Page 106 of Raising Hell
Zotera was standing by an open door, watching me with a thread of uncertainty that disappeared when I smiled at her.
“The room is beautiful. Thank you, Mother.” She gestured to the space in which we stood, and I glanced around, realizing that Hades had walked us into a room while we’d been kissing.
And it was completely empty with dirty, muted stone everywhere and all of it lit by a single torch.
“This is a crappy room.” I looked at Hades. “I’ve seen the beauty you can create. The carvings in the throne room. The marble and gold. Doesn’t Zotera deserve something so much better in her life than the scraps that have been given to her? I know you favor the furies, but I know you care for Zotera too. A lot. It’s time you showed her.”
Hades looked at the ground for a moment. “I favor the furies because, of all my children, they can survive the wrath of your displeasure.”
I stared at him in shocked understanding. All the indifference he’d shown Zotera had been to protect her. And even though he said the furies would survive, he’d still held me back from them.
I rubbed my hands over his arms and tried to find a way to assure him.
“The wrath of my displeasure peaks at the silent treatment. I don’t skin people. I don’t chain them to walls.” I shook my head. “I’m not anywhere near Persephone’s level of cruel.”
He turned his head slightly as if that last bit had been a slap.
“I know,” he whispered.
The room changed around us. Dark surfaces lightened to smooth marble. Carvings decorated the outskirts of the ceiling. Woven rugs covered sections of the floor. The sheer bed hangings weren’t enough to obscure the mountain of pillows on the bed.
I patted his arms and released him.
“Much better.”
My stomach growled, and I looked at Zotera, who was staring at the generous number of oil lamps in shocked silence. She caught my glance and gave a slow shake of her head.
“Is this truly for me?”
“It’s all yours,” I said. “What do you think of adding a table so we can have breakfast here today?”
She nodded and returned to looking around in wonder. While Hades magicked up the table full of food, she went to the hammered golden mirror hung on the wall and ran her hand over it. She didn’t duck to look at her reflection, though.
Leaving her to explore, I joined Hades at the table.
“You did a good job,” I said. “Look at her. She loves it.”
He actually turned to watch Zotera for a moment. There was no mistaking the tenderness that washed over his features or how it quickly disappeared behind a mask of indifference. When he turned to me, he acted like he had no interest in what he’d done for her.
“You don’t have to hide what you’re feeling from me. I’m not going to take this away from her or ask you to.”
He didn’t hide his doubt at my words or the surprise when I pinched off a bite from my honey cakes and offer it to him. Warmth and a heat that made my heart beat harder crept into his gaze as he leaned forward. His tongue swept the bite from my fingers, and then he gently sucked.
My breath caught, and my lips parted.
“This,” he said, his voice raw. “This is why I took you from your home. In your eyes, I see no judgment or disdain. No beginning or end. I see an eternity of acceptance and welcome. In your eyes, I see my way to the home I’ve always wanted.”
I leaned forward suddenly, knocking over my stool in my rush to kiss him like he deserved to be kissed. He grunted in surprise but chuckled under the onslaught of my affection. When I pulled back, he was grinning. My heart gave a sharp twist.
“You are beautiful,” I said. “Inside and outside.”And I don’t know why she couldn’t see that, I silently added.
He brought my hand to his lips, kissing it lightly, then coaxed me into sitting again on the stool he’d magically righted.
“Are you hungry, Zotera?” I asked.
She straightened from touching her bedding and came over to join us at the table. A plate of cheesecake immediately appeared before her.
She smiled at Hades.
