“It was in the midst of the destruction that we found the prophecy carved into the trunks of trees and burned into fields. Each spelled out your name, calling forth the goddess of strength and beauty who would vanquish the beast.”
Alice edged up beside Persephone, whispering for her ears only, “It’s Hades. It has to be. He beat us here and is making sure you’re brought straight to him.”
Breaking from the pack, a baby-faced soldier took a brave step forward. “We’ve been waiting for you. Praying you’d come and answer our hearts’ desire by restoring peace to Wonderland. Our land has long been ruled by a council of elders. In anticipation of your arrival, they announced a decree. One that states if the goddess Persephone were to defeat the Jabberwock, as foretold, our thanks would be shown by naming her as the first queen of Wonderland. Our own… Queen of Hearts.”
A cold fist of horror punched into Persephone’s chest, knocking the air from her lungs. The world spun around her in a dizzying blur as her gaze locked on Sterling’s face and his carved-on smile. “It was me. I gave you your scars.”
“Not you. Never you. A version you could never be.” A bit more of him faded from sight, leaving nothing behind but his eyes that pleaded for her to understand the unexplainable.
Unable to form words, the Queen of the Underworld’s face crumbled in horror, fat tears welling in her eyes.
“Quick question,” Alice piped up, raising her hand over her head. “What if she’s unable to defeat this creature?”
Baby-face’s armor clapped together as he let one shoulder rise and fall in a casual shrug. “If she fails, we will have to skin her alive and hang her carcass up to feed the monster in hopes it will appease him.”
A beat of silence.
Alice jerked as if she had been slapped, blinking in utter befuddlement. “Wow. There really is no middle ground with you people at all, is there?”
Chapter Sixteen
“Shhh…” The ginger-haired soldier guiding Persephone flipped his face plate up, and pressed a finger to his lips. “The beast is known to roost here in the Diamond Forrest. We mustn’t wake him before you’ve had time to prepare for your battle.”
“No, we wouldn’t want that.” Persephone managed a tight smile that came nowhere near reaching her eyes.
The group moved in a cautious hunch; every leaf crunched underfoot earning a scowl. The forest had once been beautiful. That was easy to see. The rocky terrain was covered with spongy, emerald moss. Bright red mushrooms, speckled with white, sprouted from the earth. Bushels of yellow and blue flowers bloomed from any crevice they could find. Sunlight filtered through the canopy of blackened branches overhead, granting an ethereal glow to the space.
However, the brutality of what had occurred here would not be ignored. Claw marks sliced through thick tree trunks. Sections of forest had been leveled to ash. Amongst scorched flower stalks, random petals remained untouched. As if the flower refused to accept its death sentence.
Catching sight of Sterling easing back into a visible form up by the front of their traveling pack, Persephone gathered her skirt in both hands, ignored the scoffs and glares tossed her way, and marched to his side. Seizing his upper arm, she spun the infamous Cheshire Cat to face her. “Why? Why did you help me? How could you travel by my side and show me even an ounce of kindness when you knew I was capable of such senseless violence?”
The crowd parted around them, continuing to press on toward the peaks of the castle rising in the distance.
Sadness softened Sterling’s garish features. “I already told you, it wasn’t you.”
Brow knit tight, Persephone shook her head. “But you couldn’t possibly know that. When we first embarked on this journey, you helped me. Guided me. All the while knowing some version of me was capable of such violent cruelty.”
“Have we not been on the same trip?” Alice interjected as she sauntered past. “Underlying violence has kind of been our running theme.”
Self-consciously tucking in the corners of his scarred mouth, Sterling lowered his voice to calm Persephone’s frazzled state. “I didn’t tell you, because she… isn’t… you.”
“She could be!”
“She isn’t you,” Sterling repeated, his tail leisurely curling over his shoulder. “When we met, I’ll admit I was terrified of you. One glance left me trembling. And it still does, but in a very different way. I was gifted the chance to learn who you truly are. I saw your skills with an arrow that rescued a village. Heard your harsh curse that saved a boy from himself. Met the sweet, young girl desperate to be noticed by the man she had been forever linked to. And then there’s the woman I see before me now who can’t bear the thought of a future where she’s fully embraced the darkness that can take root in us all.”
