by Larissa Ione
And as he collapsed on top of her, his skin coated in sweat, his lungs struggling to pull in enough air, he wondered if he should tell her how he felt about her. Would she believe he was capable of love? He hadn’t thought so, but what else could explain his inability to stop thinking about her? What else could explain his willingness to disobey Azagoth? Would it be fair to tell her he’d fallen hard for her?
They had, after all, only known each other for a short time. Worse, Azagoth might kill him.
And then, as if just thinking about the male was a curse, the door slammed open. The Grim Reaper burst inside, the whites of his eyes swallowed by inky black, swirly pools. Massive, leathery wings brushed the ceiling, but it was the set of ebony horns sprouting from his forehead and curling over the top of his skull, that filled Hades with dread. Azagoth only took out his horns when he was pissed.
Yep, Hades was dead. And this time, he had a feeling the “mostly” part wouldn’t apply.
Chapter Nineteen
This was a nightmare.
Terror winged its way through Cat as Azagoth strode into her little apartment, black horns jutting from the top of his skull. Lilliana had once said that when the horns came out, so did his temper.
Which was bad, considering that he did most of his killing while being perfectly calm. She didn’t even want to try to imagine what he’d do while seriously pissed off.
She and Hades leaped off the bed, and while she scrambled for a robe, he very coolly pulled on his pants. Azagoth had the decency to avoid looking at her, but his eyes burned holes through Hades. Who, for his part, showed no emotion at all, although he did keep himself between her and Azagoth. It was sweet of him to want to protect her, but she had a feeling he was in far more danger than she was.
“Azagoth.” Hades held his hands up in a placatory gesture, but Azagoth kept moving toward them in a slow, predatory gait. “This isn’t––”
“Isn’t what it looks like?” Azagoth’s words, sounding as if they’d been dredged in smoke, were a dare, and Cat hoped Hades didn’t take it.
“No,” Hades said, standing his ground and looking completely unruffled. “It’s exactly what it looks like. But it isn’t Cat’s fault. I came to her.”
Tugging her robe closed, Cat stepped next to Hades. “Please, Azagoth,” she begged, and she’d go to her knees if she had to, “don’t punish him. He saved my life.”
Azagoth halted a few feet away, clenching and unclenching his fists at his sides. Claws at the tips of his fingers shredded his flesh, and blood began to drip from his hands. “And you felt grateful enough to sleep with him?”
“Of course not. This started before he saved me.” Cat immediately realized her mistake when Hades groaned and Azagoth growled. Quickly, she added, “It was all my fault. He kept telling me he couldn’t, and I kept...seducing him.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“It’s the truth,” she said, “so, yes.”
Azagoth turned to Hades, and was it her imagination or had his horns receded a little? “And what have you got to say?”
“She’s telling the truth. But...”
“But what?”
“But I could have resisted more. I chose not to.” He took her hand. “I want her.”
“I see.” Azagoth scrubbed his palm over his face, leaving behind smears of blood like evil war paint. “Lilliana has made me soft,” he muttered. He dropped his hand and studied each of them in turn before focusing his laser gaze on Hades. “Will you fight for her?”
Hades growled. “I would fight Revenant himself for her.”
Azagoth’s upper lip peeled back to reveal a set of huge fangs. “Would you fight me?”
“I’d rather not, but if forced to, yes.”
The expression on Azagoth’s face became stony, sending a chill down her spine. “Will you beg?”
Beg? What a strange question. But it seemed to get a rise out of Hades, because he stiffened. “I...have never...begged.”
“I know.”
Hades dropped to the floor so fast and hard his kneecaps cracked on the stone tile. “Please, Azagoth,” he began, his gaze downcast, his hand clasped against his thighs. “I’ve served you well, but if you want me to do better, I will. If you want to torture me every day for the rest of my life, I’ll gladly submit. All I ask is that you allow me to see Cat between sessions.” He lifted his head, and she had to stifle a cry at the liquid filling his eyes. “I am sorry about your son. His death must sit on your heart like a bruise, and if I could heal it, I would. I can only keep trying to make it up to you, but without Cat, I don’t know how long I can survive to do that. Please, my lord, let me find the same happiness that you’ve found with Lilliana.” His voice cracked with emotion. “Please.”
