My Lord Hades (37 page)

Her body constricted against him and she muffled her cries in his shoulder. She felt him

throbbing as he arched his back and spilled his seed.

He held her tightly to him, his cry muffled in her neck. They were wrapped in a cocoon of love, of pleasure, of completion. She hadn’t known it was possible to feel such raw need. It left her feeling dependent on him, as he was dependent on her.

She came down from the heights of heaven in gentle successions, and he joined her. It almost felt as if she were floating down into his arms. She wanted to stay there with him forever. She never wanted the morning to come when her mother would wake up and drag her out to the

garden. She just wanted to stay in his arms and enjoy this feeling of bliss.

He held her tightly to him, breathing hard, and she let him. She rested in his embrace, feeling very tired and very happy. She felt safe.

It was only as the first rays of the sun lightened the sky that she reluctantly climbed from the bed and prepared for the day. He watched her clean the evidence of their love making from her body and dress in a gown of pale blue. She brushed and braided her hair and placed her sandals on her feet.

Only when she was done, her back still to him so she couldn’t see him leave, did he speak.

The words were soft but they were words she dreaded. “When are you coming home?”

She fingered the cloth of her skirt. She could delay this no longer, but then how could she tell him after the passion they shared?

The bed sheets rustled. “Persephone? When are you coming home?”

Her gaze darted to the ceiling. A ceiling she had looked at many times while growing up, and it suddenly seemed like a foreign world to her. One she was no longer a part of. One she had to stay in.

She couldn’t do it. She couldn’t tell him. She shook her head and closed her eyes against the tears burning behind her eyelids. How could she do this to him? It’d break his heart. He loved her more than anything.

He cupped her face in the palm of his hand and turned her face to him, kissing away the

tears. She felt the swirl of frustration and anger ebb from him. “Persephone? I want to be with you. Do you want to be with me?”

She wanted to be with him more than anything she’d ever wanted. No one would ever

replace the love she had for him. He was her husband, her mate, and her lover. He was

everything she needed in this immortal life. And she knew that he felt the same.

“Hades, I can’t.”

His anger hit her like a blow to the stomach. She knew he’d be angry, and yet, the piercing coldness clawing through their bond shocked her. “She’s your mother, Persephone, not your jailor.”

“My first loyalty is to the mortals.”

“Mortals? What do they have to do with this?”

“Everything. Are you aware of how many died while I was gone?”

“Yes. And I know why they died. Because your mother threw a temper tantrum.”

She met his gaze, startled by the tenderness she found there, despite the anger she still felt from him. “Every time I even mention going to the Underworld, the plants begin to die. If I leave, there will be more deaths.” She wrapped her hands around the back of his neck and

pressed her forehead against his. “Can’t you come to me? Like now? We can still be together.”

He jerked away from her and her hands fell away.

“I care deeply for you, Persephone, but I’ll not be your plaything. Either you are my wife and will be with me? Or this must end here.”

Why did he have to make this harder than it already was? “If I go with you, how many

people will die?”

“As many as there has to be. You can’t control what your mother does. And if Zeus is as

powerful as he claims, then he should handle the matter.”

“But he can’t make her bring the good weather or sustain the plants. He can’t override free will.”

“He can’t do much of anything.” He straightened his tunic. “Please, Persephone. Come with me.”

Her heart broke as she said the single word, “No.”

His face hardened.

“There are too many lives at stake.”

“That’s not your fault.”

She was trapped. No matter what she did, neither her husband nor her mother would be

happy. Her stomach twisted into knots. If her husband wasn’t happy, he’d never return to her, and she’d have to spend her life without him. The thought caused a stab of pain to pierce her heart.

She didn’t want to lose him. He was the world to her. But she had a responsibility to the mortals she’d created. She pressed her hands over her ears, frustrated with the endless debate that had consumed her every waking moment since she left the Underworld.

She wanted to scream or spew. She turned and bolted for the wash basin, the contents of her belly emptying into the bowl.

