Hades (The God Chronicles #3) (15 page)

“He’s a good horse,” I said with a
smile.

“Where did you two go out to today?”

“Uh, just a good ride,” I said, looking up to
meet his gaze with another small smile. “We rode out to the river
and I visited the Islands of the Blessed, just to see what was
going on.”

“Looking for a party,” he laughed. “I wondered
how long it would take you to get out there.”

“It wasn’t really my scene,” I said with a
shrug. “I don’t think I’ll be going back.”

“Shame,” he chuckled. “They have been known to
have a good time out there.”

Our walk continued on with idle chatter,
pausing only for a moment when Hades poked his head into the
kitchen and told them we would be eating somewhere different. Once
we reached the game room, he released my arm, sliding away from me
to turn on the giant screen.

“What would you like to watch?” he asked, back
turned to me.

“Actually,” I said, running my hands down the
front of my short sun dress. “I think I’d rather play a
game.”

“Okay,” he snickered, obviously not thinking I
was up to the task. “Which one?”

I walked in his direction, passing him by to
stop and look at the rack of games.

“How about this one?” I asked, pulling a
hunting game off the rack and handing it to him.

“Surprising,” he said, taking it from me. “Let
me get it all hooked up.”

I watched him turn on different things and pull
out some controllers, along with the shot gun shaped attachments
that went with the game. Before I knew it, we were both standing in
front of the screen, guns raised, ready to shoot some
animals.

It wasn’t quite the same as going out with
Stacy and firing a real gun, but the cathartic feeling I always got
from shooting started sinking in and wiping away any jitters I had
left. After several rounds, I realized I was actually having fun
and had momentarily forgotten the scene by the river.

“I didn’t know you were such a good shot,”
Hades laughed, looking at his dismal score next to mine. “Guns
never seemed like your thing.”

“I shot a few on the ranch,” I said with a
grin.

“More than a few it would seem,” he said,
lifting his controller as the next round began. “Either that, or
you’re really lucky when it comes to this game.”

“I guess you’ll have to take me shooting for
real to find out,” I teased back, zeroing in on one of the digital
targets and taking it down.

“It’s a date,” he said, trying to beat my
score.

The level ended again, this time in a near
tie.

“Actually,” Hades said, sitting down on the
couch behind us and stretching his arm out over the back,
controller resting in his lap. “I was thinking that maybe we really
could go on a date of sorts.”

“Really?” I asked in surprise. “Like
what?”

“Well, obviously there isn’t that much to go
out and do here,” he chuckled. “I thought we could do stuff like
this, though. Games, movies, swimming, horseback riding. That kind
of stuff.”

His face reddened slightly as he spoke and it
occurred to me that this might be the first time he’d ever actually
asked a girl out before.

“I think that sounds fun,” I said honestly.
“Sometimes it gets lonely, being here all by myself.”

“I completely agree,” he said, his smile
returning. “It’s been nice to have your company lately. Well, your
nice company anyway.”

“You surprise me,” I confessed. “I thought for
sure you would be nothing but mean and cruel to me while I was
here.”

“It amazing what happens when you don’t start
off every conversation by screaming, isn’t it?” he teased. “In all
honesty, though, I know things have been bad since we had that
falling out. It’s been nice to put the battle axes
away.”

“Still think I’m trying to get something out of
it?”

“Absolutely.”

The look on his face gave me no doubt he was
being completely honest. There seemed to be something else there
though, something that made me think his reservations weren’t as
great as they’d been before.

“What do you say to a lunch date, tomorrow
afternoon, here? My mornings are always tied up and I’ve got a
thing tomorrow night,” he said, smoothly returning to the previous
topic.

“Sure, I guess,” I said, knowing I usually just
let the day flow however it was going to.

“What an inspiring answer,” he laughed, tossing
his head back as he did so. “I’ll have a movie and food set up for
us. Meet me here around twelve thirty?”

“I’ll be there,” I said with a grin.

Chapter
Fourteen

“What am I doing?” I moaned to myself, letting
my head fall into my hands.

I was sitting in my closet, my hair and makeup
meticulously done, several different outfits pulled out and laid
around me. It was only after I’d pulled out all the stops that I
saw the red flag.

I was actually
excited
to be going on a
date with Hades. Giddy, like a school girl. When did that happen?
He’d done nothing but terrify me at the beginning. Now, I could
sense the flutters of a crush, something that was extremely
dangerous to have. If he were to find out who I really was, that
would be the end of me. No matter how many times I thought that,
though, I couldn’t shake the grin from my face as I thought of all
the time we’d been spending together lately.

He was handsome, maybe that was the reason I’d
developed feelings. Tiny feelings. Minuscule feelings that should
be crushed by the heel of my boot.

His personality was so interesting, though! I
found myself wanting to know more about him, what he did every
morning that took him out of the castle by himself. I wanted to
know what it felt like to spend an entire day with him. What would
his lips feel like against mine?

“Stop it!” I scolded myself, standing and
practically running around the wardrobe, kicking dresses out of the
way as I did so.

“This is not happening,” I said to myself in
the mirror as I sat back down at the makeup desk. “You do not have
feelings for him. You are doing a job, that is all. Get in get and
get out . . .”

My mini coaching session slowly faded away as I
studied my reflection. Since I’d come to stay here, I’d gotten used
to having a different face. Well, mostly used to it anyway. Today,
there was something new there, though, something I hadn’t noticed
earlier.

