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Chapter 3
Hades
Call me a coward, but I had to get out of there after helping Elyse and the other gods stand up against X. If I was the reason X was being a dick, killing people before their time, how could I stay?
And yeah, I’d been in denial. For a long time. But I wasn’t now. Now, I was just pissed. At myself and at X, my stupid shadow I’d been saddled with since the moment my brothers tricked me into becoming Lord of the fucking Underworld.
I could totally blame them for a chunk of this shitty mess. But they weren’t the ones Persephone dumped. They weren’t the ones who’ decided love was nothing more than a pain in the ass.
Which meant X and all his bullshit was on me.
The one thing that really annoyed me was that I couldn’t do anything about the bastard. He wasn’t going to stop if I asked him nicely. Or even if I was a dick about it. Because X did whatever the hell he wanted. That was my punishment, that he could do what he desired, and I couldn’t do what I wanted. Goddamn ironic if you asked me.
I just had no idea what I was being punished for, as I’d been pranked and laughed at for an eternity already, so wasn’t that damnation enough?
But whatever, right? Water off a fucking duck’s back. That was how I was going to see it. I’d left Chicago behind to lie low for a while, heading into the mountains like those guys who just wanted to be alone. I’d always been a loner, but a hermit? This was a new low for me, although not altogether unpleasant.
The only difference was out here, surrounded by snow and breathtaking views and all the rest, there was so much space and time for my thoughts to run me over that it was almost worse than having to face the terror X inflicted.
Almost, but not quite. Believe it or not, as much as my loveless eternity with Persephone hadn’t been a picnic, it was still better than seeing X suck the souls out of the humans that didn’t deserve an end like that.
But you couldn’t save them all. Hell, in my world, you couldn’t save any of them. You could only save yourself. For what it was worth.
It was ridiculous how quickly I fell into a routine. I woke up early, even though it was freezing in the mountains before the sun came out, and I went for a run. There was nothing like pushing my body until I couldn’t breathe anymore, until my lungs screamed at me, and my muscles trembled with every step, straining not to fail me.
When I finally got back after a good couple of hours, I lounged in front of the shitty cabin I’d chosen and sat in creaky chair that looked out over a godforsaken valley, and I thought about everything I was trying to forget. Because I just couldn’t seem to get rid of it.
Elyse was at the forefront of everything. Her beauty, inside and out, was striking—it always got to me. Those dark eyes and the way she moved, a killing machine, taut and serious. And soft and feminine at the same time. I couldn’t ever resist her.
And fucking her? By Zeus, it was the best thing I’d ever experienced. Even after Persephone, a true goddess in the full sense of the word, had shared my bed. My reaction wasn’t just about Elyse’s body, though—it was about what I felt for her. How she fought for those she loved no matter the cost, for what she believed in, her bravery on par with the greatest heroes.
Which was a topic I wasn’t even willing to touch.
See? I could still control exactly what my thoughts did, fuck you very much. I wasn’t a complete slave to all the shit that went on in my mind.
But Elyse… I sincerely hoped X wasn’t wreaking havoc in town while I stayed away. I doubted he was—he was still attached to me somehow and leaving the city probably pulled him out, too.
But there was still a chance he was around Chicago. And what if he did something to Elyse she couldn’t handle? What if he killed her?
She wouldn’t survive a fourth time. We all knew that. And it meant we were eventually going to lose her, no matter which way this went. I’d never been afraid of much or for anyone for a long time—no one but Elyse. I feared for her safety, and I was scared about what X intended to do, how she might lose her last life. And that heaviness sat over my mind like a blanket smothering me.
Which was why it was such a stupid idea to get involved with a mortal. I would have been an idiot if I thought we could be anything more than whatever we’d been up until now. No, fucking was plenty. Everything else would only lead to heartbreak, and I was just about done with that for the rest of my pathetic existence.
I’d learned the hard way that heartbreak and pain was a bitch, and forever was a damn long time when it was literal. And I had to deal with all that shit from Persephone already, so I wasn’t ready for round two. No, thank you.
After reflecting on life like an idiot, I headed to the Underworld. I never wanted to see this place again, but I still had a job to do and this wasn’t the type of thing where I could hand in my notice. I had to deal with the dead, rule over the souls of those who’d died before X escaped.
When I arrived in the Underworld, it was depressing as fuck, and just as I remembered it. All darkness and dread. The palace was great and all, if black and red was your thing. And there were more than enough rooms to accommodate company, if I ever wanted any.
But for so long, all I ever wanted was Persephone—until I discovered my obsession with her had been a curse, a joke played on me by the fucking gods.
And now Elyse had captured my heart.
Fuck.
I strolled into the palace and my footsteps echoed through the rooms. They always did that, but this time it seemed so much worse because I was alone. There was no sign of Persephone. Not in my life, and not in my home. She was on Earth now, doing whatever it was Persephone did.
We’d fallen apart a long time ago, and I tried for a while to make us work. And so had she—I couldn’t fault her on that. But even though it had all been over for so long, she’d been here for me, always.