A hand pulled the hair away from her face and stroked her back. “I’m sorry, Persephone. I just want my wife back.”

The door swung open and Demeter screamed. Persephone stared at her mother, surprised by

what she considered an irrational response to finding her daughter with her own husband in her bedroom. Hades stepped in front of Persephone, hands on his hips, legs spread slightly apart, as if he readied himself for a battle. And maybe he was. Demeter sure looked as if she was ready to take him on, win or lose.

By the gods, was the woman daft?

“What are you doing to my daughter?”

“Has it been so long that you don’t remember what men and women do behind closed

doors?”

She gasped. “How dare you insinuate such a thing! I’ll not have you defiling my innocent

child.”

Persephone’s cheeks flushed.

“I didn’t defile her. She welcomed me.”

“Bastard! Taking the innocence of a child.”

“She’s hardly a child, Demeter. She’s a grown woman.”

“She would have never left me! You stole her against her will! You ravished her!”

“Stop speaking of me as if I’m not in the room!” Persephone stepped around Hades and faced her mother. “I’m not a child! I’m Queen of the Underworld! I’m in love with Hades. I’ve loved him since I was a child and Rhea first told me of him. I’ve loved him since the first moment I saw him in Coronus’ prison and knew he was for me.” She felt him start beside her and she smiled. It was good to know she could still surprise him. “I seduced him, Mother.”

“No. I won’t believe it.”

“You should tell her about your time with Coronus.”

Persephone turned on him. “I think it would be best if I talked with my mother alone.”

Demeter wailed, tears streaming down her face, her body trembling. “Oh, my dear,

Persephone. I wanted you to be safe. Now all the gods have ravished you.”

“Oh this was worse than ravishing, Mother,” Hades mocked her.

Demeter clutched Persephone’s arm. “No, Persephone. Oh please, tell me it’s not true!”

This situation was impossible! She glanced at Hades who raised an eyebrow at her, and her husband wasn’t helping matters!

“That’s enough from you! You need to let me handle this,” she snapped at him.

He shook his head, his dark eyes smoldering. “I see how you’ve been handling it. You

haven’t.”

“She told you to leave,” Demeter shouted.

Persephone gritted her teeth, ignored her mother, and glared at him. “I have a question for you, husband. Do you care about the mortals? Will you allow them all to die so you can have what you want?”

His mouth formed a tight line. “Shouldn’t you be directing that question at your mother?”

He was right. “I asked you.”

“As King of the Underworld, I own the souls of the dead, their living bodies are not my

concern.”

She nodded and turned to her mother. “And you, mother? Do you care about the mortals?

Will you allow them all to die so you can have what you want?”

“I’m not their caretaker. I’m the goddess of the fields. Talk to Zeus if you’re concerned about their welfare. He’s their god.”

She looked from one to the other. Demeter had that anxious, pleading look in her eyes,

silently begging Persephone to stay with her. Her husband’s steely gaze commanded her to do what he wanted, come home.

She was trapped between two hardhead strangers and neither one would budge. She threw

back her head and screamed her frustrations. The shocked look on their faces was almost worth the uncharacteristic action.

“You are two of the most stubborn, selfish people I’ve ever met!” She could barely stand to look at either one of them. “I’m a grown woman. I’m a goddess in my own right. And it’s time you let me make my own decisions.”

They stared at her, as if they couldn’t believe what she said. She didn’t care. Neither one was really listening to her. Not really.

“But you aren’t,” Hades protested. “You want to be with me.”

“No, she doesn’t! She wants to be with me.”

“I don’t want to be with either of you!” She looked at her husband. “You tell me to make my own decisions, Hades, yet if they aren’t to your liking, you bully your way into changing them.

You’re no better than Eris.” She turned to her mother who was smirking at her husband. “And you aren’t any better, Mother. You’ve stolen my birthright and scared me into obedience. Be the goddess the mortals need, sustain crops, and quit your weeping. It’s sickening!”

