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Chapter 11
Eloise read, completely engrossed in the story. She acted out the voices, but it wasn’t conscious. It seemed like she was living the lives of the characters, completely immersed in the book world.
When she finally raised her head from the last chapter, she was surprised to see her guards reclining on the floor, a few harlots sitting in the chairs around Eloise. It seemed like all the men and women who were not in the hell—or wherever else they worked—were in this room at the moment. Had they chosen to come and listen to her read instead of drinking ale and dancing in the main hall?
As she paused and looked up, the room erupted in cheers and applause.
“That was lovely!” Verity exclaimed.
“Another!” Sal yelled from the back.
Eloise chuckled. “I would love to, but I am afraid my voice is getting hoarse.”
“You should give our performer a break. She looks rather tired,” Hades’ low voice came from the darkness.
Eloise squinted in the dark but could not make out his form. His voice was enough to kick the men into motion. The room came abuzz as the men and women shot up from their places and ran out of the room.
Verity also jumped up from her seat. “Well, I suppose it is time for me to leave,” she said with a wink toward Eloise and scurried away from the room.
Eloise stood and smoothed her skirts. Well, that man knew how to clear the room, didn’t he?
Hades walked in silently, looking about. He was only in his shirtsleeves—a coat and waistcoat nowhere to be seen. He had a thoughtful grimace on his face, which made his presence seem less imposing than usual. “I thought you wanted to freely roam the house,” he said.
“I do,” she said calmly. “And I am glad I can. I just am… um… not quite used to—”
“All the debauchery and drinking?”
“Yes, that too,” she answered with a smile.
“I told you that you wouldn’t last more than forty-eight hours.”
Eloise smirked. “But I did last forty-eight hours. More than that, actually. And I took the rest of my free time to write a note.” She stood, placed her book on the coffee table, took a piece of paper, and handed it to him. “You promised I’d be able to send a note to my brother if I lasted forty-eight hours. I did.”
She nudged the note toward him.
Hades reluctantly extended his hand. He took the note and looked at it, turning it this way and that.
She was nervous about him reading it. Would he recognize her hidden message? Somehow, the doubts about the task’s difficulty had vanished, clouded by the certainty that she would be found out.
“Why areyounot there, debauching and, well, drinking with everyone else?” Eloise asked to take his mind off of the note.
Hades folded the note and put it in his breast pocket. “I gave up strong spirits a long time ago.”
Eloise let out a breath of relief. “Why?”
Hades heaved a sigh as if bracing himself for a painful task, perhaps nudging away painful memories. “It’s not something I enjoy talking about.”
“What do you enjoy talking about?”
Hades paused in thought, as if going through the topics of conversation in his mind, and finally looked back at her, finding nothing to say. “What are you reading?” he asked instead.
Eloise looked down at the title of her book; she’d completely forgotten what she’d been reading a moment ago. “Um, it’s a collection of Greek myths and legends. There’s a story about Hades too, but I haven’t reached it yet,” she said with a smile. “Did you read it?”
Hades shook his head. “My… I’ve heard it, many times, but have not read this book, no.”
My?What was he about to say? Eloise was curious, yet not ready to pry. “Which ones have you read then?” she asked instead.
Hades’s face scrunched up in thought. “None of them. Not myself, in any case.”
