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“You came to a party as the God of Death?”
I smiled up at him but he didn’t smile back. His eyes were blue, almost black set above a full mouth and a stark contrast to pale skin. Damn he was hot. I was scrambling for conversation, something anything to talk about. All of my friend’s flirting tips went out the windows as he waited for me to talk. My embarrassment faded when I saw him choke. I guess the dress was working. My friends had talked me into it, throwing encouragement at me as they wrestled me into it. They promised me I’d get guys. I guess they were right. I followed his eyes down and blushed; the low-cut white dress clung to my curves in a way that left nothing to the imagination. The plunging bodice was intricately beaded to draw attention to what Megan insisted was my best asset. Just as he opened his mouth a battering ram hit me from behind sending me reeling forward against Hades.
“Nice costume! Are you my guardian angel?”
The drunk teen was completely plastered; there were stains down his shirt that were definatly vomit. His t-shirt said “Hey Idiot” his eyes were bloodshot, a typical college drunk. But my companion was not normal. He didn’t threaten the guy but I looked at his face his face. Hades, that couldn’t be his name, he was cold I felt his body chill and his eyes…they were. The nameless guy just turned and collapsed. I gasped, reaching for him as he fell.
“Others will help him.”
His deep voice resonated in my chest; close as we were I felt his breath. I tried to untangle myself but he wouldn’t let go. He pulled me thru the crowd, away from the man. As he led me away I glanced back. I saw the drunk stand, supported on the shoulder of a tall skinny guy dressed in some kind of Greek tunic. Suddenly I crashed into a wall.
“Oh sorry, I…” His eyes silenced me.
He’d found a gap in the crowd and now he held me close, the song felt eternal. He skillfully spun me around and drew me to him, sensually guiding my body with his. His body heat flamed, I felt warm and alive. His hands burned my skin, they shifted from my shoulder's and traced a line to my hips. I closed my eyes. As the music changed I came down from cloud nine and reality hit.
That clock said 1 o’clock and I was screwed. I’d missed my call and my parents were probably calling the cops already. I looked up at him and those deep eyes focused on my face.
“You have to leave?”
I stubbornly closed my eyes again, “No” the song wasn’t over yet.
When the song ended I opened my eyes and the smoky, crowed room of before was gone. As he released me I backed away and caught the glimpse of his smirk as I spun taking in the room around me. Tapestries covered one wall in reds and blues as my feet sank into a plush carpet. Flames danced across my vision as I looked for an escape. My clothes were different as well. A skirt fell in tissue–like layers around me; the tightly fitted bodice laced up the front and was a red so deep that it blended into the black skirt below. My feet were bare. When I completed my spin a few seconds later he had advanced towards me. When I retreated he continued to walk towards me matching my movements step by step.
“You are calmer than I expected.” His voice was still compelling but he actually had, was that a smile on his face? I was frozen, until he moved. I staggered back. I choked out words,
“I’m working up to a panic attack as we speak.”
He kept advancing. I kept retreating. I could feel my heartbeat in my chest. A quiet “thump” and I realized I’d hit a wall.
“You’re not even screaming” Okay he was definitely amused.
“Something tell’s me…it’s pointless.” The stutter was accompanied by his moan as he fit his body to mine.
“You smell so good.”
He seized my hands sliding them up the wall behind me and holding them there. His hand encircled both of mine, I couldn’t move an inch. I choked,
“Umm it’s”
My breathed hitched again as he moved his nose down my neck tracing a line of flames across my skin.
“Mmm, spearmint?”
He readjusted and suddenly his face was inches from mine. His blue eyes were blazing with an unfamiliar gleam.
“Wh-“, He kissed me and I lost all train of thought. It was his lips on mine and nothing else. A moan escaped me as his lips moved against mine.
“Are you enjoying yourself?”
My outraged gasp was cut off as he trailed kisses down my neck, sliding his hand up my bare back to twist in my hair, pulling my head back. The brief moment it took him to speak brought me back to reality but, God he was good! He released my hands to wrap his arm around my waist pulling me in even closer his lips drifting back up my neck to nibble at my jaw. Then a few words from gym class floated through my mind, “When in doubt S-I-N-G”, stomach, instep, nose, and groin. That combo took 4 seconds but damn was it effective.
I heard him gasp as I pulled away. He fell back a few steps and I ran. I made it to the door before the rattling of the latch brought him to his senses.
“Σταματώ” The word wasn’t English but somehow I understood.
“Stop!” I couldn’t move. With one phrase I was ice.
I could feel my heartbeat, feel the sudden chill on my skin but whatever connected my brain to my body was disconnected.
“What was that?”
His hand clenched around my throat and I struggled to breathe. His face was angry. I gasped for air. None entered my lungs.
“Huh! YOU WILL NEVER DEFY ME!”
He slammed me against the door and I choked.
