by Bella Klaus
“Not ready?” Captain Caria rushed toward me, holding her baton aloft. Instead of striking at me with her weapon, she raised her other hand and hurled something that came at me like a frisbee.
I jumped back, thrust forward with the bident, and shot out a stream of lightning that illuminated the room. Her frisbee exploded into little pieces.
Before I could catch my breath, her baton landed in my ribs with a hard crack, making me stagger to the side.
A scream caught in my throat. “What are you doing?”
“Teaching you to be alert,” she snarled. “In three days, you’ll be in the presence of the other Monarchs of Hell, and not a single one of them can be trusted. Some will attack you directly, others will smile in your face. Then there are those who will use covert attacks—”
“Like Samael?”
“That bastard will use every method at his disposal to undermine you both.” She launched a flying kick at my face.
I blocked it with the bident and fed it a burst of power. Lightning crackled along its length, landing harmlessly on her insulated foot.
Captain Caria jumped back with an approving nod. “The control over your lightning has improved, but let’s see if you can use it to teleport.”
My breath caught, and I placed a hand over my mouth. Could combining my power with Hades allow me to transport myself out of Hell?
Chapter Eighteen
Teleporting turned out exactly how I’d imagined. Captain Caria made me picture a location and will my magic there. According to the theory, my power would transport my molecules, but only if I focussed.
I practiced with her for the rest of the day, only stopping when she brought burgers from the Human World. She trained me so hard that I could barely speak as we ate by the pool. While she enjoyed a thirst-quenching husk filled with coconut water, I slurped a not-so-refreshing vanilla shake through a straw.
When my body ached and I could no longer dodge her strikes, the captain decided we were done for the day, and she took me back through the tunnels and through the copse of twisting fig trees and back to the clearing.
The dryads had created an outdoor canopy bed of banana and raffia leaves where the bench used to be and filled it with a mattress of puffy hydrangea flowers.
Captain Caria pulled off her helmet and tucked it under her arm. “Good work today,” she said. “I’ll return tomorrow with breakfast.”
“Will Hades come to me tonight?”
She paused, her gaze moving to the right, before she shook her head. “He’s still dealing with the aftermath of the soulkin.”
My eyes narrowed. “Are you in contact with him?”
“Unfortunately.” Her lips tightened. “I can’t get him out of my head.”
“Hades?” I asked into the bond.
When he didn’t answer, my shoulders sagged. Hades and I also had a mental connection. He’d used it to communicate into my mind just fine when it had suited him, but now he was relaying messages to me through his daughter. Why wasn’t he updating me on what was happening?
“Good night, Kora.”
Before I could muster up a question, Captain Caria disappeared.
A small hand slipped into mine. I glanced down to find the smallest dryad gazing up at me through smiling green eyes.
“Hey,” I murmured. “Do you need anything?”
She pointed toward the bed, where another nymph stood by the headboard with her head resting on her joined hands in the universal mime for sleep.
“Bedtime?” I asked.
The little nymph gave me an enthusiastic nod and pulled me toward the bed.
I smiled down at the little creature, letting her guide me across the clearing. Was this what it was like to deal with children?
“Alright,” I said with a sigh.
The little nymph stopped at the bed, where a green gown lay on the white flower heads.
“Is that for me?” I asked.
She nodded and smiled.
I couldn’t help but smile back. Maybe I wasn’t Persephone, but this garden and its nymphs had accepted me.
The gown felt smoother than silk, and the mattress was like lying on a bed of clouds. My mind whirred with the day’s events. The longer I stayed in Hell, the more confused I became about who I was and what I meant to Hades. Was I his old wife or his new wife? Would he want to see me again after I fulfilled my end of the bargain?
“Hades?” I said into my mind. “Can you hear me?”
Silence was my reply.
My lips tightened. It wasn’t like I could use the garden as an excuse for not being able to reach him. He seemed to be able to order Captain Caria regardless of the distance.
My throat thickened. Maybe he was dealing with another rebellion. Maybe his demons had decided to take control. Maybe he wanted to hold out for the real Persephone—
“No!” I cut off those thoughts and clenched my fists.
After watching Beauty and the Beast a hundred times, I knew enough about Stockholm Syndrome to know I was firmly within its grip.
A small hand patted my cheek.
I cracked open an eye to stare into the concerned gazes of the two dryads.
“Don’t worry about me,” I murmured. “It’s just difficult to sleep.”
They both tilted their heads to the side and frowned. Since they didn’t mime anything, I guess they wanted me to elaborate.
“Nothing’s wrong.” I raised myself onto my elbows. “I just have a few things on my mind, but I can’t decide anything until after the Devil’s Ball, okay?”
The nymphs exchanged puzzled glances, seeming to communicate without words. I waited for them to leave, but the taller of the pair mimed drinking from a cup of tea.
I shook my head. Persephone probably had a bunch of herbs here that could make a person fall asleep. That was the last thing I needed, even if this was the most secure place in Hell.
“No thanks.” I feigned a yawn. “Talking to you has helped, though.”
They backed away with warm smiles, and I sank back into the soft mattress.
