muscles must have given out because she slid back against me, her heat blazing through my skin and muscles and bones to the very darkness within.
I drew in a breath, trying to stifle it through my teeth.
I am ice.
I am death.
I am Hades.
I focused on the trail ahead, on the snow and mountains and my goal. Anything to get my mind away from her.
All the same, tension pulled between us, drawing us tighter. I was as aware of her breaths as I was my own, until our breathing synced, like two halves of a whole.
It was too much.
Everything about her was too much, but worst of all was our proximity. Worst of all was touching her.
It dragged my mind from my purpose to mundane mortal matters.
Who was I without my purpose?
What was I?
Neither human nor true immortal. Without my purpose, I became nothing. And I would fade into nothing, only to awaken in Tartarus to begin my torture anew.
I clung to the thought, using it to build a barrier around my mind. To draw upon the comforting darkness that kept me on the path of sanity and power.
After an interminable amount of time, she asked. “Why is it always so dark here?”
“Dark?”
“Yes. The sun never rose.”
“We don’t see it from here. It can’t cut through to reach us.”
“You’ve never seen the sun?” she asked, aghast.
“I don’t understand your surprise. That’s how it is.”
“But to never see the sun . . .”
I’d seen pictures, but that wasn’t what she meant. “It is the nature of the Underworld.”
“Like torture being as inevitable as the sun rise. Except, you don’t get to see it when it does come up.”
“Precisely.”
“It’s starting to make sense to me.”
That rankled. “You mean that I’m starting to make sense to you.”
“Yes.”
“You don’t know me.” The words escaped on a growl. “You think I am evil. A monster. I know that. But don’t think it is as simple as a matter of living in the shadows.”
“No. I know you wouldn’t suddenly turn into a decent guy on a sunny day. But I’m accepting that you aren’t human.”
“Of course not. I am a god.”
“But other gods have human qualities. They love and lust and mourn.”
“I’m not—”
“Like other gods,” she interrupted. “Yeah, I know.”
And yet, with her sitting in front of me, her body pressed to mine, I felt as close to human as I ever had.
And I loathed it.
For hours, we rode in silence. Finally, we reached the second plateau just as a massive bolt of lightning cracked overhead, brilliantly bright in the sky. Thunder followed, a boom so loud that it made my ears ring and lungs vibrate.
My earlier suspicions returned.
As the next bolt of lightning crashed nearby, I knew.
Zeus.
Seraphia
A terrifyingly loud boom of thunder followed the bright flash of lightning. I flinched, blinded, as it shook the mountain around us. Hades’ horse reared and whinnied in terror.
Gravity caught us, trying to drag us from the animal.
Hades was quick. Grabbing me around the waist, he leapt off, landing safely on the ground in a move that made my head spin. He clutched me to him, arms like bands of steel around my back.
“Holy fates, what was that?” I tried to pull back from him, but he kept me close.
He ignored me. Danger pulsed in the air, an almost physical thing that moved against my skin, uncomfortable and strange.
Worry creased Hades’ brow as he searched our surroundings. Something almost like fear flickered in his eyes.
Oh shit. What could possibly make this man feel fear?
“What is it?” I demanded, cold terror tightening my lungs.
“Zeus.”
“Zeus?” Shock lanced me. “As in, the Zeus?”
“Yes.” He searched our surroundings, his gaze landing on a section of low-lying boulders in the distance. He shoved me toward them. “There. Go hide.”
“Hide? What about you?”
“I do not hide.” He was lethal, unstoppable power, and the disdain in his voice made one thing clear.
He hadn’t been afraid for himself.
He was afraid for me.
“Now, go.” The command in his voice sent me sprinting toward the rocks.
He might not feel fear, but I did. Hell, I shouldn't be in the Underworld with one god, much less two.
Unless Zeus could help me?
Lightning struck again, right at my feet.
I screamed and leapt away, nearly going to my knees.
Nope. Clearly, Zeus didn’t like me. The bolt was sent with such precision that he had to be aiming. Somehow. Could he fly?
“Coward,” Hades yelled into the air, his voice crashing like waves on rock. “Come for me, you coward, or I will come for you.”