Teased by Darkness (Bound to Hades Book 2), page 4
“I believe you, no apologies needed.” I reassured him, even as a slight smile played at the corners of my mouth. “Although if you really want to make it up to me, find me something to wear. I’d even take window drapes tied into a toga at this point.”
“There does not appear to be anything of the sort here.”
“Have you checked the closet? Even Hades’s hot pants would be better than nothing.”
“There is no closet.”
I examined the stone walls surrounding us. The only door was the one that Cerberus had used to enter. “There has to be a closet. You can’t have a bedroom without a closet.”
As I said it, the ground seemed to shift beneath my feet. My stomach lurched with the same sick sensation that I would always get during the drops on a roller coaster. It felt like I was falling, even though I looked down to see a still solid stone floor beneath my feet.
And as quickly as the strange and uncomfortable sensation came on me, it vanished and I was steady again.
“Look,” Cerberus said with obvious surprise, pointing at the far wall.
Where before there had been solid stone, an arch had appeared in the wall leading into another room. A room that looked very much like the fanciest closet I had ever seen. Shimmery fabrics in every color imaginable hung on the racks, reminding me of the costume shop at Thornhurst Theater.
“Did I do that?” I asked, fighting off a sudden headache.
“The Underworld will sometimes respond to whims or fears, as it pleases, just like it did when Cleo imagined those werewolves and they appeared. But I have never seen the castle remake itself, not even for Hades.” Cerberus strode toward the opening and passed through it while I watched fearfully, afraid that the arch would disappear as quickly as it had magically shown up, trapping him on the other side of the wall. “There are many dresses here. Do you have a preference for style or color?”
“Just something bright,” I said, wanting him to just grab something and get out of the closet before the castle decided to “remake” itself again. And I really didn’t give a shit about colors, although black was too much considering the already depressing circumstances and I was truly sick of white after wearing the same dress for thirteen hours straight. “Anything will do as long as it fits.”
I watched Cerberus as selected a purple dress from one of the racks and came back into the room to lay it on the bed. But as soon as I touched it, the fabric turned from purple to white. Right before my eyes, it became the same dress that I’d worn from the moment I first stepped foot in the Underworld.
With a scream of shock, I pushed it away. “What the hell?”
Cerberus actually looked worried for a second before he turned back to the closet. “I will fetch you another.”
It didn’t matter how many of them he brought me. He tried again and again. No matter what color or style of dress he laid on the bed, the same thing happened. As soon as my hands touched the fabric it became identical to the lacy white dress with gold embroidery that I desperately longed to never see again.
The damn thing was like magical herpes. It kept popping up, no matter how much I desperately wanted it to go away and never come back.
After half dozen tries, I waved him away from the archway. “It’s no use trying anymore. Clearly, this is what the Underworld wants me to wear. You did say it has a mind of its own.”
“I did,” Cerberus murmured, voice contemplative. “I wonder what else will change in this place now that you are here.”
That wasn’t exactly a comforting thought.
“I’m going to put on this stupid dress. You mind turning around?”
His skin pinked, changing to the color of peach moonstone. He turned so quickly to face the wall that he almost stumbled over his own feet. Cerberus moved as if parts of him had not become completely human after we got him out of the wall. It made me wonder if the still stone parts of him left his body slightly unbalanced. The granite and marble imprints on his skin had never faded completely, and perhaps they ever would.
Once I got that damn dress back on, I went to his side instead of telling him to turn back around. My hand lightly touched his shoulder, the skin there smooth and hard like river rock. He tensed under the stroke of my fingers and I felt the effort it took for his muscles to relax.
“Whatever happens next, I’m glad you’re here to face it with me,” I said, trying and failing to keep my voice light. I was too afraid and meant what I said too much for my words to come off as anything less than deadly serious. “We’ve already seen the worst that the Underworld has to offer and made it through.”
But when he turned back to face me, Cerberus’s expression was stonier than I’d ever seen it and this was a man who’d basically been a talking rock when we met.
“That was not the worse that this realm has to offer,” he said, voice grave.
“What are you talking about?”
“Hades always intended for you to reach the castle. He had you begin at the center of his labyrinth, and your journey took you only through places over which he still maintains some control. As the Hunter, I guarded the innermost region of his domain which is why we met so soon after you started. But on the outskirts, the Underworld has become a very different place. A terrifying place.”
“At least we’re safe here in the castle, right?” I only grew more concerned when he did not immediately answer. “Right?”
Cerberus suddenly seemed as if he’d had enough of this conversation. Instead of answering my question, he merely bowed his head and gestured toward the larger door that led out of the room. “Hades has commanded your presence in the great hall. We should not keep him waiting.”
If werewolves and enchanted stone men ready to chop my head off weren’t the worse things that I could find in this place, then I really didn’t want to know what else waited for me out in the dark.
Chapter Four
I shouldn’t have been surprised to see Ryn standing in the hallway waiting for us, the daemon guards nowhere to be found. Apparently, Hades had meant it when he said that Ryn and Cerberus would remain here to give me an incentive to stay.
