Page 27 of Flowers Near Me

CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN

THE ICE IN HIS VEINS

HADES

T he blue-tabbed folder on his desk held proof: Demeter had meddled with the Flowers Near Me app, infecting it with a virus Hecate aptly named “snake bite.” Its magic spread like venom, slowly poisoning the app from the inside. Demeter had planted a beta tester to sabotage his project, a revelation confirmed after the traitor was granted immunity by Hades’ legal team.

But now, a bigger problem loomed. Persephone had snuck Hermes into the building and distracted the development team. Hades clenched his mug, ice spreading over the ceramic. His power, laced with anger, threatened to burst through the walls. Yet, across from him, Persephone seemed unfazed, eating her sandwich. How did she remain so unreadable?

Hades took a breath, his fingers drumming on the folder. “I have news.”

Persephone’s eyes narrowed. “Yes?”

“It’s about Flowers Near Me ,” he said, his voice low and measured. “We know what the problem is, and Eurydice should be able to fix it.”

She nodded, her expression cool and collected. “That’s good to hear. Will it be a quick fix or a bigger issue?”

Hades studied her. “We’ll know after I speak with her.” Her floral scent drifted toward him—usually pleasant but now bitter on his tongue.

“Good thing you and Eurydice have worked in the shadows together before,” she added, her voice laced with sarcasm. Beneath her calm facade, there was fire.

Hades rose, shedding his suit jacket and draping it over his chair. “Speaking of old friends,” he said, his tone darkening, “was it nice seeing your former assistant?”

Persephone paused mid-bite, eyes flickering. “Come again?”

“Hermes.” Hades sank back into his chair, crossing his ankle over his knee. “Did you enjoy catching up?”

She swallowed, nearly choking. “Right. Yes. It was fine.”

Hades’ lips pressed into a thin line. “Persephone,” he said, his voice dropping into a growl, and she shivered. He leaned forward, elbows resting on his knees, eyes locked on hers. “Tell me why you cleared the dev team out of the break room. The real reason.”

She exhaled sharply. “The lighting was good. I wanted a picture.”

“Try again,” he said, his voice sharp enough to cut. His anger was palpable, the temperature in the room dropping further. “Why did you help Hermes access Sophia’s phone?”

Persephone rolled her shoulders, meeting his gaze with defiance. “It’s irrelevant.”

“My brother’s errand boy came into the building, then checked one of the key developer’s phones.” His voice rose in volume with each word. “It’s very relevant given that we had a breach that threatened the existence of the app.”

She made a breathy noise from the back of her throat. “It has no relevance to that or the app itself.”

“You won’t tell me?”

“If Charon or Hecate asked you to keep a secret, and you promised, would you keep your word or betray their trust?”

“What about my trust?” Pain and anger filled every syllable. The glass windows creaked as frost spread over the panes, catching Persephone’s attention. Her slender neck flexed before she met his eyes again.

When no reply came from her, he scoffed. “It doesn’t matter what you promised him. You gave him access to a member of our team’s phone and then tried to hide it.”

“He’s Zeus’ messenger… or errand boy, as you said. He’s free to come and go as he pleases.” She wasn’t yelling, but her voice was starting to match the volume of his.

He bent forward at eye level with Persephone. “He’s free to move at the behest of the gods and goddesses. Tell me, little goddess, did you send him off on a task? And if not, whose business was it? Because he didn’t come to deliver a message. He snuck in to spy.”

She stiffened. “I don’t have any information that is of value to you. You can either take that at face value and trust me, or take whatever recompense you need in order to satisfy your security protocols. If you’re not going to do either one of those things, then I think it’s a good time for me to finish my lunch elsewhere.” She packed the remaining half of her sandwich into the box then rested her interlocked her hands on top of it.

Hades’ mouth twisted into a sneer. “Get out.” He gestured with his chin towards the door, straightened his back, then unlocked his computer.

Without a sound, Persephone stood up and left while Hades kept his eyes on his screen. At the sound of his office door shutting, he held his head in his hands and swallowed hard.

