Dark Desires (Dark Romance Boxed Set)

by Cerys du Lys

  Persephone stared between the two of them, back and forth, her eyes wide. She remembered the two shades Aidon had sent to Elysium—Meleager’s uncles. The young hero had killed them, and the whole Underworld had gone to great lengths to keep Tisi from discovering that fact. Now, clearly, she had found out. But how? Persephone leaned in and whispered to Aidon, “I don’t understand?”

  He glanced over at her with a sigh. “Humans often call to the God of the Dead to curse their enemies. I rarely answer such a call.”

  “He’s afraid to get his hands dirty!” Tisi spat.

  Aidon’s eyes blazed a bright orange and he stood, towering above the Fury. “I will not cause unnecessary human suffering based on some mortal’s emotional whim.”

  “Justice!” Tisi’s voice became a high-pitched screech, so loud Persephone covered her ears in shock and surprise. “I demand justice!”

  Aidon shook his head, frowning at the Fury. “No! You want vengeance!”

  “Justice! Justice! Justice!” Tisi screamed, the flapping of her wings creating a stir among the shades. The judges had turned their attention to the matter, their eyes on Aidon and the Fury. The shades, too, had turned toward the altercation, shuffling together and watching them.

  “The young hero Meleager should already be dead.” The thick, cracking voice of Atropos rose as the Moirai came forward. The three Fates never separated, and Clotho and Lachesis followed close behind their sister. “I predicted, when he was but seven days old, he would not live long enough for the stick to burn down in the fire in the hearth.”

  “Fate is never wrong,” Persephone murmured, giving Aidon a puzzled look. “Poor Althaia. Her own son killed both of her brothers. The whole thing is just a tragedy.”

  “Exactly!” Tisi agreed. “Which is why she’s calling for justice!”

  Aidon frowned. “I agree it’s a tragedy...but why heap more pain and suffering onto the poor woman?”

  “Perhaps if she had not tempted Fate to begin with, this would never have happened,” Atropos reminded them. Everyone turned to look at the old Moirai, her sisters moving in silently behind her. “Remember, the boy Meleager should have died in infancy. His own mother prevented that, out of her selfishness and trickery. Now look what he has done, what havoc he has wreaked!”

  Persephone sighed. “What mother wouldn’t try to save her child? Certainly you can’t fault the woman for that!”

  Aidon nodded slowly and then he turned to the Fury, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. “Tisi…I will answer Althaia’s plea.”

  Surprised, Persephone clutched his arm. “You’re not going to let Tisi kill him?”

  “No.” Aidon glared at the Fury. “Tisi, you will remind Althaia where she hid the stick she took from the fire when Meleager was a babe. And then leave it up to her.” Her red eyes blazing, Tisi opened her mouth to protest, but Aidon cut her off. “I mean it, Tisi! No scourges, no teeth, no tearing anyone limb from limb, you got it? If the mother wants her son’s death as vengeance, then let her make the choice.”

  Tisi’s whole body seemed to vibrate, her blood-red mouth narrowing into a thin line. She clearly didn’t like Aidon’s decision, but she didn’t say so. “Fine. Consider it done.” Her black wings spread wide as she turned and sped out. The Moirai smiled as they departed behind her.

  “Tisi wasn’t happy.” Persephone winced.

  “Furies are rarely happy unless they’re causing someone pain.” Aidon sighed. “It’s what they’re made to do.”

  “Well…” She took his hand and squeezed it, giving him a sidelong glance. “Pain isn’t such a bad thing sometimes.”

  He chuckled. “There’s a slight difference.”

  “I know.” Lifting her eyes to his, she felt the heat on her cheeks as she remembered. His gaze fell lower to her breasts, and lower still. She loved seeing his eyes begin to glow, a slow smolder. “You are a wise and just ruler, Aidon. I am proud to be your wife.” His face softened at her words, saying everything his mouth didn’t. His jaw worked and he swallowed, reaching out to rub his thumb over her cheek. “And I understand now what you mean about it being a balancing act.”

  “Do you?” His smile softened as he leaned down to kiss her. He took her breath every time, thickening her pulse the moment their mouths touched. She slipped her bare leg between his, moaning against his mouth as she squeezed around the thick expanse of his thigh. His growing hardness pressed against her hip and she rubbed along the length of it through his loincloth, making him groan.

