Aria didn't sleep.
How could she? Every shadow in this place seemed alive. Every distant sound could be something coming to kill her. And Cerberus—the massive three-headed guardian—had curled around her like she was something precious that needed protecting.
She sat with her back against his warm side, feeling the rise and fall of his breathing. It should have terrified her. Instead, it was the only thing keeping her from completely losing it.
"This is so messed up," she muttered, pulling her knees to her chest.
The center head lifted, one massive eye opening to look at her.
"Don't suppose you can tell me what I'm supposed to do?" she asked. "Because your boss—sorry, your other half—wasn't exactly helpful."
Cerberus huffed. Steam curled from his nostrils.
"Yeah, that's what I thought."
She was losing her mind. Talking to a giant hell-beast like it was a therapy dog.
A sound echoed from somewhere in the palace—footsteps, sharp and purposeful. Multiple sets.
All three of Cerberus' heads snapped up, lips curling back to reveal fangs the size of daggers. A low growl rumbled through his chest, vibrating against Aria's back.
"Easy," she whispered, her hand moving to his neck. "Easy, boy."
Boy. She'd just called the guardian of the underworld boy. She really had lost it.
But Cerberus settled slightly at her touch, though his eyes remained fixed on the doorway.
Three figures emerged from the shadows.
The first was the crimson-skinned woman from before, her bone armor gleaming in the blue torchlight. The second was a man—if you could call him that—with charcoal-gray skin and eyes that burned like hot coals. The third made Aria's stomach turn. It looked human, almost, except its mouth was stitched shut and its hands ended in blades instead of fingers.
"The mortal is awake," the woman said, her voice dripping with disdain. "How... convenient."
Aria stood, keeping one hand on Cerberus. The beast moved with her, positioning himself between her and the newcomers.
"Who are you?" Aria tried to sound confident. Pretty sure she failed.
"I am Nyx, First General of Lord Hades' army." The woman's yellow eyes narrowed. "This is Bael, Master of Torments, and Silence, the Keeper of Secrets."
The stitched-mouth figure tilted its head, studying her with unblinking black eyes.
"Cool. Great. Love the names." Aria forced herself to meet Nyx's glare. "What do you want?"
"To see what all the fuss is about." Bael moved closer, his coal-hot eyes roaming over her. "You don't look like much. Certainly not worth disrupting the balance of Hell."
"Didn't ask to disrupt anything."
"Yet here you are." Nyx circled slowly, like a predator. "Carrying the Heart. Bonding with Cerberus. Making our lord act like a fool."
Aria's jaw tightened. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Don't you?" Nyx stopped directly across from her. "Lord Hades hasn't shown interest in anything—anyone—for over a millennium. Then you fall into his realm, and suddenly he's..." She paused, searching for the word. "Distracted."
"That's not my fault."
"Isn't it?" Bael leaned against a pillar, casual. "The Heart doesn't choose randomly, mortal. It picks vessels with power. With potential. With purpose." His smile was all teeth. "So what's your purpose? Why did it choose you?"
"I don't know!"
"Liar."
Cerberus snarled, all three heads snapping toward Bael. The temperature in the room dropped.
Bael raised his hands, backing off. "Easy, beast. Just asking questions."
"Cerberus doesn't like you questioning her." A new voice cut through the tension. Smooth. Dark. Familiar.
Hades appeared in the doorway, and the air itself seemed to bow to him. He wore different clothes now—still black, but more formal. Almost regal. His silver eyes swept over the scene, cold and assessing.
"My lord." Nyx bowed, fist over her chest. The others followed suit.
"I don't recall summoning you to my private chambers," Hades said quietly.
The quiet was worse than shouting. Aria could feel the threat beneath the words.
"We came to assess the situation," Nyx said, straightening. "The council is concerned—"
"The council will wait." Hades moved into the room, each step deliberate. "And they will keep their distance from the girl until I say otherwise."
"But my lord, the prophecy—"
"Is not your concern." His voice dropped to something deadly. "Aria is under my protection. Anyone who touches her answers to me. Is that clear?"
Silence.
Then Nyx bowed again, deeper this time. "Crystal clear, my lord."
"Good. Leave us."
They filed out without another word, though Nyx shot Aria a look that promised this wasn't over.
When they were gone, Hades turned to her. His expression was unreadable.
"You okay?"
The question surprised her. "Yeah. I think so." She paused. "What prophecy?"
He ignored that. "Did they hurt you?"
"No. Cerberus made sure of that."
Hades' gaze shifted to the beast, something complicated passing over his features. "Of course he did."
He moved closer, and Aria noticed something different about him. The tight control was still there, but underneath... tension. Like he was holding something back.
"I need to tell you something," he said. "About Cerberus. About us."
"Okay..."
"When I created him—when I split myself into god and beast—I didn't just give him my rage." Hades' jaw worked. "I gave him everything I couldn't afford to feel. Passion. Desire. Need. Everything that makes a being vulnerable."