A throbbing pulse banged his temple and disappointment stabbed his chest. He sat up again and grabbed his phone, determined to deal with his anger later. Why wouldn’t she tell him the truth?

He texted Hecate.

Hades

Bring Hermes to my office.

Both the young messenger and the Goddess of Sorcery appeared before him in a flash.

“Take a seat, Hermes,” he said. Hermes promptly dropped into the seat.

Eyes locked on his computer, Hades pulled up the lobby’s security feed and rewound to the moment Persephone and Hermes had started talking.

Sweating and shivering, Hermes squirmed in the chair. “Hades, I didn’t mean any harm! I just wanted to check Sophia’s text from an old ex of mine?—”

Hades held out his palm. Wisps of his power leaked from his hand and squeezed Hermes until he released a pain-filled cry. “Don’t lie to me. Why were you in my building?”

“Do you know Sophia? On Eurydice’s team?”

He gave a single nod but didn’t loosen the strangling grip his power kept on Hermes’ torso.

Gasping for air, Hermes managed to say, “W—we’ve been seeing each other then, one night, I saw my ex had texted her.”

Hades scowled. “Hermes, are you telling me you had Persephone help you into a secure area so you could check your lover’s text messages? Because if so, then it’s the dumbest thing I’ve heard all year. And think about that because your boss is my brother and by now you know what an idiot he can be.”

Hermes released a weak groan. “I know it’s dumb, but I needed to know what my ex said.” Hermes sucked in a long breath as Hades loosened his power’s grip.

“And that was reason enough for Persephone to let you in and compromise the app she’s promoting?”

Hands shaking, Hermes waved and shook his head. “Shit! No, it’s not like that. I asked her because I knew she’d help me. I just wanted to read the text.”

Hades rubbed the bridge of his nose. It was a tempting story to believe because it exonerated Sephy from any major wrongdoing. Sure, she shouldn’t have just let Hermes in, but if she was simply covering for a friend, insecure in his relationship, then Hades’ rising fears of her possible treachery may not be true.

“What did you see on Sophia’s phone?” Hades picked up his phone.

Hades

Bring Sophia’s phone to my office. Tell her I’m doing random security checks.

Charon

Got it.

“My ex told her I shouldn’t be trusted and would cheat on her the second I lost interest,” said Hermes.

Hades raised his brows at him. “Well, is that true?”

“What do you mean?”

“Is your ex telling the truth? Would you do that?” Now he was toying with Hermes. A little out of spite for causing the ruckus, but also curious if one of his developers was headed towards a messy break-up.

“I-er… no,” Hermes replied, as his eyes danced around the room. Hecate laughed from the corner.

Charon opened his office door, and Hades greeted her with a nod.

“Here.” She handed him the phone. He hovered his hand over the device, unlocking it then opening her messages.

“What’s your ex’s name?” he asked Hermes.

“Thaddeus.”

He typed the name into the search bar, and “Thad” popped up in the results. He opened the thread and read a message very similar to Hermes’ version. The only part Hermes had left out was the fact that Sophia had reached out to her friend Thad, asking if Hermes was the guy who’d cheated on him a couple of years ago.

Hades locked the phone, then handed it back to Charon. “Tell her all clear.”

Charon nodded and headed out.

“Hecate, thank you for your help.”

Hecate wiggled her fingers at Hermes, who shrunk back in fear. “Until we meet again,” she said, then disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

“You’re done seeing Sophia. Find someone outside my company, and if you involve Persephone in another stunt, my brother will be scraping you off Underworld’s walls.”

Hermes nodded. “Yes, sir. I’m sorry.”

“Leave,” Hades commanded, sending him through a portal to Zeus’ office. He didn’t care if Zeus was irritated by the intrusion.

Hades leaned back, exhaustion and frustration gnawing at him. He’d accused Persephone of betrayal, but perhaps she hadn’t meant any real harm. Still, he’d needed to be sure.

Rushing out of his office, he approached the developer, Sophia, offering her a warning to stay clear of Hermes. Then, with a heavy heart, he made his way to the conference room, hoping he hadn’t destroyed the fragile trust between him and Persephone.

But when she met his gaze with a glare, his heart sank.

Damn it.