DIVISION 52 - BOOK I

CHAPTER XLIII

And Hades stood at its door. Holding it open wide. As if the gates to hell itself were open to us tonight with a vicious smile and promise in purple irises.

If he saw himself as the devil he'd need a good reminder of what he was inviting to dine with him. But when my mind cast itself back to my actions only moments ago... I had to stop myself.

I was not changing. Adapting. Nothing more. Leaders fall the moment they grow too close to compassion and empathy. Hades had none. I must reflect that.

* * * * *

He pushed a black piece of raw fish towards me.

I eyed it in boredom. I didn't even have it in me to list the number of times I'd heard it's origin or even how I had chefs with the skill to prepare it safely for me at a moments notice. But I let Hades' wear a smug expression as if he held all the cards.

As if he really knew anything about the food or otherwise in the city I did not know about.

"It's a Kauwusa vanta fish."

I let the air leave through my nose as I drummed two fingers on the smooth wood of the low square table.

My guards twitched. Uneasy with the confined space and too many unfamiliar eyes in the restaurant. A water feature bubbled nearby into rocks and voices spoke freely.

"Interesting." I drawled, without breaking my eyes off his tattooed face.

"It's deadly, if prepared incorrectly." He informed me with a grin.

"So many novel concepts today." I responded, keeping the urge to drip sarcasm out my voice.

He raised an eyebrow and dropped his eyes down to my plate. "If it makes you uneasy—"

I dropped my pretence entirely and drew a dagger from the inner side of my arm. He flinched. I rapidly sliced two centimetres of skin away from the top and two more down the middle just missing the poison glands of the vanta fish.

Hades lost his smirk.

When I was finished harmless pieces of raw meat lay before me and I popped each one into my mouth slowly and smiled at him.

"You were saying?" I asked innocently.

He narrowed his ridiculous purple irises before looking down at his own plate.

"It was already prepared."

I barked a laugh. "Please. Indulge me." I said with a grin as I gesture with my dagger. "A single millimetre is the difference between an enjoyable dinner and watching you twitch on the floor. Both promise an entertainment. But I make my own fate."

He now frowned openly. "And how would you have learned such—"

"I have no interest in listing at length the areas I exceed experience. So you can either eat the damn fish or shut up and get down to why we're here."

Whatever games. Whatever gloating he had prepared was now vanishing. Calculation of what sat before him was now taking place. The fact that I had to wait for this moment only pissed me off. It was time I could otherwise spend with Makayla.