Veering off the main path and sprinting down the path leading to the River Styx, Persephone took the high path along the river bank and toward the cavern wall. Ahead of her was the
glimmer of faint light and the open gate.
Her heart raced. She was doing it! She was escaping! She was going home!
One minute, she was running and the next she was slamming into something hard. She
bounced off with a yelp, landing on her backside. She didn’t need to look up to know who had stopped her. She could feel the power rolling off of him. She could almost taste his anger.
She glanced up. Hades glared down at her, arms folded across his broad chest. He didn’t offer to help her up. “What are you doing?” His voice was low with a hint of a warning.
“Escaping,” she snapped. “I’m tired of this. I won’t stay here and you can’t make me.”
“As long as you are without magic, you aren’t safe out there.”
“My mother will protect me—”
“Really? I don’t remember her being very useful when Apollo came for you.”
She frowned and stood, brushing the dirt from her dress. “What are you talking about?
Apollo never—”
He took a step toward her. She quickly took one back, suddenly uncertain.
“All I want is for you to be safe in the world you’ll be returning to.” His voice softened and his scowl disappeared, making him seem sad. “I care about you, Persephone. I don’t want you hurt.”
She scoffed, “You’re keeping me here against my will.”
“It wasn’t the way I wanted it to be.” He took another step toward her. “It wasn’t that long ago you were happy to see me.”
“That was before you abducted me!”
“Do you remember seeing me at Mount Olympus?”
She stepped back. “Yes.” And she recalled how excited she’d been to see him.
He took another step forward, making her back up again.
“Do you remember Apollo coming to you in your garden?” he whispered.
He took another step in her direction. She stepped back and ended up with her back pressed to the cavern wall. She jerked in surprise. She couldn’t move forward, and she couldn’t go back.
He trapped her. Again!
He leaned closer and she couldn’t stop herself from breathing deeply of his masculine scent mixed with sandalwood and vanilla.
“No. He was never there.”
She cringed at the breathiness of her voice. She tried to run through the list of his sins, but when his lips brushed over the hairs of her neck every warning she’d ever been given, dissipated, and she didn’t know how bring them back. Or even if she wanted to. Something in her wanted this, craved this, and hungered for this contact.
Her eyes closed as his warm breath tickled the side of her neck and a delightful shiver ran the length of her body.
“Do you remember me coming to your mother’s garden?”
She stared at him, her heart thundering in her ears, terrified, not because he might hurt her, but because her body was reacting to the memory of the night in the garden, the pleasure of his touch and the wanton way she’d reacted.
She shook her head, trying to focus on the question. “Why do you ask questions that you
already know the answer to?”
He inched closer and she leaned back. She didn’t want to enjoy the sinful feel of his strong arms wrapped around her, or the touch of his hand on her waist, or his body pressed against hers.
She didn’t want to want him.
“Because I don’t know the answer.”
He had to be joking or telling a very bad lie. She forced herself to look into his midnight eyes and nearly lost herself in the beauty she saw in his face. She wet her lips and his gaze dropped.
She almost lost it then. Her hand was mere inches from his face. She wanted, no, needed to explore him. She shook herself, striving for distance, and focus.
“Only that you came to the garden.”
“And after that?”
His breath caressed her ear, making her skin tingle. She must keep a clear head.
“I returned to my room and fell asleep. When my mother returned she was frantic and
wanting to leave.”
The heat of his body warmed the chill of her soul. The caress of his energy against her stole her breath. She leaned toward him and warmth spread through her limbs. She body tingled. Her head felt light. She didn’t want to give in, but her body wasn’t listening. It had a mind of its own, and it wanted the man before her.
Curse her body! It completely betrayed her. It was wrong to enjoy being with someone who
held her captive. It was wrong to love the man who stole her from her life and dragged her to his home. If only he’d asked her to marry him!
Would she have accepted his offer of marriage if he’d made it? Heaven help her, despite all her protests, she knew she would have. Even now, knowing he couldn’t be trusted, she wanted to be with him. She wanted to love him and be loved by him.
She was the worst kind of fool. She was a pawn in a game between Hades and Zeus. She was
a passing curiosity for him to toy with. Hades didn’t care about her.
His lips brushed her neck. A wicked thrill coursed through her body. He was wonderful when he wanted to be. Gentle and sweet. Altogether lovely.
She felt safe with him. But she wasn’t. She’d been warned about him and she’d do well to
heed those warnings. If only she could remember what they were.
Her head fell back, granted him greater access to her neck. She sighed as he kissed his way to the sensitive skin of her throat. He licked a small path and he blew softly upon the path of his wicked tongue. She shivered, thoughts of protest melting away. Only he existed, and he was the only one who mattered.
His lips brushed hers, teasing her. He pulled back. She stared at him, realizing he was asking her permission. If she was going to stop him, now was the time. He’d promised not to touch her unless she invited him, and though she hadn’t said the words, her traitorous body spoke for her.
She leaned forward and kissed him.
His tongue tracing her lip and she opened her mouth, sparing with him. She wanted to
explore the wide expanse of his strong chest, the planes of his face. But all she could do was hold her sandals and kiss him.
