How had that just happened? Both the sex and the aftermath?
I shook my head. What had I been thinking?
I’d known how torn he was. Of course he wouldn’t turn to my side after one amazing sexual encounter. It wasn’t like I was going to cure him with my magic vagina, after all.
But with every moment together, I felt him coming over to my side little by little. I wasn’t imagining things.
Quickly, I dressed. My stomach grumbled, and I was forced to ascend the stairs in search of sustenance. And Hades.
Mostly Hades.
I found him in the main room, unpacking the leather satchel that had been on Horse’s back. He handed me a small parcel wrapped in paper, and I took it.
Since I had no idea of how to talk about what had just happened, I decided that ignoring it was the best bet. He certainly was. Despite the flush on his cheeks, everything about him appeared normal, as if it had never happened.
I could start a fight and demand to know how he could do those things with me—make me feel like that—then completely turn it off and return to ice. But that would be pointless and needlessly painful, so I tried to ignore the hurt as I unwrapped the food and asked, “What next?”
“After you eat, we will sleep to regain our energy. And then we will seek the answers that I require.”
“About the time and location of doomsday?”
He nodded sharply, and I sat at the small wooden table, my mind spinning.
Of course, that was the next step of his plan, and so he would pursue it. But in the last few hours, I’d managed to make myself forget. Just a little bit.
My gaze flicked up to his as I debated my options.
“You’re coming with me, Seraphia. You agreed.” His tone brooked no argument, and I didn’t bother making any.
“You’re right.”
He frowned. “You’re making this too easy.”
I shrugged, assembling a sandwich from the cheese and bread inside the parcel he’d given me. “No, I’m not. I’m just doing what I said I would do.”
“You’re going to try to stop me, though.”
I took a bite of the sandwich and mulled it over. “I’m not sure that I have to stop you, do I? I just have to resist doing what you want me to do.”
“But can you?” he asked.
I nodded, thinking back to Poseidon. I’d resisted the urge to tear him apart. It’d been so strong that it had nearly taken me to my knees, but I’d resisted.
The slightest worry tugged at the edge of my consciousness, though. I’d been tested several times now, and though I’d always succeeded in the end, it hadn’t grown any easier. If the motivation were right, could I possibly succumb?
No.
There couldn’t be a motivation that would make me use my power to suck all the life from the earth. That was a twisted version of the Persephone tale, and I wouldn’t fall prey to it.
“I’ll be fine.” I looked at him, watching the way the glow of the fire flickered across his fallen angel’s features.
How could he look so impossibly beautiful when he was capable of such terrible things? When he’d been created by such evil? Was that the joke—that the destroyer of the world would look like the angel who had come to save it?
“Did you know that the Oracle of Kamarina was my grandmother?” I asked.
He frowned. “She was?”
That answered that. I nodded.
“Is that good?” he asked.
“Very.” Despite the pain he’d caused me, my heart hurt for the idea that he wouldn’t realize that seeing a family member was a good thing. He’d never had anyone like that to want to see again. I finished my sandwich under his watchful gaze, exhaustion tugging at me. Weary, I stood. “I’m going to sleep.”
He nodded, and I turned away. I had no idea where I was going, but there had to be one other level to this place, and I was going to go there and hope there’d be a bed.
When I reached the top floor and saw the moderately sized bed, my shoulders sagged with exhausted gratitude. Quickly, I shucked off my clothes, leaving only my underwear and shirt, then crawled beneath the covers. The sheets felt clean enough, and I was too tired to really care.
Sleep came quickly, followed by dreams of Hades that made me burn with a fire that wanted to consume me.
17
Seraphia
I woke wrapped in Hades’ arms. I stiffened briefly, then relaxed back against him, lulled by the warmth