Page 74 of Raising Hell
“Gods, I don’t trust you.”
“And that’s a terrible feeling, isn’t it? Desperately wanting to trust but unable to?”
Just like he wanted to trust me. My shoulders slumped in defeat, and I turned. I couldn’t bring myself to look him in the eye as I retraced my steps, though.
“I hate that you made me say that,” I whispered.
“I know.”
“Please don’t do that again.”
He said nothing, and I stopped a step away from him.
“You’re already thinking about it, aren’t you? Compelling me to give you what you truly want? Doesn’t this finally prove to you that I’m human and not her?”
“It proves you know what to say to make me doubt everything I know. But then, you have always been good at that, Goddess. Now, will you allow me to move us to the dining hall?”
He offered his hand, and I wanted to slap it.
Did he honestly think everything I’d said was just an act? The angry thought calmed me. If he did, I was safe then, wasn’t I? No. He would try to test the truth of my words. That’s where the danger was. If he tried to prove them, he would also risk hurting me, just like I’d warned. Was that enough to keep him from testing it? Maybe. I couldn’t be sure.
Exhaling heavily, I took his hand. The thrones behind him immediately started to blur.
In the next instant, the entrance to the dining hall solidified. It was the same room I’d seen twice already. Cavernous and filled with long tables. Only this time, there were few monsters. Most of the creatures loitering at the tables looked very human.
“Mother,” a brunette said, hurrying to stand. More followed suit.
“We are here to dine, my children. Be at ease.”
The woman settled back into her chair as Hades led me by the hand to a table laden with food. There were the typical offerings of cheese, olives, figs, oil, and bread. But there were also platters of whole baked fish, several roasted pigs that were lightly picked over, some exotic fruits, and dishes of stew.
“What do you desire?” Hades asked, gesturing to the selection.
It all looked good, but having eaten so much of it, I wasn’t exactly tempted by any of it.
“Could you try making that pizza that Grace delivered? I didn’t really have a chance to enjoy it.”
Another table appeared at the end of the first one. There were several boxes with the same logo and everything on it. Hades opened one and set a slice on a golden plate that materialized.
“That’s perfect,” I said.
He carried it to one of the nearby tables and sat with me.
I glanced around the room. No one was paying obvious attention to us anymore, but I knew they were still very aware of our presence.
“Back home, I couldn’t eat in the cafeteria with the other students,” I said to Hades. “It was too dangerous for me. I either ate in a classroom by myself or in the pool area with a few other human students. The pool wasn’t exactly safe either, but it was a necessary evil to help the newbies learn the rules.”
“What were the rules?” Hades asked.
I shook my head and took a bite of my pizza, unwilling to share the rules in a room full of creatures with better-than-human hearing. As much as I wanted to trust Hades to keep me safe, as he’d pointed out, I didn’t fully trust him.
The pizza tasted better than I remembered, and I let the salty goodness of the cheese distract me. Plucking a crisp chunk of pepperoni from the top, I popped it into my mouth and made a happy sound as I chewed.
“This is perfect. Thank you.”
“Can I try it?” a man asked. I looked up and saw the glutton standing near the table. Everyone was staring at him in horror.
“I don’t mind.” I glanced at Hades. “Do you? You made several pizzas, and I won’t be able to eat them all.”
