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Chapter 17
Elyse
If we were going to battle, we’d need all the help we could get. Yes, I was determined to get Catina back, even if it meant traveling to the Underworld. I’d sat back, waiting, for too damn long and now, I needed to kick some serious butt. And after the incredible sexy time I spent with Poseidon and Apollo, the magic between us flaring in a way I’d never felt before, it was better to go as a team than alone. We’d somehow bonded, our energies intensifying, and I didn’t care what Poseidon said about being cautious. I’d use whatever arsenal I had access to in order to save my friend. I itched to get started.
But I needed all four gods with me. I had to learn to work as a team better. Especially since the guys weren’t leaving my side. That was something new for me, but I was open to the challenge. The more, the merrier, right? Besides, this fight wasn’t only between X and me anymore. Since he’d escaped, thanks to Hades’s poor view of life and love, this fight had become about so much more than saving the humans. Catina. Hades. Myself.
Which was why I wanted Hades with us when we went to the Underworld. The team wouldn’t be complete without him—I’d seen how X backed away when the four gods had stood with me, when he sought me out. And seeing the friction between Hades and the other gods, they all agreed it was best if I went to see him on my own.
We needed that unity again.
And I was convinced if I asked Hades to join us, he’d agree. After all, the last two times we’d been together had been very different from our previous meetings. Until recently, Hades’s attraction toward me had been purely sexual. A hell of a lot had came down to lust between us whenever we were together, and I’d been convinced for a time that was all there’d been.
But lately, Hades had shown me a vulnerable side of himself. There was so much more affection there than in his closed-off, aggressive side. In a strange way, it excited me to know there was a chance we could be more than just friends with benefits.
That exposed, empathetic side of him was the one I wanted to appeal to now. We needed him to help out and get Catina back. And seeing Hades never meant for anyone to get hurt, much less Catina, my best friend, I was sure he’d be happy to help.
When I knocked on his front door, it took him a while to open up. He looked irritated when he opened the door, his hair scruffy, exhaustion in his eyes, even after he saw me.
“Can we talk?” I asked when he didn’t invite me inside. It looked like he was in a bad mood.
“I guess we can.” He just stood there, staring out into the distance.
He seemed a little sarcastic, or maybe I was just skeptical—the man I’d seen the last two times was gone, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t gutted.
“Can I come in?” I pushed again, not nearly as forthcoming as I’d been a moment before. Hades was a son of a bitch. There were no two ways about it.
“Yeah,” he finally said, stepping aside. He seemed unhappy with me in his space, but he’d have to suck it up. My expectations for this chat wavered. I didn’t get the feeling I’d have as good a conversation with him as I’d imagined. I wasn’t sure what was going on, but the Hades I saw now was much more along the lines of the villain I’d thought he was.
“What do you want?” he challenged. He really didn’t want me here. What the hell was going on?
“I want to talk to you about Catina. Ares found her in the Underworld. X is keeping her there. We’re going to get her, and I wanted to ask if you’ll come with us.”
“No, thank you,” Hades responded without even appearing to think about my question.
“Just like that?” I exclaimed in shock, my stomach twisting. “Don’t you care?”
“Not about Catina,” Hades declared with zero emotion in his voice. “Why would I? I don’t even know her. She’s just another inconsequential human.”
“That inconsequential human is my best friend,” I said tightly. “And you are partly to blame for her disappearance.”
Hades barked a sarcastic laugh. “How do you figure that?”
“You’re responsible for X’s release. He’s running around, causing shit all over the place, and you’re the one who should be able to rein him in.”
Hades narrowed his eyes. I didn’t like the way he looked at me as if I was just another one of his enemies. I thought everything had changed between us; I’d assumed he felt something more for me than the strange rivalry we’d had that was always laced with sex.
“I’m not interested,” he replied coldly.
He didn’t even offer an explanation, an excuse, anything. I stared at him for a moment, surprised he was so extremely closed off to me. Much more than before even.
“If I didn’t know better, I’d think you didn’t even care about me,” I said softly.
“You see, this is how everyone pisses me off.” The bitterness in his voice was out of place and caught me off-guard. “Everyone seems to think there’s no other way than to love. But I’m not interested in love, sweetheart. Not anymore. I’m sorry you thought it was something that could happen, but I don’t love.” He almost growled the words, and I trembled at the anger he spewed toward me.
A fiery rage slingshotted through me, and a blaze crawled up my spine and over my head. Why was he messing with me like this? What about the last two times we’d been together? I didn’t understand why he bothered showing me that side of him if he was only going to cut me out again.
“Was I just a convenience while you were feeling weak?” I let my anger show and lifted my chin to make myself look bigger.
