Page 17 of Bride of Death (Netherworld Fae #1)

Hades

My mate stares at me like she can’t believe I’m here. “Hades,” she breathes.

I smile. “So you’re not going to pretend I’m a stranger this time?”

She swallows, her blue eyes captivating me just as much as her former brown ones. Both versions of my mate are beautiful, but in entirely different ways.

Even her scent is unique in this form, yet exquisitely captivating nonetheless. Like a bouquet of blooming fire lilies , I muse, inhaling deeply.

“The dream was real,” she whispers, causing my eyebrow to lift. “You came to me my first night here and told me your name was Hades. I… I thought it was a dream. Why did you let me think it was a dream?”

Her voice gains power as she speaks, her pretty eyes sparking with a blue flame that excites my inner Alpha. I rather like this feisty energy. It’s a new trait, one that’s unexpectedly arousing.

“So you’re Hades.” She utters the words like she’s evaluating me. Her gaze runs over me, her lips pursing. “Hmm.”

She turns around to focus on something on the counter, effectively dismissing me.

Maliki shoots me an amused look before disappearing. I didn’t exactly expect him to stay, but I’m a little surprised he didn’t comment before leaving.

Regardless, this is my task now.

“You’re going back to pretending we don’t know each other, then?” I guess, her words about the dream a not-so-clever way of explaining how she knew my name. “Haven’t you grown tired of this game, Persephone?”

“My name is Sera,” she replies without looking at me. “And I’m not the one who pretended to be a dream, so don’t accuse me of playing games.”

“I didn’t pretend anything, little mate. You made an assumption, and I chose not to correct it.” And that’s assuming I even believe her.

Which I don’t.

When she continues to give the counter more attention than me, I move around to her side and arch a brow at the pot of soil she’s tending to.

Picking up the packet beside it, I read the rose breed and scoff. “If you’re going to pretend you don’t know me or our history, then perhaps you shouldn’t pick a flower that’s so much like your favorite one from our home realm.”

Her hands still. “What flower?”

I study her profile, noting the way she’s stopped blinking. “Fire lilies, like the ones our nuptial invitations created.” Which I assume is why she’s suddenly wanting to groom a similar plant to life.

That explains the scent , I think.

It’s everywhere here.

And it’s obviously not just coming from her.

Though, I don’t see any other flowers in her little hut. A strange development, as Persephone always needed life blooming around her in our Mythos Fae palace.

Her vines and flowers died shortly after her disappearance.

Despite her betrayal, I did try to care for them. But I’m death, while she’s life. Living objects tend to wilt beneath my attention as a result.

And they did horribly after she left.

Pretty sure my heart shriveled up and died right along with all her precious lilies.

“This is an Autumn Damask rose, not a lily,” she tells me. “Very different species.”

“Perhaps,” I agree. “But the scent of that particular rose is the same as a fire lily, telling me you chose it with a purpose.”

Maliki reappears, carrying the scent of butter with him.

Rather than comment, he simply takes a seat on a creaky old wooden chair at the small dining table just off the kitchen and begins munching on his treat.

“Is that popcorn?” I ask him.

“It is indeed,” he drawls before taking a mouthful. “Please continue and act like I’m not here.”

Loud crunching follows, making that an impossible task. “Fuck off, Maliki.”

“Excuse me,” Persephone interjects before the male in question can respond. “This is my home. You do not come in here uninvited and then tell my guest to leave.”

Maliki grins and gives me a cocky look.

My gaze narrows. “I was invited when you called for me at the Den.” I didn’t hear her, of course. But Maliki told me about it—the knowledge of which I am more than happy to use now.

Some of his smugness leaves his expression, no doubt aware of what I’m doing.

“Just as I was invited when you publicly denounced my claim.” More than once , I nearly add, that damn registry floating through my mind. Her single status was the catalyst that forced my hand.

I was enjoying watching her until she lied to the kingdom by declaring herself as unmated .

“Further, you are mine,” I remind her. “Therefore, I am always invited into your personal quarters.”

Maliki is no longer smiling. Instead, he appears nervous.

I have no idea why. It’s not like I intend to hurt Persephone. She’s mine to cherish and adore. And also to punish, yes. But my brand of punishment isn’t cruel. If anything, it can be quite pleasurable.

“I am not yours,” Persephone fires at me with so much venom I nearly take a step back. I’ve never seen her like this. She’s always so meek and soft, her anger practically nonexistent.

But she’s mad now.

I daresay she may even be furious.

