whiskey glass. “You know, I am aware you have better shit in your private stash back here. You didn’t need me to hand-deliver your drink.”
His lips quirk, though I still can’t see his eyes. I only get the impression of square black frames and a glint of silver in his hair. He steeples his fingers in front of his mouth. “Remind me when your contract is up.”
I count to five slowly. It does nothing to stifle my emotional response to those words. Fear. Anger. The kind of elation that comes before a leap of faith and an unfortunate encounter with gravity. “Two days from now.”
“Ah yes.” He leans back, shielding his whole face in shadow. “My Meg tells me that you’re requesting to stay on.”
My mouth goes dry. I’d talked about it with Meg, yes. Meg, arguably the most powerful of the Furies, the trio of women at Hades’s back. Tisiphone holds the bar and a number of secret assignments. Allecto runs security. Meg is queen to Hades’s king.
She’s also my direct boss. My friend, maybe, though the thought of labeling us as such about gives me hives. Friends are a lever just waiting to be pulled, a weakness to be exploited. “Yes, we’d talked about it.”
“Allow me to add a clarifying viewpoint.” He lets silence fill the room in slow ticks of the clock behind his head, until I have to clench my fists and press my lips together to keep from babbling like a fool just so we don’t sit here for one more minute. Hades shakes his head slowly, breaking the spell. “Unless you can offer me something worth a deal, there will be no extension.”
My breath rushes out, and I weave on my ridiculously high heels. “You’re shitting me.”
“I assure you, I am not.”
Anger rises in a welcome wave. Foolish to let it gain hold here, but I feel particularly foolish in believing I might actually have a place here beyond my time as Hades’s minion. “So that’s it. Deal is done, you kick me out. I’ve been here five years.”
“Yes, you have. You’ve served me well and become a welcome asset. None of that changes the reality of your situation.” He leans forward and the gentleness in his eyes is so much worse than the anger I expected. “You can’t hide forever, Tink.”
Easy enough for him to say. He’s one step down from a god in the Underworld and his little square of neutral territory in Carver City. No one fucks with Hades, and that protection extends to all his people. He doesn’t have to worry about the sins of his past coming for him, howling his name on the wind.
I lift my chin. “The second I leave, he’ll try for me.”
If anything, Hades’s dark eyes go gentler yet. “You’re not the same woman who showed up here that first night.”
Really? Because I feel like that woman. With the threat of forcible freedom from this cage bearing down on me, it feels like being propelled back in time. Years, months, days, hours. They all peel back the strength I worked so hard to build up around me. I start to shake. I’m not strong. I can fake it with the best of them, but when push comes to shove, I’m nothing more than the girl who was too weak to save herself. “Please.”
As soon as the word slips free, I want to snatch it back. I don’t beg. Not to any of the Dominants I’ve shared scenes with over the years. Sure as fuck not to Hades.