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“Not on me,” she answered without wasting a beat.
It truly seemed not to have worked on her. Everyone was afraid of him. Everyone. Even Ava. And Eloise was afraid of him, too. He could see that. But she managed to squash her fear just enough to stand up to him.
“Why is that?” He took a lock of her silky hair and caressed it between his fingers.
Eloise raised her eyes to his. She didn’t back down from his touch, did not react. Her frantic breathing and her flared nostrils gave away her distress, but she managed to contain herself. “I do not scare easily,” she said softly.
“Is that so?”
She shrugged. “Besides, I’ve seen more terrifying monsters with far prettier visages. Sometimes a mien is just a mien.”
Hades scoffed and dropped his hand. “I doubt it.”
“And I doubt you’re in any position to make assumptions about me, Mr….”
“Hades.” He took a step back.
Now it was her time to scoff. “Mr. Hades?”
“Just Hades,” he growled.
“I am not calling you that.”
“Why not?”
“Because I think you use this name—this moniker—to intimidate people. The same way you use your size and your scar, your voice. And since it doesn’t work on me anyway, I’d rather call you something else.” She paused, watching him carefully. “What is your real name?”
Hades kept silent. Nobody had ever asked him that. Nobody dared.
She tapped her index finger against her lips in thought. “How about Mr. Beast? You growl just enough to warrant the name. No, I do not think I like that either. Mr. Stick-in-the-mud?”
Hades’ lips twitched with the beginning of a smile, but he pursed them instead.
“Oh, I know!” she suddenly exclaimed. “Mr. Scoundrel. Yes, I like that so much better.”
Ridiculous.“You can call me whatever you like,Eloise. However, that will not win you any favors with me.”
She smiled. “Why would I want your favors?”
“Because you are in my domain now. And until your brother does what I asked of him, you are going to remain under my domain.”
Hades turned on his heel and walked away before he did something he would regret for the rest of his life.
Like kiss her.
* * *
Eloise stood shaking in the aftermath of Hades’ whirlwind visit. He wasn’t a maelstrom kind of man. On the contrary, he was calm, measured, and calculating. But his presence filled every room he entered and turned it on its head. She’d noticed it the first time she’d ever seen him.
That day in the dungeon below her brother’s coffeehouse, the moment Hades had entered, it was as if everyone else had disappeared.
Now, in his own mansion, it was as if he grew in size. The room shrunk the moment he entered and became darker. It was as if he brought the shadows with him.
He didn’t have to speak or even move. Just his silent presence was enough to make Eloise’s hairs stand on end. She wondered how she even managed to speak to him.
What had she said? She could hardly remember.
It was all a blur. He stood all too close to her, thus anchoring her with his presence.
