There was a strange ringing in Persephone’s ears and she suddenly felt distant from the world around her—as if she were watching things from inside a globe. She couldn’t feel anything, a terrible contrast to the earlier intensity of her emotions. Even Hades’ touch was numb against her skin.
“Persephone,” Hades said her name, but it sounded so far away. She couldn’t look at him because her eyes wouldn’t focus. “Persephone.”
Finally, Hades placed his hands on her face and forced her to meet his gaze. When she stared into those black eyes, she burst into tears. Hades pulled her against him as she shook and sobbed.
“My darling,” Hades soothed, rubbing her back. “We don’t have much time.”
She barely heard him, but felt his magic cradling her. They teleported and she found herself on the bank of the Styx. She pulled away, her face was soaked, and the pressure that had built in her nose and behind her eyes made her head hurt.
“Hades, what are we—?”
Her question died on her lips when she spotted Charon’s ferry crossing the black river. The daimon was ignited like a torch against the muted landscape. Behind him, sitting with her knees drawn to her chest, was Lexa.
She looked pale but unafraid, and when Persephone spotted her, a raw sob escaped her. She clasped a hand over her mouth to suppress them.
Charon docked and helped Lexa to her feet. As she stepped onto the pier, she embraced Persephone so tightly, she thought her bones would break.
They cried together.
“I’m sorry, Seph,” Lexa whispered.
Persephone pulled away and met her gaze. It was strange to see her blue eyes in the Underworld. Beneath the muted sky, they were bright and…lively.
“I don’t understand,” Persephone said. “I thought you were…better.”
Pain erupted in Lexa’s eyes. “I…tried.”
Persephone swallowed a thick lump in her throat, and then a horrifying thought occurred to her. She turned to Hades, alarmed and afraid.
“Where is she going?”
Hades looked just as distressed as Lexa.
“Seph,” Lexa whispered, drawing her attention. “It’s going to be okay.”
But it wasn’t going to be okay.
Persephone understood what had happened now.
Lexa had taken her own life. She was a suicide. She was going to drink from the Lethe, which meant she would forget everything, include her.
“Why?” Persephone’s voice quacked; her mouth quivered.
Lexa just shook her head, as if she couldn’t explain.
Your actions have condemned Lexa to a fate worse than death.
“I did this,” Persephone wailed.
She’d bargained to heal Lexa, brought her broken soul back to occupy a body it didn’t want, to a life it had finished. In doing so, she’d set her best friend up for another devastating end.
“Persephone,” Lexa said, taking her shaking hands. “This was my choice. I am sorry it had to be this way, but my time in the Upperworld was over. I accomplished what I needed to.”
“What was that?”
She smiled. “Empower you.”
That made Persephone cry harder, and they embraced again.
They didn’t part until Thanatos arrived, marking an end to their reunion.
“Are you ready?” he asked, his magic was calming, comforting, and for the first time in a long time, Persephone was thankful for it.
“Wh-where am I going?” It was the first time Lexa looked uncertain since she arrived.
Thanatos looked to Hades, who explained, “You will drink from the Lethe,” he said. “And then Thanatos will take you to Elysium to heal.”
For so long, Persephone had tried to imagine a world where Lexa didn’t exist, and now she realized this was it, this was the beginning of that world.
“I will visit you every day,” she promised. “Until we are best friends again.”
“I know,” Lexa’s voice cracked. Persephone closed her eyes, trying to memorize the feel of her best friend’s hugs, the warmth of her, the feel of her hands digging into her back.
“I love you,” Persephone whispered.
“I love you, too.”
When they parted, Thanatos took Lexa’s hand, and she watched as they walked the stone path toward the Lethe. At some point, she and Hades returned to the palace. He encouraged her to rest, and she did, falling into the comfort of Hades’ bed.
When she woke, she hadn’t remembered falling asleep. She rose, exhausted, and went in search of Hades. She found him standing in front of the fire in his study. He stood with his hands behind his back, the firelight reflecting off his face, making him look serious and severe. He seemed deep in thought, but as she entered the room, he stiffened.
