Page 10 of Seeking Hades' Ember

“Are you done yet?” I snapped. The doctor had poked and prodded Jillian for more than an hour. I made sure she stayed asleep as one of the female maids changed her into a large shirt that engulfed her small body. Her bones stuck out more than I originally thought. The uniform hid them well and I’m sure that was the purpose.

“Yes, My Lord. She is finished. I’ll be sure to run these blood vials quickly. She is receiving fluids and a few rounds of antibiotics and vitamins to held with any deficiencies she may have.” The doctor bowed and left the room. I wanted to be alone with her, to figure out what this woman was to me. Her eyes were an entrapment that captured my soul far too quickly in the short amount of time I was with her.

Her green eyes had their own vocabulary, and it was a beautiful language I wanted to learn.

She was so scared, submissive, and meek. My own anger and frustration turned into nothing but worry as she shivered in my arms as we brought her up to the penthouse. Touching her as I had laid her down, I felt small tingles throughout my fingers, and my desire to keep her near me had strengthened tenfold since I was in the auction room.

My need to protect and care for her was strong, but what of it?

I wanted to keep her close to my body, to keep her warm. My mind was consumed by her, and my heavy heart had lightened considerably at just a few words that I had exchanged with her. I was becoming obsessed with her, more so than I ever felt with Persephone.

Her skin was soft and glowed even in the dimly lit room. I wanted to be here when she woke up and to see her open her eyes again so I could stare into them, but she didn’t know me. She knew me as the man who bought her.

Loukas knocked lightly on the door and walked in. “How is she?” His hand went to touch her foot which was covered by a blanket, but I let out a growl in warning. His hands rose in surrender and backed away. “My Lord, what is it?” he inquired as I continued to hold her hand. My face contorted to anger; what was I feeling? Standing up quickly, I headed to the door. I needed some air.

I left Loukas to his own devices to watch over her. She knew him best; she would be more comfortable with him and that infuriated me more. Grabbing the nearest vase, I threw it against the wall, smashing it into hundreds of pieces.

“What’s got his panties in a twist?” Ares whispered to Hermes while he snickered. I whipped my head around and glared at them as they mocked me.

“Say it to my face,” I yelled. “I don’t need your damn whispering. I can hear it all. I will burn you to a damn crisp, help you heal, and do it again.” My breath was staggering, my veins protruding from my neck like a mad man. I had become this in the past thousand or so years, so it was natural for me to be pissed off. My friends no longer wanted to be around me because of my damn attitude but it was better that way.

“Hades, you must calm down or you will wake the girl. She’s already scared. Do you want her even more afraid?” Hermes smirked and rose from his seat. He walked over to the liquor bar and poured himself a glass of whisky.

“You are awfully confident,” I growled. “What do you know?”

Hermes, even though he wasn’t a trickster god, knew how to have fun at other people’s expense. He would hold secrets and let them out at just the right time to anger and piss off some demi-god. “I do not know what you mean.” He sipped on his drink as the ice clinked into the glass. Ares had his arms spread across the back of the sofa; his lips pressed into a line trying to hold in a laugh.

“You overgrown carrier pigeon, spit it out!” I stomped to the other side of the room and gripped Hermes’s neck and lifted him in the air. His glass dropped and pieces of glass scattered on the floor. Vulcan had just walked into the room and looked on in bewilderment. “The fuck?” he whispered to Ares who only shrugged his shoulders.

“Put me down, you overgrown firecracker, and I’ll tell you.” Hermes sneered as he started to turn blue. Even though gods couldn’t die, they could still experience pain and pleasure as well as try to heal from other misfortunes on each other’s bodies.

Dropping him to the ground, he let out a cough and rubbed his neck. “All right then.” He straightened his suit jacket and sat back on the couch. “Let’s begin with a story...”

Ares began humming and started to sing, “A tale as old as timeeee,…”

I arose from my seat and punched Ares’ nose so hard it immediately bled while he laughed hysterically. Vulcan gathered some towels and started to help Ares clean up the blood while Hermes looked at the scene unamused. Rubbing his eyes with his thumb and index finger, he sighed and looked back to me. “Really? Do you want to know or not?” I sat back down and waved my hand to continue. “Do you remember, some fifteen hundred years or so ago when Persephone left?”

“Bad call, Hermes,” Vulcan interrupted. Hermes narrowed his eyes and continued while I scowled at him.

“Selene has slowly given gods, angels, and demons mates to help the supernatural balance. I’ve seen it firsthand when she pairs souls, and let me tell you, it’s a beautiful thing.” I scoffed, hearing about Selene. She was just a dark goddess hell-bent on making my life miserable. I laid my head in my hands as my elbows rested on my legs.

“And 20 years ago, Selene visited our dark lord over here with a message.” Vulcan and Ares leaned in to listen better while I sluggishly lifted my head. My eyes weren’t concentrating on anything, just playing the memories in the back of my mind.

“Your mate has been born!” Selene stood up happily and clapped her hands in excitement.

“What. Of. It,” I growled each word individually.

“I just thought you should know! We got off on such a bad foot and I wanted to make sure you knew so you could search for her. I can even show you who and where she is now.” She lifted her hand to make a magical portal appear, but I slammed my glass to the floor as I stood up.

“I’ll have NOTHING to do with you and your mate shit.”

“The longer you take to accept that you have a mate to claim, the harder it will be for her to accept you.”

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