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“Iama thief-taker’s sister. Who am I supposed to talk like?”
“Like a criminal’s guest.” She thought she saw him smile because his eyes twinkled with the force of a million stars for one brief moment. Perhaps she’d imagined it because he was back shrouded in shadows now.
“Whether a guest or a prisoner, I was brought here against my will, andthatis against the law. And I shall not change my mind about this. Laws are there to keep society from disintegrating into chaos,” she said, full of conviction.
Hades scoffed. “Laws were created by men. Flawed men. Perhaps more so than you and me. Laws are meant to be broken.”
“Laws are there to protect people.”To protect people like me from people like you.She did not say it aloud; she did not dare.
“Is that truly what you believe? You cannot possibly be this naïve. Laws are created by rich, fat, old lords and are there to keep them rich and fat, while common folk either beg on the streets or steal. When I was starving, do you truly think that dying from hunger would be right and stealing a piece of bread is wrong?”
She spread her hands. “You could have found work.”
“At eight? The only kind of work I could have gotten back then was in a brothel. And seeing as how I just escaped that place, I did not see myself returning. Even for pay.”
Eloise swallowed and stepped back. “At eight? What would one want with an eight-year-old boy in a brothel?”
There was a beat of silence. “Trust me when I say nothing good.”
Eloise looked down. She felt uncomfortable in her own skin. An eight-year-old boy shouldn’t be by himself. “Where was your mother?” she whispered.
“Dead.”
“Your father?”
“He was the one who sold me to the brothel.”
Eloise blinked, startled.
“Don’t you dare pity me,” he said darkly. “I’ve had it good. I escaped. A lot of children did not. Where were your laws to protect me, then?”
Eloise couldn’t meet his gaze. “How did you escape?” she asked the floor.
Hades took a step forward and nudged her face up with his finger. As she met his gaze, he slowly turned his scarred cheek toward her. “I was a pretty little boy. They liked that. So I knew what I had to do. Make myself into a beast, a monster.”
He stood still, but Eloise could see his muscles tightening. He didn’t want to talk about it, and she really didn’t want to hear it. But perhaps she needed to.
“You did it to yourself?” She took a step closer to him and reached out to touch his scar.
At eight years old, he did this to himself?
He caught her hand midair and shook his head. “We do what we can here. Your brother might call it breaking the law. I call it surviving.”
He dropped her hand, and she brought it to her side. “How did that eight-year-old boy become the most feared hell owner in London?”
He watched her for a moment before answering. “By punishing those who wronged me.”
Goosebumps crawled up Eloise’s flesh. His voice was low and soft, but his words made her shiver. She didn’t wish to know more. She wasn’t certain she’d be able to live with the knowledge. But a part of her craved his trust. She wanted him to open up to her, to tell her all his secrets.
“People say I sold my soul to the devil, and in a way, they are right,” he continued. “I sold my soul long ago. I sold my body, too. So, do not tell me laws are there to protect us. They weren’t there to protect me or anyone who currently resides under this roof. Not even you.”
Eloise shook her head. “I… it’s different for me.”
“Is it?” Hades narrowed his eyes on her. “You do not even own your body to sell it. You do not own yourself. Do you think laws are fair when you are considered property of your brother? Like an inanimate object.”
“I am not!” she protested vehemently.
“You are. And then you become the property of your husband. And die someone’s property. Do you even own your soul?”
