She nods, withdrawing her gaze from mine.
I don’t know what to say. Maybe I wasn’t wrong in my original assumptions, then, in thinking there’s more to this, to us, than simply passengers of an eternal existence. Of course, now that I know we were fated together, it all makes sense.
“Since when?” I finally ask.
“The night of the party.”
I think back to when I’d seen her on Earth. “Only a week ago, then?”
The blush deepens. “Not that party.”
My eyes widen. “You mean to tell me you’ve been dreaming of me since Zeus’ party, centuries ago?”
She nods, allowing the curtain of her hair to cover her features. I can’t stay away anymore, then. I move closer, kneeling in front of her, and tilt her chin up to better see everything those eyes are trying to hide.
“Persephone… Why not tell me?”
She laughs, a mirthless sound. “You’re brother to Zeus. The dreams were most probably another effect of the Fates messing about with us. Plus, everyone knows you’re out of my league, as my mother was keen to remind me. Multiple times.”
“Your mother is a fool.” I run my thumb over her bottom lip, then drop my hand. “It’s you who are out of my league.”
“You don’t have to sweet talk me, Hades. But, I do owe you an answer. And this is it—I never belonged in Olympus. And I thought you didn’t, either. It’s what attracted me to you in the first place, until that night.”
The night I behaved like an oaf.
“And then?”
She shrugs and stands, dusting herself off. “I chose to spend more time on Earth. Found my spot here. I help humans. I’m good at helping them, with herbs and plants for their ailments. Though my magic’s nothing in Olympus, here, it’s enough. I am enough.”
My heart hurts at her words.
“Don’t blame yourself,” she says softly. “You couldn’t have known, even then. And you were rather drunk when you asked me to entertain.”
“I was…” How can I tell her that I was probably so out of my mind with ambrosia, she was the victim of my stupidity?
“That night, though… It was the last straw that made the choice for me. You were so callous, so dismissive when I pleaded to let it go. My mother was silent, and Zeus encouraged you.”
I remember that. If I close my eyes, the echoes of his thoughts are still in my mind. For once, he’s acting like my brother. And I vaguely remember more. That Persephone had stuttered, trying to bloom the flower, and I’d stumbled away from the table. Indifferent to the chaos I had caused.
“When all those deities laughed,” Persephone says, “and jeered, and made jokes about me falling short of the Olympian standards… I didn’t belong before that party, and I haven’t since. Nowadays, I avoid Olympus like the plague, unless my mother commands me there.”
“Persephone, I’m sorry. For all of that. I know better than most how cruel they can be. I’ve been there.”
“I thought you had.” She smiles sadly. “I thought you, of all people, would’ve understood. But when I realized you weren’t who I’d thought either….” She shrugs. “Since then, I’ve been happy. In a place I truly belong. A place where I’m loved, flaws and all. So, I can’t go to Olympus. Not with you, not ever.”
Before she can leave me again, I step closer, sending us both hurtling into the nook of the house.
“You do belong with me, though. But that is a conversation for another day, and my presence here isn’t just about that. I will apologize and find a way to beg your forgiveness, but this, me here, is about much more. Your entire existence is at risk, Persephone.”
“Not here. The only thing that’s putting me at risk is you.”
I can’t resist any further then. I’ve tried, as the gods are my witness, I have fucking tried not to be a callous jerk, but I can’t anymore. The last of my restraint slips away, and I lower my head to hers, allowing our noses to touch, and hold. She kissed me last time, I didn’t dream that. But I’ll be damned to the depths of Tartarus if I don’t taste her one more time, for real.
When our mouths touch, it’s a fusion of the senses, a catalyst to my aching body. She melts under my hands, her body soft and pliant, her mouth opening and letting me savor her. Like two pieces of a whole coming together, there’s no hesitation, no second-guessing. We just…are.
Head tilted back, she lets me explore, even as her hands roam over my back, on my shoulders, and settle at the back of my neck, into my hair. Shivers of delight run up my spine, and I break the kiss.
