Hades found Aphrodite at her seaside mansion, reclining on a blush chaise in her marbled home, floor to ceiling windows overlooking the ocean and Hephaestus’ island. When he appeared, she yawned, placing the back of her hand over her mouth.
“I expected you to return last night,” she said, fanning herself with what looked like a bundle of feathers. “You must have had quite the distraction on your hands.”
“Your mortal drugged Persephone,” Hades said, getting to the point of his visit. He did not normally mind Aphrodite’s badgering, but he was not in the mood for it today.
The goddess did not react, but her hand continued to move, the feathered fan beating in a steady rhythm.
“Where is your proof?” she asked, bored.
“I tasted the poison on her tongue, Aphrodite,” Hades said tightly.
“Tasted?” Aphrodite sat up, eyes widened slightly as she set her fan aside. “So you kissed her, then?”
Hades’ jaw tightened, and he did not respond.
“Are you in love?” she asked, and there was a note of alarm in her voice Hades did not understand. Did Aphrodite fear that he would win their bargain and she would lose her chance to see Basil returned from the Underworld? Or did she even care about Basil? Did she fear more that she would no longer see him as she saw herself—alone?
He glared at her, and her eyes sparkled, a smile curling her lips. “You are! Oh, this is news, indeed.”
“Enough, Aphrodite.”
She glared, folding her arms over her chest. “I suppose you have come here to threaten Adonis?”
“I have come to ask why you let it happen.”
Aphrodite’s eyes widened, and she blinked, clearly not expecting Hades to ask that question. Then her eyes narrowed. “What are you accusing me of, Hades?”
“You keep your lovers on a short leash, and yet you let Adonis go and summoned me when things got out of hand. Were you hoping to see me rage?”
“I think you are accusing me of setting up last night’s debacle.”
Aphrodite might be the Goddess of Love, but she did not believe in it and often made obtaining it difficult for mortals. She saw it as a game and played them like pawns, introducing distractions, challenging the bond she could never establish with another.
He knew what she was doing, and he was here to stop it.
“Persephone is not a plaything, Aphrodite. You do not get to fuck with this.”
Her lips thinned, and her sea green eyes darkened.
“There are no rules to the bargain, Hades. I can challenge your choice as much as I wish.”
“Let me be clear, Aphrodite. This bargain has no bearing on whether or not Persephone will be my queen, as that is a future woven by the Fates. If you fuck with her, you fuck with me.”
“If she does not love you, you cannot prevent her eye from wandering.”
“Is that what you were attempting to prove last night? Because all I saw was my future wife in distress. A crime that will not go unpunished.”
“Unless?”
Her question made Hades chuckle, and the sound stole Aphrodite’s smug expression.
“Oh, there is no bargaining when it comes to my queen,” Hades replied. “Adonis’ existence in the Underworld will be horror.”
As he spoke, the Goddess of Love’s eyes widened, and anger clouded her face.
“Hades—” His name slipped from between her lips like a warning.
“Nothing will keep me from shredding Adonis’ soul. Rest well in the knowledge that you have decided his fate, Aphrodite.”
The last thing he heard before he left was Aphrodite screaming his name.
***
Hades returned to his office in the Underworld. It overlooked Asphodel, and he watched his people’s merrymaking from afar, illuminated by lantern light. From this distance, he could not see Persephone, but he knew she was here. Her presence unearthed more memories from the previous night, and along with it, the guilt of leaving her on his bed, naked, skin flushed with desire. At least he had proven one thing to himself—she wanted him sober.
He sighed and downed a glass of whiskey before loosening his tie and heading for the baths. He needed a shower. He felt unclean, the stench of dark magic and Vasilis’ shop clinging to his skin.
He paused at the entry to his private baths where he could hear the splash of water and smell Persephone’s scent. The thought of seeing her naked again filled him with lust, his cock thickening at the thought of being inside her.
But would she reject him? Or invite him to explore every facet of her body?