“Then are you working for him? Because seriously, Aphrodite, this is screwed up even for you.”
I tossed my hair back and rolled my eyes. “Look, there is no threat if you don’t exist. I don’t know why you’re so offended. I said last resort, and self-sacrifice is kind of your MO.”
“What are you talking about?” The sun sparkled in through the window, bathing Persephone in bright light. It glistened off her skin and hair, making her look like some kind of avenging angel.
“Boreas, Thanatos, Zeus. You shouldn’t have gone up against any of them because you had no hope of winning. Just because I thought of it first doesn’t make it any less noble or whatever. Bonus, you’d be saving all the realms, not just your annoying friend.”
“Get out.” Her fists, clenched to her side, didn’t hide the fact she was shaking with indignation.
“Persephone—”
“Get out, Aphrodite!”
I sighed. “Are you aware that I have to obey direct commands from you or anyone else in Zeus’ bloodline who outranks me?”
She blinked. “No, I thought it was just Zeus. Fine.” She gritted her teeth and took a deep breath. “Please, get the hell out!”
“I’ll leave. But take this.” I shoved a small pearl at her. “If you change your mind just break it, and I’ll put you out of your misery. Don’t worry,” I said, cutting off her objections. “It won’t break unless you want it to. I’ll know.”
She ignored my outstretched hand, and I let out an impatient huff. “Look, sometimes death can be a mercy. I don’t want you to die. And I really hope you’re right about Hades, but he’s not thinking clearly—”
“And you think me committing suicide will make him more rational?” She rolled her eyes to show how little she thought of that idea.
“No, it will drive him nuts. But he’s not going to risk the world if there’s no saving you. Plus—” I fell silent long enough to make sure I had her full attention “—if Hades makes it easier to kill gods, who do you think the rest of the gods are going to come for first?”
I let her chew on that for a minute, then grabbed her hand and pressed the pearl into it. “Don’t let it come to this.”
“Aphrodite...” Persephone didn’t look angry anymore, she looked small and frightened. “If I take that, I’ll use it.”
“No.” I put a hand on her shoulder. “You’ll wait until there’s absolutely no other chance left. You’re strong. You never stop fighting.”
Her green eyes locked with mine, and I was startled at the glint of iron in them. She might believe she was broken, but Persephone was far stronger than she knew.
“Aphrodite, I won’t stop you from swearing over to me and throwing all your power my way, putting an end to this miserable existence. But I sure as hell don’t have to help you justify it. Don’t come here asking me to be all strong and noble when in reality you’re just too weak to make the decision yourself. I’ve made enough hard choices.”
“Persephone—”
“No! I’m telling you that if you give me that thing I. Will. Use. It. When he’s hurting me, all I can think of is making the pain stop. I’m in no position to judge when we’ve reached the ‘last resort,’” she put the words in air quotes, “so don’t delude yourself into thinking you’re washing your hands of this by making me pull the trigger. If you give me that, you’re the one killing me.”
Shame filled me when I realized she was right. Knowing what I needed to do should it come to it was one thing, but I didn’t want to be the one to do it. All this time I’d been so furious all my choices had been taken from me, and here I was trying to force a kill order out of Persephone so I didn’t have to make the decision. Still, I was glad I’d told her. She didn’t think Hades was going to take the risk, but she hadn’t expressly forbade me from pulling her plug either. I knew what she wanted should Hades go completely off the rails. Maybe that would make it easier.
Somehow I doubted it. “I’m sorry. Persephone, I’m so sorry you’re here right now, and for my part in all this, and—”
She hugged me. “You didn’t have a choice. I’m sorry I ever suspected you were Zeus.”
Suddenly, I felt a pulling sensation and was ripped away from the dream.
Zeus had woken her up.
I bolted upright with a gasp and found myself facing an angry-looking Melissa.
Though let’s face it. It’s not like she ever looked happy.
“What were you doing?” she demanded.
