Page 25 of The Catacomb King
I’d been prepared to bite back at his sarcasm, but my response dried up in my mouth. Because there was no sarcasm. There was nothing in his voice but honesty. He sounded like he believed me. He was acting like he thought that what I was doing mattered.
I found myself sitting down hard on the bed. The strength had gone out of my legs.
Hades frowned. “What?”
I wasn’t about to tell him this, but I’d just realized thatIhad never really thought that what I was doing mattered. Because in my heart of hearts I knew, as Hades had just said, that I was not really standing between my mother and death. Someday soon, she was going to die. And if she did —whenshe did — then what would have ever been the fucking point?
Then Hades added, “That’s what I’m doing too, you know. Trying.”
“Trying to do what?” I sniped. “Kidnap innocent women? Drown them in your big spooky lake?”
Hades’s body locked up so fast I thought he was going to hit me. I raised the spear in one fluid motion. For a long heartbeat, we were at a standoff: My spear aimed at his stomach, his black gaze locked on its point.
Hehadshared some softness with me before, I thought uneasily. Something vulnerable, the bit about his father, his cryptic remark that he’d had no choice. But it was gone now at my words about the lake, sealed behind some impenetrable wall. Only the dark, unknowable underworld Prince remained.
He said, “Put that down. Stop embarrassing yourself.”
“Take one more step and you’ll see how embarrassing I can be.”
He ran his hands over his face. His eyes flicked down to my body. My cheeks started to get hot until he said, “Just eat something.”
“I’m not eating any of your underworld food. I’ll starve first.”
“You sure will. You look like you’re starving already. How much were you eating back in that run-down village?”
“Enough,” I lied. And, challenging him: “What do you know about my village? Were you watching us?”
Hades said darkly, “If we’d been watching you this whole time, one of your women would have gone missing eleven months ago.”
Yeah, and it would’ve been Josie.“Whydidn’tyou kidnap one of us earlier?”
Hades worked his jaw. “I don’t know.”
“How can you not know? You’re the Prince.”
“If it’s any consolation,” he said — mimicking my voice when I’d told him about my father — “I’m working on finding out.”
His words reminded me of Calix’s when I’d shown Calix my reservoir plan.The Body is working on it, Calix had said. “Someone’s always fucking working on something,” I said bitterly. “No one’s everdoinganything, though.”
“I did do something,” Hades said. “I brought you here.”
“Fat lot of good that’s doing you.”
Hades stared at me, a muscle in his jaw working. “You have a lot of nerve,” he said at last. “In case you’ve forgotten, you’re inmyworld now. A world of darkness and chaos and death. Some of us have jaws that could bite your head clean off. I would suggest you not talk to this world’sPrince” — he said the word heavily, dangerously — “like you think you’re some kind of goddess.”
“Iwould suggest you get off your high horse and tell me what the fuck I’m doing here,” I snarled.
Hades’s jaw clenched tighter. “Is thereanyreasoning with you?”
“No.”
Hades rolled his eyes to the ceiling, as if praying. Then he said, “Look, Iamgoing to tell you. The Vizeking was right about that, at least. But first, I need to know you won’t escape from me, and that means you need to eat our food.”
I laughed. “Yeah right! No thanks!”
As if I hadn’t spoken, he drew from his pocket a single fat, bloodred fruit.
I averted my eyes from it quickly, clenching my teeth, but it was too late. My stomach grumbled.
