Beneath

Chapter Nineteen:

Portland, eight months later...

"Did you send Mrs. Jenkins to the docks?"

"Yes."

"What about Mr. Hyde, Mr. Foster, Miss Larkin and Mrs. Beneita?"

I glared at Hades over the rim of my coffee cup. "I didn't invite you here to rehash my morning schedule."

He waited, pen poised over the pad of paper.

"Yes, they're all one hundred percent where they should be. Don't the names on the papers change color when they've been sorted?"

"Ordinarily, yes, but seeing as you're assisting me again-"

"Conditional on me staying away from your entire family and allowing you to scan my lists each night like a crazy person-"

"We're doing things old school."

I flattened a hand to the tabletop, looking at him incredulously. "I'm not going to accidentally create another Fury, if that's why you're keeping such close tabs on me," I said as he quirked an eyebrow. "Okay, not intentionally. I know what I'm doing now, for the most part."

"Emma," he said, placing the device aside as he stood. "It's been three months since Dean left-"

"And two since Persephone ran off with Prometheus," I interjected. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were trying to distract me the same way I did for you those first few weeks after she was cursed. But I don't need to be babied, okay? Dean made his choice and, in the end, decided that he'd rather not have a girlfriend who disappeared off the face of the planet every couple of months. It hurts, but it's not like I can blame him. What's your excuse?"

He clenched his teeth together, pulling a mixing bowl from the cupboard. "She left me."

"You're not breaking new ground with that one, remember?"

"This time, it was her choice," he said, measuring out some Bisquick and milk. "I need to stay busy right now, or I'll dwell on the pain, and that's not good for either of us right now."

"So, you're making yourself a giant plate of pancakes?"

He glanced across the counter at me. "You need to eat more than a cup of yogurt in the morning. If you lived in the Underworld permanently, maybe you'd be-"

"Oh no, we're not having this discussion, Hades." I joined him in the kitchen, starting another pot of coffee. "I enjoy the freedom to come and go as needed like I've been doing for the past few years. If I was there full time, though, I'd lose all ties to this place, including visits to see my family. So drop the subject, please."

I listened to the sizzle pop as the batter cooked, trying my best to think about anything else other than his request, so he couldn't see how conflicted I was by the offer. It was tempting, and he knew it was tempting, but I wasn't going to decide something like that on a whim.

"Come here," he said as I licked the last of the maple syrup from my fingers and I pushed back from the table, straddling his lap. He stared into my eyes, tracing a path along my jawline with a fingertip. "I wish you'd reconsider."

"You know why I can't do that."

"You've been searching for a place to belong for years, Emma, with people who truly love you and understand who you are and what you're going through. You crave the darkness as I crave the light, remember? But we're both two halves of one whole, who've been separated for far too long. We need each other right now."

I was silent, playing with the hair on the nape of his neck and after a minute he sighed, kissing me gently. "Let's get you cleaned up." He led us into the bathroom, turning the faucet on as I stripped, watching his eyes glaze as they traveled up the length of my body.