I frowned. “Taking a nap.”
“The whole truth. Tell me everything.” Her steely gaze made it clear I wasn’t leaving this room until I complied.
So I did.
Chapter XX
Hades
“THERE?” I POINTED to a spot on the map in the middle of nowheresville Alabama. “You’re sure?”
“As sure as I can be,” Apollo replied. “She moves around a lot.” He drummed his fingers against Demeter’s teak dining room table. “You really think she’ll be any help?”
More than you. I smirked, but didn’t allow the thought to pass through my lips.
A knock on the half-open door brought my head up. Melissa peeked into the dining room. “Can I speak with you?” She gave Apollo a pointed look. “Alone.”
Raising an eyebrow, Apollo shot me a questioning look. I inclined my head, granting him permission to leave the room. When he passed Melissa, he turned back, eyes roaming over her in an appreciative once-over.
I caught his eye with my best over my dead body look. Persephone wouldn’t thank me if I let Apollo take advantage of her best friend.
Melissa shut the door on Apollo’s face, hard. “Can you shield us?”
Intrigued, I nodded and dropped a shield around the room so we couldn’t be overheard. “Something wrong?”
“Aphrodite told me what you have planned.”
I sighed and shoved my hair out of my face. “Of course she did. Look, Melissa. I appreciate your concern, but—”
“Don’t talk down to me. I’m every bit as old as your wife and a great deal smarter. Aphrodite said if you screwed up you’d be risking everything. Everyone. Is that true?”
Well... that was to the point. “I don’t intend to mess up.”
“You can promise you won’t?”
I opened my mouth. Closed it. No, I couldn’t. There was always a risk.
Her dark eyes locked to mine. “Yeah, I thought so. Why not give Aphrodite’s plan a shot? Have Persephone kill Zeus.”
“She’s not strong enough.”
Melissa snorted. “Yeah, you’ve known her for like five minutes. I’ve known her my whole life. She’ll kill him if she has to. If for no other reason than to keep us safe. She doesn’t like confrontation, but she’s pretty hardcore if she gets caught in a corner.”
“I know,” I assured her. “Persephone’s stronger than she thinks. But she doesn’t have enough power to defeat Zeus. And if we follow Aphrodite’s plan and convince everyone to swear over to her, she’ll die.”
Melissa chewed on her bottom lip. “She can get out of this. And she doesn’t need anyone else’s powers to do it.”
It was obvious by the troubled look in her eyes that she didn’t believe herself, but I wasn’t going to shatter whatever lies she told herself to sleep at night. “It’s good you have so much faith in her.”
Melissa shrugged. “It’s my job. Look, Hades, I love Persephone. And I love you for caring enough to risk everything to save her. Seriously. But she wouldn’t want you to do this, and you know it.”
I pulled out a chair and motioned for her to sit down. “Did you know Zeus’ realm used to be populated?”
She shook her head. I sat across from her and looked her straight in the eye. “Sentient creatures. As large a population as there
ever was in this realm or Poseidon’s.”
“What happened to them?”
“Zeus. You don’t want him to win this, Melissa. He uses people up and then they die. I have entire sub-realms in the Underworld full of his victims. They deserve better than to be at his mercy again, and so does everyone in your realm. As much as I love Persephone, this isn’t just about her. It’s about every living being in creation. I can’t let Zeus happen to them.”
She swallowed hard and nodded. “I appreciate that. But as one of those living beings you’re protecting, can I give you some feedback?”
I smiled, amused. “Why not?”
“You’re overstepping. We don’t need you to protect us from Zeus. We don’t need you at all. If Zeus thinks he can take down the human race, he’s going to have another thing coming.”
Chapter XXI
Hades
I WAS STILL MULLING over my conversation with Melissa when I left Demeter’s to track down Artemis. Demeter had finally granted me teleportation rights. Far too late to help Persephone, of course, but it could come in handy in the future.
