Page 36 of A Touch of Chaos

Persephone’s eyes burned with tears, and after a moment of quiet, Yuri whispered, her voice quivering, “I just wish everything was normal again.”

Persephone hardened against those words.

It was such a natural thing to say when things felt uncertain, but the longer she lived with loss, the more the idea of normal angered her.

There was no normal. There was only the past, and it was hopeless to wish for it even at her loneliest, because nothing could return to the way it was—not in the aftermath of this.

“There is no ‘normal again,’ Yuri,” Persephone said. “There is only new and different, and neither are always good.”

The soul frowned.

“Persephone, I—”

She rose to her feet before Yuri could finish, knowing what her next words would be.

I’m so sorry.

And she could not stand to hear them either. She could not even explain why, but they were just words, empty ones people said when they had nothing else to give.

“Thank you, Yuri, for the tea.”

She fled before her emotions got the best of her and teleported to the Asphodel Fields. By the time she arrived, she was already in tears. She looked out on the Underworld from where she stood, her arms crossed over her chest. The wind picked up, whipping her hair, and the asphodel around her swayed, grazing her gown.

She felt sick and lost, and she did not know where to go, because every part of this place reminded her of Hades, yet he was what she wanted most.

She closed her eyes, and cold tears spilled down her face.

“Lady Persephone.”

She swallowed hard and looked over her shoulder at Thanatos. She did not care to hide her pain. He could feel it anyway.

“Can I help you?”

She knew what he was asking.

Thanatos had influence over emotion. He could ease her suffering. In the past, she’d refused. She’d wanted to feel because she felt like she deserved it, but this was different.

“Please,” she said. The word was a plea, a broken cry.

Thanatos offered his hand, and she took it, warm and soft against her own, and suddenly peace fell over her. It was like…picnics in the meadow under the starry Underworld sky and baking cookies in a small kitchen with her best friend by her side. It felt like the fun of rock paper scissors and hide-and-seek.

It felt like…the first time she had looked at Hades and recognized her own soul.

“What are you thinking?”

She shivered at the sound of his voice, and chills pebbled her skin.

She opened her eyes.

“Hades,” she whispered and touched his face, grazing the stubble on his cheek.

He felt real enough, but she had been fooled by this before and did not think she could face the pain of waking alone again.

They were lying in the grass beneath a twisted oak. She knew this place. They had been here before—they had rested and made love beneath this tree. It was at the very edge of Elysium. If she were to sit up, she would see the gray waves of the ocean cresting the horizon.

“Where are you?” she asked.

He laughed as he studied her with those dark eyes, his body pressed against hers.

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