“I let it root within me, Sterling.” Persephone leaned in, lowering his voice for only him. “I sowed the seeds of hate in my heart. With how far I’ve chased my vengeance, how can either of us believe I will become anything but the villainous queen who hurts you?”
Sterling didn’t reach for her hand, but extended his palm up between them. This time, Persephone didn’t hesitate to grab on like it was her lifeline.
“I saw your truth.” He gave her fingers a gentle squeeze, his elongated claws clicking together with the motion. “Not the woman who hurt me, or any possibility of what you could be, but the real you. The you who begrudgingly believes in hope… and gives the slippers back.”
Persephone placed the palm of her free hand on his cheek, her pinkie finger tracing over the puffed edge of his scar. Peering into those oddly enchanting emerald eyes, she hunted for words amongst a sea of unworthy sentiments.
“You… are the most beautiful soul I’ve ever had the privilege to meet.” Rising on her tiptoes, her lips brushed his with the delicate touch of a butterfly’s wings.
Afraid even one false move would destroy this moment of love and acceptance, Sterling simply closed his eyes and breathed her in.
All too soon, she pulled back and inserted space between them. “You led me on this journey because you saw something within me worth saving.” Fingers linked with his, she slowly let them slip apart. “And me? I’ve been bouncing to realms alongside you in hopes of making the Lord of the Underworld suffer. He can’t die and never have loved me. What can this plan of mine even hope to accomplish?”
“Launching an epic battle between two gods that rain fire on the Earth while innocent mortals die screaming?” Sauntering back over, Alice wasted no time inserting herself into the conversation.
Stunned by the imagery, Sterling and Persephone blinked her way wearing matching masks of horror.
If Alice noticed, she didn’t let on. “Whatever moment you two are having? Do it walking. The soldiers are getting antsy that you’re falling behind.”
Blushing a bright carnation pink, Persephone waved one hand over her head in apology to the waiting armed throng. Her lips parted, but before she could utter a word, an ear-piercing shriek sliced through the woods. All gazes snapped skyward as an ominous shadow sailed over the treetops.
A melee of shouts rang out, bodies shoving in every direction in search of escape.
“Run!”
“We’ll never make it in time!”
“Take cover!”
“Ready your weapons!”
Top lip twitching into a hiss, Sterling laid a protective hand on the small of Persephone’s back. “I don’t know if I can take you with me when I vanish, but I’m willing to try to keep you safe.”
Another thunderous scream shook the ground beneath their feet. Flames cut through what remained of the forest, driving the temperature up to sweltering. The beast crested the tree line, in all its terrifying glory. Bone-crushing jaws hung open in a wide maw, allowing a fresh screech to rip from his lungs. Its neck rolled with reptilian fluidity, revealing the head of a serpent adorned with a flesh skewering horn. Amidst that nightmare of talon and teeth, Persephone found Hades. In the blue-black scales that covered his b
ody. In the green of his eyes that matched the Sea of Souls. In the merciless way he ravaged all around him.
“No. I won’t vanish in his presence. Not anymore. Keep Alice safe. I’ll deal with him.” Giving his arm a comforting squeeze, she took a bold step in front of him.
If he lingered behind her, Persephone couldn’t say. Eyes locked on the scaled beast overhead, her hands balled into fists of determination at her sides. Soldiers shouted for her to get down. To run. She heard nothing but the trumpets of her reckoning.
Marching to meet her enemy, the flames Hades produced couldn’t match the blaze of her hate. An unplanned scream stole from her core in a raw plea from her long-battered heart. “See me, you bastard. See me!”
His head swiveled. Snout curling into a snarl, his jaws snapped with ravenous intent. The black of his irises glowed the hue of molten amber a split second before fire blasted from his sockets. He scorched divots into the earth, slicing a path straight for Persephone. Sweat soaked her back and dripped from her brow. Still, she never wavered.
