Page 69 of Raising Hell
My gaze caught on the script glowing on his bicep. It said that he couldn’t move me from locations via his magic, and if he did, I would suffer. The idea that all that nausea I'd suffered was Persephone's doing annoyed me and didn’t make a lot of sense. Since when did Hades let Persephone suffer?
I kept reading and felt sick for Hades. He’d traded it for eye contact during sex. Sex she never willingly gave him.
Filled with pity but doing my best not to let it influence me, I stroked my fingers over the words and watched them lift from his skin. The gold spun in the air, gathering together.
“Maybe instead of jewelry, you should make me body armor,” I said, only partially joking.
“Never. I swear I will keep you safe. Even from yourself.”
The last bit poked me the wrong way.
“Because of the contract we made, or because you want to?” I asked, letting what I felt show.
I kept my gaze locked on the rising script in the silence that followed.
“It doesn’t feel good to have your motives questioned, does it?” I asked more calmly.
“It does not,” he agreed softly.
The last bit of the contract lifted from his skin, and the gold reformed into a decorative hairpin.
He clasped my chin and tried to tip my head back. I quickly turned away from him, presenting the side of my head. From my peripheral, I saw him study me before he tucked the new jewelry into my braids.
“You are beauty personified,” he said, trying to take my chin again.
“Contract’s gone,” I said, turning away from him. “Shouldn’t we go?”
He pulled me back against his chest.
“Why won’t you look at me?”
CHAPTERTWELVE
“I don’t wantto miss the view when you show me your world.”
He seemed to believe that since the room started to shimmer and bend around us. It didn’t pull at my insides and make me sick this time, proving I’d been right that the side effects were Persephone’s doing. Which only increased the loathing I felt for his goddess wife.
The room faded into an open sky all around us, and I experienced a moment of vertigo. The presence of a three-foot-wide path of stone under our feet didn’t help when I saw it topped a towering wall. I clutched Hades’ arm so I wouldn’t fall and slowly looked around.
As I’d requested, we could see everything from our perch. With the craggy mountain peak to our backs, the lake stretched out before us. Lit by the sun, it sparkled under the gentle wind tugging at my skirt.
To the right, I saw the gardens and rolling fields beyond. To the left, tall grass swayed in the breeze across endless meadows. Rivers ran into the lake, bisecting the different areas.
Hell wasn’t the bleak landscape I’d first glimpsed. Beneath the light of the blue sun, the underworld shone with almost the same colors as on Earth. Just a little more muted.
“It’s breathtaking,” I said honestly. “How many rivers flow into the lake?”
“All five. Styx, Lethe, Acheron, Phlegethon, and Cocytus.”
“I’ve heard of the River Styx but don’t remember hearing about the rest.”
“Zeus uses the water from Styx to test our words. Perhaps you would be willing to drink from it and swear you speak the truth. Ashlyn.”
I would have willingly agreed if not for my infatuation with him. If he knew how much I wanted him to touch me and kiss me, I wouldn’t need what was left of my ten days. I’d be out of Hell in however long it took him to find his pleasure.
So I cleared my throat. “Or perhaps, you can tell me about the other rivers instead.”
He made a contemplative sound as his arms tightened around me.