Persephone knew it was harsh, but she didn’t care. Her fury was such that it cut the ones she loved the most, made them bleed, and danced in joy. And it would not be sedated until she said the last of it. “How could either of you be so selfish? The mother I knew and loved would never be so careless or act so callously. And the husband I love and want to be with would never be such a coward. I can’t stand either one of you.” She rested her hand over her belly, wondering if she was going to be sick again. “And I’ll not subject my child to either of your manipulations.”

Masking her energy, as Eris had taught her so long ago, she left them both gawking after her.

“I’VE A fool for a son.”

Hades sighed, marked another name in the ledger and looked up at his mother. Eris stood in the Hall of Judgment, dressed in black armor, hands on her hips, glaring at him.

“This doesn’t concern you, Mother. Go back to whatever battlefield you came from.”

Eris walked the short distance and slammed her hands down on the table. The wood buckled

and spilt under the force. Hades blinked. “You’ve made your point.”

“I don’t think I have!”

“I already chased after her once. I will not humiliate myself further.”

“Then you are the worse idiot. She’s worthy of you, Hades! She’s more than worthy of being Queen of the Underworld! She is the only woman worthy of being my daughter-by-marriage!

And you forced her away!”

Hades crossed his arms over his chest and glared at his mother. She didn’t often give

compliments, and in her way, she had paid Persephone the highest compliment she could. But it didn’t matter. Persephone had shut him out of her life. He was alone again.

“She doesn’t want to be with me.”

“That didn’t stop you before.”

“She’s in complete control of her power now. Not even I could hold her against her will.”

Eris leaned across the table, hauled Hades from his chair and threw him across the chamber.

She was straddling him moments later, holding him immobile. “Blind boy! When will you

realize Demeter isn’t me? She doesn’t have the power to oppose Coronus! She did the best thing she could for her daughters! She hid them from the world!”

“It’s inexcusable!”

“It was necessary! You know what Coronus would’ve done to Persephone if he learned about

her existence? He would’ve taken her from her mother. He would’ve used her power until he drained her dry. And then he would’ve placed her in Tartarus until she healed so he could do it again and again. Zeus may be an idiot, but he’s better than Coronus any day of the week!”

Hades pressed against her power, trying to break through but it was useless; she was stronger.

“It still isn’t right!”

“Maybe not, but it was the only way she knew how to protect her daughters. I did no

different with you. I protected you by teaching you the art of war.”

He stared at his mother, shocked. The cold bitch actually cared.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

SITTING ON his throne, Zeus was assigning the other Olympians their tasks, when the doors burst open. Zeus sighed, slumped in his seat and wished he could vanish as easily as Hades and his ilk.

Hades stomped into the room like he owned the place, a weeping Demeter in tow, and a

scowl on his face. What else was new?

Zeus groaned and rubbed his temples. As a god, he wasn’t prone to getting headaches but

these two deities caused him a tremendous amount of pain. One was a whiny, self-centered

goddess. The other was an arrogant, demanding god.

Athena, Ares, and Aphrodite, who still hadn’t received their tasks, turned to watch the group as they made their way to Zeus’ throne.

Hades shoved Demeter before him. “Either she controls the weather or you strip her of her duties and appoint another in her place. This can’t go on.”

“He’s driven my daughter away,” Demeter wailed.

Hades smiled at her, reminding Zeus of a panther. “You drove her away long before I came

along.”

“Did not!”

At least he didn’t keep with the childish argument. He dismissed her and turned to Zeus.

“Persephone—”

“I will tend to your squabble in a moment,” Zeus interrupted, gaining the upmost enjoyment from cutting the supercilious god short.

Although why he should tend to their squabble at all, he didn’t know. These two needed to be banished to an island where they couldn’t cause any more trouble. They could drive each other crazy for eternity instead of those around them.

“Your daughter is out in the world, roaming in unfamiliar territory, and you won’t do

anything to save her?”

“We’ve had this discussion before, Demeter. She’s a goddess. She’s more than capable of

taking care of herself…” He caught Hades’ look and glared at the daemon-god. “What?!”