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Withdrawal

The mass of men in black vests all moved as one, walking through the halls and down the stairs to the meeting hall without a sound. Angel began to feel sick. Dozens of eyes roved over her face and body. The blood drew everyone's eyes, inadvertently making her the center of attention. She regretted leaving the couch. While the other men seemed at least concerned about her well-being, the mass of men staring back at her seemed to shred her with their eyes.

As the only woman, she realized how much of a risk she took. What kind of men were these? She decided to be on guard in case they were as malicious as the humans they resembled. Whispers as quiet as air surrounded her. She couldn't make out exactly what they said but she kept hearing the word blood. Whatever they decided to do, she prepared herself. She started to panic as the mass of men entered the hall, they separated into clusters and soon she reunited with Brazz, Daw and Rig at the front. The familiar faces gave her small relief.

Zero let her down to stand in front of the group. The stone chilled her bare feet. She didn't have time to react before everyone stood at attention, facing front. She followed their gaze forward, to a dark stone throne. To say the handsome king made Angel's knees weak, wouldn't do the feeling justice. Her whole body burned into a frenzy of desire. What the hell, get a grip, she thought. But she couldn't shake the flush in her cheeks when she looked at his chiseled, icy face. She couldn't see his eyes as he spoke to the woman standing next to him. They spoke quickly and his austere face told Angel they weren't likely lovers unless they were having a fight.

When he finished talking, Hades rose from his throne grasping his hands behind his back. He wore a pair of fitted black jeans, an ash colored turtleneck and slim cut blazer. Even under the turtleneck, Angel saw the black swirls of ink up to the base of his jaw. Something about the way they covered his skin, made her face hot. His clothes accentuated the v from his broad shoulders to his slim waist. Angel nearly fainted as their eyes met—his swirling a deep gold, hers shining back a pale gold. He lost his own thought for a moment, then cleared his throat.

"Who here has been assigned to sector 5927 since the last rotation?" He asked, never taking his eyes off Angel. She seemed coherent enough. Her eyes danced down his body and he smiled inside. She didn't seem unstable at all, a little enamored with him, but definitely not shattered. It confused him but he was happy to see her doing well.

The deep plunge of her shirt drew his attention. She stood with her arms tautly clutched in front of her and it pressed her breasts together. She looked good enough to put in his mouth. The blood hadn't repelled him at all, in fact it made his throat dry. He returned his attention to the unanswered question.

The room stayed silent until Brazz stepped forward, "That's our sector sir."

"Yes, but who else? You've only had it for a week." He finally broke the connection to Angel and scanned the large room, "No one? I see." He returned to Brazz, "Who did you claim the sector from? Surely there was a proper handoff?"

Brazz shifted his stance, "We didn't claim the sector from anyone, sir. The appropriate papers were filed and I assumed a pressing matter had called the team away from the handoff." It had happened before, so it hadn't seemed strange at the time. Now, Brazz regretted signing off on the handoff. It put the team in Hades' crossfire unnecessarily. So much for doing the previous team a solid.

"Yet, my file on the sector shows, no one guarded it during it's last rotation. A decade without a guardian...HOW?!" he roared, flames bursting from his arms. The sight startled Angel but she controlled herself. She didn't want to draw unwanted attention.

How do we control fear? The thought appeared in her head out of nowhere. Angel had no reference for it. But instinctually she began to breathe deeply and center her body. She focused on the small workings of her blood, then her lungs. Soon, the fear quieted back inside of her. The whole situation kept going from bizarre to downright insane. At her first chance, she was going to find a way out.

The room felt drastically hotter as Hades' fire grew around him. He knew it was impossible for a sector to go unguarded. The system of checks and balances was infallible. Someone had altered the records in an attempt to distort the truth. This made him almost blind with rage. Had they forgotten who he was? As he was about to annihilate a few dozen as a warning, he caught sight of Angel's eyes. She showed no signs of fear. Actually, she appeared calmer than she had a moment ago. Even in the face of his power. If the loop hadn't broken her, he surely wouldn't want to be the cause. Slowly the flames died down and he calmly resumed speaking. All the while, surprised at the girl.

"I assure each of you I will get to the bottom of this breach. Someone put a human in my hell. And no one will be safe from me until the matter is settled. If you have any information, I strongly suggest you bring it to Nyx to avoid incurring my wrath later."

