Page 9 of Hades

“Because he’s evil,” Lucifer muttered before looking back at Harley. “You can call me Lu.”

“Lu, nice to meet you.”

Hades stalked over to her and snatched her by her arm. “The fuck you need to know his name for?”

Fear flashed in her eyes, causing him to smirk. “I… I don’t?—”

“Hades, let that girl go before I get my sore ass up and beat your ass!” Eris roared.

It wasn’t often that she talked to him like that, and it caused Hades to let Harley go and take a step back. He ran a hand down the back of his neck, quickly losing patience. “Look. I ain’t comfortable with my nephew being in a space where there isn’t a doctor?—”

“I’m technically not even a doctor?—”

“So I would appreciate it if we can just go pick up your mut, grab some of your shit, and come back here peacefully.”

The room fell silent as Lucifer chuckled and shook his head while looking down at Dante. Eris rolled her eyes and laid her head back onto her pillow, seeming to give up, while Harley and Hades stared each other down. Finally, she let out a long breath before muttering, “Fine,” and stalking out of the room.

Hades smiled triumphantly and followed her out of the room.

“Aye, Hades. Bullying girls we liked is what we did in grade school. I don’t know if you got the memo, but women hate that nowadays.” Lucifer laughed like what he said was the funniest shit ever.

Hades didn’t stop his stride as he stuck his middle finger up and barked out, “Fuck you,” before closing the door behind him.

He didn’t let his brother’s words hold any weight as he took long strides to catch up with Harley, his new obsession.

Harley sighedas she got out of her car, wondering how she had gotten caught up with such a menace of a man. She could tell Hades was not the type of man to hear the wordno. Even his siblings seemed to oblige him, and Harley was baffled by it all. What baffled her more was that she was obliging his every demand too. It frustrated her, but she couldn’t seem to stop herself from doing as he said.

She watched as he pulled into her driveway behind her, the loud roar of his bike’s engine resonating inside her, causing a chill to roll up her spine. That sound was so familiar to her, and it also triggered her in the worst ways. Her father used to make her ride on the back of his bike, even though he knew it terrified her. He would even have his crew drive her around on theirbikes, just to laugh at her fear. Luckily, that was the worst of her abuse. Her sister got it much worse.

Blinking the emotion from her eyes, she watched as he swung his leg over the bike before kicking the stand up and swaggering toward her. He wore all black with a fitted T-shirt that read Obsidian Riders. She’d heard bits of conversation between him and his people and gathered enough to understand that was his motorcycle club. Him being the president of a motorcycle club should have sent her running. As a matter of fact, shewantedto run. She feared this bully of a man, but something in her felt glued in place whenever he demanded she stay.

Dante really didn’t need her anymore. He was really healthy now and had done beautifully overnight, but at the same time, she wouldn’t mind keeping an eye on him for the next day or so…

Her thoughts cut off when Hades dwarfed her with his size, blocking the sun completely from her vision.

“The fuck you over here thinking about? Lost in la-la land and shit,” Hades snapped.

Harley frowned and chose not to respond to him. She felt that might be the best approach to dealing with Hades. Holding her tongue would allow her to keep her thoughts and complicated feelings in check surrounding him.

Turning on her heels, she walked toward the front door of her house. The house she lived in was nice but modest. She liked living in a space that was comfortable with new appliances, but she didn’t want a whole bunch of unnecessary rooms, so she only had one bedroom, and her home only had one level.

She grabbed her keys, which she had gotten from her purse back at the birthing center, along with her duffel bag and car. She convinced Hades that she needed her car and refused to get on his bike until he agreed. She was sure the only reason he followed through with allowing her to get her things and car wasbecause he didn’t have the address to her house or to Blaire’s house so she could pack some clothes and get her fur baby.

Just when she was about to unlock her door, that familiar grip on her arm caused her to wince and then turn around.

“I asked you a question. I don’t do well with people ignoring me, Tink.”

His voice was the deepest she had ever heard, but she found it sexy… intriguing, even with the mean ass words he spouted.

Unsuccessfully, she tried snatching her arm away from him, which caused her to sigh in frustration. Looking up at him, she admired his chiseled features up close. His full beard looked shiny, as if he had just oiled it, and the soft waves in his close-cut hair looked smooth to the touch. He had long eyelashes for such a menacing man, and they were framed by thick brows that seemed permanently pulled together.

Harley stopped her eyes from wandering down to his large muscles, with tattoos covering them, and focused on his deep brown eyes. “Why do you call me Tink?”

She could tell her question in response to his question threw him off. He wasn’t used to being questioned, but Harley couldn’t help it. She was naturally curious and had been silenced so much in her childhood that she promised herself to ask as many questions as she needed to when she hit adulthood.

They stood in a stare off while Hades seemed to contemplate whether he wanted to answer her before he finally said, “You remind me of a fairy.”

She blinked up at him in surprise, and then she couldn’t help it. A laugh bubbled out of her and pushed past her lips. She giggled with a hand covering her mouth because Hades did not look like the type of man who knew what fairies looked like.

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