by Bella Klaus
“Can you look beneath their structure?” I asked.
“Unfortunately not.” Hades wiggled his fingers again, making the image ripple. “But this is what Persephone did when she escaped the palace.”
The water calmed again, showing a village of stone houses and triangular roofs completely overrun with her plants. The same thorny vines that had attacked us in the bedroom now lined the streets, snaked around huts, and in some cases, pierced through their structures.
“Where are all the people who live here?” I asked.
“Missing,” he replied. “As are the demons who govern this particular section of the Asphodel Meadows.”
I blew out a long breath. “Was Persephone always this powerful?”
“Every god or goddess has enough destructive magic to create chaos. Only good conscience and the fear of reprisal keeps us from wreaking havoc.”
“I take it that Persephone has neither?” I muttered.
“Which is why her rampage must end.”
I swallowed hard. This was all a manipulation, even though everything he’d told me was the truth. Hades brought me down here, and had made sure these images were playing on his pool to make me feel responsible.
But that didn’t mean Persephone wasn’t out there, hurting souls who weren’t evil enough to qualify for the fiery pits. Those people were supposedly not special enough for Heaven, and the Asphodel Meadows was their reward for not living exemplary lives. They didn’t deserve to be torn apart by vicious plants on top of their shitty afterlives.
“If I help you, then what?” I asked.
He stared down at me with a frown. “I beg your pardon?”
“Is this a business arrangement?” I lifted my chin, holding my features in a mask of determination.
Hades cupped my cheek. “I am putting pressure on you, but only because the Fifth needs you once again. And no, this is not a business arrangement. When you have helped me deal with Persephone, I would like you to take your place beside me in my throne room, in my bed, as my beloved wife and eternal soulmate.”
My throat thickened. Those words sounded so heartfelt, but he had fooled me before.
“Kora.” He dropped to his knees again. “If all I wanted from you was power, I would have already insisted we perform the ritual to transfer that magic you consumed to me.”
A breath caught in my chest. That had been our original arrangement, and now I wondered why he had let me keep all that power.
He nodded as though hearing my thoughts. “I want you to stay with me for an eternity.”
“And Persephone?” I whispered.
“An empty shell that must be subdued for the good of us all,” he said, seeming to mean every word.
I parted my lips to ask him another question, but he raised his palm.
“Please, allow me to speak.”
“Alright.”
Hades took both my hands and stared up at me with solemn eyes. “I know who you are—what you are—another version of the woman I loved, but you’re also a new person in your own right.”
My jaw dropped. When Madam Lorraine had said similar words, Hades had burned down her hut. Now he’d accepted the truth?
I gazed into his eyes but all I could see was sincerity. “Why did you keep insisting I was her?”
“Because I wasn’t ready to accept that she was gone until I saw the proof for myself.” He shook his head. “Your lightning magic, the way it courses through my veins is familiar yet so different. I know you’re not the old Persephone, and I love you even more.”
My breath turned shallow, and the butterflies in my stomach floated to my heart. I tamped down the emotion, trying to keep them from drifting further and clouding my good sense. “How can I know this isn’t another of your clever lies?”
“What do I care about most?” he asked with a tiny smile.
“Sex?” I asked.
His lips tightened. “You’ve been listening to the vitriol of too many bitter women. Apart from my former enjoyment of the fairer sex, can you think of anything else?”
“Power, I suppose?”
He nodded. “And protecting the Fifth from the likes of Samael and those who would exploit its magical souls.”
“True,” I replied. When we had connected power, that desire had shone brighter than most others.
Hades brought my hands to his lips. “You still hold the bulk of the magic required to protect the Fifth Faction. Use it as collateral.”
“What are you talking about?” I asked.
“I swear that I will never lie to you,” he said, staring up at me as though I was his last chance of redemption. “It’s the only way I can prove that I am truly penitent. If I do lie to you again, then you will use that power to destroy me.”
“No.” I pulled out of his grip.
Hades grabbed my hands again. “This is how strongly I feel about being with you. From this moment on, I will tell you nothing but the truth.”
I swayed on my feet, my mind whirring at the possibilities. This couldn’t be a trick because I was in possession of all that magic he held dear. Even though his methods had been twisted and convoluted, he had always expressed his desire for me. So why was I hesitating?
Was it out of habit? Or had I allowed every woman with a negative word to say against Hades to cloud my judgment?
A scream tore through the air, presumably from someone who had come in contact with Persephone’s plants. I sucked in a deep breath and stared down into eyes that glistened with sincerity. I had to help him, even if it was to save those poor souls.
“Alright,” I rasped.
“Can we shake on this agreement?” he asked.
I slipped my hand into his. “Alright. I will help you capture Persephone, and you will put her somewhere she can’t hurt anyone else.”
He nodded. “I promise.”
“You will be faithful to me and never consort with other women.”
Hades hesitated. “I haven’t so much as flirted with anyone else since we locked eyes.”
“Promise me,” I hissed.
“Of course,” he said. “I swear that there will be no other woman than you.”
“Alright then.” I gave him a firm nod.
“So you will help me?” he asked, his face brightening.
