A Game of Gods (Hades Saga, #3)

by Scarlett St. Clair

“What do you feel?” he asked, concentrating on her. Everything was about her. He spoke against her skin and felt her take a breath as Pirithous began to beg. “Persephone, please.” His voice shook. The longer the demigod was awake, the more he recalled the torment at Hades’s hands, and it made him desperate. “I–I am sorry.” Sorry. That word burrowed beneath Hades’s skin, calling to the darkness that lived just beneath the surface. It made him feel… “Violent,” Persephone said, and he knew it because there was an edge to her power that he had never felt before. Beneath the warmth and the flora was something sharp and desperate. He wanted to taste it, run his tongue along it. “Focus on it,” Hades commanded, his hand twining with hers. “Feed it.” In the quiet moment that followed, Hades remained still, relishing the feel of her magic as she concentrated on gathering it into her palm. It was a rush, a great wave of power that hit him deep in his stomach. “Where do you wish to cause him pain?” he asked. “This isn’t you.” Pirithous’s voice turned to a keen whine, and Hades wished more than anything that he would shut the fuck up. “I know you. I watched you!” Yes, he had watched her. He had targeted and stalked her. He had taken pictures of her in her home, where she was meant to be safest. He had felt entitled to her body for no other reason than the fact that she existed. And he would be punished eternally. “He wanted to use his cock as a weapon,” she said. “And I want it to burn...