Novels by Yasmin

HADESI had just finished texting Lara, her last message making me feel lighter than I had in days.Lara: “Of course. Meet at the courtyard?”Me: “Yeah. Can’t wait.”Lara: “Me either :)”Sliding my phone into my pocket, I headed to class, feeling like maybe things were finally falling into place. Life wasn’t perfect, but having her around made the weight I carried easier to bear. Between Lara, Marcus, and knowing my mom was finally in a safe place, I felt like I could handle anything.Until I heard the voice behind me.“Excuse me.”I turned to see two cops approaching, their expressions serious but calm. My stomach dropped.“Hades Giovanni?” the taller one asked.My entire body went rigid. “Yeah, that’s me.”“We need you to come with us.”My mind immediately raced through every possible scenario. My dad. It had to be him. Either he’d done something, or he’d found a way to drag me into one of his messes again.I swallowed hard, trying not to let the unease show on my face. “Why?”The s

LARAI was walking down the hallway, a slight bounce in my step. The past few weeks had been nothing short of amazing. Hades and I were finally in a good place, and I felt like nothing could ruin my mood. That is, until Hector decided to step in my way.He leaned against the lockers, blocking my path, with that smug grin plastered across his face. “Well, if it isn’t the school’s charity worker,” he sneered, his tone dripping with mockery. “Tell me, Lara, what’s it like slumming it with Hades? Are you trying to save him or something? Because, newsflash, you can’t.”I stopped in my tracks, narrowing my eyes at him. “Excuse me?” I said, my voice sharp. “What I do and who I care about is none of your business, Hector.”“Oh, but it is,” he said, crossing his arms. “You’re dragging our school’s reputation through the mud by parading around with someone like him. It’s pathetic, really. You’re way out of his league.”My fists clenched at my sides, but I refused to give him the satisfaction of

HADES The door closed behind them, and for the first time in what felt like forever, the apartment was quiet. Not the suffocating silence of home, filled with tension and unspoken anger, but the kind of quiet that felt… peaceful. I turned to my mom. She was standing in the middle of the living room, her small frame looking even smaller amidst the new furniture. She ran her fingers over the edge of the couch like she couldn’t believe it was real. “Mom,” I said gently, stepping closer. She looked up at me, her eyes glassy but filled with something I hadn’t seen in years—hope. “Hades, this is… this is too much. They’ve done so much. That girl…” Her voice broke, and she shook her head. “That girl and her father—what kind of people just give so much without expecting anything in return?” I didn’t have an answer. “Good people,” I said simply. “People we’re not used to.” Her lips trembled as she sank onto the couch. “Do you think it’s okay for us to stay here? Do we deserve this?

LARA By the time we got home, Dad was already standing outside the car, holding a set of keys in his hand. His expression was unreadable, but I could tell he was nervous about how this would play out. He glanced between Hades and me, then gestured toward the apartment building. "Got the keys ready for you," Dad said warmly, handing them to Hades. “It’s not much, but it’s safe and comfortable. You can start fresh here.” Hades hesitated for a moment, looking at the keys like they were something foreign. I saw the flicker of emotion in his eyes—gratitude, relief, maybe even disbelief. “Thank you, Mr. Kingsley,” he said quietly, gripping the keys tightly. Dad smiled and turned to me. "Help them settle in, sweetheart. Then we’ll give them some space." I nodded, already moving to the trunk of the car where some of the furniture and supplies Dad had insisted on buying were packed. Hades followed, his face still tense, but there was a softness in his eyes when he looked at me. We spent

HADESThe smell of breakfast greeted me as I walked into the kitchen the next morning, the sunlight streaming through the windows of Lara’s house—a house that felt impossibly warm compared to the life I was used to. Her dad stood at the stove, flipping pancakes with an ease that made me wonder if this kind of normalcy was second nature to people like him. People like Lara.Lara was already at the table, her face bright and full of life as she sipped on a cup of coffee. She smiled at me when I walked in, and something inside me settled. My mom was seated quietly next to her, looking more at peace than I’d seen in years, but the dark circles under her eyes told me just how much the past few days had taken out of her.“Morning, Hades,” Lara’s dad said, his tone casual and welcoming. “I was thinking we should all talk after breakfast.”That put me on edge. Conversations like this usually led to something bad in my experience, but I nodded, not wanting to appear ungrateful.After we’d eate

LARALying in bed, Lara felt a strange sense of peace that she hadn’t experienced in weeks. Knowing Hades was just across the room, breathing the same air, safe and away from the chaos he usually endured, made her heart swell. She turned over, clutching the pillow tighter, her thoughts racing.For once, she didn’t have to brace herself for the sight of a new bruise or a fresh cut marring his face when he walked through the school gates. She didn’t have to spend her mornings wondering if today would be the day his world crumbled completely. Tonight, for this fleeting moment, he was here. Safe.Her lips curved into a small smile as her mind wandered to the way he’d looked at her earlier—the softest glimpse of vulnerability hidden behind his guarded expression. She knew he wasn’t used to this: care, comfort, someone worrying about him without expecting anything in return. Maybe he didn’t fully understand it yet, but she’d keep showing him, day by day, that he deserved itLara’s phone buz