XENIA
The resounding slap—no, punch—echoed in my head.
He hissed and narrowed his eyes,“Stay the f**k away from me. Both of you.”
Those words cut through me like a blunt knife to the bone as he stormed off. Hades had just landed a deadly punch to Matteo’s cheek and I was momentarily in denial that this very moment was reality and not a crude figment of my imagination.
I’d never known Hades to be a violent person, and I felt horrible that I was the one who’d unlocked that part of him and leading him on foolishly for months.
“I… He…” I tried to form words as I reached up to sooth Matteo’s cheek, but his palm was already pressed over it as he grimaced from the pain.
“I’ll be fine, go after him, he’s hurting much more than I am and he’ll never listen to me,” Matteo’s voice sounded heavy
