by Vivian Wood
I let the fool in my hands fall to the ground.
It’s a sudden drop, and he has no time to catch himself. The guy’s body spills onto the dirt in a heap. Is he breathing? I don’t know, and I don’t care.
Persephone lets go of my arm, a fresh wave of sobs, the pitch rising.
Conor gets to his feet.
I put a hand on his head. “Wait. You might still get your chance.”
He makes an impatient sound.
“Decker,” she gasps, and I roll my eyes. Decker. Not my love, not darling, not any other term of endearment. Just her ticket out. And here she is, fluttering around him like they’re Romeo and Juliet.
“Deck, wake up.” He coughs once and rolls over onto his side, knees folding up into the fetal position. Pity. Persephone falls to her knees and puts a hand on his cheek. “Oh, I thought… I thought…. I love you. I thought it was too late—”
She loves him now. How precious.
One sharp whistle and shadows detach from the trees. The train howls out its own whistle a second time. It won’t actually leave until I tell it to, but she doesn’t need to know that. I pluck her up by the waist, practically weightless, and she tries to get back down.
“No, no, let me go!”
This puts Conor on edge. He nudges my shin, baring his teeth. He wants a piece of her. I want a piece of her too.
I slip one hand around her throat. Fuck, she’s delicate, her pulse fluttering just underneath the skin. Persephone goes still and lets me turn her to face me. She pants as I run the pad of my thumb over her chin. It quivers, trembling along with the rest of her body.
“Are you going to kill me now?”
My men step up behind her, but she doesn’t dare turn her head. Two of them hook their arms under Decker’s and drag him past us, giving us a wide berth. Her eyes follow his slumped body. The man won’t shut up. All the groaning, the whining—fucking pathetic.
“You said you would do anything to save him. That was your bargain. Are you telling me you’d rather be dead?”
A flicker of fear is chased off her face by a nameless expression, a light flaring in her eyes. She glances down at Conor, the whites of her eyes glowing in the moonlight. “No,” she whispers. “I want to live.”
I lean in close, bending down so my lips are level with her ear. Her heart beats hard under my fingertips. She smells sweet, like roses and sunshine and something unique to her. It must be the fresh softness of her. Fuck, the things I’m going to do to her, dangling her not-boyfriend on a string as if she’ll ever be anything but mine. The urge to throw her down into the dirt is so strong it almost overtakes me, but now that all this has transpired, it’s best for the train to move on. I’m no longer interested in dealing with Demeter tonight—not now that I have her daughter for my very own.
The poor thing.
“We’ll see how long that lasts.”
Chapter Five
Persephone
I should scream and kick and pound at his back. I should fight him or die trying. There are lots of things I should do.
But the one thing my mother never explicitly warned me about—God, she never told me anything; it’s clear… it’s so clear—is that he’s huge. He’s not just ruthless. He’s not just strong. He’s taller than Decker by a good five inches, and the two of them together….
I choke back a sob. Decker never stood a chance. I’ve never seen muscles on a man like this before, and the only men I’ve ever really seen are my mother’s fieldworkers. None of them look this strong. None of them feel this strong. He’s got an iron grip just under my ass, and I don’t even have to struggle to know that I’ll never, ever get free. The dream of seeing the New York Public Library—gone up in flames. Cicadas scream on my behalf.
The night breeze is the world’s gentlest caress on my skin, not even powerful enough to dry my tears. So I let them fall to the ground behind us. My heart could stop right this instant. It hurts like a broken rib. I’ve never been so far over my head in my life. “I’ll do anything.” That’s what I said, and I saw it in Luther Hades’ eyes—the moment he accepted the deal. There was no relief there, or happiness. Only a cruel satisfaction. What else was I supposed to do? What else was I supposed to do? Let Decker die? And what does it mean that the smallest, worst part of me considered it?
But I didn’t run, did I? No. I traded the only thing I have to give. Me. And I might not know much about the world, but I know this—people live and die by vague terms. Maybe that was why she said the same thing about Hades over and over again. If he finds you, he will kill you.