“I can’t, breath…stop please.”
My voice was only a whisper but I felt his grip loosen. I could see the words piling up behind his eyes, like a train slowing on the tracks. Slowly he lowered me to the ground and I inhaled sharply when he released me. I leaned against the door for support as he stalked away. He stopped at a curtain pushing it aside and disappearing from view, almost. While I caught my breath I studied my new surroundings. It was a long room, at the end the wind was fluttering the curtains that hung before a large balcony; I could see his silhouette thru the semi-transparent curtains. Embedded in a wall of bookcases was a marble fireplace with logs blazing giving off steady warmth. I could glimpse a bed through a door opposite the flames. Two large chairs stood before the fire. As I watched him my thoughts kept returning to the bed, the very large bed. It was built for two.
Then I was on my knees, my breath was speeding up and my vision started to narrow, one bed.
“I guess that panic attack is a little closer to the surface then I thought.” Suddenly he was in the room again. I scrambled back against the door. I held out my hands,
“Stop, please don’t…”
He paused already halfway across the room.
“I am sorry. I lost my temper, that little maneuver of yours caught me off guard”
My breathing started to slow as the minutes ticked by. He had paused by the fire and in the bright light I studied him. My kidnapper wasn’t old and bald as most of them were depicted. He was taller than my dad about 6ft 5’. He was wearing all black; if I had to guess and age…maybe 25? Older than he’d looked in that darkened room. His hair was a deep black and slid over his eyes when he titled his head.
“Would you like a drink?”
My spine straightened and I felt myself stand.
“You just tried to kill me and now you’re offering me a drink! What was that? How, we were at that party and then, HOW DID I GET HERE?”
I cringed as I realize shouting at him wasn’t a good plan. He was perfectly calm though and walked to a small table, pouring drinks even as I was stammering out questions.
“Good points. Let’s see, I’m offering you a drink because I feel like I owe you one. Two,” he started to walk towards me again and I jumped back.
“Two,” he repeated, “, I don’t want you dead. You’re no match for me.”
I feel a chill run thru my body, remembering that brief moment when he had frozen me.
“And as for your third question, well I’ll explain that after you’ve had a drink.”
With that he put a glass of something brown into my hands. Recovering from that brief moment of contact I waited for my heart to slow again, watching as he sat in a large armchair sitting in front of the fire.
“Please sit.” I hesitated. Something in his gaze softened a touch as he watched me.
“I really am in control of myself.”
His voice was always seductive but he’d worked something soothing into his deep voice.
“Why am I here?” I kept my voice calm but inwardly I was terrified.
“How did I get here?” He shrugged,
“It’s a perk of the job, walking everywhere takes a lot of time out of my day. And as the why, your parents have explained to you by now”, he stated.
My forehead creased, “Explained what exactly?”
There was a long moment of silence, it stretched unbroken for what felt like an age.
“They didn’t tell you? You don’t know?”
My voice came out like ice, “Tell me what?”
He took a drink before he answered, looked at the level in the glass and drained the rest.
“When I told you my name you were so…calm. You didn’t even flinch, I thought you were prepared.”
I flashed back to earlier when he had said, “You are calmer than I expected”.
God Damm it he’d been relieved not amused.
“Prepared?” I was only capable of words in short spurts. If I said any more I might actually scream.
“For your life here....” he coughed, was he nervous? “, as my wife”,
“SMASH”
As the shards of my glass danced across the floor I gaped at him. Setting his own glass down he stood and crushing the glass below his booted feet knocked my knees from under me. I was falling before I jerked to a stop. He held me cradled in his arms, easily walking to the fire. His face was inches from mine.
“Put me down”
He kept his eyes locked to mine releasing my legs. As I slide down his body he trailed his thumb across my cheek.
“I’m sorry. I thought you knew.”
I pulled back, “You’re sorry?”
Quickly stepping back to avoid my punch he nodded.
“Are you CRAZY? MY PARENTS, they wouldn’t agree to, whatever this is.”
He sighed, “Sit down please,” when I remained there frozen in place, “now!”
I sat. I was on one end of a loveseat, as I settled so did the layers of my dress as they shifted around me. My bare skin was warmed by the fire but I felt cold when he sat next to me. Who was he? He took my hands and cradled them in his holding me tight as I resisted.
“My name is Hades; I am the Lord of the Underworld.”
I interrupted my words spilling out in relief. “But your already married so there is no reason for me to be here. You can send me home”
He kept his on mine gauging my reaction to each word before he continued.
“This is hard to explain but when people no longer believe in them gods…, well they cease to exist. Humans have never given up their belief in death so I continued to endure long after they perished. I watched my brothers and sisters die followed by their children.”
I let my confusion show so he clarified, “The gods of Mount Olympus are not just legends Sara”
I pulled my hands out of his but he grabbed me before I could run. His fingers were burning into my skin.
