Hades

Chapter 8: Into the Demon's Den

Aurora's Point of View

"Call me Hades."
He pulled away, lips curved in a sly smirk, mischievous eyes glimmering.

The strong, sweet odor of his musky cologne lingered in my nose despite the distance he put between us again. I was surrounded by a warm and fuzzy feeling swaying me into his direction.

"Let me take care of you."

I choked on my own breath in response, and he sent me a questioning look.

"...I said let me take care of your stitches, I'm licensed. That is, only if you're okay with it." He offered again, and I realize I must have misheard him.

"A MOP! A MOP IS THE SOLUTION EXCUSE ME KIND SIR IF YOU WOULD PLEASE STEP ASIDE!" The annoying woman reappeared, waving around a dirty mop and dragging along a bucket of soapy water.

Why would a man who has never met me before offer to stitch my cut back up? Is he lying about being licensed?

We both moved to the side for her, and I took a quick glance at Hailey. She looked disheveled, the mere presence of the man throwing her off, casting a complete opposite look from me.

The man looked down at me, and I straightened my posture as much as I could, feeling overpowered with his strong stature. His eyes seemed to work hard to silently convince me, and for some reason, it was working.

"Okay." My lips moved on their own, and the smirk on his face evolved into a Cheshire grin.

"Excellent." He seemed a bit surprised himself, but shook it off, nodding to himself and looking down at his dog. The animal almost shared the same expression as its owner.

Hailey's eyes widened and she shakily stood up.

"Kittens....I'll...find home-see you later Aurora." She stammered, stumbling on her own feet as she quickly walked away.

"Hailey!" I called out but before her name could roll off my tongue, her curls disappeared around the corner of the aisle. Damn, she was quick when she wanted to be.

He never peeled his eyes away from me, not even looking at Hailey when she scurried away from us nor the woman who was now violently scrubbing the drips of blood off the floor of the small pet supplies store.

"Let's get going, doll." He took a hold of my wrist, gently examining the cut, but at the same time making sure none of it dripped on his shoes. "It will get infected if we leave it exposed any longer."

I don't know why I did it, but I let him lead me to his (quite expensive looking) car, whilst being carefully followed by his leash-less dog.

He led the way by walking in front of me, but kept his gentle grip around my wrist. Without putting any extra thought to it, I followed him like a lost child. I was completely absorbed by his aura.

Handsome, expensive car, high maintenance looking dog, a voice that sounded like melted velvety chocolate. He couldn't be a murderer, right? Surely a man of wealth and manners would have no ill intentions.

Right?

He opened the back door to his sleek black car to reveal red leather seats and I rose my eyebrows in shock.

"Holy shit..." I whispered and he let a hearty chuckle escape his lips. His dog swiftly jumped into the car and sat on the farthest seat almost robotically, as if the action had been rehearsed a countless amount of times. The dog seemed to move according to his own thoughts, acting independently from the man and he seemed to trust his pet so much. I've only ever seen luxurious cars in magazines and movies, and I fought the urge to step inside just to see what it was like. I was jealous of this man's dog.