Page 53 of Leashed

“No. He is not where he should be. And neither are you. Therefore, nothing is okay and I must know why he is not here with you now.”

Taking a sip of her cooling coffee, she looked away from C’s silver eyes. “He and I aren’t dating. We’re friends.”

“Friends,” C scoffed. “Bo does not have topside friends. And you are not meant to be his friend.”

“You’re his friend,” she countered, hoping it didn’t sound like she was fishing for information from the peculiar woman. But her curiosity was too piqued to go unaddressed. “Unless there’s more between you than he’d told me.”

C visibly recoiled. “No.” Her nose wrinkled in disgust, her pretty face contorting. “On the sins of Zeus, no.” She took a moment to recover. “I am trying to understand what is preventing you from uniting with him. Have you had any physical side effects to his presence? Chest pains? Difficulty breathing? Confusion?”

“With Bo?” she asked, pausing when her mind pictured Nixon before she could shake it. “Why on earth would I?”

The woman’s eyes narrowed. “No reason.” Getting to her feet, she tightened her bright coat around herself. “I dislike the game being played.”

*

Dio’s large handroughed up Bo’s fur as he knelt down and refilled the bowl. “You all ready for tomorrow night?” he asked, nodding toward three of the women lounging in the great hall. “Stay clear of the blonde with the blue bracelet. She’s in Hera’s bad books, and you don’t want to be associated with that when things go down.”

He chuffed in response, lapping at the wine and hoping the potency would knock him out soon.

The blonde with the blue bracelet.

The brunette nymph in the pool.

The raven-haired looker watching Hades.

None of them looked better than the wine in his bowl.

He was pretty certain he’d been underground for four days. Which meant his library book was two days overdue, and there was a librarian topside who was probably gunning for his head.

A librarian he had almost kissed days earlier.

Had wanted to kiss days earlier.

He rolled onto his back and took the belly rub Dio offered, the movement spinning the room around him and dragging him swiftly into a blissful oblivion where he didn’t have to think about fate and nymphs and marriage and dark-eyed librarians.

*

Bo opened oneeye and tried to focus on the foot nudging his paw.

“Hades!” Persephone called out, her voice piercing his head. “I told you not to leave him with Dio unsupervised. Look at this. My poor boy’s a wreck.”

He could track Hades’s movement across the marble floor, his heavier footsteps growing closer until the hem of his chiton came into view. “Boreus. Hey, boy. Up.”

Up.

How the fuck was he supposed to get up with Seph’s jeweled toes digging into his belly?

He rolled over sluggishly, pushing himself to his feet and stumbling forward before dropping back to the floor.

Hades knelt down and cupped his chin. “I’ve seen him drunker, Seph, We’ll move him into the pool for a while to counter the effects and he’ll be good as new for your banquet. Grab the collar and leash.”

Unable to fight it, he lay motionless while Hades fastened the buckles of his collar, looped the leash in his hand, and tugged him to his feet.

The pool felt miles away as he staggered ahead, the collar tightening uncomfortably every time he lurched forward too quickly or lost his balance.

He hated the leash.

“I’ll bring the brush,” Seph said, her light footsteps fading into the sleeping quarters. “I should have taken care of this weeks ago when Ryan requested a leave. The poor thing isn’t ready to be on his own.”

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