Page 27 of Until Death
“What do you mean?” I ask her.
“You have been trying to draw his attention all night,” the woman says. “It is not worth your time. Forgive me for saying so, but Hades has only ever cared for the most elusive of women. He would never consider a mortal an acceptable bride.”
She shakes her head at this, and I frown at her.
“Even if she really is the one that he’s searching for?”
“Perhaps, as his temporary whore,” she says. “But as his queen? No. It would be best for you to lay low and play your cards right so that you can get out of this hellish place as quickly as you can.”
I blink at her, worry taking a stranglehold on me once again as I glance toward the head table. Surely, she must be wrong, why else would he keep me here among the others?
“He would be fortunate if a mortal, no matter how inconsequential they may be, found him interesting enough to share a conversation with,” I said.
The woman's eyes go wide as my words seem to carry through the room. I can almost feel everyone turning to glance at me, wondering who was foolish enough to mutter such a thing aloud. My cheeks burn with the sudden attention, but I’m unable to stop the next words to leave my mouth.
“In fact, it seems fortunate that any of us are willing to offer him our time when he’s clearly blind to the beauty of his own wife. Perhaps he should focus on fixing his own marriage before trying to find a new queen.”
“Hazel,” the woman gasps as she drops her gaze into her own lap, and the room falls into a stunned silence at my words.
The very air seems to freeze around me, a chill spreading through me the moment I realize I’ve said too much. I don’t even have to turn my head to know I’ve finally gained Hades’ attention.
Though I can feel the weight of his gaze on me, I refuse to back down. This may be my only chance to prove myself to him. But as the room seems to darken with each passing second, I wonder if perhaps I’ve made a grave mistake.
The weighty silence filling the room is only disturbed when Hades shoves back his chair and it clatters to the floor as he rises to lean forward over the table.
“Leave us,” he orders, his voice cold and menacing. “Everyone but the mortal, out.”
Not a single word is spoken as everyone quickly rises and begins to file out. My heart beats rapidly in my chest as the chairs around me empty.
I keep my eyes trained on the plate before me as the doors to the room close, flinching slightly at the loud bang. Then I hear the drawn-out approach of Hades’ footsteps as he moves toward me.
He comes to a stop behind my chair, the hairs on the back of my neck standing as he leans down, one hand coming to rest on my bare shoulder.
“You speak out of turn, mortal,” he says.
“If my words have offended you,” I say quickly, hoping to placate him in some way, “I only meant—"
“I know what you meant. Your lies mean nothing to me,” he growls. “You would do well to learn your place in this realm, or you will suffer the consequences.”
“I only—”
“Do you really think I am so blind to the world around me that I do not know who you are?” he hisses, cutting me off as his breath tickles the hairs on the back of my neck.
I blink at this, his words taking me by surprise. Is it possible he’s finally recognized me as the woman from the ball?
“As alluring as Death may find you,” Hades continues, “I will not be won over so easily. I know you are the little mortal who tried to weasel her way out of my kingdom.”
“And, so what if I am?”
He pauses before saying, “Do not think I cannot see what you are doing.”
“What is it that you think I am doing?”
“Exactly what you first came here for. You are trying to escape.”
Another shiver runs down my spine at this, could I really have been such a fool to think he wouldn’t see through my plan?
Still, I do my best not to let him see that his words have fazed me.
