Page 51 of Hades

“Hey, no. You don’t get to talk about yourself that way. Dansworth is a piece of shit. He is scum of the earth. Hell, he is the devil himself. You faced him like the boss you are and didn’t stand down to him. You should be proud of yourself.”

She leans her head against my shoulder. “He might be the devil, but I’m not afraid of him. Not really.”

“He’s dangerous,” I remind her.

“Yeah, but I have nothing to fear,” she murmurs.

“Why not?”

She pulls back, looking up at me. “You’re Hades. King of the underworld. He might be the devil, but he has nothing on the man who protects me.”

I cup her cheek, leaning in to kiss her lips. Her lips are soft beneath mine. She presses against me, as hungry for this as I am.

“Damn right,” I pant as I rip my lips from hers. “He has no shot against me.”

“No. He doesn’t.”

I clear my throat. “You should go rest. You look tired.”

“I don’t want to be alone. Will you come lie down with me?”

“Princess,” I growl.

“I know we can’t stand each other. We can hate each other again tomorrow, but for tonight I want to forget that you are Hades and I’m Evelyn. I want to be your princess and soak up the comfort you provide.”

“For tonight only.” I clear my throat. “I can be Jonah.”

I see her eyes widen as she realizes what I said. As she takes in the significance.

When they ask me when I fell for Evelyn, I won’t be able to pinpoint the exact moment, but I’ll remember this as the moment I finally gave in to those feelings. The moment I gave her what a brother only ever gives his old lady.

I gave her my name.

Evelyn

Something had already changed between Hades and me, but tonight we are crossing a line. One that I can’t stop myself from crossing, even though I know that it means that we can never go back.

I won’t be able to pretend to hate him after tonight.

Standing from the couch, I hold out my hand to him.

Usually this is where I would leave him to sleep on the couch. I would go to bed and pretend he isn’t here, but I can’t do that tonight. Not with the way I feel. I need his comfort. I actively sought it out the moment he walked in tonight. My eyes searched for him as if he were the only one who could calm my racing thoughts.

He didn’t let me down. He saw right through me. Knew I wasn’t okay and came to take care of me. The promise to burn the world was clear in his eyes long before he made his vocal declarations.

We are playing a dangerous game. Dancing around one another when I know how this is going to end. I can keep denying that I want him, but the truth is, I yearn for him in ways I have never yearned for another person before.

Maybe that’s why I’ve been fighting so hard against it. Against him.

I don’t want to admit the way he makes me feel because I don’t know how to handle those feelings.

“Take me to bed, Jonah,” I whisper.

“Anything you want, Princess.”

He takes my hand, leading me down the hallway into my room. He doesn’t stop at the door. He takes me right to my side of the bed, pulling back the covers for me.

I both hate and love that he knows where I sleep. It shows that he has been paying more attention than I gave him credit for.