Eyes watering from the heat, Persephone blinked hard to clear her vision. How she wished she had thought to test out her powers in this realm. She had no way to know if she had run into a fire fight unarmed.
As his fury devoured everything that stood between them, Persephone’s fingers twitched at her sides. There was no time for hesitation, only hope in things like glass slippers. Tapping into the well of energy in her core, she flipped her wrist. The building walls of flame responded to her slight show of magic by dying down to knee-high tendrils that licked skyward. A slow-smile spread across her face with the affirmation she was packing a mighty weapon.
Waves of power crackling over her skin, Persephone rolled her arms one over the other. With each rotation, her magic grew and surged in a pulsating current. There, she waited. Only when Hades’ deadly glare blew in close enough to toss her hair back did she finally unleash. In that instant she threw everything she had at him. Every time he denied her. All she sacrificed. The endless isolation. And the ghost of the ever perfect Titonis, who haunted her marriage from the day she said I do.
The strike left her palms in a sonic boom, snapping branches and bending trees. Her magic latched hold of the flames, and shot them back at he who delivered them. It slammed into him in a volcanic blast, igniting one leathery wing. Rolling to his side with an anguished shriek, Hades beat the engulfed appendage against the air. While the blaze died out, the wound was not one he could rebound from in an instant. Lumbering to one side, his functioning wing labored to prevent him from crashing to the ground.
Turning back in the direction he had come, he battled to remain airborne in his hobbled retreat.
Only then did Persephone expel a breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding.
Wobbly legs threatening to buckle beneath her, she bent in half with her hands on her knees.
In a blink, Sterling was at her side as if he had been there the entire time. Gathering her hands in both of his, he let her lean on him as he did a cursory exam to ensure she was still in one piece. “That was the bravest, most idiotic thing I’ve ever seen anyone do. Are you all right?”
Persephone’s mouth fell open, language of any kind failing her.
Which was a good thing, because the sentiments of the victor would have to wait.
It was coronation day.
“The prophecy is true, my brothers! Our salvation has truly arrived!” Stepping out from behind a tree, one soldier barked the declaration at his brethren.
Expressions transfixed with awe, others shimmied out from under the boulders that shielded them or rose to their feet from beneath charred vines and thick vegetation. Coming together in thunderous celebration, they threw their helmets skyward and slapped each other jovially on the back.
Their jubilance shifted to a chant started by a single voice but quickly building into a deafening chorus. “All hail, the savior our hearts desired! All hail, the Queen of Hearts! All hail, the savior our hearts desired! All hail, the Queen of Hearts!”
One among their party failed to see this as a victory.
One soul melted into the shadows to watch the silhouette of the Jabberwock fade into the distance.
It was there, with a palm pressed to the trunk of a tree and a lone tear streaking down her cheek, that Persephone spotted… Alice.
Chapter Seventeen
It’s not every day a realm names you queen. Normally, that would be the sort of thing to celebrate. Unfortunately, Persephone couldn’t bring herself to revel in the merriment.
The people of Wonderland presented her with a hero’s welcome. Parading her through the neighboring villages on their way to the castle, her name was shouted from rooftops while rose petals blanketed her path. Soldiers stationed at the gates took a knee at the sight of her, asserting themselves as her loyal subjects. Inside, the slate walls of the grand estate were draped in crimson tapestries. Matching table runners lined polished mahogany tables. Extravagant displays of food awaited any whim of the newly crowned queen.
Still, she couldn’t shake off the heavy blanket of dread weighing her down. The first instant she was able, she excused herself to the quarters granted to her. Of course, it was a decadent display of luxurious fabrics and plush comforts.
She paced.
Fumed.
Then conjured a pile of straw and set of knives for a little target practice.
Nothing like a good display of aggression to vent the smoldering rage.
She had been traveling with a traitor. All this time. What Alice’s motives were, she couldn’t fathom. But there was no mistaking that look in her eye. The pretty little blonde was hiding a dark secret.