Cat lost it. Truly, hopelessly, lost it. Sobbing, she sank down next to Hades and wrapped herself around him, needing to comfort him as much as she needed comfort. Her heart ached and her throat closed, and her skin tingled with the sense of goodness that radiated from Hades. Right now, he wasn’t a fallen angel who ruled a demon purgatory. Right now he was a male, in pain and vulnerable, whose intentions were truly pure.
“Yeah, yeah,” Azagoth muttered. “Fine. Get up. You have my blessing. That wasn’t so hard, was it?”
Cat nearly burst with happiness as Hades blinked up at Azagoth. “Holy shit, so that’s all I had to do was beg for your forgiveness?”
“Yep.”
“So I could have done that centuries ago?”
“Yep.” Azagoth’s voice took on a haunted quality that struck Cat right in the heart. “All I ever wanted from you…after enough pain, of course…was an apology for taking my son’s life.”
Cat’s eyes watered anew as Hades swallowed hard. “I am truly sorry, Azagoth.”
And that fast, Azagoth’s appearance returned to normal, the blood gone, his eyes glinting like gems. “I know.”
Then, in a move that left Cat speechless, he offered a hand to Hades. Clasping Cat’s hand first, Hades reached out with the other and allowed Azagoth to bring them to their feet. The two males locked gazes for just an instant, but in that brief, intense moment, something passed between them. Something she could only describe as mutual respect, and by the time Azagoth stepped back, she knew that this was the beginning of a brand new relationship between the two.
Hades tugged Cat close. “You know, I’m glad I didn’t beg sooner, because if I had, I wouldn’t have Cat.”
“Yeah, well,” Azagoth said wryly, “you did have Cat, and let me tell you, everyone in Sheoul-gra knows it.”
A hot blush spread over Cat’s face. Now she knew how Azagoth had learned about them. As the blush worked its way down her body, Hades planted a kiss on the top of her head, and the blush turned instantly to fierce, uncontrollable desire.
“I think,” she said, “that everyone is going to know it again.”
Azagoth cringed. “I’m out of here.” He paused. “Before I go, do either of you know why my Seth statue is fucking itself?”
Cat nearly choked on her own saliva, and Hades held his hands up in denial. “No idea what you’re talking about.”
“Really.” Azagoth’s dubious expression said he wasn’t buying it. “So you have absolutely no idea who glued Seth’s penis to his ass?”
“Nope.” Hades slid his hand to Cat’s butt and gave her a playful pinch. “Didn’t you say you were leaving?”
Muttering obscenities, Azagoth hotfooted it out of the apartment, and Cat turned to Hades with a sly smile. “You are very naughty.”
Hades’s eyes glittered as he trailed a finger along her cleavage. “You think?”
“I know.” She went up on her toes and brushed her lips over his. “What do you say? Should we show everyone why they need to invest in earplugs?”
Hades tore open her robe and tugged her to him. “Earplugs? Baby, we’re gonna need to soundproof this room after what I’m going to do to you.”
“And what,” she said, as she cup
ped his swelling erection, “would that be?”
“Everything.”
“Promise?”
He reached around and slid his fingers between her cheeks as he lowered his mouth to hers. “Promise.”
As it turned out, Hades kept his promise. And as it also turned out, everyone knew it.
* * * *
“Hello, Cataclysm.”
Cat yelped in surprise as she whirled around to face the newcomer who had flashed into the courtyard in front of Azagoth’s manor. She’d just been on her way to the Unfallen dorms to help Lilliana set up a new training program after spending an entire day in bed with Hades, and if she hurried, she could get back in time to join him in the shower.
“Reaver,” she breathed. He stood there next to the fountain, his angelic glow radiating around him. “It’s good to see you again. Azagoth is––”
“I’m not here for Azagoth.” His deep voice rumbled through every cell in her body. “I’m here for you.”