This felt good. This felt right. This was where she belonged.
Hades pull away and she protested, belatedly realizing the sound of thunder was actually the echo of horse’s hooves on the stone pathway and not her heart. She glanced around Hades and saw Thanatos riding a pale stallion.
He held no reins in his hands and yet the horse halted before them. “I hope I’m interrupting something good.”
She ducked behind Hades, her cheeks warm. She pressed her face into his back. What had
she been thinking?! She’d been warned, if she had sex with Hades, she was his wife in truth and could never leave.
And would that be such a bad thing?
Yes! But the adamant refusal wasn’t the powerful declaration she hoped.
She should be ashamed of betraying her mother for a moment’s pleasure. But she wasn’t. If anything, she wanted more of it, and yet, she must never allow it to happen again. She pulled away from Hades.
“The furies are wrecking havoc on the world. Shifts in weather have caused desperate acts from some of the mortals. The furies were punishing the guilty for their transgressions, but now they’re harming the innocent as well as the guilty.”
Persephone had no idea what the furies were, nor did she know what weather shift Thanatos referred to, she just knew she wanted out of this place and back to her garden where everything made sense. Where men didn’t kidnap women and her body didn’t melt at a touch of Hades’ lips.
“I have to handle this. May I see you when I return?”
She blinked and nodded. She couldn’t escape his presence forever. “There will be no
more
kissing or touching.”
He shrugged and nodded his agreement. “Later.” Before she knew what happened, he flashed
her to her solar.
“PERSEPHONE AND you seem to be getting along well.”
Hades sighed and turned to a grinning Thanatos. “I don’t know. One minute she’s hot and the next minute she’s cold.”
“That’s a woman.” Thanatos chuckled, a far-away look in his eye. “It’s what makes them so frustrating and endearing. Besides, if she really wanted to leave, she would. Even you would have difficulty holding a goddess against her will.”
He leaned against the cavern wall. “But that’s the thing, Thanatos. I can. Her power is
bound.”
Thanatos stalked toward Hades, the black cloud of fury on his face. “You didn’t? Not even you could do such a vicious thing?”
He should say yes. Tell Thanatos that he would do such a thing. Then Thanatos could wipe
him from existence. Then the god of misery, the god of suffering, the god of the dead wouldn’t cause anymore harm to anyone.
He opened his mouth to speak the lie and said, “No. She’s mostly as I found her.” He combed his hand through his hair. “Although I have a good idea who did.”
“Who?!”
Hades looked into the face of his friend and felt the first twinge of fear. The god was furious, and he had never seen Thanatos angry.
“First, the Furies. Second, we’ll heal Persephone. And then…”
Jaw set, Thanatos nodded. They flashed out of the Underworld and into the world of the
living, tracing the destructive path of the Furies. Hades was spoiling for a fight, his Phlegethon blood demanded it.
~*~ ~*~ ~*~
PERSEPHONE SNEEZED. She opened her eyes and glared at Eris. The goddess was stifling
a laugh and waving a blue feather in front of her.
“Rise and shine little flower. It’s time to be an adult.”
Persephone shoved the feather from her face. “Go away.”
“Demeter did a great job of hindering any inclination you have to escape a situation.
Although the escape attempt yesterday was a grand first step. Sloppy, but at least it was an attempt.”
Persephone groaned and climbed from the bed. “Go bother someone else.”
Eris leapt off the bed and straightened the sapphire dress which hid no more skin than the red dress she’d first seen her in. Low cut and split up to her hips, revealing long legs.
Erisa sighed. “I’m trying to give my daughter-in-law a backbone.”
Persephone slipped out of the shift and grabbed a silken jade cloth from the wardrobe and wrapped it around her naked body, fastening the shoulders with pearl broaches and twining a silver cord around her waist. She unbraided her hair from its plait and picked the brush from the dressing table. “I tried to escape. Hades won’t let me leave. There’s no point in fighting him.”
“Did I tell you to fight him?”
Persephone stopped brushing her hair and turned on the woman. “You said—”
“Learn to defend yourself? Take back your power?” She took the brush from Persephone’s
hand and began to brush through the tress. “You need to break through the blocks on your mind.
Then even my son can’t hold you.”
“Why can’t you all let me be? I was fine before you came!”
“Little idiot, you’re as blind as my son. No one’s going to take care of you but you. You have to be your own advocate. You’re only escape from this world is to let Hades help you.”
“My Mother will come for me!”
Eris broke into another fit of laughter. “Your faith in others is amusing but very much
undeserved.”
She twirled around to face the annoying goddess. “I don’t want you here. I demand you
leave.”
Eris tilted her head to the side and pursed her lips, as if thinking it over. “No.”
“I’m the queen. You have to obey me.”
Eris sighed and started to brush her hair again. “You’re a child throwing a tantrum, using any means to get what you want. You denied yourself the power of Queen of the Underworld. If you invoke your right now, you claim the Underworld as your home and Hades as your husband.”
“No!”