He motioned over to Nyx, who looked up from her tablet and smiled. Her black hair hung wispily against her shoulders. Her simple black shirt and slacks were stark against her ivory skin. She's his assistant, thought Angel, relief moving deep inside her chest. She had no reason to care one way or another about two people she just met. And yet, she did. But the way Nyx flashed a forlorn look at his back, Angel understood at once the nature of their relationship.

"Dismissed!" he shouted, "except for team one..."

The room rumbled with the sound of thousands of feet leaving. Angel's stomach suddenly slapped her ribs. That uneasiness threatened to leave her mouth. Hades walked towards Brazz and began discussing something she couldn't hear. A moment later she looked down to find expensive men's shoes standing in front of her. One foot tapped impatiently. She raised her gaze to meet his.

Hades stared at her delicate features. Already her face improved from how it appeared a few hours before. Her complexion returned to a more honeyed caramel shade and her cheeks filled in to a more softened state. Angel's lips shivered slightly as she adjusted to his intense stare. She swayed unsteady on her feet, catching Nyx's glare from behind his back

"Walk with me a moment," Hades offered his hand. He pulled Angel away from the group and began a stride around the room.

"I hear you have no memory except your name?"

"Uhm yea, Just Angel. It's all I have."

"And you have no idea how you came to be in hell?"

"h-he-hell?" Angel's chest closed in slightly, "I wondered if I was dead just from how fucking crazy everything is but I didn't think I was in hell..." Hold it together girl, hold it! She thought.

"Mmm well yes, this is hell," He mused at her calm reaction. How did she manage to hold herself together so well? "This is my kingdom and my name is Hades. You may refer to me as your highness or my lord. I won't lie and say it's a pleasure meeting you because truth be told your presence is a large pain in my ass. Now I have to conduct an investigation to get to the bottom of how you've come to be here, while still alive..." He continued to rattle off about how hard his job was and how much he hated to be inconvenienced.

But Angel could only think of her stomach. She searched the room for a place to throw up and saw nothing. She didn't have the nerve to ask the king for something to throw up in. Would he take offense if she couldn't hold it? Before she could stop herself, black liquid came splashing out from her mouth onto the stone floor. The embarrassment stung her eyes. She fell to the ground and continued to vomit.

The sound of Angel throwing up Lethe's waters made the hellraisers anxious. The experience was so unprecedented, no one knew if at any moment the human would die. And somehow she'd endeared them to her after just a few hours, using only her natural demeanor. She continued for what felt like hours, an endless pour of thick, black fluid. While they worried for her, what alarmed them more was their king. Hades bent next to her, placing a silver basin, that he ordered Nyx to bring, beneath her mouth. He shifted nervously then rubbed her back. The raisers anxiously glanced at one another, not sure what to make of it.

"What observations do you have?" Hades suddenly asked from the floor.

"Sir, she appeared sleep deprived and malnourished though she seems to have improved a lot in the last few hours," Zero replied quickly, "It is a bit shocking for a mortal to be so mentally stable after the loop, as well as her regeneration. It begs a question, my lord."

"You think she's in transition?" Hades gaped. The plot of this Angel thickened once more.

"Her memory is clouded by the Lethe water. We don't know how long she was there. But she's not showing any signs of destabilizing." Brazz added, "and as we talked with her earlier she showed a surprising presence of mind."

"I can tell you she was there for nearly a human year," Hades explained, "Which puts her in a loop for almost a century. She should be beyond the ability to recover. Really, she should be dead. Transition or not."

The raisers looked at the girl and wondered how unlucky a human would have to be to end up in hell, be subjected to a hell loop, and to have it continue for almost a hundred years. Hades thought about it for a moment before continuing, "As of now, your team is actively reassigned to investigate her presence. I want answers and I want names. I'll reassign your sector work. Find out who was originally assigned to the sector, talk to the guards at the hellpoints. Everyone. Report only to me. I'll give you exclusive access to my office to conduct this investigation." Hades ordered, the low rasp of his voice making it clear that questions were not permitted. They didn't want to be one of the men on his hit list so they nodded in agreement.

Finally, Angel seemed to purge enough liquid and leaned back on her haunches. Hades wrapped an arm around her shoulders, and she slouched into it. With another quick movement he had her scooped up and headed for the door. Nyx clicked her tongue to herself. Angel would be yet another obstacle to his heart. Hades, on the other hand, didn't care what the team thought or Nyx, he didn't owe anyone an explanation. Although, if he was being honest with himself, he didn't know why he was so invested in Angel either.

