Page 22 of Hades

We sat out on the porch drinking our beers while the sounds of nature at night blasted all around us. We talked at times, but at others we enjoyed the silence. It wasn’t tense or awkward, it was just nice.

Really fucking nice.

After an hour, my eyelids grew heavy. Maybe the combination of the long day, the long drive and the fresh air would let me sleep at least a few hours. “I’m gonna head inside.” I stood and Hades stood with me.

“Me too. I’ll lock up the place and see you in the morning.”

I nodded and headed inside, stripping down as soon as I closed the door behind me, and climbed in bed, hoping that finally I’d be able to sleep after a week of nightmares.

Chapter Twelve

Hades

It was the middle of the night and she was wide awake. For the third night in a row, Raven was up and pacing. She tried to be quiet, but only a small hallway separated our rooms, and I was entirely too fucking aware of her not to notice.

Every night, she got out of bed around two in the morning and went to the kitchen to grab a bottle of water. Then she moved to the large windows overlooking the lake and stayed there for a few minutes before she went back to her bedroom and paced. Back and forth she went, burning a hole in the pine floors before she slid back in bed and—presumably—stayed awake until the sun came up and it was time to start the day.

Not tonight.

I let her grab her water and soak in the beauty of the lake, but as soon as she started pacing, I shot out of bed and headed to my door, yanking it open and knocking on hers.

The pacing stopped and nothing but silence met me on the other side of the door for several long moments. Eventually the door opened and there she was with disheveled hair, tired eyes, and a tank top that showed off a perfect handful of perky tits with diamond tipped nipples. Her brows furrowed and her lips pursed when she saw me standing there. “Hades. What’s wrong?”

“Come with me.” The words came out harsher than I planned but the sight of her in those tiny shorts was too fucking much.

“Where are we going? Did you hear something?” Her voice followed me down the hall and into the living room.

I kept the lights off so we could see the lake, lit by the moon.

“Hades?”

“Nothing is wrong,” I finally answered, taking a seat on the sofa. “Sit.”

“What’s going on?” She sat on the middle cushion, which surprised the shit out of me, not that I minded.

“Nothing other than the fact that you aren’t sleeping.” I watched her, waited for her to deny it just to be contrary.

Her brows crinkled. “My bad. Did I wake you?”

I shook my head. “I don’t give a fuck if you wake me. Why aren’t you sleeping?” I knew the answer, but I needed to hear her say it.

“I don’t sleep much.” That was all she said. Four fucking words.

“I hear you at night, Raven. Walking around. Pacing. Keeping your mind busy.”

Her arms wrapped around her middle. “If you don’t want an apology, then what are you after?”

I turned back to the water. “Answers. Talk to me.” Our gazes collided, holding for so long I almost got lost in those obsidian depths.

She held her breath for a long time, weighing her options before she nodded. “I don’t sleep much,” she said again, but she wasn’t finished. “It’s why I like being at the clubhouse. I know I’m safe there, but even then, I get three, maybe four hours of sleep. If I’m lucky. Been that way since I got out.”

She said it like she was in prison, serving a sentence. “You mean since you escaped. Survived.”

Her eyes softened. “Yeah, that.” She offered a smile but no more words and I knew if I wanted her to open up, I had to do the same.

I stood and went to the kitchen, grabbing two cold bottles of beer because somehow beer made it easier to talk. “When I was discharged from the Army, I was lost. I felt fucking useless. I thought that would be my whole fucking life, at least my whole career, and then it was gone and I was… I don’t know, aimless.” I spoke words to her I never said out loud to another human and here I was sharing them with my best friend’s sister. “And then I met Falcon and he introduced me to the Steel Demons.”

“And you found another purpose?” There was a smile in her voice, and I couldn’t help but turn to look at her. I loved it when she smiled with her whole face.