A twig snapped beneath my foot. Swearing, I slapped at a mosquito. I didn’t care for forests, but this was where Artemis spent most of her time during hunting season. Apollo said she had a cabin out here... somewhere. I just needed to find it.
Another twig snapped. I frowned at my feet, but didn’t see any broken branches.
Something cold touched the base of my neck.
“Don’t move,” a gruff voice instructed.
I turned with a sigh, grabbing the gun out of the hunter’s hand before he could fire off a shot. Not that it would have hurt me more than that mosquito bite, but it could be damned uncomfortable, which made it at least as annoying.
The gun crumbled to dust in my hand, and I gave the stranger my least friendly smile. The blood drained from his face. Before I could comment on his predicament, a cry rang through the clearing.
“Diana!” The hunter spun on his heel and tore through the forest.
Diana? When Artemis’ pseudonym clicked, I swore and followed him, casting a shield as far ahead of us as I could see so our progress through the forest couldn’t be seen or heard. Before we reached a small clearing with a cabin, I threw a second shield at the hunter, freezing him in place.
I walked to the edge of the clearing. Beyond the shield, Zeus held a struggling woman just above his head by the throat. She pried at his fingers with both hands, legs kicking uselessly at the ground but finding no purchase.
“I can make this easy for you, or I can make it fun for me.” A grin spread across Zeus’ face. “Swear fealty now, and your death will be less interesting, but infinitely less painful.”
“No,” she gasped. Her body stiffened, muscles going rigid, and the smell of burnt flesh and ozone wafted through the clearing. Behind me, the hunter yelled, straining against the shield. Maybe I could sneak up behind Zeus and... no, shit, if he teleported with her, all bets were off. I closed my eyes, concentrating, and crafted a shield just above his head that took in the whole clearing, then dropped the shield between Zeus and myself out of necessity, but kept the one around the hunter. The last thing I needed to do was give Zeus more leverage.
Zeus started. “Hades. What a nice surprise.”
He lowered Artemis to the ground, spinning her to face me, looping his left arm around her neck, and gripping his right bicep. His right hand shoved her head forward. Grinning, he brought his elbows together in a tight chokehold. Sweat glistened against her caramel skin, plastering the dark wisps of hair that had escaped her ponytail to her face. Get me out of this, her eyes seemed to beg. I’ll owe you.
Shit.
“You’ve got ten seconds.” Zeus gave me an expectant look. “When she drops, I’m gone.”
I inclined my head to the shield around him. “Unlikely.”
Zeus’ face twisted in a scowl. “We’ll see. Are you here to surrender your realm?”
“No.” My mind raced to find a way to trap him without Artemis getting caught in the crossfire. I could create an entrance to the Underworld and pull enough of my realm through to trap him in the same type of prison that held the Titans, but she’d be stuck with him.
It might be worth it.
“Then we have nothing to discuss.” Zeus tightened his grip around Artemis’ throat, and she slumped in his arms. “Except, I’ve been meaning to get this to you.” He took advantage of Artemis’ lapse in consciousness long enough to reach in his pocket and toss something to me across the clearing in a blur of pink. Artemis regained consciousness, sputtering for breath. She lurched forward, but he had her back in the chokehold in seconds.
I caught Persephone’s phone out of reflex. It took me a second to place the picture of the mangled mass of flesh on the screen as something humanoid, much less recognize it as my wife. My stomach lurched.
“There’s some great videos on there too,” Zeus informed me. “In case you need some incentive to change your mind.” As if on cue, Persephone’s screams burst from the phone’s tiny speakers.
I yanked on the power of the Underworld, ripping it through the earth in my rage. Artemis’ eyes widened as she realized what I was doing. “I swear fealty!” she cried as the ground split beneath her. Her dark eyes met mine, and before I could say anything to stop her she added, “To Hades.”