Something tickled the side of my face. New flowers emerged from between the hydrangeas: chamomiles, gardenias, gerbera daisies, and jasmine. Each with white petals to camouflage with the pale hydrangeas, and each known for their ability to make people sleep.
A yawn pushed its way out of my lungs.
The sneaky little bastards had drugged me with a cocktail of flowers.
My eyes drifted shut, and my mind filled with fond memories of falling asleep in the greenhouse on warm evenings after a long day of harvesting. The leaves rustled overhead, mingling with the sounds of gurgling water, and the gentle giggles of the dryads.
“Hades?” I cast my mind out, hoping to form a connection.
His face appeared in my mind’s eye, only he was older, with long black hair, a beard, and a scowl. He stood over me with his teeth bared. “You will love me, Persephone,” he snarled. “Even if it takes ten thousand years.”
“I want to go home.” I pounded at his chest with my fists, screaming for Zeus, for Mother, for the three-headed dog to attack. The words tumbled over each other, turning into gibberish.
He stared down at me with burning eyes, as though this tantrum was exactly what he had wanted—a chance to see my fury.
“Nobody will come to your aid,” he said in a voice deep enough to twist my insides into knots. “Submit to me.”
“I hate you.” My hands curled into claws, and I flew at his face
Hades caught my wrists and pinned me against the wall, his muscular thigh wedged between my legs. “You are mine.”
The pulse behind my clit pounded in time with my heart, and heat flooded my folds. I couldn’t tell if I was furious or aroused or both. “Let go of me.”
I jerked in his grip, but he was too strong, too heavy, too determined to keep me against the wall. His hot erection pressed into my belly, making my entire body shudder.
“Admit it, Persephone,” he snarled into my
ear, his beard tickling the side of my face. “You want me just as much as I want you.”
“You’re wrong.” I wriggled in his grip but the struggle only made my clit rub against his leg with a sensation that went straight to my dripping core.
A moan slipped from my lips, and I circled my hips to increase the sweet friction.
Hades ground against me with slow movements against my sensitized skin. He was so big, so hot, so swollen for me, and I could feel every vein and ridge of his manhood.
As my slick folds glided against his leg, I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to block him from view. This was not happening. I was not taking pleasure from my abductor.
“Ride me,” he growled.
Heat burned my cheeks. I hated this brute, but he’d awoken something dark and primal in me that needed release. I rocked back and forth, pleasuring myself against his thigh, all the while trying to break free from his grip.
Hades thrust against me, gently at first, his low moans resonating with my clit.
A whimper reverberated in my throat. Why did I have this desire for someone so loathsome?
“You’re the most beautiful creature, so wanton and eager for me, even when defiant.”
“Shut up,” I snapped.
“Admit it, Persephone.”
Stop saying my name…” I wriggled against him and moaned. “And stop touching me.”
His deep chuckle made my skin tingle with delight. “Is it wrong for a man to protect himself from an attacking goddess?”
His tongue traced the shell of my ear, and I nearly fainted with the intensity of my arousal.
The fabric of our robes fell away from the force of our struggles, leaving us both bare.
“Release me this instant,” I screamed.
“Why?” he asked with a sneer. “So you can claw out my eyes?”
“I’ll pluck them out with my teeth.”
Hades rubbed the underside of his erection against my belly. I pulled at my hand, trying to wrench it free so I could grab at the thick length, but he tightened his grip.
I threw back my head and cried, “Release me.”
“Tell me what you want.” His hot breath fanned against my skin, heating my blood. It surged through my veins, roared through my ears, and commanded me to go faster, harder, to take my pleasure from his hard body.
I bucked against him like an animal, increasing the friction against my clit until I reached a rhythm that made my body sing. Warmth rose to my cheeks, and sweat beaded on my brow as molten ecstasy heated in my core.
“Set me free, you bastard,” I snarled.
The erection pressed between our bodies pulsed, straining against me with my every word.
His teeth worried at my earlobe, making my entire body shiver. “Your words say one thing, but your body screams another.”
Hades’ grip remained around my wrists, but he thrust against me, panting hard in my ear. I clenched my teeth, forcing back the heat and need and humiliation, but my body wouldn’t stop. He had reduced me to a feral beast, but it didn’t matter because he felt just the same.
My pleasure spiked, and an explosion of rapture flooded my core. It spread up my belly, down my thighs, and across my every nerve ending. I twisted and convulsed against him, this infernal climax never seeming to end.
Hades bucked and shuddered against me with a moan. Warm fluid exploded from his thick erection in powerful spurts.
“You are mine.” He bit down hard on the juncture of my neck, making sparks explode behind my eyes.
I awoke with a jolt, my heart hammering painfully against my breastbone.
“What the bloody hell was that?” I whispered.
“Hades?” I said into my mind. “Are you sending me erotic dreams?”
The answer was obvious: a memory from thousands of years ago when Hades first brought Persephone to the Underworld.
I must have picked it up from connecting my magic with Hades, but why was I seeing it through her eyes and feeling it from her body?
A long, shuddering breath escaped my lips.
