Page 82 of Leashed

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Bo ignored Seph’s wrinkled nose as he yanked his jeans over his boxers. “All I have to do is get from here to there, and Lach will stop messing with me,” he summed up, pulling his demon-head shirt on. “So stop using that archaic word. Quest. Makes it seem way more intense than it is.”

Persephone took his brush from the table and came at him. “Oh, honey. Hades is negotiating the terms with Lachesis as we speak. Your word has bound us to agree and has placed us in a position of weakness at the table.”

He crouched down and stilled as she brushed his hair out. “None of it affects you or Hades, Seph. She already had the chance to put me before Atropos and she balked, so I’m guaranteed to remain on guard dog duty whether I succeed or fail.”

“She can make your existence hell,” she argued, tugging at a knot with more aggression than usual.

“Oh well.”

Slamming the brush down, she flicked her skirts out. “Let’s go find out what’s going on. Because I want answers and I’m not pleased with your silence.”

Pushing through the heavy doors of the reception hall, he hesitated as he took in the small group that had gathered. “Oh, come on.”

Everyone’s heads turned to Lachesis and Hades. Lach rose to her feet and smiled at him, an open scroll in hand. “Read this over and if you agree to the terms, sign it and we’ll begin.”

He passed through the crowd, glaring at Alex and Ryan as he snatched the document from her hand. Scanning it over, he signed off on it and passed it back without a word.

“Your pet is rather impulsive,” Lach murmured to Hades. “He can read, right?”

Ignoring the slight, he held position, his eyes locked on the wall.

Hades handed the scroll to Seph. “I ensured there was a clause guaranteeing continued access to him subject to petition should he fail.”

Persephone finished reading it and rolled the paper up. “A woman. All this for a woman? A human woman?” She swatted him across the chest with the scroll. “And there is nothing in here guaranteeing she will be awarded to you should you succeed. In fact, it explicitly states she will be freed to make her own decisions!”

“I don’t want her awarded to me,” he growled. “I want her choices unbound.”

Squaring her shoulders, Seph passed the scroll to Lachesis. “Leave. He will begin within the hour.”

Lach spun the paper in her hand and approached him, reaching up to touch his face and smiling when he jerked his head from her grasp. “I’m looking forward to watching you crawl through the belly of hell until you scream out for me to save you.”

Finally dropping his gaze from the wall, he smirked. “Couldn’t make me howl in the sack, so you’ll take what you can get, right?”

She lifted her chin, snapping from the room with a powerful crackle of electricity that rippled through his veins.

Hermes bowed to Seph and backed past Dio, muttering promises to provide updates and disappearing through the doors, his exit punctuated by a slam echoing over the marble tiles.

He moved to follow, his progress halted by Hades.

“Stay,” his master snarled, shoving him back to the center of the room. “I’m not done with you.”

Ryan and Alex moved closer, standing behind him as he was pushed to his knees.

Hades released the grip he had on his shoulder and reared up to his full height, his black eyes flashing in fury and his voice dropping to an eerie calm. “Did you read it?”

“I got the gist of it.”

The blow to his jaw was a swift response to his insolence. “This is nothing but a fool’s quest,” Hades bellowed. “As I speak, Lachesis will be setting the course, plotting the terrain for your failure. And when you fail, you become hers to do with as she pleases.”

“If,” he corrected, licking the blood from his split lip. “If I fail.”

His master dropped into his throne, staff in hand. “Her mind is already twisting your fate, Boreus, and this will play out precisely as she determines with the flick of her fingers.”

Dio joined Hades, shaking his head. “I warned you to stay away from Lachesis,” he said as he leaned on the throne. “Nothing good ever comes from tempting the Fates.”

Dropping his eyes to the floor, he sat back on his haunches. “Am I dismissed?”

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