Hades (The God Chronicles #3) (18 page)

Along with the normal table being gone, the
room seemed to have had a type of makeover, a makeshift stage set
up on one side, the tiny table facing that direction. Apparently,
we were going to have a show with our dinner.

Hades walked me to my seat, pulling my chair
out and helping me to sit down. He took his seat then, motioning to
someone in the corner who brought over a bottle of wine.

“So, what kind of show are we seeing?” I asked,
eying the chairs lined up across the stage.

“Mozart,” he said, filling our glasses and
setting the bottle in the bin of ice the server had rolled over as
well.

“Really?” I asked, surprised. “I didn’t realize
we could do that here, for some reason.”

“Well, we don’t usually have celebrations
here,” he laughed. “It’s a shame. We literally have some of the
best in entertainment and it just goes to waste because it’s in an
undesirable location.”

“I’m sorry your family doesn’t come see you
more often,” I said softly.

“I’m used to it,” he said, raising his glass
and taking a sip. “No one wants to come frolic around death. Even
back when we were really worshiped by people, I never got much
power from that. They were afraid of me, not wanting to be brought
here sooner than they should be. Ironically enough, thanks to
modern animation and romance novels, I have quite a few people who
like me now, while everyone else has fallen to the
wayside.”

He chuckled, leaning back in his chair,
seemingly totally relaxed.

Right then, more doors opened and our dinner
started rolling out, looking just as good as it smelled. My mouth
watered staring at it, awe at the whole display overtaking me. I’d
never seen anything like it. No doubt, Jack had been working his
crew hard to get it ready for us.

“You like duck, right?” Hades asked as they
filled our plates.

“I guess so,” I laughed. “I can’t remember one
instance where I’ve eaten it, at the moment.”

“It’s delicious,” he said, picking up his fork.
“One of my favorites.”

“It looks wonderful,” I said honestly. “All of
this does.”

Once our dishes were laid out and the servers
left, musicians began filing into the room, taking their seats on
the stage. They weren’t dressed the same, as they would have been
at a normal concert, but appeared to be wearing clothes from their
own time periods, like the people who lived on the Islands of the
Blessed.

“Oh!” I said suddenly. “Mozart! You meant,
actual, real Mozart?!”

“Of course,” he laughed. “Who did you think I
meant?”

“It didn’t occur to me,” I said, blushing.
“I’ve never been a huge classical music fan, I mean I like it and
all, but Mozart is definitely one I’ve heard of.”

“He’s one of my favorites, actually. I enjoy
sitting in front of the fire with some wine and listening to
recordings. Music has come a long way over the ages, but there are
some styles you just can’t beat.”

After all of the musicians were seated, a man
came into the room, baton in hand, and I stared in awe at one of
the most famous composers I’d ever heard of. It didn’t matter I’d
hardly listened to his style of music back home, I was giddy with
anticipation over seeing something I never would have had the
privilege of before.

The music started and I let myself get lost in
it for a few minutes, forgetting I had food to eat and a date to
visit with. It didn’t seem right to talk while there was a
performance going on, though. I couldn’t hardly tear my eyes away
from the stage.

“Stunning, isn’t it?” Hades asked after the
first number ended, the two of us clapping as the master turned and
bowed in thanks.

“Yes,” I exclaimed. “It’s like watching a
masterpiece unfold right in front of us.”

“There really isn’t anything quite like seeing
the composer work,” he agreed. “It’s his original vision that gets
portrayed. Others can try to copy it, but nothing ever gets it just
right.”

The next song started and I remembered to eat
this time, still eagerly watching everyone as I did so. I wondered
who the musicians were, if they were all from the Islands as well.
That would mean they had achieved fame, too. I was sitting in a
room full of supremely accomplished individuals.

Dinner passed by in a flurry, the music
carrying me away to different worlds. I was almost sad I hadn’t
spent more time listening to it before. I was so caught up, I
didn’t even notice food being taken or replaced around me, my wine
being refilled, or even what Hades was doing the entire time. All I
knew was that when it was over, I couldn’t wait for the next time I
got to go to such a concert.

“I’m glad you enjoyed it,” Hades said, rising
from his seat and coming around to pull my chair out.

“It was fantastic,” I gushed. “I can’t believe
I put so little stock in it before.”

“Well, are you ready for the next part of the
night?”

“There’s more?” I laughed. “What else could we
possibly do?”

“Come with me,” he said, smiling as he took my
hand again.

I felt the butterflies erupt in my stomach at
his touch and turned away so he wouldn’t see me
blushing.

We left the dining hall, myself clueless as to
where he was taking me. Soon, though, I heard more music coming
from the ballroom ahead of us.

“Dancing?” I asked, a huge grin on my
face.

He merely smiled at me, nodding to a servant
who opened one of the huge doors for us.

The sounds of music from my own time rained
down on us and I laughed excitedly again, seeing the band set up
and the wide, open floor waiting for us.

“May I have this dance?” he asked, nodding to
the space with his own devilish grin.

“I would be honored,” I said, all but pulling
him out to dance.

How long we stayed in there was a mystery to
me. It seemed we did every type of dance there was, including all
of the cheesy ones, until my feet ached and we found ourselves slow
dancing to a ballad straight out of my mom’s eighties
albums.

“You’re getting tired,” Hades said, his arms
pulling me closer, tightening around my waist.

“A little,” I yawned, resting my head on his
shoulder.

“We can go. Get you tucked into your bed,” he
whispered, leaning his head to rest on mine.

