Page 25 of Raising Hell
“A few months ago, the furies abandoned their youngest, Megan, in Uttira. She’s the one who landed on the balcony wall. She’s about my age and is safe for me too because I haven’t done anything wicked.
“There’s a school called Girderon Academy run by a frost giant named Adira. Thanks to Megan, I was able to attend for a while before a trio of druids accidentally sent me here.
“That’s just the tip of what I know about Uttira and its residents. A council of cogs runs it. Adira, the Quills, and Raiden, the werewolf, are the members I’ve met in person. The youngest griffin’s name is Oanen. Eliana’s mother’s name is Nicolette.
“I get that you think this is just another game that Persephone likes to play. That I’m not telling you the truth. But I am. And I understand why you don’t trust me and won’t take my word for it. But ask someone you do trust. Call Megan, the youngest fury, to you. Ask her questions. Verify everything I’ve told you.”
I pulled back and looked up at him. His eyes were closed, and he wore an expression of anguish.
“Please,” I added softly.
“One sweet word from your lips cannot be my undoing,” he said, guiding my head back to his chest. “I cannot risk my daughters or your punishment, no matter how tempted I am.”
I could hear the ‘no’ brewing and couldn’t let that happen. I needed Megan to vouch for me.
A kiss would get me anything I wanted. I was sure of that. But I wasn’t sure I’d remember why I started kissing him once it was underway. So I did something less dangerous and hopefully just as enticing. I slid my hands from his mid-back to his ass and turned my head so my lips were against his skin.
“Please?” I whispered.
He groaned.
“No matter how I fight your pull, you lead me like the sun leads the moon.”
He reached between us and tipped up my chin.
“Kiss me.”
I stared up into his brown eyes and watched them flicker red with his god powers.
“No.”
His expression clouded, and I could feel the building begin to tremble under my feet.
“I can’t kiss you. It would be a lie. When you kiss me, you think it’s Persephone. When I kiss you, I know exactly who you are, Hades. You are not mine.”
He growled, and the stone beneath my feet vibrated harder. Returning my head to his chest, I stroked my hands up his back again.
The shaking quieted, and he eventually hugged me in return.
“I traded a hug for the opportunity to ask. If your answer is no, then it’s no. I’m not going to trade more to get my way.” Based on the contracts I’d read on his skin, those kinds of bargains only seemed to add to the list of problems I faced.
“If I call my daughter, what will you do?” he asked.
“Do? I wouldn’t do anything. Well, maybe I’d talk to her so she understands why you summoned her.”
He was silent for a very long time.
“You will not speak, and you will stand behind me.”
Stunned, I said nothing for a moment. He was agreeing?
“I won’t say a word,” I promised, “and I’ll stand in front of you while you hold me so you know I won’t do anything.”
He stepped away and spun me around in his arms before I knew what was happening. His front molded against my back. There wasn’t an inch of space between us with the way he had his arms wrapped around me. One of his palms pressed against my ribs just under my breast and the other lower on my waist, which meant my arms were pinned against my sides.
Any sane person would have felt trapped. Me? The heat of his torso and hands scorched through my dress, and everything I felt when we’d kissed returned in full force.
“Like this or not at all,” he whispered in my ear.