The veins just under my eyes looked black,
almost like they were bruised. It wasn’t enough to be super
noticeable, but enough to cause pause. I rubbed where the
discrepancy showed, wondering if it was just makeup gone astray,
but that proved untrue. Finally, after a few more minutes of trying
to figure out what could be happening, I picked some foundation up
and carefully covered the blemishes, making a note to see if I
could uncover the mystery later.

A tired sigh broke through my lips as I looked
back at the closet, still not knowing what to wear. At this point,
it seemed like it would be a better idea to not go at all, since my
feelings were thinking it was time to join the mix. I didn’t want
to hurt his feelings, though, especially after the kindness he’d
shown me the night before.

When the time for our date finally rolled
around, I found myself outside the door to the game room, dressed
in another sun dress and wondering what on earth I was doing
letting myself fall for a god.

No, not falling for him. No way,
I
scolded myself as I went in.

I couldn’t help the smile that spread across my
face as I saw him there, in his usual black jeans and t-shirt, his
black hoodie thrown over the back of the couch. He was grinning at
me as well, standing next to what appeared to be a makeshift picnic
on the floor.

“Good afternoon,” he said, stepping off the
blanket and holding a hand out to me. “Allow me to help you to your
seat.”

“Thank you,” I giggled. “What is all
this?”

“This is a cheesy, movie lunch date,” he said,
picking up the cover to a chick flick and handing it to me. “We are
recreating a scene from every romantic comedy, ever.”

“I can see that,” I snickered, letting him lead
me to the blanket and set me down in a grouping of large
pillows.

“How was your morning?” he asked, settling down
next to me, close enough to send the butterflies in my stomach into
a frenzied flight.

“Good,” I said, my inner self rolling her eyes
at the reaction. “Yours?”

“The same,” he replied, fiddling with the
remotes as he turned on our movie.

“Where do you go every morning?” I asked
curiously.

“It’s a secret,” he whispered with a
wink.

Setting the controllers down, he pulled a plate
with sandwiches on it towards him, setting it in front of us before
clapping his hands and turning the lights off.

The next two hours were spent the same as any
movie date I’d ever been on. We watched mostly in silence,
commenting every now and then on something we liked or found
interesting. The food got eaten slowly and everything was if I was
out with a friend more than on a date. For some crazy reason, this
drove me insane.

On the one hand, I was out with a handsome,
powerful man who I found interesting and wanted to get closer to.
On the other, I was a traitor in disguise, one he would surely hate
for all time if he ever found out. It was almost certain I was
going to spend my afterlife burning in a river of fire if I was
discovered. He’d probably kill me himself to begin with.

My heart sank slightly as I continued to think
about it. Even if he were to feel the same way about me, it wasn’t
me
he would having feelings for. He thought I was his wife.
Persephone. There would never be feelings for Katrina from Hades.
It was a fact I might as well accept and move on with my
task.

As the credits rolled across the screen and the
lights popped back on, Hades stood, helping me to my
feet.

“Not the greatest movie,” he laughed. “But it
was a nice break from everything else.”

“Yeah,” I giggled slightly. “Thank
you.”

“Listen,” he said, walking towards the door and
motioning for me to follow. “I have this thing with my brothers
tonight, one of our monthly meetings about the state of things. It
sucks, no joke. I basically sit around and listen to them talk
about how awesome their lives are. Anyway, I can’t do anything
later because of that, but I wondered if you wanted to do something
again tomorrow? Maybe go out for a ride, or something?”

“Really?” I asked, surprised he’d want to do
anything again.

It hadn’t really seemed like he was having an
extraordinary time during our time together today.

“Yeah,” he said with an indifferent shrug.
“Like I said, it’s nice to step away from it all for a
bit.”

“I guess I’ll see you again tomorrow
then.”

A grin spread across my face while some
disappointment stung in my chest. It helped me hold onto the
thought that none of this was real.

“Have a good day,” he chuckled, letting himself
out of the room.

Left alone, I let a sigh loose that moved my
bangs off my face. Of course nothing had happened. What did I think
this was, prom night? He was supposed to sweep me off my feet and
carry me away? Even back at home, I’d never been this stupidly
crushing over someone. It made me feel sick.

Letting myself out, I walked back up the
staircase and made my way back to my room. For once, I felt what I
needed was some good, old fashioned exercising to get my head back
on straight. I’d been to the pool several times during my stay, but
I’d yet to actually go swimming in it. Today seemed as good as any
to break it in.

Unfortunately for me, the swim didn’t help
much. I still felt angry with myself, scared for what the future
would bring, and annoyed that I was no closer to finding the
helmet. It didn’t help that I had no idea why Erebos would want it.
Obviously, he didn’t need the invisibility feature, since he’d
escaped from here unnoticed and could come and go by smoke. My
research had taught me the helmet also incited fear in people, but
really? He could do that on his own, too.

Then there was the state of my family. What was
going on with them? How could I figure it out if there was no way
to communicate here? It was all supremely frustrating.

Finally, I decided to leave the pool and go for
a ride, hoping that my classic relaxation method would
work.

I hurried back to my room and changed again,
picking another short dress and putting shorts on under it,
frowning at the fancy taste Persephone had. If Hades hadn’t made a
point to say that he’d gotten all the clothes for me when I
arrived, I would ask for something different. I didn’t particularly
feel like ticking him off over it, though.

The castle seemed unusually busy as I walked to
the stable, servants running all over the halls fulfilling various
tasks and duties. Everything was being cleaned and polished, each
torch lit, extra banners hung, the whole nine yards. It must have
been for the arrival of the other two gods.