Page 276 of Trick or Stalk

My mouth falls open.

“That fucking⁠—”

“He didn't.”

I stop.

Wilder's eyes hold mine. “He wanted to. But he didn't.”

The anger is still there, but something else moves beneath it.

Something I don't want.

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Because when you told him to stop, he stopped.”

“Congratulations. Should I get him a sticker?”

Wilder almost smiles. “No.”

“A cookie?”

“He'd probably eat it.”

“I'm serious.”

“So am I.”

His expression sobers again. “He should've respected your boundaries from the beginning. He didn't. I'm not pretending otherwise.”

“Good. Because I would throw my coffee at you if you did.”

He smirks, then continues. “But I've never seen Hades let somebody walk away when every part of him wanted to go after them.”

My chest aches. “I don't know if that's supposed to make me feel better.”

“It isn't.”

“Then what is it supposed to do?”

“Nothing.”

I stare at him.

Wilder shrugs. “You don't have to do anything with it. I just thought you should know.”

That shuts me up.

That's the first thing anyone connected to this disaster has given me without apparently expecting something in return.

Information.

That's it.

I look down. My coffee has gone lukewarm. “I hate him.”

“I know.”