Page 26 of Captive Heart

My mouth turns down and I shake my head. “I want to leave, Hades.”

“We will leave, Persephone. As soon as we have the materials ye need and a place for ye to start working.”

I push my cheek out with my tongue. “I hate you.”

He opens his mouth, a retort apparently ready. But I start off again, running this time. I don’t harbor any illusions about outrunning him. I know that he barely has to trot to keep up with my much shorter stride.

I drop my gaze, keeping an eye on where I step. The sand shifts beneath each step. It’s tricky and a misplaced foot could become a turned ankle without a second thought. I puff out my cheeks, my heart rate rising. I have to work to control my breathing and keep watch of where I step.

For a good fifteen minutes, I run unchecked along the beach. There is no one else in sight, no one but me and Hades.

My left hand starts tingling and bothering me. I flex my left hand and grow aware of how much harder my left foot and the entire left side of my body are working to keep up with the pace I have set.

But I can’t let it show. That would be declaring my weakness to the enemy.

Not here, with Hades.

Not ever.

When I finally slow again, my left hand is so tingly that it verges on pain. I halt, squeezing my hands into fists. Dropping my hands to my knees, I suck in breaths and feel sweat slipping down from the sides of my face and my lower back.

I look out over the sea, trying not to glance at Hades. Shaking out both hands at once feels strange but I am at least attempting to mask my discomfort.

Hades clears his throat, which causes me to startle and swing my gaze over to him. As I do, I realize that I’ve been running toward a steeply sloping rock jutting forty or so feet out of the sandy beach. I do a double take, catching sight of a little rocky outcropping on the ground nearby. The sea laps at it gently, gurgling as it washes over the rocks.

I pull in a breath, feeling my chest tightening. For a second, I stare at the rocks on the ground and watch the sea as it recedes gently.

I can smell the thick tang of blood in the air. I can see it, smeared across the rocks in a haphazard manner.

Maddie’s blood.

I can feel myself begin to shake.

Dark water swirls around my knees as I climb to my feet.

It can’t be Maddie’s blood, I tell myself. Maddie is dead.

Remember?

“Persephone.”

I swing my wide eyed gaze over to him, my heart beating a mile a minute.

Hades tilts his head, his gaze calculating. “Lass. Have ye seen a ghost? Ye’ve gone pale.”

I lick my lips, my gaze nervously flitting back to the rocks.

I’m stunned to see that I find just that. Rocks.

There’s no blood.

There’s nothing to be afraid of.

Just the water, gently ebbing and flowing. I wonder if I may have made up the cliff’s edge, even.

But I’m too terrified to look.

I turn my back on the scene, nodding vaguely. “I’m fine.”

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