“Don’t be afraid, please don’t be afraid. They passed long ago. There are only a few of us left.”
He guided me back down to the sofa and leaned towards me, “Do you believe in destiny, fate? The Fates control all things Sara, they endured. Do you understand?”
“I...I think so.” I couldn’t drag my eyes away from his face.
“Sara, eons ago they choose a bride for me, Persephone. But humans lost faith in her; they turned to science and logic. They did not believe in her and her…she left”
He looked away and I drug in a ragged breath, finally able to breathe again.
“I’m sorry, I really am.” After I spoke we sat in silence, only moving when the clock rang out.
One, twice, three times it chimed before silence resumed.
“She was my companion for many years. But the Fates remained even as the others faded and well they decided to meddle.”
His voice tightened and I could feel the tension as his hands tightened on my arms. I would find bruises there later.
“You don’t like them do you?"
He smiled a grim, almost painful glance down at me. As he answered his eyes darkened, “The Fates control all things and they have always been...tolerant towards me.”
His pupils were a flat black, the temperature dropped even further.
“After all I was the only Olympian who allowed them to dwell in my realm. The Fates felt my life was empty. They ordered Cupid to shoot an arrow.”
Cupid, wait a…, “Cupid is the god of…of love?”
Though it sounded like a question I was already piecing together the answer.
“Yes, they requested and he complied.”
I couldn’t meet his eyes, I felt my cheeks burn. I felt like every bone in my body was a live wire.
“What does that mean, exactly?”
His hands slid up my arms, ghosting across my shoulders before he tilted my chin back up to his. I shivered.
“It means…I belong to you.”
His eyes were burning into mine, “I am yours, and I love you. I realize that’s hard for you to accept…but according to, Greek custom I am you’re…” he stopped when he realized I wasn’t breathing.
“Sara, Sara? Please answer me!”
I could see him shouting but the sound was a few seconds behind. I saw his lips move again and then my ears unsealed.
“I need….a minute”, I pulled away again and this time he released me.
I stood and walked towards the balcony. As I wove between the furniture I felt his eyes on me.
“Sara…I won’t hurt you I swear it.”
His voice was softer now, pained. I turned slowly as his words registered. He still sat on the couch. He didn’t look like the god of death in that moment. He looked like a man and that scared me.
“I have read about the Greek gods. They weren’t known for keeping their word.”
He stood, his long limbs unfolding slowly. As he stretched to his full height he radiated power. I felt it in the air between us. I felt cold again. I started trembling. When he noticed that he froze.
“Don’t be afraid, not of me.”
Suddenly he closed the distance between us in a few quick movements. I was in his arms again. My arms were folded between and I was grateful for that little bit of space. Was he trying to comfort me? His arms were wrapped so tight around me I felt like he was trying to keep me from vanishing. I couldn’t help it, I pushed away. Instantly I knew that was a mistake. He stiffened for a long moment before he relaxed.
“I keep my word Sara. I won’t harm you. I swear it.”
He had leaned back so he could see my face and was peering into my eyes. The seconds passed but I didn’t know what to say. He groaned and pulled me to him again. I felt the warmth of his skin, his heartbeat. He rested his chin on top of my head. I felt so small compared to him.
“Sara please say something.”
His voice was muffled now; his lips were pressed into my hair. My stomach growled. At that he lost it. He burst out laughing and I jumped back when he released me, startled. Hades continued to chuckle as he looked at me.
“Come on, let’s have some breakfast.” His hand dwarfed mine as he seized it, leading me to a small table. I looked at the clock; it was 9 in the morning. I think I stopped breathing again.
“Sara?” his deep voice was worried again and I quickly sat down before he could grab me again.
“I’m fine, but, I’ve been here 8 hours?!”
Hades looked awkward as he sat opposite me.
“That is part of the magic of this place. Time moves differently here.”
My eyes met his and I lost my train of thought. They were so blue. Mentally slapping myself I focused.
“What do you mean? Am…am I? Am I dead?
My parents…
“Do my parents, did they know…”
I stared into the flames; I could see my parent’s faces in my mind. My dad’s serious eyes and my mother’s smile so unlike mine, hers was fleeting and so all the more treasured. Did they sentence me to this? Could they have known? Hades cleared his throat and I studied him again. The god of the Dead was my fiancé?
“Your parents were informed of your fate before you were born. The Fates thought, since you would be raised in the modern world that you…they told your parents to raise you in the old ways.”
He reached for my hand. I flinched but he seized my hand in his again with a lightning fast movement. My body shut down, every instinct telling me to run, to run until I got away. Instead I pulled in a slow breath, looking pointedly at our hands. He didn’t get the hint or he choose to ignore it. His fingers twisted in with mine, knotting us together. I stared at our hands, refusing to meet his eyes.
“Sara please. Don’t shut me out. ”