Another moment, and I found myself in a room completely bare of furniture as the hand covering my mouth loosened. I prepared to knee my assailant in the balls, but a shadow fell over me—-
I stumbled back in shock when I realized who my assailant was.
"You."
I threw myself into Hadrian's arms, eyes squeezing shut so I could savor, even for a moment, how seriously good it felt to see and feel him. And after that, the words just came rushing out—-
"Are you okay? You're not hurt?"
We actually ended up asking each other the same questions, albeit in different tones, with Hadrian's voice edged with tension while mine was worried and shaken.
His arms loosened just as I made a move to step back, and I felt his gaze swiftly and thoroughly check over my body.
"You're truly fine?" he demanded.
I nodded. "And you? You're not hurt anywhere?"
Hadrian shook his head. "We haven't had any trouble from Zeus' thunderbolts as expected, but I'd rather be prepared all the same."
"How are things on the surface?" I asked anxiously.
"Hypnos, the god of sleep, finally managed to knock him out with one of his potions, but it's unlikely to last. Let's just hope someone finds a cure before he wakes up."
"Or a vaccine like..." I was supposed to say SR-41 but when I saw Hadrian's gaze narrow, I could've bitten my tongue off.
Me and my big mouth...
A stern expression hardened Hadrian's features, and I couldn't help squirming. "I can explain," I said weakly.
"I'm all ears, milady," he said politely, "and please do not leave anything out."
Five thousand words later, and I was still squirming while Hadrian looked even sterner. "Whatever happened to your promise of keeping yourself out of trouble?"
"Uh...menopause?"
"Did it not occur to you to at least speak to me first about your quest before taking off?"
"Menopause?"
"And when you realized that Mira had chosen a Gorgon to be your companion, did this not seem even the slightest bit dangerous?"
"Still menopause."
Hadrian took a deep breath.
I held my breath.
And when he finally looked at me—-
The sternness was gone, and instead he simply looked resigned and exasperated.
Yes! We're back to normal!
"Is that your equivalent to the Fifth, milady?"
Since he still sounded a little serious, I answered just as seriously. "Tis a universal truth in life—-"
Hadrian rolled his eyes, but I ignored this.
"No man has ever the right to upset...a woman with the Big M." I looked at him hopefully. "Right?"
But this time, it was Hadrian who pretended not to hear anything. Smart man. If he had said yes, we both knew I'd totally use that to my advantage and be on menopause forever.
"Did the Gorgon try hurting you in any way?" Hadrian asked rather abruptly, and I could only blink and shake my head, taken aback by the anger in his gaze.
"I was scared of her at first," I admitted. "I mean, who wouldn't? But in the end, I think we've gotten along quite well, actually. Although she'll probably deny that. And I think she likes me, but she's probably going to deny that, too."
Hadrian was staring at me with a frown.
"What?"
"You sound as if you're fond of her."
"Are you trying to trip me up?" I asked suspiciously.
"You can't trust her, Saoirse."
I frowned back at him. "It's not like you to judge a person by her hair. Just because she literally has snakes on her head doesn't mean she's also a snake. She—-"
"—-was responsible for the death of at least two thousand men in her time," Hadrian interrupted, "back when she was living on the surface."
"Ha!" He had to be joking. "Yeah right." Any moment now, he'd tell me he was joking.
But Hadrian only gazed at me rather stonily. "Two thousand men, Saoirse."
"Maybe they were all bad men?" I asked weakly.
"Priests, reverends, monks, imams, and even an altar boy. Do those sound like bad men?"
I looked at him helplessly.
"She's a notorious misandrist, and even more notorious for worshipping the ground Mira walks on," Hadrian said curtly. "Would do anything my cousin asks her—-" He suddenly stopped speaking, his head sharply turning towards the door.
I couldn't blame him.
I heard it, too.
Someone slithering up—-
And then it was our door creaking open—-
Sssshit.
I mean, shit.
A cold and mean-looking Ssssusssan now stood before us, and as her gaze slowly turned to the Lord of the Underworld, I saw her lips open.
"Watch out for her tongue!"
But nothing happened.
Instead, the Gorgon simply spoke.
Huh.
In Greek.
Because...Like mistress, like servant.
To which Hadrian answered, also in Greek, and just like that, they were no longer at each other's throats. You could literally feel the violent tension inside of the room disappear in an instant, and I could only look at Hadrian and the Gorgon—-
"What just happened?" I blurted out.
If you were not ssstupid, you would know.
And my boyfriend actually cracked a smile.
The Lord of the Underworld only smiled at my jokes.