Page 23 of His in the Dark

The lights in the room dim. It had not seemed bright to me before, but Hades has taken almost all of the light.

There is an unmistakable sound, a bed groaning with weight.

“Do you wish to join me?” Hades asks, his voice low.

The arrogance inflames a deep hatred in me. He thinks I will lie with him? For the sake of comfort after what he’s done?

I clench my jaw harder to keep my teeth from chattering.

“Fuck you,” I manage.

I’m met with a huff of humor, that seems genuine and the sound of him gaining comfort on the large bed. “If that is your wish.”

My back aches. My knees ache. I’mfreezing. I attempt to lean back onto the chaise that sits at the foot of the bed, only to find it is gone.

My eyes narrow and indignant hate brews inside of me. I rest my cheek against the wooden bedpost instead, only to find that it loses its composure and my body falls to the floor rather than allowing the bedpost to keep me upright.

Pain flickers within my heart.

He wishes me no comfort at all of rest unless it is on the floor or in the bed.

I turn back to the rug, and find it is also gone.

“You’re heartless,” I whisper and in return there is nothing. For a bit longer, I sit on the floor in agonizing pain. Not so much physical as it is mental. Attempting to see his moves before my own.

After a shamefully short time, I get to my feet. My steps are unsteady as I approach the bed. I must entertain him to acquire movement in whatever he is playing at.

I only need a little softness. A little warmth. Then I can survive the night.

The heat of Hades’s eyes alone is nearly burning as I climb onto the bed and lower my throbbing head to one of the pillows. My body at a distance from his and the blanket. The silence seems to demand that I speak.

“I do not wish to be here and I do not want to play these games.”

Hades exhales next to me. “You have no choice.”

“I want mypowers.”

“You will have those back, my queen. You will be powerful beside me.”

My queen. The words, smooth and true, make hatred brew within me.

“This is how you treat your queen?” I snidely murmur.

“I offer you comfort, you are the one who denies it.”

“Only beside you?”

He is silent for a few moments, and then he says, his tone almost careful, "There are things you do not know."

"I know more than you'd think,” I bite back, very much aware of his doings. He made me weak so he could take me. What a coward he is.

I roll over to my back, my mind reeling, my heart racing, my body tense from trying to stay warm.

The soft edge of the blanket lands across my shoulders, and I can't help myself. I let its warmth fold over me and let myself sink into it with a sigh. I do not pull for more of it.

I mean only to rest enough so that I can fight another day. If my actions can even be defined as fighting.

But my exhaustion wins out. The warmth is too powerful. I drift off almost immediately.

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