Guilt slammed into her, and she knew he was waiting for her anger, for her blame.
“Are you well?” she asked when he didn’t turn to her.
“Yes,” he said. “And you?”
“Yes,” she said, and it was true. She was better, despite knowing that Lexa was dead, despite knowing that she had drank from the Lethe.
She was going to be fine.
Persephone stepped closer to him.
“Hades,” she waited for him to face her. “Thank you for today.”
He offered a small smile and returned his gaze to the fire. “It was nothing.”
She reached for him, placing her hand on his arm. His gaze fell there first, and then met hers. “It was everything.”
He turned to her fully and their lips collided. They kissed for a while and soon Hades drew her to the floor, entering her in one, smooth, purposeful movement.
“You were right,” Persephone whispered. She was referring to Lexa’s end. Her breath catching in her throat; her fingers twined into his hair.
“I did not want to be right.”
“I should have listened,” she said, and moaned as a wave of pleasure rocked through her.
“Shh,” Hades quieted her. “No more talk of what you should have done. What is, is—there is nothing else to be done but move forward.”
As the first orgasm shook her body, Hades gripped her hard. “My queen,” he hissed.
“Hades,” she moaned his name.
They reveled in the feel of each other, deepening their connection before collapsing together in a heap of skin and sweat and sex.
At some point, Hades rose with Persephone and moved them before the fire. She rested on her back, Hades on his side.
“I’m going to quit New Athens News,” she said.
The god lifted a brow. “Oh?”
“I want to start an online community and blog. I’m going to call it The Advocate—it will be a place for the voiceless.”
“It sounds like you have thought about this a lot.”
She smiled. She was taking Hecate and Lexa’s advice. She was crafting her own life, taking control.
“I have.”
He placed his fingers beneath her chin. “What do you need from me?”
“Your support,” she said.
“You have it.”
“And I’d like to hire Leuce as an assistant.”
“I’m sure she’d be pleased.”
“And…I need your permission,” she added sheepishly.
“Oh?”
“I want the first story to be our story. I want to tell the world how I fell in love with you. I want to be the first to announce our engagement.”
Kal and Demetri had tried to take that away from her, but now she saw it as a path toward empowerment.
“Hmm,” Hades feigned considering this. She could tell because of the look in his eyes. He was part amused, part admiring. “I will agree under one condition.”
“And that is?”
“I, too, wish to tell the world how I fell in love with you.”
He kissed her slowly at first, his tongue sweeping sweetly over hers, and then deepened the kiss.
They spiraled and lost themselves in the heat of one another again.
***
Lexa’s funeral was scheduled three days after her death.
Persephone hadn’t been able to visit Lexa in Elysium since the day she arrived in the Underworld, so seeing her body, anointed and pale, adorned with a wreath and coins, brought her to tears.
Hades attended and kept a protective arm around her.
She could feel the emotions in the room—curiosity and anger and sadness. These mortals obviously wondered why Hades had let Lexa die, wondered how Persephone could stand beside him. Once, she had wondered the same thing, and now that thought brought her immense pain.
Hades looked down at her, touching her cheek.
“You could never make them understand,” he said, guessing her thoughts.
She frowned. “I do not want them to think poorly of you.”
He offered her a small, sad smile. “I hate that it bothers you. Does it help if I tell you the only opinion I value is yours?”
“No.”
After Lexa’s funeral, they spent the next few days cleaning out her room and packing items into boxes for her parents to store. It was a strange day, and left Sybil, Zofie, and Persephone feeling unsettled in their own apartment.
“I think we should move,” Sybil said.
“Yes,” Zofie said. “This home it…smells of death.”
The two looked at the Amazon.
“Persephone?” Sybil said. “What do you think?”
She opened her mouth, and then closed it.
“I’m…engaged,” she blurted.
Sybil and Zofie shrieked in excitement, and Persephone laughed.
Over the weekend, Persephone recruited Leuce to help with her new business. They met at The Coffee House and worked together over vanilla lattes.
