The Forgotten Witch

31 ~ Hades

It took forever for Z to leave the palace, and when Hades navigated the staircase to his chamber, feeling the aches of a long, disturbing day, he was reminded of all the years he'd made the journey. Or maybe he could blame the scotch Z suggested after Lexi took herself to bed.

Upon arriving, Hades stood at the end of his four poster and watched Lexi sleep under the sedation of exhaustion and expensive French wine, but he was not so eager to join her. He still had worries that needed to be dealt with, like his suspicion that Lexi and Josef shared a liaison during the rogue's tenure at the palace, and after Hades removed his clothes, he began to pace the hearth, letting the fire's warmth soften the alcohol that tainted his veins.

Six turns in, he became dissatisfied with pacing, and he walked to Lexi's bedside again, kneeling beside her sleeping form. Her head faced him, offering an unhindered view of her soft, curvy mouth and the dusting of color that tinted her cheeks. His heart stuttered as he gazed openly at her sublime beauty. She had enchanted him and rescued him all at once, and he was desperately in love with her. He would do anything she asked of him. Give anything to keep her. What would his heart do if she took another?

"You smell like scotch," Lexi whispered into her pillow as she blinked her eyes open.

"I'm sorry if I woke you."

"You know I don't sleep well without you. Why aren't you in bed? You look like you could sleep standing up."

"I'll be there soon. I'm afraid my brain wouldn't let me sleep now if I tried."

Lexi lifted onto her elbow, and when the sheet fell away, Hades noticed she had dressed in her white nightgown with Chantilly lace. Her swollen breasts stretched the sheer bodice until nothing was left to the imagination, but Hades didn't have to imagine. He knew.

"You know you can share your troubles with me," she said. "Tell me what's keeping you awake?"

"Just processing the events of the day," he said, his words sounding cryptic even to his own ears. Hades stood and walked back to the hearth, resuming his pacing and waiting for Lexi to climb out of bed. She met him just as he made the first turn, and her arms came around him.

"Thank you for talking to Zeus about his self-centered, narrow-minded ways," she said. "Your speech about acknowledging his offspring may serve more than Melinoe."

Hades nodded, happy she had made the connection. "I'd like to think so."

"Zeus and I talked about Melinoe's fall in the Lethe, tonight," she said. "Do you think she'll suffer memory loss? You never told us what happened after you took her home."

"I think she has suffered some loss. She can't remember the Bonsai tree, or the spirits, or endangering the elm in the grove. She even seems to have forgotten her trip downriver with Josef."

"Really? Only her short-term memories were lost? That's mighty convenient."

"It seems so. And only time will tell how extensive the loss is."

Lexi bit her lip, and Hades knew she was feeling that pull of compassion. Like him, she had probably been judging Melinoe without pity, but it was in Lexi's nature to sympathize, even with her enemies. "Earlier tonight, when Hecate was bandaging my burns, she said that Melinoe had a crush on you...after you helped her recover from her first fall in the Lethe. I don't think you ever mentioned that to me. I'm sure I would have remembered."

Hades couldn't keep the regret from showing on his face. He would never live long enough to remember every event or face all the consequences of an eternity of foolishness. "I didn't withhold that detail to keep you in the dark, and I'm happy to talk about it whenever you wish, but it doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things. Knowing when Melinoe started her obsession with me won't help her get over it now. She and Zeus need to work their problems out first, then we'll see where it goes from there."