  He broke the kiss, his eyes on fire. Grabbing a handful of her hair, he tilted her head back and raked his teeth down the sensitive flesh of her throat. She whimpered, biting her lip, and his voice rumbled through her as he growled, “Quit distracting me or everything is going to crash down around our heads.”

  “Hades!” The voice boomed through the chamber, making them both jump.

  Aidon sighed. “See? What did I tell you?” He gave her a wink as he turned toward the source of the thundering voice calling his name.

  It was Thanatos, his teeth bared, his eyes almost as red as Tisi’s had been. “What in the name of Zeus were you thinking? Sisyphus is now roaming free, bragging to everyone he won’t go back to the Underworld until he’s a ripe old man!”

  “What are you talking about?” Aidon shook his head.

  “You know exactly what I’m talking about!” Thanatos hissed. “What did I do to deserve this? Now the little cretin who chained me up in hell for three days is roaming free, back to his old life and his old tricks!”

  “Wait a minute.” Aidon held up his hand. “You’re telling me Sisyphus has left the Underworld?”

  Thanatos rolled his eyes. “Don’t pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about. Only the ruler of the Underworld could have released him from his bond here!”

  Persephone had a sinking feeling in her belly as she looked between the two gods, remembering the conversation she’d had with the shade on the banks of the river Styx. It couldn’t be…

  “I never saw him, Thanatos.” Aidon held both hands out now, and shrugged. “I swear to Zeus!”

  “Oh, please!” Thanatos bared his massive rows of teeth. “He couldn’t have gotten topside without your permission!”

  Aidon’s eyes began to glow in anger. “Don’t doubt me, Thanatos. I am telling you the truth. I never saw the shade!”

  “Um…” Persephone poked Aidon in the side. “What…what does this Sisyphus look like?”

  He glanced down at her, frowning. “Not now, Persephone.”

  “Just be god enough to admit it!” Thanatos insisted, folding his arms over his chest. “I want to know what grudge you’ve got against me! First you leave me chained in Hell for three days, and now you’ve let the little goathead go free!”

  Persephone cleared her throat, her stomach churning as the two gods fought. She tried again, asking in a small voice, “Aidon…this Sisyphus…does he have a moon-like scar on his cheek?”

  Both gods stopped and looked at her. Aidon’s puzzled eyes moved over her face. “Did you see him, Persephone?”

  She nodded, swallowing hard, with both sets of gods’ eyes burning into her. “I…uh…” The realization dawned on Aidon’s face, and she saw Thanatos had already made the connection. Still, the words wouldn’t come out, as much as she tried to speak them.

  “She let him go!” Thanatos smacked his forehead with a groan. “The Queen of the Underworld has gone and granted the little sheep-rustler a pardon!”

  Aidon shook his head in disbelief. “Is this true, Persephone?”

  “I didn’t know.” She bit her lip. “He told me his wife left him naked and unburied in the middle of the town square! He only asked to go back and receive a proper burial. It seemed like such a simple request to grant…”

  “Brilliant!” Thanatos bared his teeth at her. “And you fell for it?”

  “Hey, don’t be too hard on her.” Aidon held his hand up to the toothy deity. “I seem to remember a certain God of De
ath who was fooled by the same man.”

  “You are the fool, Hades!” Thanatos bristled, his eyes bright. “You were blinded by this hussy’s beauty! Now you’ve gone and married her and made this child a Queen!”

  “I’m not a child!” Persephone insisted, crossing her arms over her bare chest.

  “Thanatos!” Aidon warned, taking a step forward, his eyes blazing. Everyone in the Chamber had stopped to listen to them. Persephone took a step away, the backs of her knees bumping up against the throne made for her. She sat, her trembling legs no longer supporting her.

  “She doesn’t deserve to sit on the throne!” Thanatos waved his hand at Persephone and she cringed backward into the chair. “You’d better learn to control your new wife, before her tender little heart has the Underworld emptied of shades and the earth roaming with ghosts!”

  Persephone sat up straight, her eyes blazing. “Now wait a minute!” Both gods looked at her as she stood, her spine straightening. “Thanatos, I apologize. I made a mistake letting Sisyphus go.”

