Chapter 33 – Hades
HADES
Andros shadows my every step as I wind down the steps of the prison. Triumph sings through my blood. It was easy. Just exactly as I had planned.
When I stop in front of the prison cell containing my prizes, their voices die down and all turn to look at me. “Well, well, well, I’m so happy you decided to join me.”
“Go fuck yourself,” Hecate shouts.
I really do need to kill that witch one day. My gaze goes to the shade. “You made a mistake, young one, in trying to fight nature. You are a shade. You are meant to serve me and do only as I say.”
“No.” Her refusal comes out soft. “I’m not like the others. I’m not meant for this life.”
I try to conceal my rage at her words. “You can’t fight what you are.”
“Yes, she can.”
My gaze slides to the dark-haired woman, and it takes me a minute to realize who she must be. “Medusa?”
She lifts her battered arms. “In the flesh.”
Before I had only considered how taking Medusa and the mermaid was part of this deal, but now I realize that these two monsters could be useful to me. The realization makes me smile. All of these women can serve the great Hades, in their own ways.
“You would be the perfect torture device,” I tell her. “I’m certain being turned to stone over and over again would be the perfect hell for some.”
She draws her shoulders back. “Never going to happen.”
I smile. “You monsters seem to think you have a choice.”
“We do,” my shade says, but her words aren’t confident.
I turn back to her. “I am preparing a celebration of sorts. You will have your collar and leash reattached, and I’ll—“
“I won’t serve you. I won’t kill for you.”
The laugh that explodes from my lips surprises even me. “Oh, no, shade who was born from my daughter. I have a much better purpose for you. No, we shall see how much we have to torture you before it hurts my daughter.”
“That’s insane,” the red-haired mermaid says, and she actually sounds upset.
“How do you even know that will work?” Hecate demands.
I shrug. “I don’t, but I’ll have fun figuring it out.
” My gaze slides over them. “Enjoy the silence of this cell for a few more hours, because soon the celebration will begin. And each of you will become cogs in my kingdom, helping it be a darker and more miserable place for all those who deserve it.”
“We have husbands! We have children!” Keto says, sounding outraged.
Children?
“I wonder… What are the children of monsters and gargoyles capable of?”
Silence descends on the women.
Medusa launches forward and scratches my face before I can step back.
I hiss, holding my cheek. “That was a mistake!”
“And you will never hurt our children!”
I look at the blood that dampens my fingertips, then back at her. “And who exactly is going to stop me?”
The women throw themselves against the bars and scream in outrage. For a long minute, I just watch their suffering in pleasure. These monsters think they’re so powerful, but soon they’ll learn that no one is more powerful than a god.
Turning and heading back up the stairs, I speak over my shoulder to my undead gargoyle. “Come on then, let’s prepare for the festivities.”