Chapter 4 The Red Dress

Kia's POV

I woke to silence, no birds chirping, no breeze whistling, no cars zooming by, no sound of the street, just the steady hum of artificial air conditioning and the throb of my headache. I sat up slowly, momentarily disoriented until memory crashed into me like a freight train, Gio's blood, Hades' hands, the cold marble of the mansion floors and the glorified prison he'd locked me in. I sat up quickly, disoriented for a second. The room was still the same: too much gold, too much glass, too many shadows pretending to be comfort. The walls hadn't changed overnight nor had the fact that I was still his prisoner and then I saw it.

Laid out on the armchair opposite the bed was a dress. Red, blood red, the kind of red that dared to scream a statement in a silent room. It was sleek, strapless and unmistakably designer, next to it laid a folded note. I swung my legs off the bed and padded across the soft carpet, fingers trembling as I opened the note.

"Wear this and be ready in 10"

No name, no greeting, no room for negotiation. I crumpled the note in my fist, heart racing with a cocktail of indignation and fear. Ten minutes, like I was on some kind of schedule in a palace turned prison. But the worst part? I didn't even know what I was supposed to be ready for.

~~

I didn't want to wear it, everything in me rebelled at the idea of following Hades' orders to the tee. But the memory of Hades catching me at the door last night, his voice was like a velvet noose around my neck and it stopped me. I wasn't ready for another confrontation, not yet. So I wore the damn dress. It clung to my curves perfectly. The hem reached all the way to my ankles, the slit teasing just enough thigh to feel like a warning. My reflection in the gold edged mirror was unrecognizable. A woman who looked calm, composed, elegant, a lie. How Hades had been able to get a dress that fit me perfectly nibbled on my mind, how was he able to get my measurements.

The knock came precisely ten minutes later, three short raps, no urgency, no kindness. I took a deep breath and padded over to the door. I pulled it open and found two guards waiting outside. One of them gestured for me to follow but neither of them spoke a word. We moved through a hallway that looked like it belonged in a museum, marble floors, crystal chandeliers, paintings of men with dead eyes and women with sad smiles and then we reached the dining room. Room was the wrong word to describe it because it wasn't a room, far from it, it was a cathedral. A table longer than any I'd ever seen stretched across the room. Gold inlay on the mahogany surface, white candles flickering like nervous hearts and in the throne at the head of the table sat Hades. He didn't rise, just watched me, watched me like he had all the time in the world.

"You clean up well", he said finally, cutting through the silence.

I clenched my jaw.

"I didn't do it for you", I spat through gritted teeth.

He chuckled softly.

"Of course not. You didn't have to do it for me as long as you did it because I told you to", he said.

I stabbed a glance at the fork beside the plate, mentally calculating if it was sharp enough to draw blood. He picked up his glass and took a sip, then placed the glass down with a click.

"You're furious, good. Use it, rage has its purposes", he said staring straight at me.

"You think this is some kind of game?", I asked him angrily.

He tilted his head.

"Everything is a game, Kia. The trick is figuring out if you're a player... or a piece"

"I'm not a piece", I said clenching my fists.

He smirked.

"Then what are you, Kia? My prisoner?"

"I'm not your prisoner, I'm not yours!" I snapped.

"Really?"

The room dropped a few degrees, he gestured to the chair beside him, "Sit"

I stayed frozen in place, defiantly.

"Or don't, but you'll stand for a while", he shrugged.

I walked to the chair with every step deliberate, I pulled out the chair and sat, spine stiff, eyes forward. The table was set for two, the meal untouched, salmon, risotto and wine, I didn't touch any of it. Hades, on the other hand, took a sip of his wine with maddening leisure, as if this were a dinner date and not some twisted display of dominance. We sat like that for what felt like an eternity, him eating in silence, me glaring holes into the tablecloth. Then, without warning, he spoke.

"He begged for your life, you know"

My head snapped toward him.

"Gio", he clarified, dabbing his mouth with a napkin. "When he was on his knees, bloodied, broken, he was still trying to bargain. Do you remember? The last thing he asked for before I ended him was you"

My stomach churned. He looked at me then, something hard glittering in his eyes. "I granted his wish, that makes you mine", he said.

"You murdered him", I spat through clenched fists and gritted teeth.

"Yes", he answered calmly.

"You're a monster"

He tilted his head slightly, as if considering the label.

"Perhaps"

I stood suddenly, knocking the chair backward.

"What do you want from me?!"

His expression didn't change. He rose slowly, walked around the table, and stopped in front of me, too close, the scent of sandalwood and smoke wrapped around me like a noose. His fingers reached out, cold and careful and tilted my chin up with a single knuckle.

"I want you to remember that moment, your brother begging for your life the next time you think about running", he said softly.

My breath caught.

"Because next time, I won't be so generous"

Then he turned, took one step toward the door and tossed a final sentence over his shoulder:

"You start work tomorrow"