Her heart skipped a beat. Then another. And another, until it felt as if the organ was nothing but a shriveled husk in her chest. What if he was here to finally punish her for her stupidity in helping Gethel conspire against him?
“Me?” she croaked. “Why?”
“Because your actions in preventing the escape of millions of evil souls has earned you a reward.” He smiled, his blue eyes sparkling. “I’m here to give you your wings back.”
She sucked in a harsh breath as relief and joy filled her with such happiness that her body vibrated. He wasn’t here to destroy her! But...why not?
“I don’t mean to sound ungrateful, but...surely you understand what I did to you and your family. You know my history with Gethel, yes?”
Dark shadows flashed in his eyes, and she instantly regretted bringing up the evil bitch who had tried to start the apocalypse. “I am very well aware of your role in Gethel’s machinations. But I also know you didn’t realize the depths of her depravity until it was too late.” The shadows disappeared. “She’s paying for what she did, and you’ve paid the price as well.”
“I’m not sure I have.” She looked down at her bare feet as if her fresh blue nail polish would help her out. “I haven’t apologized to you, either. I’m so sorry, Reaver. I didn’t know what Gethel was planning, but I knew it wasn’t good. I tried to go to Raphael, and he swore he’d look into it, but––”
“He didn’t.”
She shook her head miserably. “No.”
“That’s because he was tangled up in a million different plots to overthrow Heaven and screw me over,” Reaver said. “I’ve always thought your sentence was too harsh, but once I learned that it was Raphael who sentenced you, it made sense. He wanted you out of Heaven because you knew too much.”
“But I didn’t know anything,” she protested.
“I know. But he couldn’t take any chances. Forcing your name on you was unnecessarily cruel, but not exactly a shock. He was, as one of my Seminus demon friends would say, a major dickmunch.” He smirked. “Raphael’s gotta be hating life right now.”
No doubt. Thanks to Reaver and his brother Revenant, Raphael was sharing a ten by ten cage with Satan, Lucifer, and Gethel for the next thousand years. Wasn’t long enough, in Cat’s opinion.
A rabbit scampered across the courtyard. It might have been one that Reaver had brought to repopulate what had once been a dead realm. “So anyway,” Reaver said after it disappeared under a bush, “you’re forgiven. Come home, Cat. You’ll even get your name back.”
Once again, joy engulfed her, as if she’d been swallowed by the sun. The fact that Heaven wanted her back was all she’d wanted when she’d first arrived here, scared and lonely and full of regret. But now...now she was happy. Happier than she’d ever been in Heaven.
“Thank you, Reaver,” she said. “But I’m afraid I’ll have to turn down your offer.”
One blond eyebrow shot up, but given that she’d just refused to get her wings and halo back, she thought he’d have been more surprised. “It’s Hades, isn’t it?”
Now she was the one who was surprised. “Ah...how did you know?”
“It makes sense.” He cocked his head and looked at her with an intensity that made her feel positively naked. “Are you sure you want to stay here as an Unfallen? Your powers are muted, you’re nearly as fragile as a human––”
“I’m sure. I don’t need powers down here, and with people like Hades, Azagoth, Zhubaal, and Lilliana around me, I don’t need to worry about my safety.”
He nodded. “Cool. But know that if you change your mind, the offer will remain open as long as you don’t do anything to betray Heaven or Earth. And you do understand that you could accept my offer and still be able to travel in the human and heavenly realms while living and working here in Sheoul-gra, yes?”
“I understand. But Hades resides in the Inner Sanctum, and as a fully haloed angel it would be far too dangerous for me to live there with him.” She laid her hand on his forearm reassuringly but pulled it back before his Heavenly goodness burned her skin to ash. “Being Unfallen puts me at a serious disadvantage everywhere but here. Here, it’s actually more protection than if I were an angel. I’m okay with it, Reaver. Really. Not everyone has to have badass superpowers to be something special.”