Her power flashed through me, knocking me off balance just long enough for the shield above Zeus to flicker. He growled and threw her to the ground.
“No!” I shouted as Zeus leapt into the air and vanished.
Artemis stood and faced me, movements slow and deliberate. “You were going to trap me with him?”
I pocketed Persephone’s phone and dropped the shield around Artemis’ boyfriend.
Artemis’ gaze didn’t even flicker in his direction. “Answer me!”
“You wouldn’t like what I have to say.”
“Diana!” The hunter ran to her, but she held out a hand, keeping him at arm’s length.
“I wouldn’t like what you have to say? You were going to trap me in Tartarus with that sadistic son of a bitch, and all you can say for yourself is that I wouldn’t like what you have to say!” Her dark eyes blazed with fury. “What the hell is wrong with you, Hades? We go back, way back. I thought we were friends, but you were willing to abandon me, for what, some slip of a girl you just met?” She held her chin up, using every inch of her five feet to try to make me feel small, but I wasn’t having it.
“You could have teleported!” I threw my hands in the air. “You could have escaped before he so much as touched you. What the hell were you still doing here?” Her gaze flickered to the hunter then back to me, the movement almost imperceptible and probably unintentional. I let out a dark laugh. “Protecting your latest human pet? I kept him out of the line of fire for you, but since you were so determined to swear away your sanity, I sure as hell wasn’t going to put my wife on the line to stop you. Here—” I stepped forward, grabbing her shoulder and shoving her powers back into her before breaking the bond of fealty with a snap.
She stumbled and suddenly a hand yanked on my shoulder. “Don’t touch her!” The hunter shouted, fist flying toward my face.
I caught it in a bone-crunching grip.
“Stop!” Artemis darted between us. “Oh, Ryan—” She took his hand, and I felt a pinprick of power flow between them as she healed him. He stared at her, wide-eyed. “What the hell is going on?”
“It’s a long story.” Her shoulders slumped, and she returned her attention to me. “He comes with us.”
“Like hell!”
“I’m not stupid, Hades. Zeus has your wife, and you want him dead. I’m one of the few people who can make that happen.” She tilted her chin up, eyes glittering with defiance. “If you want my help. He comes too.”
Chapter XXII
Persephone
“I’M IMPRESSED.” Zeus still looked like Hades as he stroked my cheek. “I didn’t expect you to hold out this long.”
Thinking of the pearl Aphrodite offered me, I realized she’d been right all along.
Death could be a mercy. The torture blended together in such a painful haze that I’d lost the ability to distinguish between the waking world and dreamscapes. Propped up against that familiar wall of mist, my hand clutched my necklace. I was crushing the poor plant, but I couldn’t seem to loosen my grip.
I’d been prepared for pain when Zeus stormed into the room, but he seemed even more agitated than usual. And he’d taken it out on me.
Gods, I was in so much pain. It was probably a dream. If he wasn’t electrocuting me anymore, I was most likely dreaming.
“The question is how are you still refusing me? You’re not this strong.”
Sometimes he looked like Hades when I was awake though. It was hard to tell. Was I awake, or was I sleeping?
Did it matter?
He was still talking. As he launched into his insulting tirade, I smiled to myself. Zeus was losing ground. The list of insults grew shorter by the day. He could no longer call me weak because of what I’d survived, he couldn’t call me common because he couldn’t figure me out, and he’d even lost stupid because he knew I would have broken by now if I hadn’t found some way around swearing fealty.
Sure, he could still say hurtful things. Terrible things if I allowed myself to focus on them. But the shock of hearing insults from Hades’ voice had long since worn off. Besides, I was in high school. I’d heard way worse.
I couldn’t allow myself to look too comfortable. When Zeus saw something wasn’t working, he found some new hell to put me through. Each of his ideas was worse than the last.
Was I dreaming? I’d figured out how to tell once, but I’d forgotten when I came to. It was something important. Something I might be able to do next time I was under.
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