  “I’ll say,” he muttered, crossing his arms. Persephone raised her hand to him and he quieted.

  “We are immortal, not perfect.” She glanced over at Aidon and saw him looking at her with renewed respect, his eyes bright. “I will do what I can to have Sisyphus returned to the Underworld, and when he does, he will be punished accordingly.”

  Thanatos gave a curt nod and bowed to her. “Thank you…my queen.”

  Aidon touched her arm when Thanatos turned to go, his face breaking into a smile. “You are truly my queen.”

  She smiled up at him as she sank into her throne, her knees still trembling. I really hope I’m up to this Queen of the Underworld business. She took a shaky breath as Aidon proudly took his seat beside her and they looked out and surveyed their kingdom.

  Chapter Nine

  “I heard about Sisyphus.” Tisi flashed Persephone a fanged grin as they walked together into the Chamber of Judgment. “I guess he’s still refusing to return to Hell…not that I blame him.”

  “I know. I really felt awful.” Persephone still winced when she thought about it. “I didn’t mean to let him go. This being Queen of the Underworld thing is pretty complicated.”

  Tisi laughed, grabbing the goddess’ hand and swinging it. “You really got Thannie’s goat! I heard he was ready to spit olive pits when he found out!”

  Persephone sighed, glancing toward the throne and seeing Aidon deep in discussion with Minos, one of the judges. She and Tisi had spent the afternoon gathering jewels. The rocks near the river Acheron glittered full of them—emeralds, quartz, rubies, even diamonds—and Tisi’s claws made perfect tools for extraction. Persephone carried a full, and heavy, black velvet bag she swung against her bare thigh.

  “Well, I heard a certain Fury got all ruffled up over some mortal hero’s demise.”

  They both turned at the sound of Thanatos’ voice. He lounged under the cypress, his feet up on the trunk, as if sunbathing in the ghostly light of the tree. He quickly rolled to standing, coming toward the pair.

  “It was something worth getting ruffled up over.” Tisi pulled her teeth back over her fangs at hissed at him. “As far as I’m concerned, you deserved your three days chained in Hell. You’re the one who let that old man get the best of you.”

  “Let him?” Thanatos’ teeth flashed just as sharp as Tisi’s and infinitely more numerous.

  Persephone held up her hand, like she had seen Aidon do, and smiled. “Is there an olive branch in the house?”

  Both of them backed off, looking at her a little guiltily. Thanatos gave a slight bow in her direction. “I apologize, Persephone.”

  “That’s Queen Persephone,” Tisi reminded him.

  Thanatos made a face. “Right. Queen Persephone.”

  “I should apologize to you again.” Persephone nudged Tisi quiet when the Fury opened her mouth. “I never should have made such a snap decision when I didn’t know all the factors. I have asked Hecate to search for Sisyphus. I’m sure she will find him soon.”

  The God of Death frowned, his eyes narrowing as if assessing the sincerity of her statement. “He’s gallivanting around up there still, bragging to everyone who will listen about how he chained up the ‘Great God of Death.’ He’s even taken over his own body again!”

  “Can’t you just…” Persephone made a slicing motion across her slender, bejeweled throat with her finger. “You know…I mean, you are the ‘Great God of Death’…”

  He ran a hand through his thick, wavy blond hair and sighed. “Believe me, I would if I could.”

  “Sisyphus isn’t alive. Death only applies to the living.” Tisi explained with a grin she tried to hide behind her clawed hand. “And since he’s not really dead, and he’s walking around in his old body…”

  “He’s undead,” Thanatos finished morosely. “I can’t touch him.”

  “Don’t worry.” Aidon clapped the God of Death on the back with a wink and slipped his arm around his wife’s waist. Persephone smiled up at him, nudging her naked hip against his thigh. “We’ll drag him back here by his oily little head if we have to.”

  “And then?”

  “We’ll make an example of him,” Aidon assured him. “Persephone probably did us a favor. They’ll tell the story of Sisyphus for generations, and shades everywhere will shudder at the mention of his name. No one will ever try to escape the Underworld again.”

  Thanatos considered this. “What will we do to him?”

  Tisi’s eyes flashed red and she licked her lips. “I can tear him limb from—”

  “He won’t have any limbs, Tisi,” Aidon reminded her, shooting her a quelling look.

