The Curse of Hades *MATURE*

Chapter 9; impulsive recklessness

Before you continue reading, I just wanted to wish you all a happy new year! I hope that 2021 will be good for you, heck, for all of us ;) And apologies that this was slightly later than planned. The new year brought out my toxic ex from the trash and it kinda threw me off lol. Anyway, enjoy x

* * *

There was a bird inside her head. It was loud and shrilling, the vibrations from its screeches almost nauseating. It prodded her mind with its sharp beak and talons, shredding through the mental walls Harper kept up. Her wolf pushed and snarled against it but to no avail. She groaned, pushing her consciousness forward as the blistering headache pounded through her head.

"Hush, little one," an unfamiliar voice murmured. "Rest, my child." 

The next time Harper became aware of her surroundings was when shouting blurred her mind again.

"Your actions were foolish, damn it!" The same unfamiliar voice spoke up, this time far less tenderly. 

A pause. "I know," Hades' voice drifted towards her. She heard him pace, felt his anxiety prodding her wolf awake. "I was alone and desperate..."

Another moment of silence. "Had you asked the council we would have agreed," the unfamiliar voice replied. "This is what impulsive recklessness does."

"I know," Hades snarled. 

"The question is, though, whether you'll help or not," Cerberus' voice reached her still form. She was surprised at how collected he sounded given Hades' obvious distress.

"You know that I cannot meddle with other Gods problems. That would hinder the balance," the voice answered just as cooly.

"But she's yours," Hades snapped. "And the other half of my soul. Shouldn't that count for something?"

The voice paused once more, this time with more hesitancy. "It does. And that is why your mate is still alive. Seal the bond, Hades. Then we'll talk."

The moment she felt a ripple of magic push through the room, Harper opened her eyes.

"So she lives," Cerberus murmured. He stood against a wall, his hands crossed behind his back. "Welcome to the land of the living. Well, the underworld, I should say."

She groaned as her head swam with pain and her stomach rolled with nausea. She squinted her eyes against the blistering light and frowned. They were in her room and she was tucked under her bedsheets, dressed in a simple baby pink nightgown.

Harper's eyes found Hades' as she realised that someone had changed her. She hoped, with reddened cheeks and butterflies in her belly, that he did so with magic.

As if he heard her train of thoughts, Hades smirked, going to stand by her side. His fingers tentatively traced the curve of her cheeks, his touch a faint whisper of cold against her heated skin.

"You had me worried there, buttercup. I thought I lost you again," his words were a cold reminder of what had happened.

Harper went to sit up but the pain that flared rooted her in place. Sensing her discomfort, Hades helped her up against the large feather pillows until she was upright. Her eyes followed the shake of his hands as he put them in his pockets.

"Who was she?" Harper croaked, licking her dry lips. She winced at the sensitive flesh. she must have bitten through her bottom lip when she lost consciousness.  "How long was I out?"

The two men exchanged looks.

"Two days short of a week, Princess," Cerberus supplied. "You were quite...hurt."