“Are you well?” His voice was rough.
She nodded, dazed.
Hades turned his attention to Kal and stalked toward him. The mortal began defending himself, still frozen beneath the white light. His hands dug into the arms of the chair, his body rigid as the snakes hissed and slithered over his body.
“I-I was following your rules! She summoned me!”
“My rules? Are you insinuating I would approve of a contract between you and my lover?”
“That would be making an exception,” Kal replied. “There are no exceptions in Iniquity.”
“Let me be clear,” Hades said, and black spikes sprouted from his fingertips. He grasped Kal’s face. The man cried out as blood bubbled beneath the spears digging into his skin. “Anyone who belongs to me is an exception to the rules of this club.”
Hades lifted Kal out of the chair and tossed him to the ground. He landed with a loud thud, and the snakes went with him. They lashed out, their fangs sinking deep into his skin. Kal screamed and Persephone watched, unflinching, as the man who had threatened her was tortured by her lover.
“You bastard!” he groaned, lying in a fetal position, his hands shook as he attempted to cover his wounds.
“Careful, mortal,” Hades moved like smoke and came to stand beside Kal.
“I followed the rules,” the man groaned. “I followed your rules.”
Persephone looked at Hades’ face—it was shadowed, his cheekbones, eyes, and forehead alight.
“I know the rules well, mortal. You don’t fuck with me or my lover, understand?”
Kal rolled onto his hands and knees. He struggled to lift his head, but when he did, he met Persephone’s gaze.
“Help me,” he shouted.
“Do not speak to her, mortal.”
Hades placed his boot against the man’s side and pushed him to the ground. He landed on one of the snakes, who retaliated by biting into his flesh again. Kal screamed.
Persephone didn’t even flinch.
What was wrong with her? She should stop this. Except that a part of her believed Kal actually deserved it.
Hades turned to Persephone. She met his gaze, unable to discern his thoughts from his expression.
“Shall I continue to punish him?” Hades asked.
Persephone stared at Hades and her eyes dropped to Kal. She strolled toward him and knelt. His bloodied face was now streaked with tears.
“Will his face scar?” she asked Hades.
“It will if you wish it.”
“I wish it.”
Kal whined.
“Shh,” Persephone crooned. “It could be worse. I am tempted to send you to Tartarus.”
He quieted at her statement and then she continued. “Tomorrow, I want you to call Demetri and tell him you made a mistake. You don’t want the exclusive and you will never, ever tell me what to write again. Do we have an agreement?”
Shaking, he nodded his head. Persephone smiled. “Good.”
She straightened and turned to Hades. “He can live,” she said.
The god held her gaze for a long moment and then looked at Kal.
“Leave.”
In the next second, the man and the snakes were gone, and Persephone was left alone with Hades. Despite their distance, anger built between them like a solid, stone wall.
Before he could say anything, she spoke.
“You ruined everything!”
He looked startled, and then quickly took up the defense, moving toward her.
“I ruined everything? I saved you from making a huge mistake. What were you thinking coming here?”
“I was trying to save my friend, and Kal was offering a way to do that, unlike you.”
“You would give up our private life—something you cherish most—in exchange for something that will only condemn your friend?”
“Condemn her? It will save her life! You bastard. You told me to have hope! You said she could survive.”
They were nose-to-nose now. “You don’t trust me?”
“No! No, I don’t trust you. Not when it comes to Lexa. And what about this place, Hades? This is your club, isn’t it? What the fuck?”
Hades reached for her, clasping her shoulders, he drew her flush against him.
“You were never to come here. This place isn’t for you.”
Persephone flinched.
“Leuce works here,” Persephone snapped.
“Because it’s Leuce,” Hades said, as if that explained everything. “You told me to give her job back, so I sent her here. You…you’re…different.”
She pushed away from him. “Different?”
“I thought we established this,” Hades said through his teeth. “You mean more to me than anyone—anything.”
“What does that have to do with keeping this place from me?”
Hades was silent.
“Everything here is illegal, isn’t it? The Magi are here. What else?”
Hades tried to remain silent again.
“What else, Hades?” she demanded.
“Everything you’ve ever feared,” he answered, and she shivered. “Assassins, drug lords….”
Persephone felt the color drain from her face.
“Why?”
“I created a world where I could watch them.”
“Watch them do what? Break the law? Hurt people?”
“Yes,” he answered, his voice was gritty.
“Yes? That’s it? That’s all you have to say?”
“For now,” he said, his voice tightened, and his chest rose and fell with his anger, but instead of leaving, he moved toward her. She held her ground, unafraid. Lifting her chin and glaring at him.
“Who brought you here?” he asked.
“A taxi.”
“You think I won’t find out?”
“I have free will. I chose to come here of my own accord.”
“A choice that cannot go unpunished,” he said, and reached for her.
Instinctually, Persephone pushed his hands away. His eyes gleamed. “Are you telling me no?”
She knew if she said no, he would stop, but she couldn't deny she wanted to see his punishment through. It would mean intense pleasure and it would be angry and rough and primal, and she needed release.
She shook her head once, and then Hades spun her around to face the mirrored wall. She used it for support as he bent her forward and watched him in the reflection. He nudged her legs apart and lifted her skirt, eyes hungry.
His hand brushed across her skin, and then he swatted her ass. She yelped, more from surprise than pain, and Hades glanced up, meeting her gaze in the mirror before drawing her underwear to her ankles, and helping her step out of them. Her core tightened in anticipation as he shoved them in his pocket.
She gasped when his hand dipped between her thighs, her back arched as his fingers teased. She was molten for him—she didn’t even need the foreplay.
Hades inhale was a hiss. “So fucking wet. How long have you been like this?”
A moan stuck in her throat as she answered.
“Since I got here,” she said. “I wanted you on the dance floor. I willed you to manifest from the dark, but you weren’t there.”
“I’m here now,” he said, and bent to kiss her shoulder, down her back, and then her bottom all the while his finger curled, going deeper while his other hand worked her clit in soft, aching circles. She could barely breathe, focusing on the feel of him inside her, mindless with need.