Page 145 of Hades

I stood there for another minute, staring at the road. Thinking about Lettie. About the way she’d looked at me when I told her I knew what she was. The way she’d offered me that tea. The way she’d waited to see if I’d drink it.

She’d been testing me.

And I’d passed.

But this? This was different.

This was me making decisions for her. Putting security around her without asking. Treating her like she needed protection instead of partnership.

I pulled out my phone and texted Pegasus again.

Pull back. One pass every four hours. Stay off her road unless you see something concrete.

Copy.

I’d tell her.

Tonight.

Before she figured it out on her own and decided I was just another man trying to cage her.

I pulled into Lettie’s driveway just after midnight.

The house was dark except for the porch light she always left on. Cerberus barked once from inside—a warning. Then silence.

The back door opened before I reached it.

Lettie stood there in an oversized shirt and bare legs, hair loose around her shoulders, eyes sharp despite the late hour.

“You’ve had prospects watching my house.”

Fuck.

Not a question. A statement.

I stepped inside and closed the door behind me. Cerberus sniffed my boots but didn’t growl. He knew me now. Accepted me.

Lettie didn’t move. She just stood there with her arms crossed, waiting.

“Yeah,” I said.

“Why?”

“Because something feels wrong.”

Her jaw tightened. “Wrong how?”

“Cerberus has been restless. You’ve been distracted. Your mother’s acting different.” I moved closer, slowly, like approaching something wild. “I don’t have proof. Just instinct. And my instinct says something’s coming.”

“So you put security on me without asking.”

“Yeah.”

“Without telling me.”

“Yeah.”

She turned and walked into the kitchen. I followed, watching her fill the kettle and set it on the stove. Her movements were controlled, precise. The kind of control that came right before an explosion.