“Can I at least give you the ability to choose your own name? Or give Nova back to you? It’s a beautiful name.”
A lump formed in her throat. That was the first time anyone had spoken her Heavenly name in months. It brought back memories, so many of them, both good and bad. But it was her past, not her future.
“Nah,” she said. “I’m happy with who I am now. Raphael tried to shame me when he gave me my fallen angel name, but I won’t let him do that anymore. I’ll keep it to remind me to make wise choices.”
“Then so be it.” He pulled her into a brief embrace. “Be happy, Cataclysm.”
Then he was gone, and she was holding empty air.
Chapter Twenty
One month after moving in with Hades, their new “crypt” was finally finished.
Azagoth had completely removed all restrictions on Hades, and they now had a decent house that matched the ancient Greek style of the rest of Sheoul-gra. Unfortunately, Hades had been so busy meting out punishment to the demons who had participated in the uprising that he hadn’t had much time to enjoy it.
She’d taken today off from her new job working with the Unfallen, and she was going to make Hades do the same. They needed some quality time together, and she had the most amazing picnic planned.
He was at the Rot, as usual, which, besides their home, was the only place she was allowed to go in the Inner Sanctum. He’d taken her once to Cloud Cuckoo Land so she could thank the demons who had loaned her and Hades their home, but he’d made it clear that it was far too dangerous to do it again.
She finished dressing in a cute violet and black plaid skirt and a black tank top and gave the little wooden dog on Hades’s desk a stroke along its back and tail, laughing when it snapped at her. It was a silly little ritual she’d developed every time she left the house. Hades had promised to make her a tiny cat to match, but he’d see if he could enchant it to purr instead of bite.
Rubbing her belly in a futile attempt to quell the anxious flutters, she stepped into the portal and arrived at the Rot a heartbeat later. She hated this place, couldn’t help but think of the spider room every time she was there.
Malonius was at the entrance, and he gave her directions to some sort of classroom in the prison’s upper tower where Hades was supposed to be dealing with a group of unruly incubi. She could only imagine what kind of punishments would be doled out to sex demons.
She climbed the narrow, winding stone staircase and found Hades sitting on a stage before a horrified audience. As she entered through the door behind the stage, Hades spoke, reading from a book in his hands.
“Fill me with your filthy pee stick.” He paused for dramatic effect. “And lick my lush, melon
-like boobies.”
She tripped over her own feet. Pee stick? Boobies? What the hell?
“Come on, boy,” Hades drawled, his voice pitched high as he read from what was clearly a woman’s point-of-view. “My old pussy needs some young meat.”
Cat cleared her voice to announce her presence, although, really, it was more like choking. Hades looked over his shoulder, his face split in a wide grin.
“Baby! Hey, it’s good to see you.” He waggled his brows as he gave her outfit a once-over. “It’s especially good to see you in that.”
She looked out at the roomful of demons, all human in appearance, as they sat in their too-small chairs, their eyes wild, their faces pale. Clearly, they were miserable.
“What are you doing?”
Hades held up the book. “I’m reading bad porn to a captive audience.”
“Bad porn? Bad? That’s a compliment. Whatever it is you’re reading is horrifying. Whoever wrote it should be roasted slowly over a bed of coals.”
Hades’s grin widened. “I like the way you think.” He waggled his brows. “Wanna play with my pee stick?”
She did, but not until he stopped calling it a pee stick. “Is that an actual offer or are you just having fun saying ‘pee stick’?”
“Tell you what,” he said, bounding to his feet. “What do you say we head back to my place, and I’ll whip us up a nice pot of mac and cheese––the good kind in the blue box––and you can tell me what you like to call dicks.”
“Does this mean we’re done?” someone called out from the audience. “Please?”
Hades snorted. “Stay put. I’ll get a sub in here.” He glanced at his watch. “You only have twenty days and three hours left of listening to atrocious porn, and then you can go back to being the perverts you are.” He waved, and they groaned. “See ya.”
“That was kind of cruel,” Cat said as they headed toward the portal that would take them to the house.