Hades (Contemporary Mythos Book 1)

Sara begged me to go snorkeling despite my known fear of underwater life. Specifically, the kind with pointy, sharp teeth. Hades said he’d put in a good word with his brother and promised I wouldn’t get eaten by a shark, so I eventually agreed to go. Far too caught up in his brooding, Hades had no desire to come, so it was the perfect opportunity for some girl time.

“At least you didn’t try and get me to go scuba diving,” I mumbled, twirling the snorkel mask around my finger by its strap.

“I knew I didn’t stand a chance with that one,” Sara said with a snicker.

“Beautiful day for a swim, ain’t it?” Rupert asked.

I put a hand over my eyes to block the sun. Rupert and Michelle walked up, snorkel masks in their hands.

Sara rolled her eyes. “Great.”

“Rupert saw you two walk past with your masks and thought it sounded fun. I’m just glad to do something other than drinking like a fish at the bar, frankly,” Michelle said, giggling.

“How convenient,” I responded with Rupert’s words from yesterday, narrowing my eyes.

Several other people arrived in spurts. The resort host was the last to arrive, standing at the front of the group.

“A few ground rules before we embark. First, we are to stay as a group. There are things in the water that could harm you, and if you stray from the group, it’s harder for us to help you. Second, if you see a shark, we’ll use the universal symbol,” he put a hand over his head like a fin, “to let everyone know there’s been one spotted. At this time of day, I’ve only ever seen one while doing these snorkeling excursions, and I’ve been doing this for years. Don’t worry.”

I made a ‘pfft’ sound, haughtily crossing my arms over my chest.

“The most important rule is everyone has fun and enjoys peering down into the mysteries of the sea. Make sure the mask is tight and secure over your eyes, so no water seeps in and keep that tube above the surface. Unless you have a set of gills, human lungs aren’t a big fan of water.”

He smiled, and a couple of people chuckled at his corny joke.

“If any should get in, simply blow out.” He winked and slipped the mask over his face. “Let’s go!” He shoved the tube into his mouth and hopped off the dock.

I barely had my flippers on when everyone jumped in. Sara and Michelle hopped off the dock. I was about to follow when Rupert’s hand gripped my arm.

I squinted behind my mask. “What are you doing?”

“What does Hades really do for a living? We both know he’s not a bloody funeral director,” he said, his grip tightening on my bicep.

“I have no idea what you’re getting at.”

His nostrils flared. The skin under his right eye twitched. “Bloody level with me here. Is he in the mafia? Some kind of organized crime unit?”

“You’re hurting me,” I growled.

His chest heaved, and he let go, running the back of his hand under his nose. “I’ll figure it out.” He slipped the mask over his head, the flippers making flapping sounds as he walked past me and jumped in.

I rubbed my arm, staring down at him in the water as he swam to catch Michelle. After jumping in and swimming so fast it made my arms and legs burn from the strain, I clung to Sara’s side. Sharks were nothing compared to the dark, killer instinct that reflected in Rupert’s eyes. I’d seen that look far too many times through my career.

Sara yanked the tube from her mouth. “What’s wrong with you?”

I swam in circles. “Rupert.” It sounded more like roo-purr from the tube still in place.

“What’d he do?”

I plucked the tube from my mouth, sputtering saltwater. “He asked me the strangest questions about Hades, had this crazed look in his eye, and gripped my arm so tight it’ll probably leave a bruise.”

“He did what?” She’d raised her voice, the familiar flames igniting in her gaze when she was about to release the inner tigress.

I grabbed her shoulders, my head dipping underwater several times due to my frantic brain forgetting to tread water. “Don’t say anything. Not right now. Let me talk to Hades first.”

“What’s he going to do that I can’t?”

Oh, if she only knew. “There’s no reason to potentially ruin our vacation with things getting blown out of proportion.”

She stared at me. The corners of her jaw popped. “Fine. But don’t get caught alone with Rupert. I knew he was going to be trouble the moment I laid eyes on him.”

“Trust me. He’s the last person I want to be alone with.”

The rest of the excursion went off without a hitch. We saw fish of all shapes and colors and a couple of sea turtles. Even a dolphin stopped by to swim through our group. I wondered how much of the experience was due to Hades putting in his supposed word with his brother. Was Poseidon possibly one of the people in our group? Or was he a person at all? Maybe he was the dolphin. It all made my head ache.

Sara helped me out of the water, glaring daggers at Rupert from across the way. “Come on, Steph. Let’s get a head start, so he doesn’t have an excuse.”

Rupert pulled himself onto the deck, wincing and holding his side. When Michelle reached out to help him, he slapped her hands away. I picked up my pace.

