Page 87 of A Touch of Chaos

“Ari,” Dionysus breathed as he took a step toward her, but her eyes widened and she took one back.

“What’s going on here?” Ariadne asked, looking from Dionysus to Hades.

For a moment, Dionysus looked confused, and then he glanced down at himself.

“Oh fuck,” he said as he shifted into his true form.

Ariadne’s mouth fell open.

“You didn’t know?” Hades asked. “Your boyfriend here is a shape-shifter.”

“Sorry,” said Dionysus, rubbing the back of his neck. He seemed embarrassed. “It’s been a long day.”

“Where is my sister?” Ariadne asked.

Dionysus’s mouth tightened. Hades guessed that this was not how Dionysus hoped their reunion would go.

“I took her to my home,” Dionysus said. “I thought that would be best for her and the baby.”

“Baby?” Ariadne said.

“Baby?” Hades asked.

“What baby?” Ariadne demanded.

“Your sister is pregnant,” said Dionysus. “Was pregnant. She gave birth today.”

Ariadne just stared at him with her mouth ajar.

Dionysus must have hated the silence because he continued, “Congratulations. Today, you became an aunt.”

“You took Theseus’s wifeandhis child?” Hades asked.

Fuck, this wasn’t good.

“I didn’t know there was a child until it was too late,” said Dionysus.

“Did she give birth at yourhouse?” he said.

“No—”

“Then it wasn’t too late!” Hades roared.

“Don’t yell at him!” Ariadne said, stepping between him and Dionysus. “He did it for me!”

Hades’s eyes fell to her, and whatever she saw made her take a step back.

“You think I don’t know that?” Hades seethed. “You think I don’t know that everything you’ve ever done has been for your own selfish gain?”

“Careful, Hades,” Dionysus warned.

“Theseus will come for his wife, his child, and for you, and while youwillsuffer, it will be nothing compared to those who sheltered you.” Hades felt his darkness crowding the room as he spoke, but his gaze did not waver from Ariadne’s stricken face. “You thought you knew pain? You thought you knew guilt? You are about to know the agony of living with the blood of innocent people on your hands.” Hades straightened and looked at Dionysus, whose eyes were dark with rage. “You had better hope I am wrong,” he said before he vanished.

CHAPTER XVIII

THESEUS

Theseus gathered Helen’s hair into his hands as she knelt on the plush carpet of the hotel room. Even with this view, he barely registered the feel of her mouth around him, so caught up in his anger over what had happened at the labyrinth.

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