He paused and turned back toward the men one last time, "do not disappoint me," then disappeared into the hall. Hades carried her across the open field separating the palace from the dorms. She felt light as feathers. He knew he could portal them but it would be quite disruptive to a human, even one who was apparently transitioning to a goddess. Her angelic face seemed strained. Sweat broke out across her neck and forehead.

"Are you alright?" he asked, leaning down to put a cheek against her head. She groaned and closed her eyes against the cool touch. Her soft skin threatened his resolve once more, desire filling him. Whoever put her in hell would die. He would burn them alive. Rip out their intestines. Liquify their eyeballs. He'd show as much mercy as had been shown to her.

She pushed heat from herself down against his coldness. It felt irresistible and sweet. His body responded to every inch of her. As much as he never wanted it to end, he knew she felt too warm for a human. A high fever signaled mortal distress. He worried that she was dying in his arms. So he amended his previous decision and created a portal out of the mist. Suddenly, they were in his throne room but she looked considerably paler.

Hades immediately started barking orders to every guard in sight. Bring water! Call Thia! Prepare the suite next to mine! Bring soup! Run an ice bath!

All the guards scattered left and right, seeing to his orders immediately. Sweat slid off her head and down her back. Her eyes clenched harder against desperate breaths.

Angel couldn't think. Everything hurt. Her head spun. The hot pain rose from her feet to her thighs, building. She didn't know what would come next, vomit, death, actual fire? She felt cauterized from the inside. As the sensation hit her chest, she let out a terrible, guttural scream. Her eyes sprang open. Even in the chaos of her body, she was searching for his eyes, those liquid pools of gold. He at least gave her some small comfort.

Hades wasn't sure what to do but her screams compelled him to act quickly. Her voice sliced through him. He could barely understand the way her pain affected him. He lowered her into the ice bath with a sizzle. The water reacted to her heat. She clawed and fought against him. She convulsed, screaming at an almost inaudible level. Her eyes snapped back and forth like a wild animal. He forced her down and pinned her with both hands.

His head snapped at the sound of Thia entering.

"Impossible!" she gasped, bringing a hand to her face, "a human...in hell."

"Dammit fix her NOW!" he glared at her, flames moving inside his irises. Thia gulped and jumped over to the tub.

"My king, please tell me anything you know," she bowed before him. She'd forgotten how cold he could be and how easily he angered. She tried her best to show remorse. The flames disappeared and he explained how the girl had come to be that way.

Thia hovered over the tub to assess Angel. She tried to run over the possible options quickly, touching Angel's forehead and abdomen; The girl was burning up. More ice! She heard Hades yell at the doorway. She took a breath and used her power to peer inside Angel's body. It was nearly bursting with Lethe's water. It was everywhere. Angel had ingested it for long enough that she was going into shock as she tried to expel it all.

"She's going to need a tonic," Thia yelled from behind him as she darted from the room. She left for a minute or two but in that time, Hades' face contorted. It seemed like the minutes had been agonizing for him. The girl, as wild as she thrashed, couldn't be hurting him at all. It had to be something else. A reaction she'd never seen in him before. It hurt him to see Angel hurting. His frantic eyes begged her to find a solution and end the girl's suffering.

Thia bent down beside the tub, "You're going to need to hold her completely still. I need to administer all of this."

He thought for a split second before climbing into the tub atop the girl. He pinned her body under him and grasped her head. Thia fought the urge to stare at the unorthodox method. Angel's eyes remained wide in anguish, but her body stilled and she stopped screaming. The only sound between them all was Angel's breathless panting.

Thia tilted Angel's head and methodically poured the elixir into her mouth. Out of the corner of her eye, Thia studied Hades. His face clouded under an emotion she couldn't quite place. Concern? And something else. Something softer. Her face flushed as she watched him watching Angel. Slowly, angel's eyes began to droop as she relaxed into the tub. Once she was calm, Hades practically jumped out and fled the room.

"Handle the rest," he said gruffly, almost out of earshot.

Hades ran to find Persephone. By the time he'd burst through the door to her room, his golden eyes had become black as pitch. He slid deeper into desire than he ever had before. Angel's effect on him felt absolute. Things awakened that he'd never experienced, thoughts he'd never thought before. He was at her mercy. Persephone asked no questions as she helped him undress and pulled him down to the bed. The hunger eclipsed all of his feelings as he gave in to her body, all the while, thinking of Angel beneath the water.

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