Aria's heart started beating faster. "Why are you telling me this?"
"Because what he feels..." Hades looked at Cerberus, then back to her. "I feel. Not as strongly, but it's there. A shadow of his emotions bleeding back into me."
"And what does he feel?"
The question hung in the air.
Hades stepped closer. Close enough that she could see the silver in his eyes swirling like liquid mercury.
"He wants to claim you," he said, voice rough. "Mark you as his. Protect you from everything in this realm, including me. And the longer you're here, the stronger that urge becomes."
Heat flooded through her. "That's... that's him. Not you."
"Are you sure?" His hand lifted, fingers brushing a strand of hair from her face. The touch was gentle, but his hand trembled slightly. "Because right now, standing here, all I can think about is how your heart is racing. How your lips parted when I got close. How badly I want to—"
He stopped. Pulled back. Put distance between them.
"This is why you're dangerous," he said, almost to himself. "Not because of the power you carry. Because of what you make us feel."
"Us?"
"Me and Cerberus. We're supposed to be separate. Distinct. But you..." He shook his head. "You're blurring the lines."
Aria's mind raced. "What happens if the lines disappear completely?"
"I don't know. It's never happened before."
"That's not reassuring."
"Nothing about this situation is reassuring." He moved toward the door. "The council meeting is in an hour. You need to be there."
"What? No. I can't—"
"You don't have a choice." He looked back at her. "They need to see you're not a threat. That you're cooperative. Otherwise..." He didn't finish the sentence.
"Otherwise they'll kill me."
"They'll try."
"And will you stop them?"
The pause was too long.
"Yes," he finally said. But the hesitation had said everything.
He left, and Aria sank back against Cerberus, her whole body shaking.
"This is insane," she whispered. "He basically just admitted he wants me. Or you want me. Or both of you want me. I don't even know anymore."
The center head nuzzled her shoulder, rumbling softly.
And then something impossible happened.
The head pulled back, and the air around it shimmered. Like reality was bending. Reshaping.
Aria watched, frozen, as the massive beast began to change.
Fur melted into shadows. Three heads merged into one. The body shrank, twisted, reformed into something—
Someone.
A man stood where Cerberus had been moments before.
Tall. Muscular. Wild black hair that fell into eyes that burned with the same coal-fire intensity as the beast's. He was shirtless, his skin marked with the same rune-like patterns she'd seen in Cerberus' fur.
And he was staring at her like she was the only thing in existence.
"You..." His voice was rough, unused. "Mine."
Aria's back hit the wall. "What the hell?"
He moved toward her—not graceful like Hades, but powerful. Primal. Every step deliberate.
"Waited so long," he growled. "So long to feel. To want." He stopped right in front of her, caging her against the wall with his arms. "Then you came. Fell into our realm. Into our soul."
"Cerberus?" she whispered.
"Yes." He leaned closer, his nose brushing her temple. Breathing her in. "And no. I am... more than the beast. Less than the god." His hand came up, fingers trailing down her cheek. "I am what he denies. What he locked away."
"You can take human form?"
"Only at night. When his control weakens. When the boundary between us thins." His thumb traced her lower lip, and heat exploded through her body. "And only because you're here. Your presence... it's breaking the chains he put on me."
"I didn't mean to—"
"Don't." His forehead pressed against hers. "Don't apologize for giving me this. For letting me feel again."
This was wrong. Dangerous. She should push him away, run, scream for Hades.
But all she could think about was the way his body heat seeped into her. The way his eyes—those burning, desperate eyes—looked at her like she was salvation.
"He can't have you," Cerberus whispered against her lips. "He'll deny this. Fight it. Push you away because he's afraid." His hand slid into her hair, gentle despite the barely contained hunger in his eyes. "But I'm not afraid."
"Of what?"
"Of burning for you."
He kissed her.
It wasn't gentle. Wasn't tentative. It was raw need and desperate hunger and a thousand years of loneliness poured into one devastating contact.
Aria gasped against his mouth, and he swallowed the sound, pressing closer. His tongue traced her lower lip, asking permission she shouldn't give.
But she opened for him anyway.
The kiss deepened, turned molten. His hands were everywhere—her hair, her waist, her throat—touching her like he was memorizing every inch.
And god help her, she kissed him back.
When he finally pulled away, they were both breathing hard. His pupils were blown wide, more animal than man.
"Mine," he said again. Definitely. "Let him try to deny it. Let him try to stay cold and controlled." A savage smile curved his lips. "You've already chosen, little thief. You just don't know it yet."
Then he stepped back, and the shadows swallowed him.
Cerberus stood in his place—beast again, watching her with knowing eyes.
Aria slid down the wall, her legs giving out.
"Oh god," she breathed. "Oh god, oh god, oh god."
What the hell had she just done?
And why did she already want to do it again?