“I’ve called every news outlet on your list,” Leuce said. “They’ve all agreed to run your story. The Divine said it would be front page news.”
“Excellent,” Persephone smiled.
She’d asked Leuce to cold call several newspapers and magazines to announce her new business venture—and her engagement to Hades. It was a strategic move that would automatically guarantee she had a readership for her blog where she would share the story of how she met and fell in love with the God of the Dead.
It would also enrage he mother. Persephone new Demeter paid attention to the news from all the instances she’d scolded her for writing about gods.
“Several have requested reviews,” Leuce continued. “I said you wouldn’t be available for them for another two weeks. I’ve put them in a spreadsheet. It took me forever—how do you use this…keyboard…so easily?”
Persephone laughed. “You’ll learn, Leuce.”
Sybil joined them later. Persephone had tasked her with creating a website that communicated simplicity and power and the results were stunning. The Advocate was scrawled across the top of the page in a rich shade of purple. Sybil also showed her a timeline for how the website would evolve as they added content—pages for health of all kinds and arts and culture.
Seeing the site fueled Persephone’s excitement. Now all she had to do was focus on her welcome article.
It was strange to revisit the start of her relationship with Hades because her mindset had been so different then. She’d been insecure and suspicious, and yet, she’d wanted adventure. Little did she know her yearning would lead to an inescapable contract with the God of the Dead—a bargain that became love.
He helped me understand that power comes from confidence, from belief in your own worth. To him, I am a goddess.
She felt those words deep in her soul.
***
On Monday morning Persephone sat between Leuce and Sybil at The Coffee House as she pressed publish on her article. She smiled when she read the bold lettering on the landing page of her website:
My Journey toward Loving the God of the Dead.
The two squealed and hugged Persephone.
“This is just the beginning,” she said. She felt proud, she felt empowered, and she felt free.
Persephone left Leuce with a to-do list while she and Sybil gathered their things and headed to their respective workplaces. For Persephone, it was the most excited she’d been in a long time to return to the Acropolis because she would never be going there again.
“Good morning, Helen!”
The young woman seemed surprised and stammered. “Good morning, Persephone!”
The goddess walked straight into Demetri’s office. He looked up at her, his tablet glared off his glasses, obscuring his expression.
For a moment, neither spoke.
“You quit.”
“I quit.”
They spoke at the same time.
Demetri smiled, and that alarmed her.
“Can’t say that I am surprised. I saw your announcement. You recruited every single news outlet,” he said and sat back in his chair. He seemed sincere when he said, “Congrats.”
“Thank you,” she replied.
“The Advocate,” he said. “Fitting. Will you continue to write about gods?”
She lifted her chin. She knew what he wanted to ask: Will you write about me?
“If it’s an injustice, I will expose it,” she said.
He nodded. “Then I wish you all the best.”
She didn’t but it didn’t matter. She had promised she would dismantle Kal and unravel Demetri and gods were bound to keep promises.
Persephone left Demetri’s office and walked straight to her desk, emptying everything she’d brought into a box.
“Where are you going?” Helen asked, looking up from the desk as she headed to the elevator.
She smiled at the young blonde. “I quit, Helen.”
“Take me with you.”
Persephone’s eyes widened. “Helen—”
“I’ll work for you for free,” she said. “Please, Persephone. I don’t want to stay without you.”
When the elevator doors, opened, she smiled. “Come on.”
Helen squealed, grabbed her purse, and joined Persephone in the elevator. When they made it to the first floor, Persephone handed the box to Helen.
“Will you wait for me? I have to say goodbye to someone.”
“Oh, sure,” she said.
Persephone headed to the basement in search of Pirithous. She found his office empty. Glancing over his desk, amid stacks of work orders and tools, she spotted a notebook. She recalled the day she’d startled him in his office to ask if he could help her escape again and how protective he’d seemed of the information inside, and yet, it lay open, tiny handwriting was scribbled across the pages.
She might have left it unread had she not spotted her name on the page.