“You’re mistaken. If anyone’s putting someone at risk, it’s you, my beautiful goddess.”
“I’m not the one you deserve.”
“You’re the one I need, Persephone.”
She looks up at me, waiting, on the cusp—and then I do the unthinkable. I finally open my heart to her, like she has with me.
“You were never mistaken,” I repeat. “Earlier. When you thought we were the same. That I’m different, too. We’re both outcasts of Olympus.”
She frowns. “How?”
“Because I don’t think the Fates were wrong, if they are behind our dreams and interactions. If they fated us together, it explains it all. But only because we were already two sides of the same coin. This draw I feel to you… I, like you, have a defect. Something Olympus sees as a flaw. Rather, my brother does, since he alone knows the full truth. Everyone else thinks I’m simply…lesser. Perhaps one day it’ll be my strength, but for now, it’s just that—a weakness.”
“And what is it, exactly?”
I take a deep breath, half prayer, half encouragement, then blurt it out. “I hear thoughts. Of gods and goddesses. Zeus has told me since I was young that I’m not man enough, that I’m broken, that I’m unwell.”
“You…” She stares at me, trying to understand my revelation. “And mine? You can hear mine, too?”
“No, not yours. It’s what jarred me out of my pitiful existence into your orbit. And the more I’ve seen you, watched you, the more I understand now.” I touch her cheek. “Deities are meant to be perfect. You and I, we aren’t. Your differences quiet mine, like pieces of the same whole coming together. Perhaps that’s yet another reason we’re fated.”
Her eyes shine with unshed tears. “Hades…”
“You were right, long ago. Let me prove it to you again. Come with me. Please.”
She stares at me, her eyes glazed, and then she rises on tiptoes again. Her mouth clashes against mine, less soft and more impatient, demanding. I let her have her fun, trying to wrap my mind around the fact she doesn't hate me. That she hasn’t, ever. Instead, she’s simply been waiting for me. As I have for her. Except neither of us knew it.
When she pulls away, I feel the distance in every fiber of my being. It takes all my strength to allow the space she puts between us.
“Not tonight. Hades, I have a responsibility here, a…desire to help. So I can’t come, not tonight. But soon.”
She kisses me once more, and then leaves me behind, resting my head against the cool brick of the house.
Ileana steps out of the shadows of the nearby house, a smile on her lips. “It worked out well, then?”
“As well as it could.”
I’ve gotten through to Persephone, which is the most important. And while she knows about my darkest secret, something tells me she won’t be telling anyone else.
The only question left is, what’s her darkness?
I’ve been back in Olympus for a few days, but I left my thoughts and heart somewhere on Earth with Persephone. It’s odd, to think how we’ve missed each other until now. To realize, truly, that her silent mind is what mine needs.
Lost in thought, I don’t hear anyone come in, not until…
For fuck’s sake. The thought makes me jump first, then I turn around. Frumos and Ileana share an odd look, half concern, half fear.
“What is it?”
“The Council reconvened again,” Frumos says.
>
I’d been distracted with Persephone, and this went out of my head. Has it already been a fortnight?
“Why? Did they find something?”
“Of a sort.”
With no other information, I follow them into the atrium. Their sour moods are warning I won’t like what I see. And, sure enough, the atrium is as packed as last time.
The uneasiness hits me first, followed by the thoughts.
Could have been avoided…
No damned protection…
What we have isn’t indestructible…
Should have done more…
They should have trusted us!
I catch sight of Pegasus near a column behind Zeus and walk over to him. “What’s going on this time?”
He frowns, running his gaze up and down me. “Where have you been?”
“Out and about.”
He rolls his eyes. “Good of you to finally clue in. I think you’ve picked the worst possible time to fall in love, my friend.”
“I haven’t—”
“They think they’ve found Fenrir’s immortal guardians,” he speaks over me, dismissing my useless denials. “Dead.”
