Page 15 of Learn My Lesson
“What?”
“How long did you give him? A year? Three? Five? Seven?”
His silence gains weight. I turn back to find him staring at me as if he’s never seen me before. “I gave him forever, Meg. A full trade. Me for you.”
My breath leaves me in a whoosh. A lifetime.?2 Who is this guy that Hades was willing to lay out those terms? I don’t know. There was a time when he would have told me his plans, would have sketched them out in all their intricacy and filled me with wonder at how devious his mind was. No longer. The distance between us is too great these days, both of us moving about our lives separately with deliciously painful clashes that hurt more than they help. Even with that, I thought we were still partners. Dysfunctional ones, yes, but equals in our own way. Silly me. I should know better than to trust anyone at this point. Even him. Especially him.
“You should have talked to me first,” I say weakly. “You don’t understand.”
“Help me understand.” He cautiously takes my hand and tugs me toward the couch. As if he is going to comfort me. This man makes absolutely no sense. He’s the one in more trouble than he obviously understands. He’s the one Hades has just conned. I’m the one who should be comforting him.
But I didn’t beg for him to save me. He didn’t ask. He just took one look at us and assumed he knew a single damn thing about how our lives work. He’s a fool, and I don’t suffer fools, even when they’re pretty enough to make me temporarily lose myself.
“Oh, now you’re willing to slow down long enough to actually consider my opinion?” I jerk my hand out of his. “Does my damsel-in-distress role allow for a speaking part?”
“I don’t get why you’re pissed. Shouldn’t you be happy? You wanted out from under Hades, and now you can be.”
I laugh. A broken, sad sound. “You have no idea what you’re talking about.”
His confusion shifts to anger and his mouth goes tight. “How would I know what I’m talking about when you didn’t talk to me after we had sex? You say I didn’t consider what you wanted, but you did the exact same thing to me. If you’re telling the truth about not wanting to be saved, then stop for a second and think about how that night looked from my perspective. He said he made you fuck me, Meg. As in forced.”
I understand what he’s saying, but I’m reeling too hard to sympathize fully. “If you want to talk, then you come to me and talk! We have a conversation. You don’t jump headfirst into a deal with Hades because you made assumptions and didn’t bother to fact-check them before acting.” I hold up my hand when he starts to speak. “I…I can’t do this right now. I have to go.”
I turn and walk away. I have to. Hercules might have fucked me, but he doesn’t know me. He obviously doesn’t want to know me either. Not the real me. He’s looking for someone to save, and he assumed I fit the bill. It never occurred to him that it might not be true.
I close the door behind me and take a slow breath. Anger is so much easier than guilt. I knew Hades had something else going on when he sent me after Hercules, and I did it anyway. I hadn’t realized the misleading conclusions Hercules would draw from the whole situation, but I knew he wasn’t part of our world. I was just too lost in my own experience to make sure he understood. Part of this is on me.
But not all of it.
It takes fewer than five minutes to climb the stairs to Hades’s office. He keeps a room that’s vaguely office-like on the club floor itself, but it’s all for show—and play. As secure as the Underworld is in general, it’s not secure enough to leave vital business information where someone could just walk in, locked doors or no. Our clientele specializes in being where they shouldn’t. Hades gives them a decoy office. No one has thought to question it yet. They see what they want to see, and they leave it at that. Hades is too powerful to fuck with.
For them.?3
He and I are going to have words, and we’re going to have them right fucking now.
1 There are two Megara/Megaeras of note in Greek myth. One is the ill-fated wife of Hercules (who may or may not have been murdered by him alongside their children, depending on the version of the myth). The other is one of three Furies (or Erinyes). I knew which one I wanted my Meg to be.
2 Hades is downright evil for this, and I love that for all of us.
3 As much as Meg hates where their relationship is right now and is kind of infatuated with this idea of a different life…she loves the power she has. She even loves her life when she gets out of her own way.
HADES
She comes through my office door like a gale-force wind. Even after all these years, my Meg steals my breath when she gets riled like this. She’s out for blood, and mine will do just as well as anyone’s. We both know it won’t happen, that I will never yield, but Meg never hesitates to charge onto the battleground when she’s decided it’s worth her while.
She’s decided it now. For him.
I study her as I sip my scotch. She looks as divine as always in her carefully tailored suit and sky-high heels. Her hair is mussed; I know she’s been to see Hercules. A tiny flame of jealousy flares, but I’m not interested in feeding it. Meg may be mine in every way that matters, but she’s not built for monogamy. Begrudging her that is like begrudging a falcon its need for the sky. After all, I brought Hercules here for her, at least in part.
Meg narrows her eyes. “You played him.” She breaks the silence first. First point is mine.
“I played him.” Fuck if it doesn’t feel good to finally be taking action. Decades’ worth of fury with no outlet, no recourse, and the method of my revenge walks right into my web like a lamb to the slaughter. Whether or not Hercules is guilty makes no difference to me. Neither does his knowledge—or lack thereof—when it comes to his father’s sins.
Thinking of Zeus has me tightening my grip on my glass. Some things don’t go away with time, and my rage at the man is a live thing in my chest, snapping and snarling and demanding payment in blood.
Meg clenches her fists. “What happens when he realizes I’m not leaving?” She freezes, her blue eyes going wide. “Wait a damn minute. Are you kicking me out? Is that what this is about? You needed an upgrade?”
I straighten, and she instantly takes a wary step back. My Meg knows me well but apparently not well enough. She’s the most priceless thing in my life, the one person I could never replace, not even if I searched the world over. I knew she was unhappy, but for her trust to have broken down this far stalls the breath in my chest. I will reclaim our relationship. Hercules will help me, whether he realizes it or not. He’s helping even now, lancing a wound that we’ve both spent years pretending didn’t exist.?1
