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“And exactly who are you to tell me what to do?” He stood there, his arms stiff by his sides, his shoulders curling forward.
“Come on. Don’t be a dick. We all know what’s going on here.”
“Really?” he asked. “And what exactly is it you think is going on here?”
I shook my head. “You’re really going to let her get away, aren’t you? You’re going to walk away with this fucking thing hanging over you, though you know you want to be with her, but you’re too shit scared to do something about it. Don’t act like you’re the only one who’s ever gotten his heart broken.”
His breathing deepened, growing heavier, his eyes darkening. And maybe I should have been worried—I was in his territory, after all. But I was more than angry enough to handle his outbursts, and someone had to tell him. Until now, everyone acted like Hades should be handled with kid gloves or else he’d claw at them. Well, not me.
“I’m still trying to figure out why you think it’s your place to tell me this,” Hades demanded, his voice calm, but he trembled with an audible strain to try to stay that way.
“Just do what you fucking need to do.” I was pissed off because he wasn’t doing anything, not even acting on his anger. Classic Hades, right? Just as Poseidon had said. Too shit scared to do anything.
“Why should I listen to you?” he retorted. “You couldn’t even stay on Earth without Zeus swatting your ass. Now I’m supposed to take advice from you?”
“Fuck you, asshole!” I didn’t even want to think about the fact I’d never be able to see Elyse again except from a distance. Now Hades was rubbing it in my face. But of course, it was ammo, designed to infuriate me.
Well, mission accomplished. I wanted to clock the guy in the face. I wanted to shove so much magic at him that he didn’t know how to piss straight. But if I picked a fight with him now, Zeus could ban me from even this godforsaken place. And I didn’t want to be sent to my room like a little child yet again. I was already irritated for being grounded like a sullen teenager who’d broken curfew.
“What, you’re not going to do anything?” Hades asked, his tone mocking. “Or is it only that you can do something when someone tells you not to? Maybe it’s because I’m taunting you that you’re not responding. Maybe I should tell you how you’re not allowed to punch me in the face.”
My chest lit on fire with rage, and my hands twitched with the urge to punch him. I longed for nothing more than to attack him. But it wasn’t going to help anything, not down here and not back on Earth. I had to think of Elyse and being banished, and how there was no other way I could help her.
“You know what? You’re not worth the time,” I said. “Fuck knows what Elyse sees in you. But if you don’t get your shit in order, things are going to blow up. You’re putting Elyse in danger by not being there for her. Hiding away isn’t going to stop X.”
“Don’t talk to me about things you know nothing about,” he growled.
I faced him. “That’s the thing, Hades. You’re the only one in denial. You’re acting like nothing is wrong, but the rest of us are facing the consequences. Be a god for a change. You’re so upset about being rejected from Mount Olympus because of this trick that got you locked down in the Underworld, but you’re not even trying to step up when given the opportunity. You’re just being a pussy, tucking your tail between your legs and running.”
I turned around and marched away before he could say anything. Yeah, he could have called after me, getting another jab in with his quick words. But he didn’t. Maybe I hit a nerve.
Or maybe, by some miracle, I’d actually gotten through to the guy.
When I arrived back at Mount Olympus, Zeus was waiting for me near my home, dressed in his white robes, his white hair fluttering in the breeze. He crossed his arms over his broad chest, and suddenly I felt like that teenager busted for breaking out of their home.
Fuck!
“You want to tell me where you were?” he asked.
But I was furious, my veins ablaze from Hades’s shit, and now this. “Why? You know exactly where I can go and where I can’t.”
I’d admit, I was being cocky, and it was probably a bad idea since I should have respected him. But he’d already fucked up the rest of eternity for me.
“Watch your tone,” he warned, his eyes narrowing, and overhead, the clouds darkened.
I turned my back on him and marched toward the front door of my palace.
Thunder roared around me and a bolt of lightning singed my skin, stinging like hell. “Fuck!” That had been so close.
“Maybe you should think twice before you cross me,” Zeus bellowed.
I bit back the words dying to spew out and bowed my head in deference, turning to Zeus. Otherwise, the guy would fry me. It wasn’t that I respected him—right now, I loathed him—but there was only so much I could do. When he finally disappeared, I turned back to my palace.
I was ready to punch someone.