“Aside from creepy Rupert, that was pretty fun,” I said, smiling at Sara.

“Good. Figured we needed to see a little more of this gorgeous island, you know?”

“I can’t believe I never thought about coming here. Not that I inherited much of the Greek part of my genes.” I referenced my body with a chuckle.

“Face it, Steph, you’ve been slacking on going anywhere or doing anything other than working.”

The word “slacking” gave me pause, and I grabbed Sara’s arm. “Slack. File slack. Oh my—Sara, I never thought about checking the file slack.”

Her eyes shifted. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“The hard drive. There could be residual data from anything deleted in the file slack.” I grinned and jumped up and down.

“Great. You’ll have a lead when we get back. See? Vacation worked.”

“Oh, no. I can’t wait until we get back. Are you crazy?”

She pointed a finger in my face. “Stephanie. You promised. The case has waited all these years; it can wait a little longer for us to get back.”

I pouted. “Please?”

She raised a brow.

With a groan, I kicked an imaginary pebble on the ground. “Fine. I’ll wait until we get back.”

“Good. Let’s get back to our room. I say today, we order room service and enjoy that veranda we’ve been neglecting. There’s even a TV out there.” She draped an arm over my shoulders with a wide grin.

“Is this your way of avoiding Rupert?”

She tapped my nose. “That too.”

I popped out my contacts and slipped my black-rimmed glasses on, given her intent on barricading us inside for the rest of the day. If only my eyes could sigh in relief. I changed into a pair of lounge shorts and a spaghetti strap tank top, devoid of a bra. The beach view from the veranda and the wind whipping through the trees sent a wave of calm over me.

We’d been channel surfing for the past hour, nothing jumping out at us. Trays littered with dirtied plates and glasses rested on the table in front of us. There was a knock at the door. Considering we’d ordered another round of drinks, and I was in a drowsy stupor, I didn’t think to look through the peephole before opening the door.

“Am I interrupting something?” Hades asked, pressing his forearm against the doorframe above my head.

I froze. “What are you doing here?”

“I haven’t seen you all day. Figured I’d stop by to see if you wanted to practice this dance,” his eyes dropped to my chest.

The A/C mixed with the sight of him casually standing there in the hallway had my nipples at full salute. I slapped an arm over my chest with a nervous bout of chuckles. “Practice? Right now?”

“All we’ve done is the lift. The contest is tomorrow night. You need to teach me the rest of it.”

“Oh, of course. Pfft.” I adjusted my glasses. “What was I thinking?”

“Have you always worn those?” He tapped my glasses with a twinkle in his eye.

I gave a sheepish smile and slid them off. “During the day I usually wear contacts.”

“Don’t take them off on my account, darlin’. I like ‘em.” He lifted my hand toward my face, urging me to put them back on.

Sara brushed past me. “Feel free to practice in our room. I was going to hang out by the pool anyway.” She smiled at me, despite my unspoken pleas for her not to leave me braless.

After she left, I stepped aside to let him in. When I shut the door, the clicking noise it made sounded more ominous than usual. I contemplated bringing up the Rupert situation right out the gate. Chances were, he’d whisk off to give Rupert a piece of his mind, and we’d get no practice.

“Let me change first,” I said, power walking past him.

“If you insist,” he said, wickedness lacing his tone.

I ducked into the bathroom and changed into a bra, shirt and, shorts. When I walked back into the room, he sat on the armrest of the couch, watching Dirty Dancing. My heart raced at the mere sight of it.

“What are you doing?” I asked, marching over to him like he’d done something wrong.

He arched a brow and turned the volume up. “This is the movie, correct? I figured it’d be easier if I just watched it.”

“Are you like Neo and kung fu? You spend five minutes watching something, and inexplicably know it?”

He folded his arms and furrowed his brow. “I’m a fast learner.”

Of course, he was. The all too familiar music blared from the TV speakers as Swayze walked on stage, beckoning Jennifer Grey with his finger. I couldn’t watch him, watching my favorite movie of all time. Why was this making me so nervous? I bit my thumbnail and started to pace the room’s length, occasionally glancing over at the TV and gauging his expression. As always, the man’s face was stone cold the entire time even when Swayze did his slow-motion leap off the stage.

Once the scene finished, he turned the TV off and stood up, crossing the room with three powerful strides.

“Before we get into this, you owe me.” I held my hands in front of me like their presence would stop him.

“Owe you?”

“Relay your conversation with Swayze.”

He squinted. “Alright. He arrived in the Underworld, and it took me only a moment to know he led his best life. I asked him what he felt he gave most to society.”

I clasped my hands under my chin. “And what’d he say?”

