“Absolutely not.” His voice was gravel against gravel. He gripped the reins, his arms bracketing me on either side.
It took every muscle I had to keep myself away from him on the horse, but the shape of the saddle had me fighting gravity.
The horse began to trot away from the castle, and I resisted settling back against Hades. My muscles burned as I clutched the horse with my thighs and kept my back ramrod straight.
The ride was identical to the first one we’d taken, and yet, so different. The tension between us strung tight.
Because of the library.
Which scene had he read?
It had clearly affected him.
And now we were on a damned horse together. This could not be real.
We rode through the center of town. As before, people came out of their houses to stare. I turned away from them, unwittingly catching sight of those poor souls being tortured in the town square.
I grimaced and looked down.
He had done that to those people.
It didn’t matter how impossibly beautiful he was. How driven by something larger than himself.
“How can you do something like that?” I asked.
“Do what?” Confusion echoed in his voice.
“Torture people like that.”
“It is ordained by fate that it must be done.” His confusion had deepened.
“You sound like you don’t even understand the question.”
“It’s like asking why the sun rises or sets. It just is.”
“Okay, that’s physics.”
“Yes. But it is inviolable. It is the nature of the universe. Impossible to stop or change.”
“It’s hardly the same thing.”
“You couldn’t possibly understand.”
“You’re a bastard,” I said.
“That you would do well to remember.” The confusion had faded from his voice.
The horse carried us toward the massive library that rose high on the other side of town. Turrets speared the gray sky, each ornately carved and glittering with hundreds of panes of glass.
I stared at it longingly. That was my way out. There was a gate there, somehow. One that led right back to my own library. I just had to find it.
But first, the cure for Mac.
And before that, this damned mission for Hades.
It felt like there were a million miles to go before I could attempt my escape.
In the shadows around the library, I spotted the faintest bit of movement.
The wolves.
The memory of their growling faces and raised hackles sent a shiver through me. I looked away.
Hades turned the stallion, heading right on another wide road. Ahead, an enormous gatehouse rose high against the night sky. It was far more intimidating than the ones that led into Guild City, which weren’t exactly cozy. This one, however, didn’t encourage anyone to pass through it—either to leave or to enter.
People peered out of their houses, white faced with fear when they saw us. I didn’t make eye contact. Heart racing, I kept my gaze on the gatehouse ahead.
As we neared, the large wooden gate rattled up. Straps of iron decorated the dark wood, massive spikes protruding from it. As the gate slowly rose, it revealed the world outside the city. It looked even darker out there, the archway under the gate seeming to be the last bit of protected space before the wilderness.
Deadly terrors. The apothecary’s words whispered through my mind.
The stallion picked up the pace as it headed toward the gate, smoke billowing from its nostrils. I clutched the horse’s mane, my muscles weakening from the strain of trying not to touch Hades.
We passed under the gate, crossing through to the other side. Lightning struck overhead, and dark magic billowed over me like a fog. My legs gave out, forcing me to settle back against Hades—my back to his chest, my hips in the cradle of his legs.
He said nothing, just stiffened around me.
I shivered against the chill of his body, my own heat somehow rising in response.
Ignore it.
The stallion descended the steep slope down from the city, heading toward the flat, barren plain of broken ground that surrounded the castle. At the bottom, the creature veered right, carrying us toward the cliff that bordered the crashing sea. With no moon overhead, the water below looked like rippling black velvet.
Impossibly beautiful.
Impossibly terrifying.
Like Hades.
Death lurked within that water, making one thing clear. If one entered, one would never leave.
Would that be Hades’ embrace?
I swallowed hard and looked ahead.
We rode for what felt like hours, following the cliff until we turned left toward a forest. As we neared, I began to feel the trees. The life within them called out to me, the same way that plants