My Lord Hades (27 page)

Could he truly be? But then she had no reason to doubt him. Thanatos had never played her false.

“Thank you, Thanatos.”

Without even knowing, he’d given her the answer to escaping this place. Thanatos stood and laid the baby on the bed. “I love you, my Persephone.” He kissed her forehead, pulled the sheet over her, and disappeared.

Persephone focused her mind on the picture of Thanatos as she remembered him. Staring at

her palm, she took a deep breath, and willed the flesh to open beneath her nails. For a moment she didn’t think it would work, but then the pain came and the skin split. Bright blood dripped from her hand.

She winced, focusing on the blood as the scene shifted once more, and stated her desire to the cosmos. “Flesh to flesh, blood to blood, I call upon the bond of father to daughter. Return me to my home! Return me to my love!”

White heat exploded, singeing her entire body. Shoved into the darkness, she spiraled into the black void of nothingness. She screamed and screamed and screamed. And then the pain stopped.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

PERSEPHONE SHIFT on the bed and Hades knew the second everything changed. Hope

flaring to life as he watched her eyelids fluttered.

“Father…” she groaned.

A great wave of joy flowed through him. Relief followed. Then sorrow.

Hades eased away, his skin tingling with the power, fighting his own energy that wanted to reach out to his mate. Her gentle magic flowed outward, growing stronger with each breath. Its questing tendrils brushed his skin, tasting his magic.

Her eyes opened and she turned her head in his direction. Her usually bright indigo eyes

seemed dull and weary. “You said you wouldn’t come into my bedroom.” Her voice was flat, as if she was merely stating a fact, not accusing him of breaking his promise.

He blinked. “You called me to you—”

“And you couldn’t refuse,’ she finished for him.

“My mother did something to you. You’ve been unconscious for weeks and I’ve been caring

for you.”

She nodded, sitting up and folding her hands in her lap. “I remember.”

The urge to hold her was intense. If he thought the pull to be with her strong before, it had only increased tenfold with the awakening of her power. She was very powerful, and capable of so much. Demeter might be her mother, but Zeus definitely wasn’t her father. She was too strong.

“According to our agreement I am free, yes?”

He winced. He wanted to say no and keep her with him. As long as he had her, the

Underworld wouldn’t be a punishment and he wouldn’t be its prisoner. But he’d given her his word. “You have your magic. You are free to do as you wish.”

She nodded and swung her feet to the floor and stood. “Thank you, Hades.”

She was going to leave him. After everything, she was going to return to her mother. The

urge to fall to his knees before her and beg her to dispel the loneliness plaguing his every waking hour or end the piercing emptiness of his life was nearly overwhelming.

She took a step forward and stumbled, Hades caught her. The touch of flesh on flesh instantly connected them. He could taste her energy, and knew instantly that despite having full access to her power, something was still missing. She seemed somehow incomplete. In some ways, she

was better. Her birthright was restored to her, yet something vital was absent.

“Easy, sweetling. You’ve been abed for nearly a month.”

Hades frowned. Her mind was vibrant and rich with memories, thoughts, images, and energy, but he sensed no emotion from her. Had his mother brought to life one part of her, only to suppress the other part that made up her core and completed her, that made her his equal and his mate?

His soul cried out in protest. Years of oppression had caused considerable damage, making it near impossible to probe any deeper and locate her hidden emotions. Unless his mother had inadvertently destroyed them, in which case there was nothing he could do for her.

A spark of anger rippled through her energy, disappearing as quickly as it appeared. Zana scuttled for the door, fleeing before either of them could stop her.

Supporting her weight, he steadied her weak legs, endeavored to ignore his body’s response to her lush curves pressed against him or the images of her naked body. This wasn’t the time.

“Would you like something to eat or drink?” Penelope asked from her seat.

“No. I would like a bath.”

He hardened instantly, groaning inwardly at the images of Persephone bathing. Persephone’s eyes jerked up, a flicker of some unnamed emotion in her eyes, and then it was gone.

