Page 67 of Seduced

seventeen

Poppy

She listened to Rania explain literally everything that was wrong with her—and explain how it could be made right again. She tried to keep the tears from falling down her face and failed.

Then a thought occurred to her:

What if God was not for people like my brother, who are righteous and austere, and do everything right? What if God was for people like us, like Rania and Hades and me and Dante? What if God was for the broken and the destroyed?

What if God was for the nearly dead, for the nearly lost?

What if God was Someone who did not simply tolerate or punish, but Someone who loved? Someone who would say things like what Rania just said to me?

What if a dancer, a sinner and a lord of the underworld were exactly who God wanted?

Wouldn’t that be ridiculously amazing?

“I need to tell you something,” Hades was saying. “Are you quite all right, love?”

His voice was hoarse with concern, and Poppy realized that she had been staring unseeingly into the fire for the better part of five minutes.

It was no use thinking thoughts like that, hoping. Good things were not meant for people like her, and that was all there was to it.

“Of course, my lord,” she said. “What is it?”

“It’s about Lucian…Viscount DeVere.”

At once, she was all attention. “Oh! Do you have news of him? Is he well?”

“You are certainly concerned about his welfare,” Hades sneered. Why did he look so annoyed at her interest for the man?

“Seeing as he nearly died in my hands,” Poppy said, “yes, I am.”

Hades stood up in a quick, fluid motion and presented her with a view of his back. It looked tense and corded with tight muscles, even beneath his jacket. He brought a fist to his mouth. What the hell was his problem?Don’t swear.

Rania took off with a stupid excuse about finding Dante. Poppy tried to shoot daggers at her with her eyes, but Rania hardly seemed moved at all, and she left her alone with Hades.

“What of DeVere?” Poppy asked when Hades did not seem forthcoming with any more answers.

“I seem to have paid off all his debts,” he said.

“Why did you do that?”

“In case I might want to kiss you again,” Hades replied matter-of-factly. Poppy regretted having stood up too, and not being anywhere near a chair or a wall she could grab for support. “I wanted to be worthy of you.”

“I don’t know what to say, my lord,” Poppy mumbled. “I am equal parts disgusted and intrigued.”

“Well, I am seduced.”

That was it. Unless she found something to hold on to soon, she was going down. She was in too much pain and bleeding far too much to be able to deal with this right now.

“Y-you…” she sputtered.

“At any rate, I wanted to warn you, in case he shows up here, at the club.”

“Why would he come here again?”

“What?” Hades sounded distracted, as though his thoughts were miles away. “Oh,” he said. “Because in returnfor paying off his debt, I hired him to be part of my personal guard. I did not care to, but he insisted.”

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