  “Oh, right.” She grinned sheepishly. “Sorry, I’m so used to mortal punishment…”

  “How about chaining him up forever?” Thanatos asked, his eyes flashing. “Now that’s poetic justice.”

  “Please use your imagination, Thannie.” Tisi rolled her eyes. “We can do better than that.”

  “Well, now my mind is going to chains, as well…” Aidon’s eyes moved over Persephone’s nude form and he grinned.

  “Men!” Persephone threw up her hands. “I have the perfect punishment. No swimming in the Pool of Lethe for Sisyphus. He can keep forever the memory of the earthly world as he pushes a rock uphill.”

  “Feh!” Aidon waved her idea away with a snort. “What kind of punishment is that?”

  Persephone glared at him. “I’m not finished. He can push a rock uphill for all eternity. When he gets to the top of the hill, the rock will roll down, so he’ll have to start all over again…and again…and again...”

  Aidon stared at her, his mouth agape. “That’s…truly cruel.”

  “Diabolical.” Tisi gave Persephone an appreciative wink.

  “Brilliant!” The God of Death grinned over at Aidon, all of his razor sharp teeth showing. “I take back what I said about questioning your choice…she is the quintessential Queen of the Underworld.”

  Aidon’s hand rubbed Persephone’s hip and their eyes met. The warmth that passed between them was nearly tangible and she felt her skin tingling when he said, “I knew it the moment I saw her.”

  She remembered that day in the clearing with a small, secret smile. That restless, yearning girl who had rolled in the grass with goddesses for hours still unsatisfied was no more. How far she had come, in such a short time. She wondered if anyone from home would even recognize her anymore, branded with tattoos, wearing the dark coal liner Hecate had taught her to use to accent her eyes.

  “In light of your clever plan, I have a task for you, my queen.” Aidon took her hand and lifted her palm to his lips, kissing her there. Whenever his lips touched her skin, all thought seemed to leave her head. “Will you come with me?”

  She knew she would follow him anywhere as they made their way toward the Judges’ bench. Aidon looked back over his shoulder at Tisiphone and Thanatos, “Come on, you two.”

  Tisi shrugged but she fell in
line behind them and stood aside with the God of Death as the two rulers took their thrones on the platform above.

  Aidon nodded toward Minos and he waved two shades toward them. The women cried and clung together, their graying outlines colorless and hazily transparent. Persephone looked, puzzled, between Aidon and the two huddled figures who stopped in front of her throne.

  “Althaia, mother of the fallen Meleager, and Cleopatra, his wife.” Aidon nodded to the older and younger woman respectively, making introductions and directing them in a loud voice. “Kneel before the Queen of the Underworld!”

  Trembling, both of them fell to their knees, still holding and rocking one another. The tears ran down their gray cheeks like quicksilver, falling in beaded splashes like mercury on the black onyx floor. Persephone thought she understood what Aidon was going to ask, and she gulped, glancing toward the three tunnels that led to the destination points of the shades. Hecate stood at the entrance wearing a robe and hood, her torch blazing as she directed the dead to their final fates: the fires of Tartarus, the paradise of Elysium, or the gray, dull plains of Asphodel.

  “Please, spare us the hell of Tartarus!” Althaia’s voice quavered in the muted tone of the dead. “That is all I humbly ask, my queen.”

  Aidon leaned over and murmured, “Do what you feel is best.”

  Persephone frowned at them both. “How did you come to be here among the unliving? Meleager passed this way two days ago.” She hadn’t seen the young hero, but Aidon had sighed when he told her about it, relaying his own disappointment in Althaia’s decision to burn the stick that would take her own son’s life.

  Althaia put her arm around the younger woman, whose sobs seemed to fill the room at the question, attempting in vain to comfort her. “I made a grievous error, Queen Persephone. In my grief and anger at my son for killing my brothers, his own uncles…” The woman’s lower lip trembled and she hesitated, as if saying the words caused her pain. “One of the Erinyes reminded me of a stick the Fates predicted would kill Meleager if it were left to burn in the fire when he was a babe.” Tisi shrugged at the woman, but the Fury looked a little guilty when she met Aidon’s eyes.