“And you swear that you will always tell me the truth.” I gave him a hard prod on the shoulder. “No more lies by omission or withholding important facts.”
“Absolutely.” He offered me an emphatic nod. “If I renege on this agreement, you will use your significant bank of power to exact your revenge on my carcass.”
My eyes narrowed. “Why are you being so compliant?”
“Because I swore to myself that I would do anything to get you back.” He placed his hand on his heart. “Do we have an agreement?”
I shook his hand, and Hades rose to place my fingers to his lips.
“Kora,” he said, his voice deep and sensual. “You’ve made me the happiest Demon King in all of Hell. I swear to you that I will earn your trust.”
Chapter Eleven
I gazed into Hades’ dark eyes, only seeing sincerity and love. My chest inflated with warmth, only for me to exhale the feelings with deep shuddering breaths. He was a Demon King, a scoundrel and a compulsive liar, but he had backed up his agreement with something he truly valued.
If he screwed up or reverted to his old habits, I’d get to keep twenty-one centuries of Persephone’s power, and use it to teach him never to mess with a woman’s feelings. That was incentive enough for even the most hardened libertine.
I stepped back, staring down at my tank top and leggings. “Can I have the same armor as before?”
He shook his head. “Let’s get you kitted out with something more appropriate for this mission,” he murmured.
“What’s the difference?” I asked.
“The suit I’m wearing is plant-proof, lined with fibers that will repel even the most persistent of tendrils and toughened to repel
the sharpest of thorns.” He wiggled his fingers, ridding me of my clothes and leaving me standing in my underwear.
“Okay,” I said. “Suit me up.”
Hades scowled. “You’re not wearing Le Scandale.”
“Because that’s for special occasions.” I stretched my arms out at my side, readying myself for the armor. “If you’re pissed off because Lucifer got to see me in skimpy lace and you didn’t, blame yourself for sending him to do your bidding.”
Hades’ deep groan reverberated across my entire body, making my nipples tighten. “When this is over, you and I—”
I raised my hand. “Just because we have an agreement, that doesn’t mean I’ve forgiven you for your lies.”
“It doesn’t?” His brows drew together, his features twisting into a mask of confusion. “But you still have all that power to guarantee my good behavior. And I’m certain that I just apologized.”
“You got on your knees and talked around an apology, but nothing materialized.”
His eyes narrowed, and he advanced on me like a predator. “When this is over, you will parade yourself in Le Scandale, and afterward, I will fuck you all night until you’re dripping from every orifice.”
My throat dried, and all the moisture trickled south. I squeezed my thighs together, reminding myself that we had a mission. “Listen,” I rasped. “We’re supposed to be working on capturing Persephone. Keep the dirty talk until later?”
Hades grinned, making me realize I’d implied that I would be willing to consider his indecent proposal. Heat radiated from his body, making tiny beads of sweat form on my skin. The man was so annoying, and he knew how to use his sex appeal to make a woman weak.
“Did you know your cheeks turn a delicious shade of pink every time I utter a curse word?” he asked with a chuckle.
I shook my head. “No, they don’t.”
He ran the backs of his fingers over the side of my face and stared down at me, his eyes dancing with amusement. “I didn’t say you blushed. It’s just a dusting of color.”
“Why are you telling me this?” I asked.
“Because it signifies the depth of your sweetness.”
I gave him a shove on the chest. “Don’t call me that.”
His brows rose. “Even if it’s the truth?”
“You’re the one who keeps insisting I’m the Queen of the Fifth,” I said, trying to sound fierce. “How am I going to kick ass if everyone thinks I’m cute?”
He placed a soft kiss on my cheek that set my skin alight. “Kora, you are an absolute jewel. Never change.”
I dropped my gaze from his, wondering if seduction was part of his Demon King powers. Because despite still being annoyed with him, his wretched charm was working.
“Where’s my armor?” I asked.
He trailed his fingers over my collarbones, sending sparks of pleasure down my breasts, my belly, my core. Before I could snap at him for trying to arouse me when he should be adorning me for battle, the red leather armor wrapped around my body like a custom glove.
“There.” He pressed a kiss on the tip of my nose. “Now, you look more formidable than any goddess who ever went to battle.”
I stretched out my hand, materializing his bident and letting its handle fly into my palm with a slap. “Now I look the part.”
He stepped back and grinned. “One more thing before we leave.”
“What’s that?” I asked.
“Can you produce your wings?”
I flinched. “Why would I—” Realization hit me upside the head. “I’m the Queen of the Fifth Faction.”
His brows rose. “How astute of you to notice. What gave it away? Your attendance at the Devil’s Ball or the crown I placed atop your lovely head?”
A laugh erupted from my chest, and I gave him a slap on the bicep. “Stop being such a dick. This time last week, the only thing I had to look forward to was a ball, and now I’m the part ruler of a ninth of Hell. How do I pull them out?”
“Focus on them the way you would summon my bident.”
“My bident, you mean?” I muttered.
He exhaled an exasperated sigh. “Since you are my beloved spouse, I suppose half of what I own is yours. But the principle also works the other way.”