Penelope bowed her head. “My Queen,” she said, leaving them alone.

“Do you want help?”

A ghost of a smile curled the corners of her lips, and then was gone. She shook her head. “I need some time to think.”

“As you wish. You may remain here as long as you want. It is, after all, your kingdom.”

He bowed and walked out of the room, his mind a whirlwind of thoughts. She was staying

for the moment and what did it mean? Her emotions weren’t gone as he feared, just suppressed.

Was it a side effect of what had been done to her? Or was she purposely doing it?

Did she regret their time spend together in her mind? Was she rethinking her actions? Or did she not realize that he had really been there and it hadn’t been a figment of her imagination? He hoped for the best, for he would not survive long past her rejection.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

STEPPING INTO the doorway of the bathing area, Persephone disrobed and sunk into the

warm water. This room, like most places in the palace, was the red, black, and white motif, and she still didn’t like it.

Waving her hand, magic rippled across the floor, changing the detailed tiled mosaic. The

design covering the back wall became a variegated blue, showcase the water gently streaming down the wall and into the large black pool below. Twenty people could easily fit in the

monstrosity she now relaxed in, though she only wanted to see one person in the water.

Naked, wet Hades. She could almost imagine them in this bath, washing each other, licking the water from his body, groaning as they took their pleasure here. She closed her eyes enjoying the naked images of Hades.

She felt the heat and steam a moment before the water boiled around her. She yelped and

clamped down on her raging hormones and magic, fear lending her strength.

She needed to look objectively at her life and decided the best course of action now that she had most of the facts. She remembered the feelings she held for Hades before the lost of her memories and after the loss of them.

She had admired and respected him when he was a prisoner in Tartarus. She had cared for

him when all she knew of him were stories. And when they had met for the first time, the ghostly echoes of that budding love had begun to blossom into a desire to fill the lonely years as his friend. The night in the garden had only made her realize she wanted to be his cherished lover and beloved wife. She wanted to be his companion for eternity.

Even after the abduction, her love hadn’t ended, just stalled until she’d come to grips with the situation. She hadn’t wanted to love him when she thought he didn’t love her, but only wanted her as a pawn to use against Zeus. But she knew his lie for what it was. She knew his every thought and emotion concerning her. He had wanted her from the first moment he spied her

dancing in the forest.

He feared she would leave him alone and yet he was willing to let her leave his world, even knowing that his soul was dying, that soon the emotions that were the biggest part of a

Phlegethon would fade completely. He would continue on for eternity, lacking emotion, a cold shell slowly turning feral. There would come a time when he would no longer wish for death, he would become death.

A feeling she remembered now.

Only her affection for Hades had sustained her during those six-hundred-year of life. But around the end, even that hadn’t been enough. She’d been losing her emotions and her ability to rule had been affected. In another hundred years she would have been like the other Phlegethon daemons she’d been forced to hunt down and imprison in Tartarus. Far too dangerous to let free.

How much harder was it for Hades? He was a four-thousand-year-old Phlegethon who was

willing to gamble his life and happiness on the hope that she was his chosen mate. He couldn’t know that she was already out of his reach. She couldn’t be his lover or his wife. She was on the verge of losing control of her power and her emotions. She was already a feral daemon. And one wrong move on her part and she would condemn Hades to her Fate.

HADES LEFT the palace. He couldn’t remain there while she bathed. He headed for the Hall

of Judgment, taking in the changes to the Underworld. The line outside the building seemed longer than it should. Charon was rowing a full boat load of souls across the river Styx. And a group waited for the Ferryman on the other side.

Hades studied the shades disembarking from the ferry. The ages were varied. Some looked

scared. Some looked sad. Some looked relieved. Some even looked expectant, as if they eagerly awaited the afterlife.

Hades rarely saw the shades entering the Underworld and it struck him as odd that mortals faced death with varying degrees of comfort or distress. He would have thought they would welcome death after the dismal lives they lead.

