Page 75 of Hades

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Hades

“HADES,” Zeus yelled.

A silent groan rumbled through my chest at his voice. Fuck. I kissed the top of Lettie’s head and told her, “I’ll be right back, baby.”

She nodded, her focus on Apollo and his questions. I gave him a hard look, letting him know that wheelchair or not, if he upset my girl, I’d kick his ass. My jaw clenched. My hands flexed at my sides. Violence simmered just beneath my skin, ready to explode if he made her uncomfortable. If he pushed too hard. If he made her look at me the way she had when she’d run from the clubhouse last week.

He nodded, and I left her in his hands, knowing he wouldn’t leave until I came back. She also had Cerberus by her side. She’d be safe. That was what I kept telling myself as I made my way over to Zeus. That was what I repeated like a fucking mantra even though my instincts screamed at me to go back. To stay with her. To keep her in my sight every goddamn second.

“What?” I asked, looking between him and Isis. My blood was already heating, already preparing for whatever bullshit was about to come out of their mouths.

“Echo is sick.”

“So? What the fuck do I care?” The words came out harsher than I intended. Colder. But I didn’t give a shit. Echo meant nothing to me. Less than nothing. She was a warm body the club used and discarded. A whore who spread her legs for anyone with a patch.

“She’s asking for you,” Isis said.

I glared at the club whore. She was Zeus’ favorite, and if he wasn’t careful, she’d make his life hell. She already had her eyes on his patch and thought she was queen bitch over the other whores. Her voice grated against my skull like nails on a chalkboard. Made my teeth ache. Made me want to wrap my hand around her throat and squeeze until she shut the fuck up.

She had a rude fucking awakening coming. Once I made Lettie my queen officially, she’d be in charge of the whores—well, at least until Zeus took on an old lady.

If he ever did.

Rhea had been harping on him for years about settling down and giving her a grandchild. Well, now she had two. And little Gus made three. Zeus had his legacy, provided the test came back in his favor. He might never settle down now.

Sure as shit, he’d never put his patch on a club whore.

“Tough fucking shit.”

“Hades, she has whatever you had last weekend. She must’ve caught it from you,” Isis whined.

The words hit me like a freight train. My mind spun. Caught it from me? What the fuck was she talking about? I hadn’t been sick. I’d been poisoned. By Lettie. By my beautiful, territorial queen who’d served me tea laced with something that had me shitting my guts out for twenty-seven hours straight.

But Echo? How the fuck would she catch that?

Unless…

My thoughts scattered like startled birds. The possibility flickered through my mind. Sharp. Dangerous. Intoxicating. Lettie had poisoned me. That much was certain. But had she poisoned Echo, too?

The thought should’ve terrified me. Instead, it made my cock hard.

But I was getting ahead of myself. Echo could’ve caught something else. Could have been coincidence. Could have been that Isis was full of shit and Echo had just drunk too much and was nursing a hangover. People got sick all the time. It didn’t have to mean anything.

Except Lettie was territorial. She’d made that crystal fucking clear when she poisoned me. And Echo’s hands had been on my chest when Lettie walked in the door. She’d heard Echo trying to seduce me behind Lettie’s back.

My queen didn’t like that. I knew she didn’t.

But would she really poison Echo? Just like that? Without hesitation?

The answer terrified me because I already knew it. Yes. She would. She absolutely fucking would.

Fuck, she was perfect.

“She didn’t catch shit from me. I haven’t touched the bitch since before the funeral.”

Zeus watched me without a word. He leaned against the wall, letting Isis plead for Echo. The bastard was letting her have too much fucking say. His eyes tracked my face. Reading me. Calculating. He knew something was up. Could probably see the satisfaction I was trying to hide.