She was wrong about that.
He hasn’t killed me.
Not yet.
And whatever happens now could be far, far worse.
I want to howl for Decker, to chase after the men until they let me see if he’s all right. My chest aches suppressing a ragged shout. He’s not all right. How could he be all right? How could he ever be all right again?
How could I?
Hades cuts off my thoughts with an abrupt turn, his dog padding quietly along next to his feet. It’s a massive dog, sharp-teeth, and I heard its growl. I couldn’t say what kind it is, but I don’t need to know. It could kill me as easily as Hades could, but there’s only so much room for fear in my head. All of it blends together, loud and pounding.
We’re only one car back from the one I came through, but it might as well be a hundred miles. I pick my head up and crane my neck for a glimpse of Decker. The retreating shadows of the men who dragged him away grow dimmer in the far distance. Another cascade of sobs falls from my lips. I gulp them back, and Hades laughs, the low rumble soft against my belly through his shoulders.
“Don’t hold back.” His arm tightens across my legs. “I’m very much enjoying the sound of your tears. It’s such a...” He cocks his head to the side, leaving a bare inch of space for the night to rush into. “It’s such a pure sadness. Lovely.”
“You’re horrible,” I choke out, and then I’m falling, moving so fast I can’t help bracing for the impact that’s sure to come.
It never does. Instead, Hades sets me on my feet on the top step of the train car. My knees wobble. I hope, I pray, that the dress is hiding it. He considers me from a few steps away. Silhouetted there in the moonlight, all of him stands out in sharp relief… only something’s different; something’s wrong. The way the shadows play over his face isn’t quite right, like he’s pulling the moonlight into his own dark heart and stripping all the brightness away. The light can only get as close as the edges of him, and then... somehow, he repels it. My own breath sounds harsh and loud against the hum of the train and the whoosh of the wind in the leaves.
“Would a horrible man be so kind to you?” A grin flashes across his face, teeth white in the strange shadows. He radiates a mean confidence. It comes off him in waves. “The city has violence.” This man has violence. His dog paws at the ground. “I’ve even left the flowers in your hair.”
“If you were being kind, you would have killed me already.” He’s torturing me now without touching me. A better man wouldn’t put me through this crushing terror, but he loves it.
An unspeakable fear closes my throat. The wondering tone about the flowers is scarier than everything else.
“I’m honoring your own request.” He puts his hands in his pockets, standing tall. Hades takes a single step forward, but it’s like he’s slammed a door on the rest of the world. “If I recall correctly, you were willing to trade anything to save that young man’s life. It’s a fair trade, don’t you think? Your life for his?”
“So you are going to kill me.” My chin shakes, and damn it, if I have to die, I don’t want to do it with a quivering chin and a snotty nose. “Just do it then.”
Hades tips his head back and laughs. It’s the most terrifying sound I’ve ever heard, and yet—and yet—something about it strikes me as absolutely beautiful. It fits him, even while it gets under my skin, down to the bones. He raises one hand, and I grit m
y teeth. I’m not going to take a step back. I don’t even know if I can take a step back, but I’m not going to. I lift my chin, making room for his hand around my throat, and he makes a soft mmm sound.
“You’re offering,” he muses. “Either you’re hoping I kill you, or you’re doing your best to meet the terms of our little arrangement.” His hand hovers in the air, close enough for me to feel the heat of his palm but not touching me—not yet. “Of course, there’s another explanation for baring that pretty neck to me.”
He lets the statement hang in the air until I’m ready to burst. The train whistle sounds again—this is the third time—but Hades doesn’t so much as blink. He’s watching me. It’s more than watching, though—this is no casual gaze. He’s pinning me here with his eyes. Making me wait. Stripping me down. Heat sears across my cheeks. “I’ll do anything,” I said. I expected him to kill us both, honestly. I believed my mother. I was willing to throw myself onto the sword to save Deck, or at least die with him, and now….