“Not yet,” I giggled. “I’m not ready for the
night to be over.”

“We can do it again,” he said. “Every night can
be like this if you want.”

“Wouldn’t that get boring?” I laughed, picking
my head up and looking into his eyes. “Aren’t dates supposed to be
special occasions?”

“Maybe,” he said, shrugging. “I don’t want this
to end, though, the way we are together now. I don’t want to go
back to fighting all the time and hating each other.”

I stopped dancing, looking at him
seriously.

“It won’t ever be that way again,” I said
softly. “I promise. That’s not who I am.”

“I want to believe you,” he said quietly. “But
there’s this nagging feeling that I’m missing something, that I
shouldn’t trust you with anything.”

“I never gave you a reason to before,” I said
sadly. “I understand completely why you would feel that
way.”

“You’re different, though,” he said, pulling me
even closer until our bodies were all but crushed against each
other. “Something happened while you were gone this time. It’s like
I don’t even hardly know you now.”

“Is that a bad thing?” I asked as he leaned
in.

“No.”

His lips brushed against mine softly, sweetly.
It was a kiss intended to be chaste and short, but ended up going a
different direction, as it had the night before.

His hands grabbed my hips, anchoring them
against him as he kissed me deeper, his tongue slipping into my
mouth momentarily.

I gasped at the sudden, happy intrusion,
wrapping my arms around his neck and allowing my fingers to tangle
into his hair some. As if he had the idea at the same time, one of
his hands left my hip and grabbed the back of my head, holding our
mouths together with a gentle force there.

I was melting again, exploding on the inside,
wishing that the moment would last forever, that his arms would
never release me and I would live eternally in his embrace. I
wanted to be carried away in his grasp, lost for all time to
everything else.

Slowly, he pulled away from me, his eyes
burning brightly with more than just flames.

“I think it’s time we get ourselves to bed,” he
said. “Our own beds.”

“Yeah,” I agreed weakly, sad to have the moment
end so soon.

“I’ll walk you up,” he said, clearing his
throat. “I think I can handle myself for that long.”

He smiled wolfishly again and I was at a loss
for words.

I needed to find that helmet soon or my
feelings were going to blow my cover.

Chapter
Seventeen

“Do I look all right?” I asked nervously,
trying to straighten the hem of my dress as we walked up the golden
steps.

“You look fine,” Hades laughed, taking my hand
in his. “Just like you did when you asked before we left, when you
picked this dress out last week, and when I told you we were going
to Poseidon’s engagement party the week before that.”

“I haven’t asked that many times,” I said,
rolling my eyes and bumping my shoulder into him.

“You might as well have,” he said, stopping on
the step above me and pulling me into his arms. “Every time I see
you, all I can think is how beautiful you are.”

He leaned in and kissed me greedily, grabbing
my butt over the silky fabric of my dress.

“Hey,” I gasped, pulling away and slapping his
hand. “Stop that!”

“I can’t help it,” he said, laughing as he
grabbed me into his embrace again.

He’d been getting more and more affectionate
over the past few weeks, as we continued to do things together and
grow closer together. If I was honest with myself, I loved it, even
with the veins under my eyes darkening daily. I didn’t know how
much longer I would be able to hide it with makeup, but every time
I thought about it, I decided it was a problem for another
time.

My feelings for Hades didn’t seem to be the
only thing growing. If I didn’t know better, I would think that he
was reciprocating. It seemed foolish to think he could fall for me
as well, especially after he’d so clearly stated he didn’t trust me
before. It was unlikely that a few weeks worth of dates and making
out would change his mind.

Wonderful dates and wild, passionate make outs
that made my toes curl.

He kissed me again, softly this time, before
pulling away and smiling, rubbing a thumb over my cheek as his
fingers pulled from my hair.

“We better get in there, before they start to
miss us,” I said reluctantly.

“Eh. I doubt they’ll even notice we came with
everyone else here. We could turn right back around and do . . .
Something more worthwhile.”

“Would you stop it,” I giggled pressing myself
against him as he grabbed me again. “We’re going, no matter how you
try to tempt me away.”

“Can’t blame a guy for trying,” he said,
releasing his hold on my waist and taking my hand. “For the first
time ever, I think I actually would have preferred staying home
with the company I had there.”

He winked, pulling me up the stairs after him,
leading me towards the faint sounds of music and laughter coming
from somewhere at the top.

It wasn’t that I didn’t want to go back with
Hades and blow everyone off, because honestly that sounded just as
fun as going to this party. However, the fact that I was actually
on Mount Olympus was holding my interest pretty tightly. It didn’t
appear we were likely to be invited out very much either, and I
thought it would be good for Hades to be above ground for a
while.

We’d used a door much like the ones in the maze
to get here, stepping straight out of the heat and firelight into
the last fading rays of the sun. It was all I could do to stop from
jumping for joy at seeing it. I’d grown accustomed to my temporary
home, but nothing compared to feeling that light on your
face.

As we headed through the palace we’d entered
into, I tried not to gawk at everything and act like I’d been here
before. It was so incredibly hard to do. Some of the halls seemed
to go on forever, endless doors hiding the many secrets and
treasures held here. The floors shone brightly, their marble finish
polished to perfection. Unlike the Underworld, everything here
seemed to be white or gold, bright and welcoming in every way.
Beautiful sculptures and fountains were situated at various points,
adding to the otherworldly beauty present here.

Eventually, we left the part of the building
we’d been walking through and came to the stairs we were now
ascending. Bright flowers lined the edges and somewhere in the open
garden I could hear running water.