Total pages in book: 57
Estimated words: 54848 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 274(@200wpm)___ 219(@250wpm)___ 183(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 54848 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 274(@200wpm)___ 219(@250wpm)___ 183(@300wpm)
The thing was, the humans failed to realize that demons weren’t just one thing. There were ranks. There were different kinds.
Sure, arguably, the abominations born in hell that wormed their way to the human realm to feast on babies or walk around in human flesh were, yeah, pretty evil.
But the demons like me, like the rest of us, the ones that did the punishing in hell? We were the good guys.
We kept the humans in line.
It was ignorant to believe we were the wicked ones. Especially when all I’d seen while reading the human history books was evil.
Wars fought by innocent boys for the ideas of old men who sat safe in their palaces. Famines created by the rich who hoarded all the wealth. Genocide based on things as ridiculous as the color of skin. Mass rape of innocent women and girls in villages conquered by a foreign military power.
Fucking disgusting, that was what I thought humans were.
So, yeah, I didn’t give a single fuck what happened to them if these old gods were back and ready to show them a taste of their own medicine.
The other demons cared, in a way. Since they were stuck on the human plane because of their mates and offspring.
So I had to get the information they wanted.
What I did give a fuck about, though, was what this situation meant for the underworld. For the Hell I came from and planned to return to.
Our boss, as we knew him, was Lucifer.
Lucifer, the fallen angel of Heaven.
Part of the Christian religion.
But, not the only ruler of the underworld in history.
No.
The old gods, well, they had Hades.
And I had no fucking idea what that meant for Hell, as I was sure he planned to go back there.
I knew Lenore was busy with Lycus and her offspring lately, but she wasn’t the only witch around who could open up some Hellmouths. Eventually, I would find one powerful enough and use her to get back to my home.
I just needed to know what kind of home I might be returning to if Lucifer was out and Hades was in.
“He’s such a fan favorite, right?” Charlotte said, giving me a smirk that was alarmingly appealing. Especially from a human. “I mean, that whole Hades and Persephone thing has had people swooning for ages. Him and that damn pomegranate seed,” she added, and the smile turned a little softer, a bit sweeter, and damn if it didn’t do even more attractive things to her face.
“The pomegranate seed thing,” I repeated.
“Right. Well, in short, Hades saw Persephone one day and liked her so be brought her down to the underworld. And, you know, being a smart girl, she didn’t want anything to do with his evil ass. Even if he was hot.”
“He’s hot?” I asked, getting a snorting sort of laugh out of her.
“I mean, yes. Anyway. He wants Persephone to say with him as his woman. But she knows if she eats or drinks anything, it binds her to the underworld. So she doesn’t. Until, on her way back to the earthly plane, she eats pomegranate seeds that Hades offered her. And they tied her to the underworld for six months out of the year. Fall and winter, actually. That is the origin story of how the seasons work.”
“And people like this story? About Hades?”
“Well, yeah. See, they’ve turned it into a lot of romance books. And romance readers, they love a evil hero who turns out not to be so evil, just misunderstood and lonely and needing the right woman to show his soft side too. That is what they get with that story.”
“Do you read those books?” I asked. “The romance ones,” I clarified.
I didn’t really understand the concept of them.
Sure, I knew that humans liked to write stories down for others to read. Ones with fictional storylines they made up in their heads.
I just hadn’t read any.
I was too busy reading up on history and how the human world worked. I couldn’t even wrap my head around the concept of stories that weren’t real.
Why would that even be interesting?
“Oh, ah, sometimes, yeah. I read all different genres,” she rushed to add.
Was it just me, or were her cheeks looking a bit pink?
There was a reason for that, wasn’t there?
A flush? Which meant they were overheated.
Or, no, there was another word just like that.
Blush.
A blush.
That was when humans were embarrassed about something.
What would she be embarrassed about? Those types of books?
“Do you have a recommendation for one?” I asked, finally flipping open my notepad, realizing that I should have been taking notes all along. If for no other reason, than to look like I was being a professional about the whole thing.
“For a Hades and Persephone romance?” she asked, brows pinching together like I wasn’t making any sense.
“Yes.”
“Oh, ah, yeah. Sure. I mean… it’s… it’s very… explicit,” she said as that blush of hers got deeper.