Hades
She was giggling when she stepped into the room. The mont her eyes t mine from where I stood smoking by the window her amusent faded. Sothing twisted in my gut at her sudden change. Like her laughter was not ant for .
Her eyes widened before she seed to calm herself, her expression turning carefully neutral. "Welco back, you are back early." She comnted, her voice carried no emotion, it was almost monotone. For so reason, it annoyed .
We had not as much as spoken a word to each other since the ti that I had been devilishly drunk on her blood. I was up before she even stirred from sleep and she was asleep by the ti that I returned to the room. Tensions had been mounting but for the first ti she did not initiate any discussion to quell it. It was almost as if she did not care. And now she was coming back from sowhere giggling like a school girl.
"Where have you been?" I asked as plainly and causally as I could manage.
"Out," she replied, before heading for the bathroom. I rarely used my acceleration but I cut off her path in the speed of light. I looked her over. I raised a brow at how she was dressed. In legged that hugged every sacred curve and her top that could have been sheer. She reeked of sweat and she had a towel on her shoulder. Her face was slightly flushed.
Her eyes snapped up to mine, startled but not afraid. That annoyed even more. I was used to her being defiant but now? Now she looked at like I was nothing more than an inconvenience. A fucking housefly that she wanted swat away.
"Move, Hades," she said, her voice calm but firm, a direct challenge that made sothing dark stir in .
"Not until you tell where you've been," I said, leaning closer, my tone sharper than I intended. "And why you look like you're... dressed to tempt a legion of fools." Who else would have seen her like this?
Her jaw tightened, but she didn't shrink back. "Why does it matter to you?" Her voice was laced with ice, and the venom of her words cut deeper than I wanted to admit.
I stepped closer, so close I could feel the faint heat of her skin. "Don't play coy with . I'm not blind. I know you're trying to provoke ."
She laughed, a bitter sound that made my chest tighten. "Provoke you? You think everything revolves around you, don't you? Not everything I do is about you, Hades." She crossed her arms, tilting her head defiantly. "And for the record, I've been out living my life. You should try it soti."
Her words struck like a whip, and I could feel my carefully maintained control slipping. I hated the way she made feel—like I was unmoored, uncertain, vulnerable. The hunger I had felt for her blood that night had been insatiable, yes, but it wasn't just that. It was her. Her fire. Her defiance. And now, her coldness. Every side of her a temptation, a weakness.
"Tell , Red," I murmured.
Her hard expression softened a fraction. "Is it not obvious?" She pinched her brows with her fingers. "I was working out."
I raised a brow. "Since when?"
"Since I decided that I didn't want to beco moldy and useless sitting around here," she finished, her tone sharp. "Believe it or not, Hades, I don't exist just to brood in a corner waiting for you to notice ."
Her words hit like a slap, and for a mont, I could only stare at her. The heat of her defiance was intoxicating, yet it stung because she was right—I had treated her like she was orbiting around .
"Working out," I echoed, my voice low. My gaze dropped to her flushed face, the sheen of sweat on her collarbone, the towel slung over her shoulder. The image of her, focused and determined in so dimly lit gym or training ground, ignited sothing I couldn't quite na.
"Yes," she said, her voice clipped, brushing past . "You know, exercise? The thing people do when they want to stay healthy? Not that you'd understand. You probably haven't lifted anything heavier than your ego."
I barked out a laugh, the sound sharp in the room. "You've grown bold, Red." More like utterly audacious but it was better than nonchalance.
"And you've grown predictable," she shot back, spinning on her heel to face . Her hair whipped around her face, the flush on her cheeks deepening, but I couldn't tell if it was anger or exertion. Maybe both.
"You think I'm predictable?" I asked, stepping closer, looming over her. I was used to her fighting back, but this was new—this edge of carelessness in her defiance, as if she no longer cared about the consequences of challenging or at least pretending to.
"I think you're stuck in your ways," she said, tilting her chin up to et my gaze. "You push people away, you brood, you drink, and you glare at the world like it owes you sothing. It's exhausting, Hades. You're exhausting." She was not just frustrated, she was actually mad at for what ever reason. What horrible thing had I done that she had uncovered? There was a long list, it was hard to guess.
But her words were fire, warming from within with a sting that lingered. Like alcohol. Like bloodwine.
"And yet, here you are," I said, my voice dropping into a growl. "Still here. Still pushing . If I'm so exhausting, Red, why haven't you walked away?" Not like she had a choice but pushing her to the wall happened to be my favourite hobby.
Her lips parted, but no words ca. For a mont, the air between us was heavy, charged with unspoken truths and tangled emotions. She searched my face, her own expression wavering between frustration and sothing softer—sothing that looked like pain.
"I don't know," she said finally, her voice barely above a whisper. "Maybe I'm just as stubborn as you are." I knew she did not an walking away on a literal sense but withdrawing herself from what ever it was that had grown so convoluted between us. It was a like a tangle of thorny vines that would be too prickly to untangle.
Her words hit harder than I expected, and for a fleeting mont, I wanted to close the distance between us, to break the barriers we kept raising. But I didn't. Instead, I stepped back, giving her the space she seed to want.
"Fine," I said, my tone neutral but tight. "Go live your life, then."
Her eyes lingered on mine for a beat longer before she turned away, retreating into the bathroom and shutting the door firmly behind her.
I stood there, staring at the closed door. She might have walked away, but her fire lingered, searing its mark on in ways I couldn't shake. It felt intoxicating but damn did it sting like a bitch.
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