“Tell me why the name of my nephew is upon your lips?”
“He’s my next project.”
Hades blinked and she was certain she saw violence in his eyes.
She hurried to continue. “He fired Sybil, Hades. For refusing to be his lover.”
He stared, and his silence was angry. His lips were set tight and a vein pulsed in his forehead. He left the bed completely naked. For a moment, she watched him walk away—well-muscled ass and all.
“Where are you going?” she demanded.
“I can’t stay in our bed while you talk about Apollo.”
She didn’t miss that he had called his bed our bed. That made her feel warm inside, except that she’d fucked it up by mentioning Apollo.
She scrambled after him.
“I’m only talking about him because I want to help Sybil!”
Hades poured himself a drink.
“What he’s doing is wrong, Hades. Apollo can’t punish Sybil because she rejected him.”
“Apparently he can,” Hades said, taking a slow sip from his glass.
“He has taken away her livelihood! She has nothing and will have nothing unless Apollo is exposed!”
Hades drained his glass and poured another. After a stretch of tense silence, he said, “You cannot write about Apollo, Persephone.”
“I’ve told you before, you can’t tell me who to write about, Hades.”
The God of the Underworld sat his glass down with an audible click.
“Then you should not have told me your plans,” he said.
> She guessed his next thought: You shouldn’t have mentioned Apollo in my bedchamber, either.
His words fueled her anger, and she felt her power moving in her veins.
“He won’t get away with this, Hades!”
She didn’t add that she really needed this story—that it would provide a diversion for what her boss really wanted—a story about them. Hades must have sensed the change in her power, because when he spoke again, his words were careful and calm.
“I’m not disagreeing with you, but you aren’t going to be the one to serve justice, Persephone.”
“Who, if not me? No one else is willing to challenge him. The public adores him.”
She didn’t understand how they could love Apollo and fear Hades.
“All the more reason for you to be strategic,” Hades reasoned. “There are other ways to have your justice.”
Persephone wasn’t sure she liked what Hades was insinuating.
She glared at him. “What are you so afraid of? I wrote about you and look at the good that came out of it.”
“I am a reasonable god,” he said. “Not to mention you intrigued me. I do not want Apollo intrigued by you.”
Persephone didn’t care if Apollo became intrigued by her or not—the God of Music wouldn’t get anywhere with her.