“He said, entertainment, but mostly acting, and forever givin’ the world the line, ‘Nobody puts Baby in a corner.’”

“He seriously said that?”

He held up a finger, signaling for me to be quiet. “He quickly followed up with that last bit being a joke, and I didn’t need to ask any more questions. I was more than prepared to guide him to the Fields.”

I didn’t say anything for a beat, staring at him wide-eyed before motioning with my hand to continue.

“That was it,” he said, shifting his eyes.

“What do you mean, that was it? I’d hardly consider that a conversation.”

“I’m not sure what you think it’s like in the Underworld, but normally the last thing most of the newly departed feel like doing is chattin’.”

To say my curiosity piqued at seeing the Underworld would’ve been a gross understatement. I imagined it would be breath-taking or downright terrifying. Probably both. “Fair enough. Well, thank you. I’m glad to know his sense of humor continued despite his untimely demise.”

His eyes morphed into that sexy, narrowed thing he often did. He didn’t say a word, closed the space between us, and slid his arms around my waist. I tensed. He took my right hand into his left and, without warning, dipped me. I backpedaled away, pushing my glasses further up my nose.

“We don’t need to practice that whole beginning part. Maybe we should concentrate on the trickier coordinated pieces.”

He retook my hand, leading me to him until he was behind me. “Dancing is like a symphony.” He lifted my arm to drape it over the back of his neck. “One melody flows into the other with intricate moving parts. If you were to rearrange them or only play one part, it ruins the entire composition.” He dragged his fingertips down the underside of my arm.

I tried to suppress a shiver. It didn’t work.

I crossed an arm over my stomach, slipping my hand into his. He gripped my hip with his other hand but failed to perform one of the smallest of gestures. In the movie, Swayze kissed her on the nose before going into the first move. It was subtle but adorable. Oh, well. He spun me, and we delved into the dance I’ve known since I was a kid. He didn’t miss a beat even with the absence of music, but I could hear the instruments and lyrics in my head. I started to mouth the lyrics.

We performed every step without error until he spun me several times in a row. I forgot to spot something in the room to focus on and got dizzy. My feet tripped over each other, and he gripped my hand to keep me from falling. I stared up at him.

“How are you so normal?” I asked.

“Normal? Not sure anyone’s called me that before.” He lifted my arms above my head, moving his hands to my ribcage, and I swayed from side to side.

“You rule a kingdom of ash and bone, and yet here you are rehearsing dance moves with a mortal woman who annoys you.”

We shimmied to and fro, our elbows parallel to one another. “First of all, you’ve never annoyed me. Perplexed me, maybe but never annoyed.”

I glared up at him, my lips curling into a sly grin. I draped an arm behind his neck as he spun us in circles.

“Second of all, rehearsing dance moves as if I wasn’t the god of the Underworld is exactly what I need.” He pulled away from me, our fingers interlaced until he slid his hand away. “I get to pretend I don’t have the responsibilities.” He walked backward. “Pretend as if I’m simply a mortal man spending time with a mortal woman.”

He motioned with his hand, beckoning me. I bit my lip and ran forward. He wrapped his hands around my hips and hoisted me above his head. This time I didn’t forget to pose. The room fell silent. The only sound was my steady breathing while suspended in the air. He lowered me, letting our bodies slide against each other until the tips of my toes touched the floor. I stared up at him, my gaze dropping to the thin shape of his lips. I couldn’t be sure if it were the dancing or the intensity in his stare, but with shaky hands, I touched my lips to his. He tensed before reciprocating, sliding his lips against mine. He tasted like charcoal.

I gasped and pulled away. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?” He licked his lips.

I forgot who he was. What he was. He seemed so human. “I shouldn’t have done that.”

“Kiss me, you mean?”

“I mean—we can’t.”

He glared. “Why? Because I’m a god or specifically because I’m the King of Ash and Bone?”

His words felt like lemon juice in a papercut. “That’s not what I meant, I—”

“It is. I knew this was too good to be true. Who put you up to this?” He snarled. “Zeus?”

My sinuses stung. “What? No. I—” I couldn’t get the words out. A tear rolled down my cheek.

“I’ll do the contest with you because I already promised, but rest assured, once it’s over, you never have to see me again.” The skin above his nose creased, and his jaw tightened.

When he turned for the door, I took a step forward. “Hades.”

His forearm tensed, holding the door open, and he tossed a scowl over his shoulder. “What?”

“Rupert’s acting strange. I’m worried that—’

His grip tightened on the door, and he interrupted me to say, “I’ll take care of it.”

“Okay—” The door slammed. “Bye.”

I flopped onto the couch and sobbed.