Curiosity overwhelmed her, and she began to read.
Date: 7/2
She wore a white shirt and a black and white striped skirt today. Hair up. The shirt was cut low and I could see the swell of her breasts as she breathed.
Persephone’s blood ran cold.
What the fuck was this?
She turned a page. There was a new description of her outfit for the next day—a pink, fitted dress and white heels. Her legs are shapely. I found myself wanting to lift her skirt, spread her wide and fuck her. She would let me.
Further down, he wrote: There was another report about her and Hades in the news today. Every single fucking day someone is reminding me she is with him. She won’t love him long. He is a god and they destroy everything they love. I will make sure of that.
Then she found the list:
Duct tape, rope, sleeping pills, condoms.
Persephone felt something sour in the back of her throat. That day she’d interrupted Pirithous, when he’d seemed so nervous, he’d been working on a list.
“What are you doing?”
Persephone jerked her hand away from the journal, as her head snapped toward the door where Pirithous now stood, blocking her exit. His eyes were steely and made her blood run cold.
She opened her mouth to speak but couldn’t find words. Her heart was beating out of her chest, and a thin sheen of sweat beaded on her forehead.
“Pirithous,” she breathed. “I came to say goodbye.”
“Really?” he asked. “Because it looked like you were snooping.”
“No,” she whispered, shaking her head. There was a brief moment where neither of them spoke and then Persephone reached for the closest, heaviest object—a flashlight sitting on Pirithous’ desk. She threw it at his head, and as he dodged the blow, she attempted to rush past him, but he reached for her, his nails digging into her skin.
“Let me go!” she screamed, her magic rushed forth, and vines sprouted around them.
Persephone barely had time to register her shock before Pirithous spoke. “Sleep!”
Persephone obeyed, falling into darkness.
***
When she woke, she felt as if she’d been drugged. Her vision was blurry, her head hurt, and her mouth was stuffed with a cloth and taped shut. Her hands were bound behind her back, and she sat in a hard, wooden chair that cut into her arms.
Persephone immediately tried to free herself, but the knot grew tighter. Soon, she became frantic, rocking the chair back and forth.
Then she caught sight of her surroundings and froze. There were pictures and newspaper clippings of her everywhere. Photos taken as she walked down the street, ran errands, and had lunch with her friends. Photos of her at her home, in her pajamas, and sleeping. The images were a log of her daily life. She felt sick and frantic.
“You’re awake.”
Pirithous came into view.
Persephone screamed, though her cries were muffled, and tears spilled down her cheeks.
“Stop, stop, stop!” he commanded. He reached forward and pulled the tape and gag from her mouth.
“It is alright, my love. I won’t hurt you.”
“Don’t call me that!” she snapped.
Pirithous jaw tightened. “It is no matter,” he said. “You will love me.”
“Fuck you,” Persephone spat.
The man shot forward, twining his fingers into her hair and pulling her head back. When she met his gaze, she noticed the color of his irises had changed from black to gold.
“You’re…a demi-god?”
A wicked smile cut across his face. “Son of Zeus.”
“Oh gods, no wonder you’re such a fucking creep.”
He jerked her hair harder and Persephone yelped, arching to lessen the tension.
“Ungrateful,” he hissed. “I’ve been protecting you.”
“You’re hurting me.”
“You think this is pain?” he asked, but he released her. “Pain is watching the woman you love fall for someone else.”
Persephone didn’t speak.
She was afraid. Her magic welled inside her, but she didn’t know how to use it—her wrists were bound, and she had only ever channeled her power with her hands. Even then, the best she could do was restrain Pirithous, which could backfire since she was unaware of his power.
“Pirithous, you don’t know me. How could you love me?”
“I love you! Haven’t I shown it? The hearts, the notes, the flower?”
“That’s not love. If you loved me, you wouldn’t have brought me here.”
“I brought you here because I love you, don’t you see? There are people who want to tear us apart.”
“Like Hades? I assure you he will tear you apart.”
“Don’t say his name!”
“Hades will find me.”
