Page 31 of Queen of the Underworld

“This dreary… dead realm,” he snarled in the language of his kingdom, the hurt welling like a black veil that smothered the light and dragged him down into the darkness at the same time. “This realm that is mine. This realm that is me. It is not light nor beautiful. It is not your precious Olympus… but it is real. That light and beauty you cherish so much, my little queen, is but a veil over an insidious darkness… covering all the vileness of Olympus. The lies. The betrayals. The philandering. All things your precious god-king allows to happen. All things he himself indulges in. And what of you, my beauty? Can you truly say you are happy in your pure, bright realm? Your scars may be invisible, but they are still there.”

“What are you saying?” Her eyes darted between his as they darkened, the fear that had gripped her as surely as his hands were falling away as doubt and anger clouded her features. “Tell me what you are saying.”

Hades glared down at her, fighting the darkness and losing the battle as she set her jaw and scowled right back at him, a challenge in her green gaze.

One that had him unsure what to do in response.

“Tell me what you are saying about me,” she snapped, hurt flaring in her eyes now. “I demand to know!”

Her outburst deepened the feeling someone had been attacking her mind, cutting away her confidence and strength, but it was lost on him in that moment, overshadowed by her words about his realm and him.

His grip on her arms slowly tightened as the darkness continued to rise, stealing control from him piece by piece, with each harsh word she had cast at him. His lips stretched in a slow grin. A beast. Not a male. Not in her opinion. If she wanted him to be a beast, then he would be one. He would be everything she expected him to be. Cold. Cruel. Vicious. He would be the monstrous god-king of the Underworld she had heard stories about, titillating tales spoken by handsome young males no doubt, ones designed to thrill delicate maidens and excite them.

“How many handsome young males filled your head with wicked stories of me, my queen?” He pressed closer to her as he uttered those words in the language of his realm, angling his head towards hers, holding her gaze. He lifted his left hand and brushed his thumb over her lower lip, lightly grazing it with his sharp talon as he murmured, “How many of them conquered these lips as a prize for thrilling you with their lies?”

Lips he intended to conquer and kiss so thoroughly she would forget every male who had come before him.

He would erase them from her mind.

Her body.

Hades narrowed his gaze on her mouth, hunger sweeping through him to fog his mind and steal his focus. He tugged her closer, determined to take what was his and bend her to his will so she would want only him.

So she would know that she was his now.

Forever.

She flinched and hissed in a breath.

And the scent of her blood lacing the air froze him right down to his marrow.

Hades lowered his gaze to her arm, his eyes widening slightly as he watched the crimson droplet form where the black point of his thumb had pierced her tender flesh, stark against her pale skin.

Anger swept through him, directed at himself as he pivoted away from her, releasing her and distancing himself.

“You were not meant to harm her,” he growled in the language of the Underworld, the flare of anger giving way to cold that engulfed him as he looked back at her, sure she would despise him even more now. “You were not to give in to the darkness.”

He hadn’t liked her viewing him as a monster, but now he had confirmed he was one, and he wasn’t sure what to do or say to change her opinion of him.

One that seemed to be set in stone.

Emotions bombarded him as he wrestled with himself, as he fought to subdue the darkness again and wrench it back under his control. Impossible. It felt like an impossible task as her words rang in his ears, as her pained gasp tormented him. How this delicate goddess had thrown his world off kilter. He wanted to set it right again.

Hades’s eyebrows pinched hard and the corners of his lips turned downwards as they flattened.

Or perhaps he just wanted to set it right.

He wanted to correct the course of his life, wanted to be the king his realm deserved, and wanted to win his war against the darkness and conquer it.

And he wanted her to help him.

He needed her to help him.

He needed to hear her tell him that he could do it and everything would be all right, and needed her to help him master his darkness, ridding him of it forever.

Hades’s gaze slowly slid towards her.

But to ask that of her, he would have to tell her his deepest, darkest secret.

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