Page 29 of The Dread Queen's Bargain

Hades shifted uncomfortably.

“I don’t think—”

“This fucking prophecy has been edging you both for a thousand years, and it’s making you crankier than usual.”

Hermes appeared out of thin air, sitting on Hades’s desk with his legs crossed.

“For fuck’s sake!” Hades hissed as he and Thanatos both jumped in surprise. “I’m changing the wards in my study.”

“No, you won’t.” Hermes grinned confidently. “I will say, however, that I’m very offended that I wasn’t invited to a discussion in which both Hades and Thanatos discuss their feelings. I’m hurt.”

“You’ll recover,” Thanatos deadpanned.

Hades and Thanatos almost immediately went back to their typical sullen expressions. Hermes noticed and scoffed loudly in protest.

“You both are no fun at all. I wanted to gossip too,” Hermes pouted, crossing his arms over his chest.

“If you know what’s good for you, you will keep your mouth shut about all this,” Hades warned.

Hermes only blushed in response, leaning towards Hades with a smirk.

“I have done an excellent job of keeping my mouth shut.” Hermes waggled his eyebrows, the double entendre obvious. Thanatos let out a sharp bark of laughter, and Hermes tossed him a pouty glare.

“I have! I didn’t tell Persephone that you were the one who sent me to greet her at the gates of the Underworld.” Hermes looked proud of himself. “Or that you’ve been watching her every second she wasn’t at her side, whether through Cerberus or my talents.”

“If you mention it, I’ll rip your wings off those fucking sandals myself,” Hades growled, but Hermes only started giggling in response.

“I do so love it when you threaten me with violence, big daddy.” He winked and hopped off the desk, strolling towards the door. “It’s evident that the feeling and sharing part of the evening is over, and since I doubt either of you will feel like cuddling…” Hermes paused and looked between Thanatos and Hades as if he expected them to disagree with him. “I guess I’ll be off.” He left through Hades’s study door without another word, leaving Hades shaking his head.

“What do you think I should do, Thanatos?” Hades looked at his friend earnestly, hoping for relief from his wild emotions.

Thanatos shrugged.

“Love isn’t my area of expertise,” he admitted. “Might I suggest violence?”

Hades perked up a little at that. “At this hour?”

“We don’t need sleep.”

“I’m in.” Hades nodded. “Pygmachia?”

Thanatos’s face lit up, and he started cracking his knuckles. “It’s been too long.”

Hades led the way out of his study towards the gymnasium in the other wing of the property, grateful for Thanatos and an opportunity to get some of the angst out of his system.

11

“You’re doing fine. Okay, nope, a little to the left… Yes, better… No, no, no!” Hecate quickly rushed over to Persephone’s side and gently grabbed her wrist.

Persephone made an exasperated sound and tossed her hands in the air. “This is pointless!”

After returning from the feast of Dionysus, Persephone found herself staying the night at Hecate’s. There was a spare room already prepared for her when she’d arrived. That morning, Hecate pulled her out of bed shortly after sunrise, fed her breakfast, and pushed her out into the garden to start working on controlling her powers immediately.

“It’s not pointless.” Hecate sighed gently. “It’s going to come naturally to you.”

“We can both agree that this is not ‘coming naturally,’” Persephone deadpanned, pointing to her most recent disaster in the yard. A tree was perfectly split down the middle—half rotted, and the other half grew exponentially.

“It’s not coming naturally because you’re at war with yourself.” Hecate shrugged. She snapped her fingers, and the tree shrunk into a small sapling, barely waist high. “You don’t feel like you belong with the Olympians, and you don’t yet feel like you belong here. There are two sides to your magic, and they sense your hesitancy.”

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