Hades strolled to me, stepping into the line of my vision that led to Brennan, effectively blocking him from my sight. With each step, his tantalizing gift of magnetism drew me to him. I didn’t want it, but it happened anyway. It was like warm fingers were massaging my heart, pulling me closer and closer to Hades. But it wasn’t real. I knew that. It was simply my mind playing tricks on me.
I don’t want him.
I don’t want him.
I don’t want him.
I repeated the phrase in my head like a mantra and watched the small smile play along Hades’ lips as he listened to my thoughts. He stopped in front of me, so light on his feet. He barely made a whisper of noise as he moved. If Brennan smelled like the sun, then Hades smelled like the night- of everything dark and sensual.
“You don’t?” he asked softly. I raised an eyebrow. “You don’t want me?”
I gulped. “No.”
“Liar,” Hades smiled. “But that’s alright. I like that trait in a woman. Come with me, Empusa.”
Brennan started hollering behind Hades, telling me to stay, not to go. But Hades ignored him, staring quietly into my eyes instead. His were fluid and dark, bottomless. I found myself mesmerized by his spell.
“Come with me,” he repeated.
“Where?” I asked. I almost felt dizzy from his nearness to me. I don’t want him. I repeated in my head. But the words seemed trite now. Because I did want him. I might as well admit it. The trick now was remembering that I really didn’t, not truly. I wanted Brennan. I loved Brennan. Hades was simply manipulating my mind. But he was oh-so-good at it.
“To a place where we can be alone,” Hades answered. “We need to talk, moon princess.”
He lifted his hand and placed his long, slender fingers within mine. His were as cool as mine, so different from Brennan’s warm body.
“Come,” he murmured into my ear. And before I could even glance at Brennan or say even one word, we were gone.
While we were moving in utter blackness for the one split second before we emerged in our destination, Hades closed his fingers tightly around mine, almost protectively. My heart squeezed a little. And then we arrived.
We were standing in a place I’d never been.
It was a place certainly owned by the night, a place where Hades was comfortable and where I would draw strength. The moon hung full and low in the night sky while silky mist swirled around us. The darkness was violet and so velvety that I could feel its whisper soft touch on my skin. The air smelled of freesia and night-blooming flowers.
“Where are we?” I whispered as I pushed aside lush ferns and flowers to reveal a large canopied bed laden with luxurious bedclothes. Next to it stood a small glass table, filled with bread, cheese and wine. My heart began to stutter and then race. This was a seduction scene. That much was clear.
“Don’t be so cynical,” Hades said with a grin. “We’re here to talk. I simply like bread and cheese and I enjoy reclining while I partake in it.”
“Right,” I muttered. As I walked along the soft pathway to the bed, I realized that it was strewn with flower petals. And that I was barefoot. I had somehow lost my shoes along the way. My bare feet landed in soft, blood-red petals with each step. I was also dressed in a gossamer night dress. It fluttered softly around my body in the perfect breeze, illuminating my curves in the moonlight. I glanced at Hades and rolled my eyes. “Nice touch.”
“Thank you,” he grinned confidently. “I thought so too.”
I rolled my eyes again.
“Where are we?” I asked. “I don’t recognize this place.”
Hades shrugged. “It’s the Neitherworld. It’s neither here nor there. It’s in between.”
I stared at him. “In between what?”
“In between reality and dreams. While we are here, we can be whatever we’d like. I can be the god of the sun, if I like. You can be un-cursed. If we wish it, it will be so. But only while we linger here. Once we return to reality, everything changes back to what it was. But while we are here….” He slid his fingers along my arm. “While we are here, our problems disappear.”
What a delicious thought. I hadn’t been physically without my curse in a thousand years. The idea that I could exist peacefully, without blood or souls, was tantalizing.
“But Brennan…” I turned to speak to Hades and found Brennan standing behind me.
“What…” I stammered. Brennan smiled and spoke with Hades’ voice.
“You see what you want to see here,” he told me. Brennan’s mouth moved with Hades’ words. It was Brennan’s chiseled jaw, Brennan’s soft lips, Brennan’s dimple and Brennan’s smile. He was radiant, like the sun, like the light that surrounded us in the daytime, even though we were standing in the night. His radiance was impossible, yet I was staring at it.
I reached out with trembling fingers and touched his face. “You look just like Brennan,” I said with a shaky voice. I found that my knees were shaking, too.
“I am Brennan, if that is what you wish,” Brennan’s mouth said again. The line between reality and fantasy was growing very, very blurred. My mind actually began to grow foggy and I ached to lean into Brennan’s arms. But they weren’t really his.
“What is this?” I demanded. “What is this trick?”
“It is no trick. I am whoever you want me to be.”
A thought occurred to me. “And who do I look like to you?”
Hades smiled with Brennan’s mouth. “That is the beauty of this place. We can see what we choose. Right now, you are my wife. You are my wife without the baggage that such a long marriage can accumulate. You are my wife without her suspicions and anger. You are as she once was. Hopelessly in love with me.”
Twinge.
I couldn’t help it. My heart twinged just a little at the vulnerable look on the god of the underworld’s face. He loved his wife. Years of bickering and various heartaches had just taken a toll and made him wish for simpler times. Yet, in life- real life-you didn’t get do-overs. You didn’t get to go back to the beginning when things were fresh and new. Unless you were a god and could exist in the Neitherworld.