Hurling a knife with all her might, she grumbled as the hilt smacked the bale, sending the blade clattering to the ground.
“You didn’t drive him back with brute strength,” a voice stated from the doorway.
Persephone’s head snapped around. Her hackles rose to find Alice leaning against her doorway with her arms crossed over her chest. “You.”
“Come now, everyone can use a bit of tutelage.” Pushing off the wall, Alice sauntered over, her face vacant of even a trace of emotion. “Out in the forest it wasn’t stellar abilities with a blade that allowed you to triumph over the beast. You used your gift—your magic.” Her fingertips trailed over the weapons lined up neatly on the walnut table. Plucking one from the collection, she weighed it in her palm. “Don’t overthink it. You want it in the center of that target? Put it there.” Without warning, she whipped the dagger in the general direction of the straw. It wasn’t going to hit it. Not even close. But that had never been her point.
Persephone needed no further invitation. Channeling the current of energy in her core, she caught the dagger with her influence and steered it into the dead-center of the target.
“See?” With a cool indifference, Alice pinched the hilt of another knife between her thumb and forefinger. She let it swing back and forth, before allowing it to fall to the table with a soft thump. “Sometimes, it takes a truly jarring event to realign one’s priorities. It was a breathtaking sight to see that beast, all scales and talons, swoop overhead. Our little group knows who he truly is. Yet, it’s astounding to think that the pain he harbors is so intense that he manifested an actual monstrous cocoon to shield himself from the outside world with. You, redirected his fury and threw it back at him as easy as batting away a fly. In that moment, you asserted yourself as the true queen you are.”
Teeth grinding to the point of pain, Persephone fought the urge to whip one of the knives at the traitor before her. “I was doing what had to be done. I need no thanks from you.”
“Oh, that wasn’t praise.” Alice’s head tilted, the tip of her tongue playing over the point of one incisor. “You exploited the pain of a being in emotional turmoil to elevate your own political position. Even so, in the instant I watched those flames engulf his wing, I was reminded of exactly who I am and what I came here to do.”
>
An acidic awareness scorched up the back of Persephone’s throat. It tasted like war. “And who is that?”
Alice clucked her tongue against the roof of her mouth, eyes narrowing to deadly slits. “Come, let’s not play dumb. You’ve known for some time. At least a small part of you did. So many gods and goddesses placed a piece of themselves inside of Pandora’s Box. When you healed her soul to accommodate all that power, you had to know there wasn’t enough of her left to patch that wound. It was an open invitation for any who felt that stir of the magic released. Being dearly departed, I simply handed myself over completely to the cause.”
Fingernails digging halfmoons in her palms, Persephone kept her hands tightly at her sides… for now. “What are you saying?”
Alice’s lips screwed into a judgmental sneer. “Haven’t figured it out yet? Pity, I thought you were smarter than that. Think of this like a riddle; there is only one soul who would be bothered by seeing Hades suffer. You know exactly who that be. Go ahead. Speak the name of the woman whose death tainted your marriage before it even began.”
“No… it couldn’t be.”
“Say it!” she boomed.
“Titonis?”
Taking a step back, Alice/Titonis treated her to a slow clap of appreciation. “Look at that, she’s not just a pretty face.”
“Poseidon’s enchantingly beautiful wife, Titonis.” Her disdain audible, Persephone palmed one of the knives. “You wriggled your way back from death just to place yourself on the wrong side of this war.”
Titonis acknowledged Persephone’s blade with a sideways smile. “I assure you, child, I’m right where I want to be. After all, you’re the one who needs to be convinced to see the truth staring you in the face.”
“Convinced?” A manic laugh bubbled from Persephone’s throat. “What is it you think I need to be convinced of? Not to stop Hades from torturing countless souls? Hate to tell you, but since your trip to the great beyond, the love of your life became the villain to this story. After all he’s put me through, I fully intend to be the one to put an end to his rash of terror.”
The Unfortunate Souls Collection Page 50
