Heart of Fire (Blood of Zeus #2) - Meredith Wild Page 0,47

convince you of all the ways she’s stitched into me now, I won’t. I just…can’t. Some things are beyond words. Words are what I’m good at, and I have none that come close to describing what exists between us.”

He hums softly. “Words fail the poet. How romantic, I think.”

“I’m no poet.”

He pauses thoughtfully again. “And she must share this inexplicable attraction as well. Since she’s done all of this for you.”

“For me,” I return, too torturously. “I’m aware of everything she’s done and every rule she’s violated, for me. Now that we’ve beat those facts to a pulp, let’s cut to the main point here.” My knuckles are still white against the bar’s edge. “You haven’t tried to take Kara yet. That means you want something else.”

“Perhaps.” Hades motions to Honey for another hit of the alcohol. “Perhaps not.”

I don’t buy it, but I wait until Honey’s finished with pouring him some more Ninth Circle and walks away.

“What. Do. You. Want?”

“To be honest, I wasn’t sure when all this started to unfold, but now I’m beginning to want what you want.” When he grins, his canines show. “Greed and envy and complicated sibling rivalry playing no small part, I’m sure.”

I grab the bar’s ledge and twist hard. The gold lip gives up a noisy creak beneath my grip but nothing else. Great. I finally find a place that can take the abuse of my strength and I can’t wait to get out of it. And what I’m feeling in it.

“Name your price. Anything.”

He answers with a mild chuckle that perplexes and enrages me in equal measures. He’s laughing at my agony. At my desperation.

What else should I expect, though?

“How can I put a price on something so fascinating?” He tilts his head one way and his smirk the other.

I scrutinize him harder. “And that’s a reason to laugh?”

As quickly as it’s hit, his humor fades. “To be honest, I haven’t been fascinated in a while.”

A while. I hear it for the understatement that it is, though I’m nervous about fathoming the extent of it. Does he mean a couple of years? A hundred? A thousand? And what does that mean for Kara and me?

After another refill, he gulps down his third glass as swiftly as the first two. Though his eyes glass over, none of his discomfort disappears. He’s allowed me to step behind his magic curtain, seeing the maudlin truth beneath his surly shell. He’s the ruler of the most frightening empire there is, the overseer of every sin committed. He’s seen it all, from the mild infractions to the truly evil—and now, nothing is new anymore. In any other circumstances, the revelation might have me pitying him.

But being the center of his new puppet show is worse than adhering to Veronica’s Tinseltown merry-go-round. Worse, because Hades is more opaque about his end game. There’s no itinerary, flow chart, or wardrobe stylists here. When I’m longing for Mama Valari’s control factory, something is definitely wrong.

“So what does that mean, exactly? You’re fascinated. Where does that get us now? You want a medal? A statue out in front of the bar?”

I’m playing with fire again. Literally. Tiny, raging hurricanes of it whorl from the ruthless centers of his eyes. But there are new quirks along the ridges of his jaw too. Maybe some levity before he tries to kill me. I can’t tell, and I’m not sure if I want to.

He cuts into the thick pause with a determined murmur. “I just want…”

He falters.

“You want what?” I press.

He stares at me even harder. Deeper. “I want…to understand.”

I’m tempted to try bending the bar again. This time, aided by wrath and confusion, I’d probably succeed. To understand what? I’ve never been further from the verb in my life. My senses are all over the map. My thoughts are a million live wires, neurons yanked from their ground wires.

Until he reaches out, molding his hot palm over my shoulder as he did before. This time, his clutch keeps me motionless—or maybe it’s the deep burn in his eyes that’s stunning me into this unexpected paralysis.

What. The…?

His grip tightens and he closes his eyes. Like he’s concentrating. Like he’s searching for something in the darkness behind his eyelids. Then suddenly every synapse in my brain comes back online. But I’m in no more control than I was before. Before the mead. Before this strange and terrifying contact.

Contact that’s bringing a rush of Kara into my thoughts. Not like they’re normally hard to summon,