They felt like my friends, even though I barely knew them.
If you looked at the situation sideways and with your eyes squinted, it was almost as if Hades cared.
Or maybe he was just treating them as hostages to ensure my good behavior.
Ryn’s black hair with streaks of dark purple flopped over his forehead as he stared down at me. Violet eyes caught up in the corners in a way that was more catlike than human glinted with good humor. He looked like someone that would be more at home performing in a Cirque du Soleil show than inside of this dank castle as a jester for its dour king. His body moved like a contortionist’s, making me wonder if there were more muscles and tendons shifting under his skin than a human man possessed.
And the cheeky smile that spread across his face was almost enough to make me forget where we were headed.
“My lady,” he bowed so low that it was farcical before leaping back up to my side. “I have been tasked with escorting you to the great hall.”
I glanced back at Cerberus who stood several feet behind me with his hands crossed over his chest. “I thought Cerberus was supposed to be my escort.”
“He’s the bodyguard.” Ryn sidled closer and slipped his arm through mine, giving me a brotherly squeeze. “I get to be the entertainment.”
“How are you always so cheerful?”
“Hades has graciously allowed me to return to the castle as his court jester.”
“Graciously allowed? That sounds like a pretty way of saying commanded.”
“And we use pretty things here to distract us from the darkness.” Ryn looked almost pensive for a moment before the characteristic smile returned to his face and he chuckled. Although I couldn’t help but notice that the laughter didn’t reach his eyes. “I can only hope that you’re the one I’m here to entertain. Hades hasn’t laughed at one of my jokes in decades.”
“Perhaps he would if any of them were funny,” Cerberus murmured.
I turned back and couldn’t hide the surprise on my face. “Was that a joke?”
Wolfish eyes lit up as he shrugged. It made me wonder if he could turn into a three-headed dog at will, or only when Hades compelled the change. “Only if you found it humorous.”
“I did,” I assured him.
“As if I didn’t feel useless enough already,” Ryn grumbled as he spun me away, his tone only slightly mocking. “Let me tell you the one about the daemon and the darkling that walked into a bar…”
For a moment, I could almost convince myself it was possible to find some small bit of happiness here. When I laughed at the entirely predictable but still hilarious punchline to Ryn’s joke, I wasn’t thinking about the terrifying things Hades wanted to do to me or that I might not ever see the brightly lit Los Angeles skyline again. I could almost forget that Diana would be worried sick, and she would probably refuse to give up hope even after years passed with no sign of me.
I wasn’t thinking about Cleo.
Or Adonis.
Reminding myself about him was like a punch to the stomach, enough to kill the little burst of pleasure I’d experienced at Ryn’s antics.
All I could think about was Hades. Mostly, the emotion I felt was fear. But there was a strange anticipation overlying it that worried me more than anything else.
My unease only worsened when we entered the great hall. Hades rose from his chair at the head of the long table to greet us, an imperious expression on his face. Looking at him made all the anger that my fear had subsumed come rushing back over me with full force. I wanted to stomp across the room and rip into that beautiful face with the sharp points of my nails, claw at his skin until I drew blood.
I didn’t even care what he did to me afterwards. I just wanted one shot at the bastard. He could hurt me for it, as long as I got to hurt him first.
Seeming to sense the shift in my mood, Ryn directed us to the opposite end of the empty table.
“No,” Hades commanded, his gaze hot enough to sear skin. “Sit her here, at my right hand.”
Ryn risked a glance at my face.
Hades struck the table with his fist. “Now.”
Cerberus and Ryn rushed to comply, but I dragged my feet, even as they tried to quicken my steps. I glared at Hades as we approached, meeting the icy anger in his gaze with an icy fire of my own.
This was good. We could both be pissed off together.
Ryn made a point of standing between us as he helped me into my seat. He hesitated long enough that it was obvious he was trying to act as a physical barrier.
“We have no need for entertainment tonight,” Hades snapped, waving the lither man away. “Go stand somewhere I don’t have to look at you.”
It was obvious from Ryn’s face that he wanted to resist, but I shook my head when he glanced at me for confirmation. This wasn’t his fight and he wouldn’t be able to stand in between Hades and me forever. At this point, I was riled up enough to have myself convinced that I could take on the bastard without anyone else’s help.
Hades narrowed his eyes at Ryn’s retreating back, but didn’t say anything more to him. Cerberus had already stepped back from my chair, but not too far. He kept himself between me and the nearest daemon guards, not so much as flinching when Hades glared at him. Cerberus’s placid face stared off into the distance, but I knew he was alert to respond to any danger.
Then Hades turned his stormy expression on me.
“You seem to be gathering champions wherever you go,” he said, voice snide. “What’s next? Will I find you with one of my daemons braiding flowers into your hair?”
I felt more than saw the guards nearest to us shift on their feet, as if they resented the implication. Although I wasn’t sure which idea bothered them more, playing lady's maid for me or that he had said they belonged to him.