My body freezes, and I glance over to the immortals behind me. No wonder they’ve been struggling to figure out how they felt. Yes, they were created to protect us, but from what they’ve told me, they’ve undergone training together. Hearing of their classmates dying can’t be easy.
“Where?” I ask Pegasus.
“Near one of the Norse gods’ realms.”
This doesn’t bode well, at all. Either Fenrir killed them, which will mean chaos all over again, or they were killed by outside forces, meaning we’re all in danger now.
Zeus catches my eye in the front but says nothing. It takes all my willpower not to march up to him and ask why he hid the truth from me, regarding Persephone. But that would only give him more power, seeing me so unhinged.
No, when I talk to him, it’ll be on my own terms, and in a way that, for once, doesn’t reflect bad on me.
I look away from him and instead focus on the proceedings. As he did last time, Zeus calls the room to order and wastes no time giving the floor to Odin.
“Your update, mighty Odin.”
The old god stands, straight as can be, and levels his good eye on every deity present in the circle, until it finally lands on Zeus. His thoughts are a mess.
I must protect is the only thing I can catch before he speaks.
“As tasked by this Council, we searched far and wide for our comrade Fenrir. While we have not found him, and thus cannot substantiate claims that he attacked one of your own gods, we did make another discovery.”
He pauses, his thoughts going haywire. Once I focus on him and only him, I catch the gist of it. He was close to Fenrir. Despite all the claims to the contrary, he saw something in the wolf god and none of this sits well with him. For the head of a pantheon, this is… Interesting.
Odin catches himself and continues, “We found his immortal guardians, the two tasked to protect him. Dead. Their throats were slashed by a blade that seemingly has no issues affecting a supernatural.”
A voice yells from the crowd, “We should have stuck with the zmei!”
“Aye, those dragon shifters at least looked impressive.”
I scowl at the naysayers and move into the middle. They shut up, if only because they want to see what new spectacle I’m about to make of myself.
“We set aside the zmei because they couldn’t be trusted to remain objective. I, for one, have had only good service from my immortals.”
Silence, then, “I bet you have!”
I glare at the crowd, trying to find the voice. “Come say that to my face.”
“Enough!” Zeus growls behind me. “My brother is right, and we are well protected. However… This news is disturbing, and we shall treat it as such. We will stay within our confines in Olympus, and each pantheon should do the same.”
I stare at Zeus in shock. Yes, he has now been proclaimed ruler of Olympus, but if I’m hearing his thoughts right, this won’t stop here. He intends to do a full lockdown, to stop any god from crossing into any other realm, making us prisoners of our own spaces.
As heads nod all around, Odin’s dark-haired son mutters behind his father, “Or, you could tell everyone what is causing this.”
“Silence!” Odin says, but it’s too late.
Murmurs are rising, whispers continue, and before long the crowd of gods of all pantheons demand to be told. Zeus glares at me as if I’m the sole source of the problem.
Of course, he’d still hold a grudge since last time.
Morrigan takes the stand, surveying us all with her cool eyes. “Odin is not the only one who hunted far and wide, who searched for an answer to this. We have, as well.”
One of the Egyptian gods tilts his massive jackal head. “Ah, going off on your own. How unsurprising.”
Morrigan narrows her eyes on him. “You know as well as we do, Anubis, that gods don’t infight.”
Anubis… Ah. He leads the lost souls to their afterlife for the Egyptian pantheon. And he’s a dick overall, at least in so far as my encounters with him have led me to believe. Judgmental to a fault, this one.
Morrigan turns her gaze to the rest of them. “You all know about the evils we have each fought. Some, we were able to eradicate, and others, we could only imprison within our own pantheons. It is our belief that the balance has shifted, perhaps because we have been so long removed from the human world. Whatever it is, evil is rising once more and demanding our full attention.” A pause, then, “This means we work together. We check on our prisoners. We reinforce our prisons. Whatever it is, we must do it—because if one evil escapes, the rest are sure to follow.”
