Page 114 of Misted

My heartbeat resurrects as if I was hit in the chest by a brick. My eyes widen and Hades’ smile reflects his approval. “There. Much better.”

He places a hand on the side of my head on the table and leans forward, all smiles disappearing. “You were trying to escape with Hawk.”

I shake my head frantically. Hades shoots anyone who tries to escape in front of everyone. He kills them in cold blood to set an example. After the first two attempts, no one tries anymore.

“It was my idea. Only me. Just me!” I scream. I feel like I’m dying anyway, but I’ll be damned if I drag Hawk into this with me.

“See, that’s not what Hawk’s tests say. He’s been slowly detoxing, too.” His face becomes rigid cold, and I know, I just know that Hades will issue my death sentence with the next words. “He has to die.”

“No... ” Tears stream down my cheeks and into my gaping mouth.

I couldn’t protect my baby, but I’ll be damned if I can’t protect Hawk either.

My wings were cut off. I’m torn to pieces and sold for parts, but I won’t fucking break.

“Mist… Mist…” Hades muses and runs a lean finger down my damp cheeks. “Both of you used to strengthen each other. Hawk trained you. You kept him from killing himself, so it was win-win for me. I saw nothing wrong in letting you have your little escapades.” He pauses, his voice dropping to a chilling range. “But you dare repay my kindness with betrayal?”

“It won’t happen again, I— ”

“Of course it won’t.” He’s speaking like a doting teacher. “He’s weakening you and unfortunately, you’re weakening him, too. ”

“I’ll kill as much as you want…”

He shakes his head. “You kill for me, anyway. It’s not a choice.”

I gulp the tears. “Then what do you want?”

“Prove your loyalty to me.”

“How?”

“By erasing your loyalty to Hawk.” He leans forward until his peppermint breath breaks goosebumps along my skin. “You’ll tell me when and where you planned to escape with him, but you won’t show up.”

No. The betrayal will kill Hawk. It’ll destroy him.

“If you don’t…” Hades trails off, wipes a tear off my cheek, and squashes it between his thumb and forefinger. He crouches so he’s on eye level. “I’ll kill him. Ah. And it won’t be just a bullet to the head. No. That’s too easy of a punishment. I’ll torture him for days, weeks, months. Maybe years? And I’ll make you watch every second of him rotting and begging for death.”

A sob tears from my throat.

Hades smirks and straightens. “The decision is yours, Mist.”