A row of daemons guards stood on either side of the room, but I barely did more than glance at them. If I caught even a hint of fang, I was kicking it down someone’s throat. My fear of them would return when my anger eventually faded, but for now the look on my face said come at me, bro. A few of them had forked tongues and wide snake eyes like the one who had accosted me in my room, but others were even more monstrous. One had only a single eye in the center of its face that glowed a dull orange. And another had an extra, but smaller, set of arms clasped in front of its body.
I didn’t trust them.
“That seems unlikely.” My fingers toyed with the butter knife on my place setting, wondering if the dull edge would be sharp enough to pop Hades’s eyeball if I shoved into his eye socket. Killing him was probably impossible, but maiming him might be nice. This asshole wouldn’t be so pretty with an eye patch over the fresh gaping hole in his head. “You almost sound jealous.”
When I met his gaze, the cold look on Hades’s face was enough to freeze ice. “What did you say?”
I shrugged even as my heart rate picked up by a few dozen extra beats a minute. “I’m just saying that people might actually want to hang out with you if you weren’t such a dick all the time.”
His anger swelled into a palpable force. I felt it like an invisible hand pressing against my throat. We stared at each other across the small expanse of table separating us. I had no doubt that in this moment he wanted nothing more than to hurt me very badly.
And then the corner of his eye twitched as he snorted. The chuckle turned into a guffaw and then Hades was laughing so hard that he nearly fell out of his chair. After a few moments, the daemons joined in with sounds that reminded me more of yips and growls then laughter, but something told me they didn’t actually get the joke.
But let’s be honest, I didn’t get the joke either. Ryn, Cerberus and I were the only ones in the room who weren’t laughing. Ryn had an expression on his face like Hades had just grown a second head and it had started singing show tunes. Maybe that was Hades’s thing, have a hearty laugh before ordering you dropped into an endless chasm.
By the time he was wiping the tears from his eyes and taking gasping breaths, I had finally moved away from being angry to just feeling confused. It was like this man prided himself on never letting me get an actual read on him.
“You planning to tell the rest of us what’s so funny?” I asked.
Hades just shook his head. When he finally raised his eyes to look at me, there was a curious expression on his face. “I cannot remember the last time someone has spoken to me that way inside of this castle. It’s almost refreshing.”
“Refreshing? And what is that supposed to mean?”
He waved the daemons holding serving forward and lifted a goblet to his lips, regarding steadily me over the rim. “You seem determined to pick a fight with me this evening. I’m prepared to have whatever sort of interaction that you’d like, but I have to express a preference for something more congenial than verbal sparring.”
My confusion only deepened. Where was the man who had dug his fingers into my jaw and forced a kiss on me that was more threat than romance? Now he seemed almost genial in comparison, gesturing for a servant to fill my goblet with wine before allowing them to refill his own.
“I don’t understand you,” I said finally. “Not at all.”
“Tell me what you would like to know and I will do my best to provide the answers you seek.”
It had to be a trick. It had to be. No one could change on a dime like this and actually mean it. But his expression remained placid, even when he caught me watching him like I thought he was about to tear all our hearts out.
“I hate you.”
And he nodded, as if he expected nothing less. “We have much ground to cover, you and I.”
He had to know how hard it was to stay angry at a person who wasn’t giving you anything back but an understanding smile.
A daemon placed a platter of food in front of me, momentarily distracting me from the infuriating man at my side. The food was some kind of animal meat, although it was hard to be more specific than that. The piece in front of me looked like a lamb shank, but from a much smaller creature. From the way the daemon servant eyed the food when he set it down, they must have considered it a particularly succulent cut of meat.
And I couldn’t have been more grossed out.
“I’m a pescatarian.”
Hades blinked several times as if he didn’t understand what I’d said. “You’re a what?”
“She said she’s a Pisces,” Ryn piped up helpfully from the other side of the table. “It means her birthday is in February. Maybe she wants to make sure you don’t forget it.”
“Pescatarian,” I repeated, rolling my eyes at Ryn who had to be messing with us on purpose. “It means that I don’t eat red meat or chicken. Although sometimes I have to make an exception because restaurants sneak chicken broth into everything…” I let myself trail off at the strange look on his face. “Never mind, it doesn’t matter. I’m not hungry, anyway.”
But Hades had already gestured for one of the servants. “Bring our queen something more suiting to her palate. Fish or vegetables only.”
The daemon servant quickly obeyed. But it glanced at me in shock, as if those were the most disgusting things it could imagine choking down its gullet.
I should have thanked Hades for his consideration. And if he were anyone else, I would have. But we weren’t there yet. “I’m not your queen.”
Or anything else, I wanted to add.
But Hades’s expression remained placid. “You can be whatever it is you want to be in the Underworld.”
“Except free of it.”
His lip quirked, but otherwise his face gave nothing away. “True enough.”
And I’d finally had enough of this playing pretend, let’s be friends game. He wanted something from me and acting like this was anything else didn’t do either of us any favors.
“Tell me what we’re doing here. Tell me what you want from me,” I demanded, voice harsh even to my own ears. “No more screwing around because I can’t take any more of it. I’m stuck here with you while you’ve gotten everything you wanted.”