“And what happens if our prisons cannot hold them anymore?” Loki asks.
Ileana was right. She read something in this god, something that’s already rubbing me the wrong way.
“Then we find another one,” Morrigan says. “A stronger one.”
I’ve heard enough. Motioning for Ileana and Frumos to follow me, I head back to my chambers. Pegasus is on my heels, frowning at my sudden mood change.
“What’s going on with you?”
“I’ve been with her—Persephone.”
A blank expression, then, “And?”
“And, she and I were meant to be.”
“For you to go from one end of the spectrum to the other…”
I shake my head. “You don’t understand. No one would. We’re… I can’t leave her on Earth, and she hasn’t taken me seriously. Whatever this is, it’s clearly going after deities that are separated from the pack. And I’ve traveled there enough times to leave a trace, meaning even if she hasn’t been on anyone’s radar, she is now.”
“But she’s not—”
I scowl at him. “She’s powerful in her own right. And she needs to return here, before Zeus goes into full lockdown.”
Pegasus stares at me a moment longer, then nods and claps my shoulder. “Then I will come with you.”
“You don’t have to.”
“What are friends for?”
I nod and turn to my guards, waiting for their safe portal.
I know the minute we get out of the portal that something’s wrong. It’s too damn quiet, as if the village is holding its breath. I pull out a sword from thin air, and Ileana and Frumos do the same. Pegasus stares between us, before following suit.
“Are you sure about this?” he asks me. He’s not a fighter, not by a long shot. But he has been trained, and not that long ago, he was my sparring partner.
“Yes.”
Already, I’m straining my ears, trying to capture thoughts—for once actually seeking them out. I need to know where Persephone is. Heart seemingly in my throat, I advance as swiftly as I can. But still there are no thoughts, and the area is unbearably quiet.
Finally, I catch a faint feeling from her—of her essence—and barrel through the rest of the vi
llage, uncaring of my surroundings.
“Hades, wait!” Ileana’s hiss is inconsequential.
The path leads me in front of a dilapidated house. I dive inside, eyes attempting to adjust to the dark. Then Persephone’s there, grasping my hand, and oddly calm.
“You came back.”
“I said I would.” I inspect the area for trouble, not finding any. She’s alone. “What happened, Persephone?”
“The village was attacked in the middle of the night. Everyone fled…”
“And you?”
She looks away. “I couldn’t leave this house. When I tried, I was stuck. The barrier, whatever was keeping me here, only dropped recently. I told the humans to leave without me, that I would find them after. They were too scared to not listen.”
“You should’ve come with me when you had the chance.”
“The time for I told you so is later.”
“Yes, I agree.” I glance around, only then understanding the other part she told me. “Did you say… You couldn’t leave? But that the barrier dropped a few moments ago?”
“Yes, why?”
Whatever was holding her captive here must have realized we arrived. Panic spreads through me, driven up the wall at Ileana’s and Frumos’ thoughts.
Ambush!
Need to get Hades before—
“We need to leave. Now!”
I grasp her hand in mine and drag her out.
No sooner do we exit the house than it erupts into flames. I still can’t see who’s attacking us—and then I look up. Bursts of light and darkness hurtle in the sky, like storm clouds. But it’s not nature, rather, something worse. Winged creatures, a cross between horses and reptiles, with riders in black helmets. Their heads are the shape of a horse, but with scales. Their riders are hidden under the helmets, but their hands are equally scaled. They hold spears, and it’s the energy they charge them with that lights the sky in such obscure hues.
“What is this?”
Persephone whimpers by my side, trying to pull her hand away from me.
“I’ve got you.” I cup her cheeks, focusing her gaze on me. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”
She opens her mouth as if to say something, but Ileana yells across the pathway.
Secret Shadows: A Greek God Paranormal Romance (Immortal Rogues Book 1) Page 10
