Page 24 of Left Hand of the Divine
“Roux, are you okay?”
The voice was dark and smoky, like it had come from the depths of Tartarus itself. I knew that voice, but I couldn’t place it. My mind was slow and sticky, like every thought was coated in molasses.
“I know you’re awake, little Reaper,” he said, his tone clipped. And dare I say, annoyed?
I shot up at those words. “Hades?”
The room fell into focus, and I knew exactly where I was. Hades’ personal sitting room. I was sprawled out on one of his long and fancy regal sofas, and the man himself was perched on a stool looking at me like I’d stolen his favourite toy.
“Um, hi?” I squeaked, suddenly wilting under his stare. Oh boy, there was a lot of anger swirling in those black eyes. Sparks of hellfire shone brightly, showing me just how pissed off the guy was. Fire only appeared when he wasbeyondangry. I’d heard rumours that when he was in a true rage, his skin erupted into fire, but I’d never seen that before, so maybe I hadn’t been trying hard enough to piss him off.
“Do you have any idea what you’ve done?” he asked, his voice deathly quiet.
“Hades, I can explain.”
He scoffed and stood up, looming over me. Fuck, he was intimidating when he was angry, and it was making me squirm.
In the best way.
Jeez, there was something wrong with the wiring in my brain.
“I’m waiting,” he snapped, his hands firmly braced on his hips. “Although, I must say, I’m curious to know what possible reason you think will be good enough to warrant you breaking into the Vault and setting all those creatures free. I really am intrigued, Roux.”
When he put it like that, my explanation probably wasn’t going to do my actions any justice. “I needed to know if I’d been there before.”
“What?” he said, narrowing his eyes at me. The word was short and sharp.Cutting.
I ran a hand down my face, pausing to give myself enough time to get my thoughts into some sort of order. “I think, before I becamea Reaper, I stole Nyx’s Diadem. So, we all decided to go to the Vault to see if that was true.”
Hades’ eyes narrowed even further. “And?”
I squirmed in my seat, that clipped tone of his doing wonderful things to my insides. “I didn’t even make it into the main chamber. Something knocked me out, and when I woke, I was with Erebus. He confirmed I’d been there before but said I looked different. So, now I know another piece of the puzzle but not enough to understand the whole picture.”
“And where does freeing the Keeper fit into all this?”
“Thane bound himself in an oath to help free Prometheus and found the key that would release him from guarding the Vault. Then Prometheus vanished, and a few minutes later, the Vault imploded. I suppose you saved us all.”
“Saved you? Little Reaper, I’ve merely put a pause on the inevitable.” Hades swallowed and looked away, but not quick enough for me to miss the flash of sadness in his fire-laced eyes.
“Then help me,” I pleaded. “Come with me tomorrow.”
He straightened his spine and turned away from me. “I can’t.”
“What do you mean youcan’t?” I asked, shock forcing a gasp past my lips.
“I mean, I can’t.” He rested his hand on the window and braced himself against the pane.
I stood up from the stupidly fancy couch and walked over to him. If he was going to stay here and hide, he could tell me to my damn face. “Why can’t you come with me?”
“I’ve already done too much,” he said as he gazed out at nothing.
“What do you mean?” I was confused. What had he done?
He dropped his hand from the window and looked down at me. “It doesn’t matter now.”
Gods, this man was frustrating. “What doesn’t matter?”
“You should go,” he said, turning away. “The others are locked in the holding cell by the entrance hall.”