I clear my throat so I can force the words out. “There’s no other explanation.”
“You don’t want to admit that you want this,” he purrs. I shake my head, horrified. No, no, no. “Oh not on the surface, sweetheart. Deep down, where you feel the most filthy and dirty and shameful. I think that part of you likes a hand on your throat. I’m not surprised, given the company you’ve been keeping.”
My lips have gone numb, but even worse, the heat has fled my cheeks and gone down between my legs. Hot shame presses my thighs together.
“I was trying to survive. I only wanted—”
“I like it when you cry.” Hades does touch me now, two fingertips on my cheek, burning a path along the tracks of my tears. “I like the way it makes your body shake. A man could get drunk off that feeling.”
I press my lips together, trying not to let any more tears leak out. It’s a futile thing. I couldn’t stop them if I tried.
“That’s what you want from me?”
“I don’t want anything from you.” Hades presses one thick finger to my lips, keeping me silent. My breath superheats in my lungs. I have a chestful of shame. He’s right, that little voice taunts. He’s right, and you know it. “It’s not about wanting; it’s about taking. And I’m going to take everything you offered.” He cocks his head to the side, studying my lips. “You know, not many men would let you buy something as valuable as a life without upfront payment. Luckily for you, I have a sense of honor. Turn around.”
The air rushes out of my lungs in a whoosh.
“What?” He makes me say it against his finger.
Hades leans in. “Turn around.”
A montage of terrible things stampedes through my mind. Now? Here? On the steps of a train car? It’s too much, too soon, and at the same time, I’m seized with a desire so powerful the hairs on my arms stand up. The anticipation is always the worst part. I’ve learned that enough times, living with my mother. If he’d only just start, if he’d only just do what he’s going to do, I could finally exhale. But I can’t, because I’m frozen here on the steps, his eyes concealed by the thickening night, and if there’s one thing I do know, it’s this—you don’t turn your back on the monster in the room. I won’t turn my back on the dog, which looks ready to attack. It reminds me of Hades. They’re too similar. Too big and terrifying.
Hades drops his hand.
“You’re slow to obey, I see. That won’t be a problem for very long.”
“I….” There’s nothing I can say to that. He looks like he could stand at the bottom of the stairs forever and never get tired. There’s no choice but to do what he says. And in fact, I agreed to it—I did. I made a deal. I said anything. Whatever Hades is planning now is part of anything. Why, why, why was I so careless? Would Decker have done the same for me?
It dawns, slowly; maybe he did do the same for me. Maybe he was trying to put himself on the line, trying to distract Hades, and that’s what I interrupted. Decker was not dead when they took him away. There’s still hope he’s alive now. But I saw Hades’ hands around his neck. I saw the casual way he stood. It wasn’t an effort for him, killing Decker; it would have been easy, and he would have gone on with his life as if nothing happened. I’m the only thing standing in the way of that now. I don’t know where they’ve taken Decker, but this, tonight, this is proof it doesn’t matter. My mother was right. Hades will find him and kill him, and that will be the end of the game. I owe him. A full-body shudder moves through me. I have to do this, and I have to do it now.
“T-turn around and do what?”
Another slow smile, the hint of a laugh. I hold my breath, the pressure of the air around me pressing in on my head and on my heart and on the sick desire knotting in my belly.
“It’s not obvious? Don’t lie to me.” Hades puts his fingers beneath my chin and moves my head back and forth, watching, watching. “I liked it when you lied before, even while you pressed those thighs together and pretended you don’t feel it. But don’t do it now. I’ll know, and then you’ll have to pay the price.”
“It’s not obvious,” I blurt, I beg. “What do you want me to do?”
“Turn around,” he says again. “And get on the fucking train.”
Chapter Six
Persephone
The outside of the train car gave nothing away, its shell the same black, sleek exterior as the other cars. I edge into Hades’ train car sideways, breath shallow. I don’t want to turn all the way around. If I take my eyes off him, God knows what he’ll become. He’s already the worst thing I could imagine.
