The Power of Hades (The Hades Trials, #1)

by Eliza Raine

'Harm a single hair on her body and we'll find out once and for all which king is strongest,'

'Right,' I said, flexing my fingers. 'Well, in that case, I would like to take this opportunity to inform you that you are a colossal prick.'

'Because... When I saw them yesterday, I knew I wasn't dreaming. I knew this was real,'

In under a second they were gone again, and I let out my breath slowly. The desire to help him, to make him happy, to fix whatever made him so intensely sad was overwhelming me. I scrabbled for something to say but Hades spoke first.

'Nothing happened between us,' he answered, his voice sad. 'Circumstances beyond my control meant you had to leave.' He didn't hate me. Relief and happiness crashed through me, at the same time as my rational brain screamed at me.

He kept the orchid alive for you. It's all he had left. I knew that's what the flower meant. What this room meant. And he had known when I entered it today. He still cares.

My breath caught and desperation filled me as I stared at his face, into his swirling silver eyes. Home. He was home. He was mine.

'You brought light, and life, to a place where I thought none could exist.'

He loved me. I could see it in his face, hear it in his broken voice, feel it in his electrifying touch. All this time, all those years alone in New York, and someone, somewhere, loved me this much. And I never knew.