ONYX

Chapter Thirty Five

***Caution: Extreme Adult Scenes Ahead- Do not read if you are under the age of 18. If you wish to skip the scenes ahead, please move on to the next chapter. More details and events will happen in the final edit of the published book.***

"Do you wish to return?" Hades asked hesitantly.

"No." Alessa breathed out with the nerves that jumbled in her belly.

The answer enticed him even more. Hades hadn't been so happy in his life and with the woman he'd only just dreamt of in his lonely nights was now standing in front him as if she were truly a dream that'd come to life before his eyes. "We can go anywhere you want to go."

"I want to stay with you." Alessa could feel her heart tighten in a spasm of excitement.

"And I to you, Alessa."

Slowly, they walked towards each other, Virgil's soul a mere distant memory, but what they had now was everlasting. "Then take me away to a place for only me and you."

Alessandra felt powerful, so much so that she deemed a soul unworthy of Elysium with little movement of her hand. It should've frightened her because the very thing that she'd done had resembled the effects of the curse she once had growing up. The only difference was that now she could take the souls of those that were evil and put them in a place where they would never arise to terrorize the innocent again. For that, she was enamored. She couldn't stop—she wouldn't.

Hands touched and the connection seemed to spark. Alessandra felt it, for the feeling of him was so familiar to her now, and yet she couldn't place it. This feeling . . . She could feel a pull in her chest, it tightened as if she had discovered something about herself that she lost even if she couldn't place this odd sensation; it was growing.

He could see it in her eyes. She was starting to remember. The memories were churning behind those sapphire eyes that glistened. He wanted to do something—say something—to trigger even more memories, but alas, he stopped himself. Instead, he embraced her.

Her head against his chest, he closed his eyes and the image of his true home came to mind. It wasn't the manor where his most trusted companions lived, but the depths of the Underworld where he had a special seat to all the chaos that roamed in the dark.

His throne room.

Alessandra blanched. She'd never seen this part of the Underworld. She knew they were still underground because the scenery still had that gloomy, haunted feeling to it, but this place was more serene. There weren't any sounds of wailing souls, but dead silence.

His throne was carved out of cobblestone; the craftsman had been precise with the shape so that it could only fit one man. Each line of the armrests and the back were perfectly straight. A pool of water surrounded it with no walkway for Hades to possibly approach.

Alessandra wondered, "How do you walk to it with all the water?"

Hades smirked. "Like this," He took her hand and started towards the pool with Alessandra in tow. She was curious as to how, but when Hades' foot touched the water, she stopped. "It's okay." He insisted much too eagerly.

Frowning, she started to protest, but thought against it. If she's trust him about everything else this far then why doubt him on this? True, he'd given her reason not to trust him, but he hadn't intentionally put her in danger. She wanted to trust him, to show him that she would trust him and so she would.

She took one step then another, but there was no surface that their feet touched. Like a spirit standing on the edge, she could see the less than stable waves around her feet where she stood. This was far different than anything she had seen before. Today was a day of change. It was as if they were walking on water. Alessandra couldn't see anything beneath it, but she knew it was bottomless. So, how could they walk on it? Maybe it was an illusion of some sort. Hades walked to the seat that he was proud to claim. It was a symbol of his profound authority on all things that resided in the Underworld. When he was here then all bowed down to him and respected him.