Page 40 of Queen of Shadows and Roses
I swallowed the retort burning on my tongue, gave her a hard, steely look, and shadow-walked straight to my nightclub.
Two hours later—bloody London traffic—I finally arrived at Persephone’s house, my temper sizzling at this absurd mortal charade. I stalked up the steps, and pounded on the door.
It swung open to reveal an irritatingly attractive man, and my temper almost got the better of me. ‘I must speak to Persephone,’ I ground out my voice low and dangerous as I locked eyes with him.
The man wrinkled his brow. ‘You mean Sephy?’ I nodded, and he opened the door wider, leading me to a kitchen area. ‘Take a seat.’ He pointed to the table, but I stayed where I was, glaring at him. He ran a hand over the back of his neck and dropped his eyes. ‘I’ll, erm, get her then.’
A few minutes later, she walked into the room and froze when her eyes locked on mine. ‘What doyouwant?’ she snapped, arms folding tight across her chest as she scowled up at me.
My gaze snagged the faint mark marring her throat, and I ground my teeth so hard, I was surprised I didn’t splinter a molar. Her scent enveloped me—delicate, reminiscent of lilacs, vanilla, and sun rays. And underneath all that? The sharp, undeniable spice of her arousal. A slow, dangerous smirk curled my lips. She could deny me with her words all she wanted—her body told me the truth.
The mortal man looked between us, a furrow forming between his eyebrows.
‘You may leave,’ I snapped at him as I turned my head.
‘Whoa, hold on, buddy.’ He puffed out his chest and scowled at me. I raised a brow, and the next second, the man was on his knees before me.
‘Donotcall me buddy,’ I said in a low tone.
‘Hades!’ Persephone yelled. ‘Stop it!’
I shrugged, and the man slowly stood. ‘Hades? LiketheHades?’ He stared at me, wide-eyed, and I squinted at him. ‘Sorry.’ He dropped his gaze. ‘I work at your club.’
‘You are the miscreant who dared touchmywife?’ I roared, shadows whipping through the air like living whips. The man’s eyes became deep pools of fear, and as his skin drained of colour, he planted face-first onto the kitchen floor.
‘Oh. My. Freaking. Gods!’ With each word, Persephone shoved me hard in the chest. ‘I’mnotyour freaking wife!’ I clenched my jaw… She was right; this version of her was a stranger. But she was stillmine. ‘And what gives you the right to waltz intomyhome and act like that? To scare my friend half to death? Why do you gods think you’re worth so much more than humans? Why are you all so damned arrogant?’
‘We aregods,’ I grumbled.
‘You’re a bunch of self-entitled douchebags. Andyou’rea colossal prick!’ she hissed at me. My mouth quirked into a slow smile. ‘Do you find me amusing?’ Her eyes darkened, and she jutted her chin up at me. ‘I’m about two seconds away from kicking you in the balls.’ She pointed a finger at my face.
‘I’d rather you didn’t, little goddess,’ I murmured, fighting the smirk tugging at my mouth. ‘It’s just… no one but you has ever spoken to me in such a manner.’And survived, I added mentally.
She tilted her head at me and squared her shoulders. ‘Pick up Matt and bring him to the snug. This way.’ She stormed to the door, pausing to glance back over her shoulder. ‘Hurry!’ I rolled my eyes, scooped up the human, tossed him over myshoulder, and as I followed, I watched Persephone's pert butt as she stomped down the hallway.
I laid him on the sofa and turned to find the tiny, feisty female glowering up at me. ‘You make me crazy,’ she hissed.
‘Good. Then we’re finally speaking the same language.’ I exhaled an exasperated breath. ‘You should be afraid of me, you know.’ I narrowed my eyes at her.
‘Why? Because you growl like a wolf, Your Surliness?’ The muscle in my jaw ticked at her impertinence. ‘Anyway, why are you even here?’
I briefly closed my eyes and opened them to find her scrutinising me. ‘We have a problem.’
‘What, more of a problem than you kidnapping me?’ she snapped, ‘and the gods wanting to have a competition to see which one of them is the biggest jackass? I’m not marrying any of you.’
Tension hung in the air like a fine mist as we eyeballed each other, each waiting for the other to break. I knew she wasn’t safe—not from Zeus, not from any god—and I would protect her, even if she hated me for it.
‘Tell me,’ she drawled, her tone pure venom, ‘do you always kidnap your soulmates, or am I just special?’
‘You’re special,’ I said without blinking. ‘Most of them beg to stay.’
She rolled her eyes, tossing her hair over one shoulder. ‘You’ve got to stop abducting people, Hades!’
She was infuriatingly beautiful—so mouthy. My gaze fell to her lips. Those lips, along with memories of what they could do, sent signals straight to my throbbing cock.
‘Well?’ she demanded, planting her hands on her hips like a queen ready to pass judgement.
I cleared my throat. ‘Yes, um, of course.’ Persephone puckered her brow and squinted up at me. ‘I freed you from the binding. I believed I was doing the right thing.’
