Syn

Anger and a combination of jealousy coursed through my veins as Queen ran past me and into the man's arms. I remained frozen in the doorway as I watched them embrace one another and I shook my head. Did she have another boyfriend besides Dimitri?

The man turned to me and smiled mischievously as he held her and tilted his head in my direction. "You might want to close the door, you're on the run after all."

I rolled my eyes and grabbed the bears from the hall. I walked into the apartment and closed the door behind me before tossing the bears on the couch. I remained apprehensive of the man and watched them with a cautious gaze as I walked towards them and removed her from his arms.

I moved her behind me and gave him a tight-lipped smile as I held my hand out. I held back my rage for Queen but I was getting beyond pissed to see how friendly they were.

"I'm Syn, her fiancé," I said smoothly.

He peeked behind me and gave Queen a wink before accepting my hand in his. "I know who you are, my name is Hades."

"Hades as in, leader-"

"Leader of the demons, yes."

I nodded slowly and glanced at Queen before I looked back at him. "And you two are?"

"Just friends," Queen corrected.

"Yes," he agreed. "If there was anyone in this room I'd be interested in romantically, it'd be you," he said to me flirtatiously.

I dropped his hand and walked away from them to get a bottle of water from the fridge. He laughed along with Queen from behind me and I rolled my eyes.

"Wait, how did you get here? Why are you here?"

"Well, I'm a genius. I can find anyone and also you left something at the palace that I wanted to bring to you."

"What?" She asked.

I tensed as I heard her closet door open and I walked back towards them. I remained on guard as a large giant walked out and looked down at us with a huge smile.

"Bezy!" Queen cheered excitedly as she hugged him. He lifted her off the ground and the room shook as he laughed loudly and spun her around.

"Queen!"

After setting her down he turned to me and ran towards me. I shook my head quickly and held my hand up in refusal but he picked me up as if I weighed nothing and embraced me. "Put me down," I ordered.

He ignored me as everyone laughed and when he set me down I rolled my eyes and moved away from them.

"Why are you all here?" I asked. "Were you followed?"

"No, we weren't followed," he assured. "And we're here to bring you home, your majesty."

"I'm not going home, Hades."

"I'm afraid you don't have much of a choice. Dimitri has taken over and so far, all of the funds are going to the vampires. Demons, fae, werewolves, humans, and witches are barely getting by. The leaders are having to pay out of their own pockets to keep everything together."

"Shit," Queen muttered as she ran a hand through her hair. "How's he doing with the public image?"

"Possibly better than he's ever done. The realms are assuming your dead so right now he's a man that just lost his wife. Everyone is soaking up his bullshit," he said in disdain as he adjusted the tie on his suit.

"How do you know it's bullshit?" I asked. "A lot of people don't."

"I'm great at reading people, and when you both disappeared, I decided to do a little bit of investigating of my own," he said.

"What did you do?" Queen asked cautiously.

"I broke into his house," he said with a shrug.

"Oh no," she groaned.

"Relax, I didn't get caught. I found something."

"What?" I asked.

"This," he fished in his pocket and held up a flash drive. Queen and I glanced at one another and I looked back to Hades.

"What's on it?"

"Everything on his computer, including elevator footage-"

"The one with me?" Queen asked in shock.

"Yes," he answered sadly. "But that's not all."

"What else?" I asked.

"You're not the only girl," he answered quietly. "On this flash drive alone, there are seventeen other women. All non-consensual. I tried to find their identities but they all seemed to die mysterious deaths or disappeared."

"Shit," I cursed.

"I'm sorry for what happened to you, your highness. He will suffer for it," he promised. " But it's your call what we should do with this drive."

I moved to Queen's side and pulled her against my chest. "What do you want to do?"

"Honestly?" She whispered into her hands.

"Always."

"I want to destroy him. Death is too kind."

Hades glanced at me before looking at her and nodding. "How do you want to do that? We can send the tapes to the police if you'd like."

"The police seem to be under his payroll," I retorted. "They'll just bury it if anything."

"Leak it," Queen finally spoke as she sat up.

"What?" I asked in surprise.

"Give the tapes of the other women to the leaders of the realms and leak mine online. The public can find it and his image will be destroyed," she said.

"Are you sure?" Hades asked.

"I'm positive, do it now." She ordered. "We'll come home when it's on the news. Release the full thing with Syn saving me. That along with the future doubt in the public's eyes for Dimitri should be enough to keep Syn out of jail."

"Okay," Hades said in determination. "If you have a computer I can do it right now."

"Top shelf, left side," she said as she pointed to the library.

Hades walked to where she said and pulled out a computer. He opened it and looked around before his eyes landed on Queen and he pointed to the bed. "Do you mind?"

"No, sit down. Go ahead," Queen said.

"I suggest you both get some rest," Hades said. "After tonight, your lives will be a whirlwind."

Queen nodded and I pulled her against me and looked down at her. "You're doing an amazing thing," I insisted as I cupped her face between my hands. "After this, we can go home, okay?"

"What if Dimitri comes after me?"

"I'll be with you. He won't be a threat, trust me."

"Okay," she whispered.

I gently kissed her on the lips and she smiled up at me. "You need to sleep." I led her to the couch and made her sit as I grabbed a blanket from the cabinet. On my way back to her, I passed Bezy who was sitting on the floor and holding one of Queen's books. It looked tiny in his hands and he squinted his eyes and flipped the pages with his fingertips.

I looked at the cover and my eyes widened when I saw which book specifically he was reading. Sold To The Vampire Dom... I suppose Queen wasn't the only person who was drawn to it.

I scoffed when I saw that the book was upside down in his large hands and I stepped towards him. Without saying anything, I flipped the book over and he looked up at me happily.

"Hard read, thank you!"

I had no idea what he said but I nodded and walked back to the couch where Queen was removing her heels. I sat down next to her and gave her the cover. She accepted it before laying her head on my lap and closing her eyes.

"I love you," she whispered.

"No."

"More than love you?"

"Better."

She laughed and I pet her head gently as she shrugged into the cover. "I more than love you too. Get some rest, Princess."

꧁꧂

Author's Note
Yk Hades...😏

Sorry, I needed to get that out of the wayy because oh my...he just ughhhh I love him. Look at him coming in clutch with that flash drive and Bezy😭
So Queen decided to leak the elevator footage, did she make the right decision?
Lmk your thoughts ✨