“Then I don’t have to obey you. Besides, it only applies to those who live here. And I don’t live here. I just randomly come to visit my darling little boy. I don’t plan to see him this time.
Congratulations! I came to visit you instead.”
Persephone groaned and closed her eyes. She could call Hades to come and take care of his mother, but he had other problems in the world above. She could leave, only Eris would probably follow her. This left her only one option, face the goddess and hope she survived the encounter with her sanity.
“In the month since you became my foolish son’s wife, you haven’t made a bit of progress.
You have enormous potential, but you refuse to tap into it. You still expect someone to rescue you. Demeter must have really done a number to your mind, because I thought I sparked
something in that brain of yours.”
Persephone scowled at Eris, she had indeed sparked something, but it wasn’t magic. She
stood and headed for the door. This conversation was done.
“The first thing you need to do is face up to reality. You can’t go on believing things are as you think they are.” Eris stalked forward and Persephone retreated until she hit the wall. Eris stopped a mere foot from her. “Demeter lied. Gods and goddess are born with magic. They wield it from cradle.”
She grabbed Persephone’s arm as she tried to dart right. Using Persephone’s momentum, Eris swung them around and tossed Persephone onto the bed. Persephone gasped for breath,
struggling against the blankets hindering her escape. Eris was quick. She leapt onto the bed, pinning Persephone under her.
In that single moment she saw Eris, not as Hades mother, but the decisive warrior she was on the battlefield, in full battle gear. This was the true Eris. This was a heartless killer. There was nothing maternal in her now. There was nothing kind in what she was about to do.
Persephone fought. She had to get away. She had to stop this. It was forbidden. It was wrong.
They would find her. Eris was about to destroy her. And there was nothing she could do.
“No!”
Eris touched her temple and there was pop. A stabbing sensation began in the front of her skull, expanded and raced down her spine. Her heart beat slowed. Her muscles grew sore and tired. A thick gray cloud crept around the edges of her mind.
Eris released her and sat back. “That should do it.”
Persephone gasped for air. Her lungs burned, deprived too long of precious air. The pressure left, but her head still ached from the effort to absorb the flood of information rushing at her. The pain disappeared. Her weakened body refused her commands to move. She couldn’t even turn
her head or move her mouth to speak. She felt tired. So very tired. Her eyes closed.
“Now you’ll see the world in a different way,” the goddess said into her ear.
In the next breath, lights exploded in her mind. The door opened wide, giving her more than a glimpse of eternity. She saw the swirling maelstrom of pure energy clawing at its prison, reaching for her, taking hold. Its whispered promises became a roar of triumphant. It crashed over her like a torrent of water.
She screamed and screamed as the energy surged through her veins, saturating every cell of her body, encircling her, going through her over and over again. It was too much. Her heart raced. Her head pounded. She couldn’t breathe. Her back arched and her hands clawed at
bedding.
“Hades!”
PERSEPHONE JANGLED cry slashed across his mind, distracting him at the most
inopportune moment. The claws of the Fury tore through cloth, flesh, and muscle, glanc
ing off bone. He winced but refused to retreat or surrender. It was time to end this.
“By the power of the Underworld, I command you to cease.”
The flock halted and five blood-red eyes turned to him. They flexed their bloodied talons.
They exuded waves of fury.
“Return to the Underworld, now!”
“You can’t stop us, God of the Underworld. We will have our vengeance,” they hissed.
“The guilty will pay the price of their evil. But what of the innocent? What crimes have they committed?” He motioned to the bodies littering the ground. “They don’t deserve this fate.
Please return to the Underworld. And after I figure out what is happening, I’ll help you in your task.”
The Furies inclined their heads. “As you command, but we hold you to your oath.” They flew off and Hades turned to Thanatos. “Persephone’s in trouble.”
Thanatos didn’t ask. He grabbed Hades arm and the world shifted as they flashed from the
world of the living to the world of the dead, and Persephone’s room. Hades turned. Eris was standing above the prone body of his wife, smoothing the front of her dress. He reacted. Seizing Eris’ wrist, he tossed her into the wall. She thumped against the stone, bounced off, and crumpled to the ground.
He left Eris where she lay. Rushing to Persephone and rested his hand on her chest. Her heart beat was weak. Her breathing shallow. He closed his eyes, willing his fears to subside. She can’t die, he reminded himself, she’s immortal.
He faced his mother. “What did you do to her?” he asked although he knew the answer.
She’d broken the cracked barriers surrounding Persephone’s magic. Unlike him, she hadn’t been kind or subtle about it.
Eris slowly rose to her feet and brushed herself off. “Her powers needed to be awakened—”
“You had no right!” He flashed to her and Eris remained still, neither flinching nor blinking, even when he crossed his wrists and effectively closed her wind pipe. “Don’t touch my wife,” he growled. “Ever.”
She kneed him in the groin, felling him like an ox. She stood over him, her voice hoarse, and as flippant as ever. “Well, that’s a fine way to showing gratitude. I try to help and you attack me!”
Grimacing, he stood with the help of the wall. Good thing he was a god, because if she’d
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