Page 46 of His in the Dark

If I am getting used to it here…

If that’s why the food tastes so rich and finely flavored…

But that can’t be. I was born to bring life, not death. I cannot thrive here. It is not my place or fate. I have been told my fate and I must return to Olympus.

Unless Hades is right.

After I have eaten, the plates and vessels before me disappear and reappear a few moments later in pristine condition. In all the time I have spent eating, I have not been disturbed.

I wonder if that is purposeful.

I wonder if he is watching.

A shiver of arousal runs down my spine and between my legs at the thought. His rough stubble and dark eyes suit him well and urge a darker side of me to play with the fire that lies beneath his gaze.

I try not to feel it. I try not to think of it. But there are things I cannot forget from our walk down the path, no matter how hazy the details become. The blood on that woman’s face. Her head tipped back in agony, or such powerful pleasure that it became agony. The way her body moved under the men.

The way the first man killed the one who had hurt her.

The way Hades stood over the body of the guard in that room. His blood spreading on the tile.

My horror should have been stronger. I should have been sick at the blatant ending of a life. And I was frightened, but I was also…

I do not wish to think the word. I do not wish to think of the heat in my face as I stood alone with the body, the scent of blood in the air.

I do not wish it, but the sensation has been imprinted on me, as surely as if I’d eaten it with the food.

No one has ever killed for me before. No one has ever needed to. I know there is an argument to be made that Hades did notneed to kill the guard, but he thought it was so, and the man did not live out the hour.

That is what I would have if I ruled beside him.

That is what you already have,that voice says.

“Hush,” I tell myself. My pulse has already quickened, thinking of the blood, and thinking of how I should have emptied my stomach, but I didn’t. It was, I know, a horrific sight.

And…

There were other elements as well.

I move slowly around the room, keeping my eyes on the door. No one has come, and though the door itself has not changed since I sat down to eat, it seems to beckon me.

Where would I go? I could not find the rooms I visited yesterday if I wished to. I don’t even remember which way we turned when we exited the bedchambers. Shock and disbelief has hazed my memory.

One side of the hallway seems faintly brighter than the other, so perhaps I would follow the light.

Or perhaps I would try to discover what hides in the shadows.

A shiver, this one less pleasant, makes me shudder. Seeking beyond my abilities is what got me here in the first place. I should have been protected by the spell I cast at my altar, but instead, it opened a door for me to be stolen.

Unless that doorway was already open.

I narrow my eyes at the door.

I can feel it there, watching. There may be someone hidden from me by magic more powerful than my own. There may be eyes on the back of my neck even now. I do not whip my head around to look. I do not have the power to stop anyone.

I fold my hands together and let my eyes travel slowly over the crystalized gardens below.

Icouldhave that power.

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