Hot as Hades by Alisha Rai Page A

the truth as soon as we get back.”
    Intrigued, she motioned for him to continue.
    “There never was any horde of horny gods after you. Well, of course, there are always amorous gods, many of whom would love to get their hands on you, but there was never any plot, per se. So there’s no need for you to be scared to return.”
    A pounding started in her skull. “Wait…so why did you send me here?”
    As he told her, her anger mounted steadily, until her vision was covered in a red haze. “So let me get this straight,” she said with admirable calm. “You played with two people’s lives because you wished to curry the favor of the Fates?”
    “That makes it sound cheap. Hey, where did that ivy come from?”
    Her previous liking for the god vanished, and her temper snapped. A nervous shout ripped from his chest when a thick vine burst up from the ground and wrapped around him from knee to neck. “Now, Persephone, I like being tied up as much as the next guy, but…” She let him struggle a little bit, and she knew he was trying to break the hold of the greens. She was as surprised as he was when he stopped, obviously unable to. A dark emotion tightened his face. “You don’t know what you’re playing with, child.”
    Fire. Or lightning, to be more exact. “You don’t know what you’re playing with, Zeus. You think you can jerk me around? That I’ll lie down and allow you to drag me from world to world?”
    “If you had eaten something here, I wouldn’t be able to drag you anywhere, damn it. And it’s not like it’s even too late now. Grab a bite, and I can leave you here.”
    “You know very well that if I stay here, Demeter will make innocent people suffer. I’d never be able to stand for that.”
    He jutted out his lip. “Well, I can’t help you. As soon as I see you out, Hades will make the security so tight around this place, I’ll never be able to ferry you back and forth. And no other god would have the power to do as I’ve done. Especially not a noob like you.” He said it simply, with no conceit.
    She tilted her head and considered his words. “This noob has you immobilized, Zeus. I think I can manage quite a bit.” She swept back to the dresser and grabbed the black rose. As she left the room in a jog, she made sure that the ivy would release the god after about twenty minutes, long enough for her to have some alone time with Hades.
    After all, she didn’t want to totally piss Zeus off.

Chapter Eight
    Hades wasn’t in his sitting room where she’d left him, and she was out of breath by the time she tracked him down to his formal receiving room, where he was conferring with Cerberus. Their conversation terminated when she came in. The pain in his gaze made her want to howl in agony. Every ounce of his sadness multiplied her own.
    He dismissed Cerberus with a wave, and the dog paused as it passed her and formally bowed all three heads. Middle spoke. “I’m sorry to hear you are leaving, my lady. We will greatly miss you.”
    “Don’t go, Persephone,” Bob wailed.
    She smiled through her torment and patted the dear pup’s heads, even the silent killer on the right who leaned into her touch. “Please don’t worry, Cerberus, this isn’t goodbye. I’ll be back,” she said, loud enough for Hades to hear.
    He lifted his head, a frown knitting his brow.
    Cerberus bowed again and left, and Persephone wasn’t sure whether it believed her or not. The door closed on Bob’s disconsolate sobs. She crossed over to Hades slowly, some of her confidence falling away as she studied his face. It was wiped clean of emotion now, so impassive she might have imagined his previous heartache. “You haven’t left yet.”
    “You knew that. You would feel it when I did.”
    He glanced down at his hands. “Yes, I would feel it.”
    “I don’t have a lot of time, because Zeus is probably really mad I trapped him in a vine.”
    “You…what? Why?”
    “Why isn’t important. He made me angry so