“At least that proves that I’m not Persephone,” I muttered to myself. “I would never have been able to resist him.”
I spent the next few days in Persephone’s garden, training with Captain Caria. We practiced hand-to-hand combat, throwing skills, lightning strike, and sparred with a bo staff so I could use the bident as both a weapon for attack and defense.
Connecting with Hades hadn’t yet given me his ability to cast glamors, but my hand-eye coordination improved, as did my strength and stamina. Now, if a pair of demons attacked, I wouldn’t need to get close. Not when I could throw lightning bolts with my bare hands.
One afternoon, after a heavy session, the captain bent over double with her forearms resting on her knees. Her hair had worked its way loose, forming a curtain of red around her face.
“Are you alright?” I asked.
She shook her head. “I’ve taken you…” She paused to catch her breath. “As far as I’m able.”
“Is that good or bad?” I rubbed the back of my neck and frowned, part of me hoping she would suggest that Hades take over my training.
One of the dryads scurried forward with a fresh coconut. The captain thanked her and took several long drags before turning her attention to me.
“I’m third, and you exceed second. There’s no way I can train you any further without getting hurt.”
“Okay.” My teeth worried at my bottom lip. “What does that mean?”
“Not all gods were made equal.” She handed back the coconut and unzipped her padded jacket. “Zeus, Poseidon, and His Majesty were the top tier among the Olympians, just like Odin was among the Norse gods.”
The smaller of the sprites rocked forward on her tiptoes, holding up a green coconut.
I waved her away and smiled. “What about the god who created the Great Divide?”
Captain Caria shook her head. “Nobody has met him except the angels.”
“Who’s going to take over my training if you can’t do it anymore?” I tried to keep the eagerness out of my voice in case Hades had a way to use his connection with the captain to eavesdrop.
“You have the rest of the afternoon off.” She turned on her heel and headed to the exit.
“Seriously?” I jogged after her. “Why?”
“Tonight’s the Devil’s Ball.”
I trudged after her through the sprite-illuminated hallways with a hand on my stomach to calm the riot of butterflies. These had to be a special Hell-breed because they sliced through my insides with bladed wings.
My heart fluttered at the prospect of seeing Hades again, but the rest of me dreaded meeting so many powerful demons. Lucifer had been nice enough, but what about Samael? He might use tonight as his opportunity to strike.
“Captain?” I asked.
The captain inclined her head.
“What can I expect tonight?”
“His Majesty always returns from these things so miserable that nobody speaks to him for days,” she said with a sigh. “It must be related to Persephone’s absence, and no one has the guts to ask.”
“Out of fear?”
We stepped out into the copse of trees. “His Majesty can be irrational on the subject of Persephone. There’s no depth to which he wouldn’t stoop to get her back.”
The warning in her voice made my skin tighten. I leaned into her and whispered, “What are you trying to tell me?”
Captain Caria dipped her head. “If you get the chance to live outside Hell, take it.”
“Why—”
She raised a hand, making my teeth click shut. “There’s a special place in Tartarus for those who betray their parents. Talking to you on this matter is bringing me close to that fine line.”
Trepidation tightened my throat. Whatever she left unsaid had to be more damaging than the admission that Hades had lost a portion of his power when his body had been reduced to ash. Forcing out a breath, I pulled my features into a smile.
“Thank you for the warning, and for all the training. I’ll be extra vigilant tonight.”
“Are you ready to leave?” She offered me her arm.
“Not yet.” I rushed to the clearing, where the wood sprites stood hand in hand, waiting for their next orders.
They both straightened and puffed out their little chests.
“Thank you for taking such good care of me.” I scooped them both into tight hugs, inhaling their strawberry and vanilla scents. “But it’s time for me to go.”
The sprites hugged back, and the little one pressed a kiss on my cheek.
When I released them, they both clung to my hips.
My throat thickened with a rush of emotion that made the backs of my eyes tingle. They didn’t want me to leave.
Captain Caria placed a hand on my arm. “Let’s go. Hell is no place for the likes of them.”
“Sorry.” I bit back the urge to tell them I would return. With the captain’s warning ringing in my ears, I had no idea what to expect from tonight or how Hades would react when I gave him the magic at the ball.
After peeling the sprites’ hands from around me, I stepped back and grabbed the captain’s arm. “Let’s go.”
A blink of an eye later, we stood in a bedroom similar to the one where the plants had attacked. Its marble floors were pale instead of brown, and its furniture was silver instead of gold. Statues of Persephone adorned each corner, her curvaceous body draped in silk.
Another difference was the view of mist and clouds from between the golden drapes instead of the distant mountain.
“Are we in a different part of the palace?” I asked.
“This is the tower,” rasped a voice from behind us.
Minthe stepped out from behind one of the statues, her white hair cropped to her ears. Beneath her flowing dress, bandages covered most of her skin, and she walked toward me with stiff and jerky movements.
My stomach dropped. “You’re still hurt?”
She smiled, but the expression was more of a grimace.
I turned to Captain Caria, who raised her palms. “This is one of those irrational things that has nothing to do with me.”
