𝗪𝗔𝗜𝗧 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗠𝗘 ━━ l. valdez

xvii ; were you sent by someone who wanted me dead?

05. chapter seventeen

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STANDING BEFORE THE LORD OF THE UNDERWORLD made me feel small. Maybe not physically, but in all other aspects.

Hades, one of my least favourite gods, smoothed his black robes, which were covered with the terrified faces of the damned. He had pale skin and the intense eyes of a madman.

I immediately switched on the innocent and cute act, something I was never good at.

"Lord Hades." I curtsied unconvincingly. "A pleasure to see you again."

"Skip the pleasantries," Hades said tiredly. "I know what you're here for. You think you're the first to try?"

My eyes widened. I faltered for I moment. "I— uh— Yes. You are correct. I thought maybe we could make a compromise."

Hades almost laughed. "Death doesn't compromise. You should know that, daughter of Styx."

He was making this really hard to act sweet. I sighed. "Fine. I guess we'll have to do this the hard way. Give him back."

Hades mouth turned into a cruel smile. "It isn't that simple, child. You can't just ask for him back. He is part of my realm now."

"Not for long," I commented.

I feared I may have pushed my luck and Hades would kill me on the spot, but miraculously, he remained calm. He let out an exasperated sigh.

"Camille Carras," he said calmly. "My wife has taken a liking to you. I'm not sure as to why, but I do not question her judgement. You are not as tiresome as most heroes, but that does not mean that I like you. You have done what I have asked of you and helped my son, that I appreciate. However, you will not come to my realm demanding your prepubescent boyfriend back."

I scoffed. "Prepubescent?!"

"If you were any other hero—if you were Percy Jackson—I probably would have incinerated you at this point. Now I would tell you if you wanted to see your boyfriend again to die and join him, but I want to at least give my son a chance at happiness, so I wouldn't advise you to do that. I would say you should just get used to life without the boy."

The way Hades was speaking to me was strange. I couldn't tell if he liked me or hated me which made me pretty uneasy. It was like he wanted me dead but wanted me happy at the same time. I also didn't like how at ease Hades seemed. He looked at me like I was some pest that he could smush with his shoe.

"I don't think I'm going to do that," I said. "Maybe if you tried to prevent this earlier on I wouldn't be threatening your authority."

This time Hades was the one to scoff. "Threatening my authority? Please, demigod. There's a reason I didn't stop this the day you were born. You aren't a threat."

I had previously considered Hades a pretty okay god. He was nice-ish to me and I even had a room in his palace, so hearing him speak to me with such hatred made me furious.

"You have no idea what you're talking about," I responded.

Seething, I left Hades' palace.