Charon waved at him, depositing a sack of coins into his bucket, his fare for bringing the shades to their final resting place, and sighed. He boarded the ferry and started back to the other side.

As the ferry passed, Charon called out to him, “How’s the Queen?”

“She’s awake.”

Charon nodded and turned to his task. Hades flashed to the other side of the river.

“I’m going to demand overtime pay,” Thanatos said from behind him.

Hades turned to the god and frown. Thanatos stood in the shadow of a tree, his pale horse at his side. “It’s good to see you too. Are you going back up?”

Thanatos shrugged. “What can I say? I’m popular. People are just dying to meet me.”

Hades frowned at the jovial remark given in such a sad tone. “Was there a disaster?”

“No. A shift in the weather started it. But then it escalated to war, plague, and murder. But I don’t mind telling you, when this over, I need a holiday.”

Hades frowned, glancing at the shades and the Judgment Hall. Something was dreadfully

wrong in the land of the living. “You shouldn’t be this popular.”

He shrugged. “I’d like to think it’s my sunny disposition.”

“Doubtful.”

“Then how do you explain it?”

Sighing, Hades returned his gaze to Thanatos. “I can’t.”

“I hear Persephone’s awake. Is she okay?”

Hades shrugged. “I’m not sure. Something seems off about her.”

“Give her time.” Thanatos pushed away from the tree. “If you’re going outside, you’d better make it quick. It’s unbearable up there. They’re praising Prometheus for his gift of fire. It’s the only way to stay warm. Oh, they also say that no crops will grow.”

Hades didn’t like the sound of this.

“I have to go.” Thanatos mounted his horse. The horse neighed and leapt forward, galloping for the entrance to the Land of the Living. Hades walked toward the entrance and flashed

outside. His foot came down on something soft and white. His sandals slid and he went down, before he could prevent it. He bolted up.

Snow! Cold, wet snow!

He brushed it off his hands and drew the thin cloak tighter around his body, shivering.

Careful where he placed his foot, he walked to the river and stared down at the ice coating the surface. This didn’t look right. He tapped the river with his foot. It was solid.

Winter shouldn’t be here this soon.It was still months away.

His mother flashed in front of him. She was wearing a thick wool cloak dyed purple and

lined with black fur. It covered her from head to toe. “Need an axe?”

He turned away from her.

“The frozen water is called ice. The white stuff is snow. It’s called this winter.”

He snorted. Nothing changed.

“I thought you’d find the little morsels of knowledge interesting.”

“I don’t.”

Eris sighed. “Persephone is going to be fine. Stop worrying about her. She just needs to work through things. I have to hand it to Demeter. She knew exactly what she was doing and how to prevent Persephone from finding out.”

“A woman after your own heart.”

She looked offended. “Give me some credit. I didn’t steal your inheritance from you. I taught you to defend yourself.”

He glared at her.

“You’re unbecomingly sour,” she pouted.

He turned his back on her and entered the cave.

“Persephone’s strong enough to pull through it. I wouldn’t have done it if she couldn’t

survive. I may have my moments but I’m not inhuman.” She giggled. “Get it. Inhuman? I’m not human, I’m immortal. I just made a paradox.”

He bent down to the lump hiding under a thick blanket. The huge, three-headed dog poked

his head out and whined.

“Come on! It was funny.”

He ignored her. “You must be cold, Cerberus?”

He plucked a few rubies from the cave wall and set them aflame. Cerberus licked Hades hand and waggled his tail. He patted the dog’s head.

Eris grunted. “Well, some people have absolutely no sense of humor.”

“And some people don’t know when they’re not wanted.”

She flashed out and he was glad to see her go. He glanced back at the living world and

shivered. No wonder so many mortals were dying. Winter was months away. With temperature

low enough to freeze water, mortals couldn’t sustain themselves on their dwindling food stores.

Had they even been given the chance to prepare for this weather?

The Underworld might not be ideal, but at least it could function without him for days. The world of mortals wasn’t functioning properly. What was Zeus doing up there?