I snorted, already knowing he was thinking of the Le Scandale lingerie. Clearing my mind of gold lace, I dropped my gaze to the floor and focused on the image of Hades emerging naked from a four-poster bed with black wings. Stretched out, they had been wider than the span of his arms, and perhaps as much as six feet in width.
He cleared his throat. “Kora?”
My gaze snapped up. Hades stood before me with his black wings outstretched.
“The purpose of the exercise was for you to summon your wings. I’m already proficient at summoning mine.”
Heat bloomed across my cheeks. “Sorry.”
“Once more,” he said with a gentle smile. “This time, try to resist picturing my body parts.”
“Alright.” I bowed my head again and concentrated on my shoulder blades. That was where the wings came from, right?
Hades appeared behind me, wrapping an arm around my waist and pulling me into his large body. With his free hand, he traced two lines down my back, along the edge of my shoulder blades. “This is where the wings emerge,” he said in a deep, hypnotic voice. “Your armor is enchanted with a one-way opening to allow extra appendages to exist.”
“What other appendages are there—”
“Concentrate,” he said with a deep chuckle I felt in my core. “Focus your magic on those two points, and your wings will emerge.”
Closing my eyes, I pushed my power on the lines of sensation he had left down my back, only for my vision to fill with electrifying white light.
“Bloody hell.” He released me and disappeared from my back.
I cracked open an eye to find wings of white light. They reminded me of a skeletal set of arms, with three-foot-long bones protruding from where there should be wrists. Thin sheets of lightning crackled between each digit, forming a membrane where the wing connected to my body.
My mouth hung open. “Was that supposed to happen?”
“Definitely not.” He shook his head.
“Do you think they can fly?”
“Now isn’t the time to experiment,” he said, his brow furrowing. “Retract those appendages, and I’ll teleport you to where my sources last spotted Persephone.”
With a nod, I pulled back my crackling magic until it retreated back into my body with a snap. Afterward, I stepped toward Hades and held out a hand. “Did I hurt you with my lightning again?”
“Now that I can wield your power, it no longer affects me the same way.” With a broad grin, Hades crossed the room and wrapped his arm around my middle. “Don’t worry about your wings. For now, you really need to see what Persephone has done with your own eyes.”
A heartbeat later, we stood at the stony bank of a river of lava that cut across a rocky landscape. Steam and dry heat wafted from the liquid’s surface, bringing with it the stench of brimstone.
I followed the river’s meandering path toward the horizon, where it disappeared within a configuration of flat-topped mountains shrouded in mist. If we were in the living world, I would have thought they were high-rises built by an architect who favored an organic style.
My throat spasmed, and my mind pinged with recognition. I pointed at the structures in the distance and asked, “Are those pits where we apprehended the soulkin?”
“That’s right.” He wrapped an arm around my shoulder. “But we didn’t come to see the souls of the wicked.”
“Then why—”
Hades turned me around so we both faced in the opposite direction. In the middle of the river stood a plant larger and more grotesque than the monsters that had attacked us in the palace.
Roots as thick as tree trunks stretched across both banks, bending, and twisting, and burrowing into the rocky ground. I let my gaze travel up the structure, up
a tangle of thorny vines, to find demons hanging from its branches, staring sightlessly through glowing green eyes. Among the mass of stalks were semi-transparent souls, trying to writhe out from their new prisons.
My breaths turned shallow, barely grazing the tops of my lungs. “What on earth is that?”
“Look up,” he said from my side.
I tilted my head back, following the plant’s progression through the thick vapor and toward the sky. It was a tangled mass that supported branches upon grotesque branches, each either holding a dead demon or a huge tulip-shaped flower with gnashing teeth.
Bile rose to the back of my throat. I was glad not to have consumed anything since hurling my guts at the party because I wanted to be sick.
“This is the sickest thing I’ve ever seen,” I whispered.
Hades exhaled a long breath. “It continues upward for over four hundred feet.”
“How many demons—”
“Hundreds,” he said. “Including the magical creatures that dwell in this domain.”
Claws of guilt raked across my heart, making me clutch at my chest. “I’m so sorry. We could have stopped this earlier if I’d agreed to act as bait.”
Hades tucked me under his arm and pressed a kiss on my temple. “You didn’t trust me, and you struggled to forgive my transgressions. I understand. But you can now see why it’s so important for you to help stop Persephone.”
“Of course,” I whispered.
He hugged tighter and hummed his agreement. “And I also hope you can put aside trivial resentments about the accuracy of who said what to whom.”
My jaw clenched. The bloody bastard was trying to trivialize his lies by comparing it to this carnage. “Are you using this scene of mass murder to broker yourself some forgiveness?”
He stilled. “Whatever do you mean?”
I pulled out from under his arm and hissed. “Listen here.” I gave him a hard poke on the arm. “If you had explained yourself the moment I had asked—”
Something behind us pinged, making my heart leapfrog into the back of my chest. I whirled around, just as the brass elevator appeared from nowhere, and I clutched at Hades’ arm. Had he summoned it to stop my rant? Somehow, I thought it just descended from the sky.