Yet I have no idea why. Nothing I’ve said is incorrect. She is the one who is mistaken by claiming not to be mine.

“Do you have any idea how it feels to know you’ve rejected my claim in front of hundreds of fae?” I ask her, my voice soft despite the pain and fury the words awaken within me. “I stayed faithful despite your betrayal, yet you have the audacity to treat your Alpha this way?”

“I don’t even know you!” she snaps. “Outside of the dreams, anyway. Which don’t count since they’re not real. I don’t even know what they mean or what they are, just that… that you took advantage of me when I first arrived by allowing me to think you were a figment.”

Dreams , I think, eyes narrowing.

She mentioned that during our first meeting, suggesting she dreams of me. As she should. I’ve dreamt of her nonstop since the moment we met. And that never stopped, despite the two thousand years we’ve been apart.

I’m also not fond of her accusation that I took advantage of her. “I didn’t even touch you.” Apart from a soft kiss to her forehead after she fell asleep. Does she know I did that?

“And what betrayal ?” she goes on, acting as though I haven’t spoken. “I would have to know you to betray you, and if anyone has betrayed anyone, you betrayed me by announcing our supposed engagement to the entire kingdom without my permission or acceptance.”

The munching of popcorn intensifies, distracting me for a moment and making me want to smite Maliki. Helpful, he might be, but he’s being intentionally obnoxious right now. His gold eyes practically glitter with amusement when I look at him.

Most fae know not to push me.

Alas, Maliki is not most fae.

“Do you know what happened in the Den last night?” my mate continues.

“The fae nearly drank themselves into an early grave because they translated my request to order drinks as a demand. And they kept calling me Your Majesty . One even called me his queen.” She folds her arms, causing my gaze to drift down to her chest.

It’s an automatic response.

One that has me regretting my instincts instantly, as I’m already aroused by her anger, and now I’m enjoying the view of her breasts being pumped up in that tight tank top of hers.

“Are you even listening to me?” she demands.

“It would be impossible not to hear you, darling,” I murmur. “I’m fairly certain everyone in the village is listening to you right now.”

Not that I care. She’s my Omega. If she wants to yell, then so be it. Though, I’m not quite sure what I’ve done to deserve such ire. Nor did I know my mate was capable of such fury.

She scowls, the expression more adorable than it should be. “You’re infuriating.”

I arch a brow. “I’ve barely spoken.”

“I know!” she snaps back at me. “Yet you assume I’m yours because of some soul bond?” She huffs at the question she’s voiced. “I don’t know you, Hades. Nor have you tried to get to know me. So I will not be marrying you.”

“The nuptials are a formality to inform the kingdom that you’re mine,” I tell her. “But we are, in fact, already wed, wife .”

“In another life,” she replies. “A life I don’t remember.”

“So we’re back to this game again?” I ask with a sigh. “All right, darling.”

She throws up her hands and looks at Maliki. “Is he always this impossible?”

“Yep,” he says without hesitation. “Popcorn?” He offers it to her without looking at me.

My jaw ticks. “Why do I feel ganged up on?”

“No idea,” the male I often think of as my best friend drawls. “Did you want popcorn, too?”

I close my eyes and take a deep breath. Maliki wanted me to talk to Persephone, as did everyone else. And now he’s going to make me feel like a fool for doing so?

“I don’t know you, Hades,” Persephone repeats, the words sounding far too genuine. Too practiced. Too real .

“I love you, Persephone, but I don’t believe you,” I admit, my eyes opening once more to meet her new-to-me gaze. Everything about her is physically different. Yet I can sense her soul. The one that hurt me. Nearly destroyed me. And ruined all of Mythos Fae kind.

She has to be punished for her sins. It’s unfortunately my job to carry that sentence out, and I absolutely hate that I have to potentially hurt her.

“You love a soul that supposedly exists inside me,” she replies, her voice shifting to a softer tone, one that almost sounds defeated.

I’m not sure I care for it. Though, it does remind me of the Persephone I once knew. Did she use this tone to manipulate me then? I wonder. Is she doing it again now?

I’ve spent millennia trying to understand how I miscalculated my mate’s intentions, how I missed her motives and devious acts.

But I’m paying attention now.

Because I won’t be tricked again.

“My sister doesn’t remember any specifics from the past,” she goes on. “If you don’t believe me, ask Orcus.”

“She’s not your sister,” I tell her. “Not even in human form.” Their biological parents were different; they were just raised by the same assigned mother and father.

Her version of the Human Realm is unique, her experience there dark .