Heart of Fire (Blood of Zeus #2) - Meredith Wild Page 0,48

but this is different. Very different. It feels…forced.

Memories surge to the forefront of my psyche, plucked like chosen scenes at stop points in a movie. Only the movie is my life and the moments are specific to Kara.

That first electric touch in the lecture hall at Alameda.

Our first kiss in my apartment.

Touching her beneath the constellations at the observatory.

Watching her wonderment in the hills above the city.

Getting lost in her body between the sheets of my bed.

It’s more than the rush of visuals. It’s a concentration of the sensations and emotions attached with each one of them, supercharging this single moment that I’m certain I’m sharing with a stranger—this powerful, fascinated stranger who seems to have no intentions of stopping the show. But it has to stop. I have to stop it.

With a gut-deep roar, I summon a cruel, primal rage at the violation. I tap a part of myself so deep, it feels wrong but very right. An instinct that was buried in me, so long ago. Calling it up pulls apart all the thoughts he just put back together. Splinters them so violently that all my senses go black for a long moment.

When I can blink myself back to clear vision, I’m a full ten feet away from the bar, damp with sweat and vibrating with the aftershocks of whatever just happened. Hades is still at the bar, though it’s gratifying to see him leaning against it, bracing himself through a lot of harsh breaths. Honey is nowhere to be seen, not that he’d volunteer his account of things if he were here.

“What…” I swallow hard. “What the fuck just happened?”

Hades leans back on the bar with both elbows, shaking his head, speechless.

“Got what you wanted?” I straighten fully, though every muscle and bone protests getting into my menacing stance. “We solid now?”

He laughs and pushes back to his full posture too. There’s not a wrinkle in his suit or his composure as he rakes a fresh smirk over to me. “Oh, Maximus,” he chides. “We’re just getting started.”

I hate him. It’s official now. I hope he receives that message, loud and clear.

I no longer want to beat up the bar. My mind has a new target. But I’m far too stunned to act on any of those budding fantasies. Besides, I don’t imagine giving the god of the underworld a beating is going to resolve a damn thing. I’ll only be adding his wrath to his newfound preoccupation—a preoccupation, I sense, that has landed Kara solidly in his crosshairs. And now, for entirely different reasons than before.

I can’t even issue the warning for him to forget she exists. It’s impossible. Hades makes it so, as his physical body fades away where he stands. In his wake, there’s only a residue of morbid energy—and the billion questions in my baffled mind.

Honey’s amused expression materializes through the thinning smoke where Hades once was. “You need another round?” His gruff hest is like a miracle angel choir right now.

I shake my head. “Bring me the bottle.”

If I can even put a dent in my consciousness right now, I’ll count it as a win.

Chapter Fourteen

Kara

“Gramps,” I gasp.

The woman applying my lipstick pauses long enough to sigh but doesn’t bother to see who’s joined the chaos of the premiere prep squad gathered in the hotel’s penthouse.

The door swings shut with a quiet click, and Gramps hits me with a dashing grin as he walks closer. I’m grateful when the woman finally steps away so I can smile fully at our unexpected guest. Gramps is nearly unrecognizable in his tuxedo. He’s groomed and tall and stunning. I’ve seen him this way plenty of times, but only in old photos. From another, happier time…

I slip off the makeup stool and walk toward him, gathering up the tulle skirts of my dress as I go. His eyes glimmer with emotion.

“Ladybug. Look at you in all that pink.”

I shrug, warmed but a little embarrassed by his praise, and look down at my designer gown. The bodice is fashioned like a corset, seductive but elegant, and I’m sad I’ll have to wait for Maximus to see me in it. I have a feeling he’ll like the look too. A lot…

Have we really been apart just a few hours? I truly hope the movie is riveting, because I’ll need the distraction. I ache with missing him already, but I’m anxious too for whatever Z has planned for their meeting.

I flatten my hands over the fluffy layers of tulle.