Pirithous moved toward her threateningly and she squeezed her eyes shut. When he didn’t touch her, she opened her eyes and found him glaring down at her. “Why him?”
Persephone searched for an answer—one that would appease him, that would make him go away.
“Because the Fates command it,” she answered.
He paled, and for a moment, she thought she might have succeeded, but then he gritted his teeth and hissed, “You’re lying!”
He knelt before her.
“Why him? Is it the sex?”
Persephone tensed, squeezing her legs together as Pirithous placed his hands on either side of the chair.
“Tell me what he does that you like; I can do better.”
“Don’t fucking touch me!” Persephone screamed, and tried to shuffle away from him, but her heels wouldn’t grip the floor. Pirithous’ fingers dug into her skin, and he pried her legs apart.
“No!”
“You’ll like it. I promise. You won’t even think about him when I am finished.”
No, she would only wish to die.
“I said no!”
She screamed, and thorns erupted around her from the ground. They created a cage, protecting Persephone from Pirithous’ advances, cutting him in the process.
He screamed.
“You won’t keep me from you!”
At first, he clawed at the wood, trying to break the branches with his bare hands. When that didn’t work, he disappeared and returned with a knife, driving it through the thorn barrier.
Persephone screamed, and the thorns thickened until they exploded in shards and splinters.
Pirithous was blow back. He landed against the wall, his body sagged to the ground, a massive stake speared his chest.
He was dead.
Persephone screamed.
“Help! Somebody help me please!” she sobbed. “Hades!”
She struggled to free herself until her gaze caught something looming overhead.
“Furies,” Persephone whispered, breathing hard from her frantic effort.
The goddesses floated; their pale bodies seemed to glow in the dark.
“Bride of Hades,” their voices echoed. “You are safe now.”
Smoke coiled in the air and all at once, Hades appeared in his Divine form. Huge and imposing, he towered over her, a void of black. He eyes, fierce and furious, met hers before he whirled toward the lifeless Pirithous.
Suddenly, there was a gasping sound as he brought the Demi-god back to life.
He began to breath hard, a strange whining coming from his throat. He didn’t speak, but his eyes grew wide when he saw Hades.
“I brought you back to life,” Hades said. “So I can tell you that I will enjoy torturing you for the rest of your eternal life.”
He didn’t seem lucid enough to register what Hades was saying, but the god continued anyway.
“In fact, I think I will keep you alive so you can ruminate in your pain.”
He snapped his fingers, and a pit opened beneath Pirithous’ feet. His screams were shrill as he fell into the Underworld.
Hades turned to Persephone, and with a wave of his hand, her bonds were broken. She fell into Hades as he approached, and he gathered her into his arms and turned to the Furies.
“Alecto, Megaera, Tisiphone, see to Pirithous.”
They bowed their heads.
The Furies vanished, and Hades teleported to the Underworld. It was in his bedchamber, that she fell apart. Hades sat with her cradled against him, soothing her with whispered words until her tears were dry, until she no longer felt like she was imploding on the inside. Finally, she pulled away.
“Bath,” she said. “I need to scrub him from my skin.”
Hades mouth hardened, and Persephone felt as though she could see his mind working, deciding on the torture he would inflict upon Pirithous. Despite this, his voice was calm when he spoke.
“Of course.”
Hades walked her to the bathes, and she shed her clothes and entered the hot water. Steam curled around her, and she inhaled the scent of vanilla and lavender. She scrubbed her skin until it was red and raw. When she was finished, she left the water, wrapping herself in a fluffy, white robe.
Hades hadn’t joined her. He sat some distance from the pool, watching her. She went to him and sat on his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck. She needed his comfort, his closeness.
“Tell me what happened?” He said, and there was an edge to his voice that told her he wasn’t ready, that if she spoke of her abduction, she would release the violence within him.
“I will tell you if you will promise me one thing,” she said.
He raised a brow, waiting, and her eyes fell to his lips.
“When you torture him, I get to join you.”
“That is a promise I can keep.”