It’s not his looks that make my knees weak; it’s how he had Decker—strong, capable Decker—in midair without so much as breaking a sweat. Or maybe it is his looks. I don’t know anymore. My brain is nothing. My brain is the breeze in the leaves—leaves I might never see again.
He steps into the car behind me, his frame filling the door. For an instant, I think he might not make it through. Then he angles his shoulders, the movement graceful and controlled, and I have to scoot out of the way so he can rise to his full height behind me.
I don’t mean to stare, but in the warm, golden light of the train car, I... have no other choice.
Hades is exactly as tall and broad as he was outside, only more so now that we’re in an enclosed space. My brain struggles to put all the pieces of him together at once. I wasn’t wrong about the way the light reacts to him. He wears a rich charcoal suit that might as well be a black hole. There’s not a hint of shine to it, like the suit jacket I found at the back of my mother’s closet once upon a time. At boarding school, I picked up enough fashion knowledge to know this is no off-the-rack garment. It was made for him.
And the body underneath the suit…
Flawless. I press my thighs together again at the sight of him. Decker has a rough-and-tumble attractiveness, some muscles bigger than others, nothing quite matching up. But Luther Hades looks like he was born to wear expensive suits as much as he was born to throw me over his shoulder. Everything about him is symmetrical, perfect. The suit slides over hard biceps, and I bet if I pulled his shirt out of his pants and looked underneath…
I bet….
Oh, God, I can’t even think of it. I bet he’d still be perfect. I swallow hard. All the books I’ve read, I realize now, are complete fantasies. In real life, men as evil as Hades don’t have to have an outward mark to tell you they’re the devil. Hades certainly doesn’t. This is a man, I think wildly. This is a real man. I try to bat the thought away, but it seems so real and foundational and true. I gave up my life for Decker, but I never once felt lightheaded at the sight of him.
A jagged tear appears in my mind. Everything about his clothes and his train car is supposed to be about refinement. But all I can feel is the violence coiled underneath all that fine fabric. His clothes don’t hide it. They enhance it. He could kill wearing the most expensive piece of clothing I’ve ever seen.
Hades snaps his fingers in front of my eyes.
> I blink up at him, breath stopping again at the sight of his face. His face. His body is one thing, but his face—I’ve never seen any man so cruelly beautiful. Pale-blue eyes like chips out of the springtime sky. Sandy hair, catching the golden light in short glossy strands. He looks at me, cheekbones sharp enough to cut, and a perfectly cruel jaw.
“Ah, so you do like what you see.” His lips curve upward in something between a sneer and a smile. “But I didn’t tell you to stare. I told you to get on the train.”
“No, I….” Yes. I do like it. I can’t help it. He’s beautiful, and his clothes are beautiful, and this train car is everything I was hoping for out there in the woods, back when I was still a fool. “It’s hard to look away.”
Behind him, the door slides shut. He slaps a palm to the wall beside him. It glows then fades away, and the train starts moving. My balance is off on my wobbly knees, and I fall sideways, unceremonious, one palm thrown out to stop my fall… but I never hit the floor. Hades catches me around the waist again. I feel the place where he’s touching me over my entire side like an electric current.
“Pay attention,” he growls. “If you hit your head on the furniture, you won’t be of any use to me.” He wraps his other huge hand around my waist and pushes me backward. This time, the landing is a soft one—plush and overstuffed, actually. It does nothing to calm me. His dog is instantly between us, guarding, watching me. The beginnings of a growl rumbles in his throat. Wolf. He’s more like a wolf—too big and powerful to be a pet.
“Conor.” Hades snaps his fingers, and it’s like I never existed—either to him or to the dog. There’s enough light here to see Conor is the color of midnight and strong, not an ounce of extra fat on him. He crosses the train car, nails clicking on the floor, and curls up in front of the fireplace. The fireplace. A low fire burns in a grate by the train’s outer wall.