“It’s rude to have sex in someone’s bathroom.”
Hades licked across her mouth before his tongue parted her lips and her protests were drowned as he kissed her hard—to the point where she couldn’t breathe.
Why did I provoke him? Because I wanted this, she thought. I needed this.
She’d wanted to anger him, to feel him rage against her skin until she no longer remembered a past where she did not exist with him.
Her sex clenched as she felt the head of Hades’ cock graze her opening and in the next second, he was fully sheathed. Persephone’s head rolled, and a sound escaped her lips—raw and unabashed, as a wave of pleasure welled inside her.
Then there was a knock on the door.
“I hate to interrupt whatever’s going on in there,” Hermes said. “But I think you two will want to see this.”
“Not now,” Hades growled, his head rested in the crook of Persephone’s neck. His body was hard and rigid. She recognized it for what it was—an attempt at self-control.
It was a trait she wished he’d abandon.
She turned her head toward his, tongue grazing his ear, then her teeth. Hades inhaled; his hands squeezed her ass.
“Okay, first, it’s rude to have sex in other people’s bathrooms,” Hermes said. “Second, it’s about the weather.”
Hades groaned and then growled. “A moment, Hermes.”
“How long is a moment?” he asked.
“Hermes,” Hades warned.
“Okay, okay.”
Once they were alone, Hades left her. She felt his absence immediately—an ache that grew.
“Fuck,” he said under his breath as he restored his appearance.
“I’m sorry,” Persephone said.
Hades’ brows furrowed. “Why are you apologizing?”
She opened her mouth to explain—maybe for her jealousy or because they’d had to stop, or because of the storm—she really didn’t know. She closed her mouth, and Hades leaned toward her.
“I am not upset with you,” he said, and kissed her. “But your mother will regret the interruption.”
Persephone wondered what he meant, but she didn’t question him as they left the bathroom. From the hallway, she could hear the television blaring.
“A severe ice storm warning has been issued for the whole of New Greece.”
“What’s going on?”
“It’s started to sleet,” Helen said. She was at the window, the curtains parted.
Persephone approached. She could hear the faint tap of ice as it hit the window. She grimaced. She’d known the weather would get worse, but she hadn’t expected it to happen so soon.
“This is a god,” Ben said. “A god cursing us!”
Persephone met Hades’ gaze. A tense silence filled the room. The mortal turned to Hades, demanding. “Do you deny it?”
“It is not wise to jump to conclusions, mortal,” Hades replied.
“I’m not jumping to conclusions. I have foreseen this! The gods will reign terror down upon us. There will be despair and destruction.”
The oracles words settled in the bottom of Persephone’s stomach like a stone, cold and heavy. Despite the fact that she thought he was insane, she could not deny that what he spoke was completely possible.
“Careful with your words, oracle.” It was Hermes who spoke this time. It was unnerving, seeing him so severe, so offended, and the tone of his voice sent shivers down Persephone’s spine.
Ben’s accusations were serious, and it was possible his prediction would incur the wrath of the gods.
“I am only speaking—”
“What you hear,” Sybil finished. “Which may or may not be the word of a god, and judging by the fact that you have no patron, I’m guessing you’re being fed prophecies from an impious entity. If you had training, you would know that.”
Persephone looked from Sybil to Ben. She didn’t know what an impious entity was, but Sybil knew what she was talking about. She had been trained for this.
“And what is so bad about an impious entity? Sometimes they are the only truth tellers.”
“I think you should leave,” Sybil said.
A tense silence followed as Ben seemed to register Sybil’s words.
“You want me to…leave?”
“She didn’t stutter,” Hermes shot back.
“But—”
“You must have forgotten the way to door,” Hermes said. “I’ll show you out.”
“Sybil—” Ben tried to plead, but in the next second, he vanished. All eyes turned to Hermes.
“That wasn’t me,” the god said.
Their gazes moved to Hades, but he remained silent, and though no one asked, Persephone wondered where he’d deposited the mortal.
“I think we all should go.” Persephone said, though what she really wanted was to be alone with Hades to ask questions. “This storm is only going to get worse the longer we stay.”
Everyone was in agreement. “Hades, I’d like to make sure Helen, Leuce, and Zofie get home safe.”
He nodded. “I’ll call Antoni.”
As the women fetched their jackets, Persephone pulled Sybil aside.
“Are you alright? Ben is—”
“An idiot,” she said. “I’m so sorry if he offended you or the others.”
“Don’t worry…but at the rate he is going, I’m sure he’ll incur the wrath of some god.”
They did not have to wait for Antoni long. The Cyclops pulled up in a sleek limo, and they filed inside—Hades and Persephone on one side, Leuce, Zofie, and Helen on the other.
“Did anyone else really hate that Ben guy?” Leuce asked.
“Sybil should keep a blade beneath her bed in case he comes back,” Zofie said.
“Or she could just lock her door,” Helen suggested.
“Locks can be picked,” Zofie said. “A blade is better.”
The cabin fell silent, except for the tapping of ice on the windows.
They dropped Leuce and Zofie off first. Once they had left the cabin, the darkness seemed to swallow Helen, whose petite frame was lost in the fur of her coat. She stared out at the night, her pretty face illuminated now and then by the streetlights.
After a moment, she spoke. “Do you think Ben is right? That this is the work of the gods?”
Persephone tensed, and looked at the mortal, whose eyes had drifted to Hades—wide and innocent. It was strange to hear that question with no venom behind the words.
“We’ll find out soon enough,” Hades replied.
The limo came to a stop and as Antoni opened the door, cold air filled the cabin. Persephone shivered, and Hades’ arm tightened around her.
“Thank you for the ride,” Helen said as she left.
Once they were on the road again, Persephone spoke.
“Does she really think a storm will keep us apart?”
The way Hades’ jaw ticked told her everything she needed to know—yes.
“Have you ever seen snow, Persephone?” Hades asked, and she did not like the tone of his voice.
She hesitated. “From afar.”
On the caps of mountains, but since she had moved to New Athens, never.