Page 24 of Hades

A man.

She couldn’t make out anything about him other than his size. He was tall. Lean.

And he was watching her.

She swallowed and went to turn away, but he stepped forwards, into the light. Her breath hitched as their eyes locked, his cold blue gaze piercing hers and holding her immobile. The ferocity of his sculpted features unsettled her, quickening her pulse until it beat like a warning drum in her mind. She edged her foot backwards and his black eyebrows knitted hard, his gaze instantly dropping to her feet, shattering the spell that had been holding her in place.

Persephone was quick to pivot away from him, her mind on hurrying back to her servants and leaving this place. In the distance, she heard her maidens calling for her.

“I am coming,” she said, loud enough for them to hear.

Only something drew her gaze back to the male and she couldn’t stop herself from looking back at him again.

He hadn’t moved. He lingered in the shadows, only part of his face in the light, and was staring at her as if the sight of her tormented him. Why?

Curiosity kept her feet rooted in place in the grass.

Why did he look as if her leaving would destroy him?

Darkness swept across the land, spreading outwards from him, and the air chilled.

And she knew.

This was no man.

This was a god.

And his power was incredible as it surrounded her, fierce and dark, and immense. Like nothing she had felt before. It seemed to seep into her skin, heightening her awareness of him until her body vibrated with it as he stared at her, drawing all her focus to him. The forest around them fell away, until there was only her and this bewitching male, and the only sound in her ears was her unsteady breathing as it trembled from her lips.

Persephone recalled the stories mortals whispered about this place at the end of the world.

That it was the gateway to a realm that was grim and terrifying.

A realm of death.

Ruled by a dark and malevolent god.

“Hades,” she breathed.

Something crossed his features, something that made her feel…powerful. As if she had power over him, not the other way around. Her body warmed in response, strange sensations igniting inside her, ones that were as unsettling as his steady gaze.

Her maidens called again, piercing the spell he had cast once more.

Persephone tore her gaze away from him, turning to go to them.

Darkness filled her vision, a wall of black armour that hugged a lean, masculine figure, and she gasped as a cool palm met her forehead, sending electricity arcing down her spine. A thick fog instantly rolled through her mind, dimming it and sucking the strength from her, and she cast a stricken look up into his now-crimson eyes as sleep claimed her.

When her eyes fluttered open, an ocean formed before her, stretching to the horizon. Waves rolled against a rocky shore far below her, their thunderous crash distant and muted, and a warm breeze bathed her face, flowing in through a narrow window carved into the tan stone wall.

Persephone quickly turned in a circle, her eyes widening as she took in the semi-circular, unfamiliar bare room. Where was she? She glanced back out of the window at the sea. In the mortal world. She was in the mortal world.

Her pulse kicked up a notch as she swallowed hard and adrenaline spiked her blood as she realised this wasn’t a dream. Another sensation of déjà vu ran through her as she stared at the empty room and the heavy iron door that intersected the one straight wall opposite her. She recalled the dream—a vision of her past—and thought about what had come after that moment when Hades had sent her to sleep.

She had awoken in a tower—one similar but different to this one—with her powers bound.

Awareness rolled through her, numbing her to a degree as that block of ice reformed inside her chest.

She was now a prisoner again.

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