A Game of Fate (Hades Saga, #1)

by Scarlett St. Clair

She is yours, a voice echoed in his head, and something inside him snapped. Claim her.

“But I don’t have anything to bet with,” she said, glancing down at herself. I would happily take the dress.

He would pry the bars from around her body, free her from this self-constructed cage of hate, and in the end, if she did not love him, at least she would be free.

“No one prays to the God of the Dead, my lady, and when they do, it is already too late.”

She moaned and leaned into him, her head resting against his shoulder, and something akin to fire ignited in his stomach. Fuck. He took deep breaths through his nose and out his mouth, trying to concentrate on his magic and not his growing erection.

It was an algorithm, and most people had a pattern, even if they did not realize it.

Because you are mine, he wanted to say, but those words froze in his throat.

“Let me please you,” she whispered, and kissed him again. His hands landed on her sides, and he rolled, pinning her beneath him. He took her wrists and guided them over her head. “You please me,” he said, kissing her swollen lips a final time, reveling in the way her body arched against his, warmed with need. It was a reminder of why he had to stop this. “Sleep.” The command came with a rush of magic that instantly sent Persephone into a deep slumber. Hades paused there a moment, suspended over her, before rolling off onto his back. He sighed, full of frustration and rage, and growled. “Fucking Fates.”

“Let me show you what it is to hold power in your hands. Let me coax the darkness from you. I will help you shape it.”

“Yes, Minthe?” Hades’s voice was strained, his anger and desire warring for dominance in his mind. Persephone’s hand stroked down his shaft, her thumb rubbing light circles over the crown of his cock. “We…missed you at dinner,” Minthe was saying. All Hades could think was, Why is she still talking? “But I see that you are busy.” Persephone’s hand moved down to the very root. “Very,” he said between his teeth. “I will let the cook know you have been thoroughly sated.” Up to the tip. “Quite,” he gritted out.

“Did he piss in a circle around her?” Poseidon asked.

“Persephone.” Her name was rough on his tongue, and he wasn’t sure why he said it—as a warning or in prayer.

“I want you inside me,” she said. “Fuck me, say my name as you come. Dream of me, and only me, for the rest of eternity.”

Take her, and I will destroy this world. Take her, and I will destroy you. Take her, and I will end us all.

Hades nodded and left the forge, only to find his way blocked by Hermes. “No,” Hades said immediately. Hermes’s mouth opened in offense. “You don’t even know what I was going to say!” “I know why you’re here. You only have two purposes, Hermes, and since you are not guiding souls to the Underworld, you must be here to tell me something I don’t want to hear.” Hades pushed past him, and Hermes followed. “I’ll have you know I am offended,” Hermes said. “I am not just a guide or a messenger; I’m also a thief.” “Forgive the oversight,” Hades said. “I thought you’d be in a better mood,” Hermes said. “Having finally buried the weasel, got your bone honed, launched the meat missile…” “Enough!” Hades snapped, turning to the god whose eyes sparkled with amusement. “Why are you here?” He grinned. “We’ve been summoned to council in Olympia. Someone’s getting in trouble for stealing Helios’s cows, and guess what? It’s not me this time!”

“I want to worship you.” That, Hades thought. I’ll take that. “And how would you worship me, goddess?” His voice rumbled between them, and he watched, eyes darkening as she knelt in front of him, parting his thighs as she fitted herself between his legs. “Shall I show you?” How the fuck did he get so lucky?

“Use this to scoop the batter and make them into one-inch…balls.” She cleared her throat when she said the word balls. And all he could think was how she’d teased his in the back of the limo with his cock in her mouth, and everything tightened. Fuck.

“What did you do?” he snarled. “I told her about the bargain.” “Fuck!” Hades slammed his fists on his pristine table. This time, it shattered. Aphrodite’s eyes widened, but she stood her ground and did not flinch at his outburst. “Why?” he demanded. “Is this revenge for Adonis?” “It began that way,” she admitted, looking surprisingly devastated. “And how did it end, Aphrodite?” “I broke her heart.”