Page 96 of Raising Hell
“No, you don’t get to be hurt by that. It was terrifying discovering I was mute and in Hell, and I’m allowed to wish that part never happened. The rest of it’s been good, though.”
“Zayn wanted me to warn you just in case something similar happens to you,” Megan said, bringing the conversation back on track. “He doesn’t want to be held responsible for the side effects.”
“I understand and thank him for his efforts even if they prove futile.” Hades uncorked the vial and sniffed it. He immediately recorked it and handed it back to Megan. “I cannot drink that.”
“Why?” I asked as she looked down at it. “Don’t you want to remember?”
“I do. But not at that cost.”
After watching him run himself into a wall without a flinch, I hadn’t expected him to shy away from the possibility of a repeat performance.
“We can put some pillows behind you,” I offered.
His confused look melted to one of tender affection.
“I don’t fear injury. It smells of another.”
“Another what?”
“Another woman. A succubus, I believe.”
I looked at Megan. She gave me a small shrug.
“In the few months I’ve been in Uttira, I’ve learned that the ingredients druids use for their spells are gross. It seems that potency and disgustingness go hand in hand.” She lifted the vial a little so I could see it clearly. “Virgin succubus essence is the key ingredient for big whammy spells. Apparently, they don’t stay virgins for long once they come into their powers. So it’s a super rare ingredient.”
“Essence?” I asked. “Like blood?”
Megan slowly shook her head. “Completely different fluid.”
I cringed a little. “We’re not talking spit or tears here, are we.”
“Nope, we aren’t. And our mutual friend was really reluctant to contribute to this but felt so guilty she did it anyway.”
She was talking about Eliana. My face flared with heat as I looked at Hades. Eliana was one of the kindest people I knew. Also very shy. That she would give something so personal had to be hard for her, and I didn’t want her sacrifice to go to waste.
“If there’s even a chance that it can give you back your memories, shouldn’t you try?”
His expression flared with surprise then hurt.
“You wish me to drink from another woman?”
CHAPTERSIXTEEN
The ideaof Hades doing anything with another woman made my stomach churn with jealousy and anger. But I knew that wasn’t what this vial was. It was an answer, not a problem.
“You’re not drinking from another woman. You’re drinking a powerful spell that my friends worked together to create for us. If you can’t remember who that man is, how can the furies find him and stop him from trying to kill me again?”
I took the vial from Megan and handed it back to Hades.
“We don’t have to like the ingredients. Just the goals.”
He accepted the vial and stared down at it for a moment.
“Since the moment I saw you picking flowers, I have not looked at another in the same way I look at you. The taste of your nectar still lingers on my tongue. The idea of replacing that with this?” He shook his head. “It sickens me.”
The heat that had begun flooding my face when he mentioned my nectar continued to grow.
“It’s your choice,” I said. “No one can force you to drink that.”
