Page 12 of Hades

What the fuck amI doing?

I should have just let her walk away. Then I could have returned to my hole and wallowed in misery for another millennium. But the moment she turned around and peeked at me over her shoulder, I knew I was a goner.

I have never in any lifetime been able to resist her green eyes or her laugh. Fuck. I haven’t been able to resist her since the first moment I met her when we were seven. I should have known then that I would be helpless against her.

And now I’ve just asked her to dinner.

Somehow, I have to try and not act like a fool around this woman. Yet, the best answer I can come up with when she asks about the woman that I’m supposedly here to see that she is ancient history.

“Ancient history?” she questions. “I thought you were here to meet up with her. Won’t she be disappointed if you’re out to dinner with another woman?”

I can’t help but laugh at her statement. “She would be, if she ever remembered me. But, somehow, she never does,” I say truthfully, which earns me a quizzical look and a raised eyebrow.

“Oh…Are you that easy to forget?” Aradia teases, or at least, I hope she’s teasing.

“Apparently. So, what do you say? Have dinner with me? I’ll tell you all about why I’m so forgettable,” I say, turning on the charm, or at least I think I am. It’s been so long since I’ve had to be charming, I may have forgotten how.

It takes her a moment to look around the club as if searching for an answer. But then, she sets her focus back on me. Thankfully, I’m patient. It’s been so long since I’ve seen her in person that she could take all the time she wanted, and I’d still be right here waiting for her.

“I still have to check in and take Hades for a walk.”

My excitement surges, and I can’t help the stupid, love-sick smile plastered on my face.

“You’re smiling like that, and I haven’t even said yes,” she teases. Or again, at least I hope she’s teasing.

“True, but it wasn’t a no, either,” I admit as I step forward, closing the distance between us.

When she lifts her head to hold my gaze, it takes everything in me not to wrap my arms around her perfect body and finally kiss her lips. I came so close to kissing her when she leaned in while we sat at the bar. But that would have had her running for the hills.

“I’ll meet you in your hotel lobby at six.” I don’t bother to pose it as a question. There’s no point. She wouldn’t have to tell me where she was staying for me to find her. She could be anywhere in the world, and I’d be drawn to her like a moth to a flame.

“Don’t you need to know where I’m staying?” she asks, almost on cue to my very thought.

“I’m sure I could find you in a city of a million people,” I claim, though I’m positive she thinks I’m kidding. “I’ll tell you what. You check into your hotel, take Fido here for a walk, and I’ll be in your hotel lobby waiting at six. I’ll find you.”

“Stalker much?” she jokes with a wide grin. “You think you can find me? Okay, I’ll take you up on that bet, and no cheating,” she says while poking my chest. “You can’t follow me,” she adds, as if I needed to. “Six o’clock, and don’t be late because you’re at the wrong hotel.”

“Six o’clock, and I’ll be waiting for you.”

This time, she gives me a coy smile before turning on her heel and heading to the exit. She doesn’t bother to look back, but her dog does, and I swear he gives me a wink. I make a mental note to find out exactly where she got that dog from, because he’s not your average mixed breed. He’s a Hellhound who will protect her to the death if he needs to.

I’m still standing in the middle of the club like an idiot when I hear a deep, male voice from behind me. “I never thought I’d see your face again. Or remember why I hated it,”

I had known coming here was a bad idea, But the saving grace was that no one from the Heavens remembered why I was banished. They all figured that I had taken my rightful place as ruler of the underworld. End of story. And since those who rule the Heavens have villainized the place my family calls home, I became the villain in all their stories.

With a deep breath in, I turn with the precision of a seasoned warrior ready to face off in battle. Alastor, Aradia’s brother, stands glaring daggers at me.

“Alastor.”

“We need to talk,” he barks out as he motions for me to follow him.

We bypass the main bar and head to a bank of private elevators. The quick ride to our destination is taken in complete and awkward silence, both of us staring straight ahead. Without a word we exit, and I follow him down a series of hallways until we enter an office, my curiosity piqued.

Asher stands from behind the desk and for a moment, I think this might be some ambush. Though, I’m not sure why. Neither would have cause, at least not that they would remember, to hate me.

“Take all the time you need,” Asher informs Alastor as he gives him a friendly pat on the shoulder before exiting.

The tension in the air is palpable as Alastor and I circle each other in silence like two caged animals.

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