Page 40 of Hades

By the gods, he had been in a dark mood that day, angered by his brothers and their attempts to interfere in the running of his realm. He had ridden hard across the Underworld, blazing a trail in his chariot, his four horses as restless as he had been and Cerberus following on his heels. All who had seen him had trembled in fear.

He wasn’t sure how long he had ridden, but his mood had eventually lost its black edge and he had slowed when he had found himself at the edge of his realm. His horses had been foaming when he had pulled them to an abrupt halt, but he hadn’t paid them much heed.

He had been transfixed by a gate.

It had shimmered blue and green, spanning at least thirty feet across, and the thick air had hummed with its power.

Hades had known he shouldn’t leave the Underworld, that the gate would take him to the mortal world, but he hadn’t been able to resist. Anger had spurred him on; the thought of doing something that might irritate Zeus as much as the bastard annoyed him, a driving force that had seen him moving towards it.

And then through it.

On the other side, he had found a young forest full of life.

And the most beautiful maiden he had ever seen.

Her scarlet hair had glowed in the sunshine and her face had been bright and bewitching with her soft laughter as she picked flowers with three other females, all who were insignificant compared to her.

A goddess.

He had never seen eyes so green, or a smile so full of life.

Hades had lost track of time watching her, and when she had left, she had taken all the light with her, allowing darkness to invade his soul again. His mood had instantly darkened and he had returned to the Underworld, but he hadn’t stayed there. Instead, he had gone to Olympus and his brother, determined to anger him.

When he had told Zeus that he wanted a goddess of Olympus as his bride, his brother had surprised him by telling him he must take her if he wanted her.

Hades had done just that.

He frowned as his memories faded away and he found himself standing in the forest in the secret realm, Cerberus curled beside him. He idly petted the beast, feeling the darkness slowly invading him as Persephone’s influence on him waned again.

He needed to find her.

His children constantly fought to convince him to wait, and he had tried to be patient, to gather information and use his head. He couldn’t. He needed her back. He needed her by his side. His children couldn’t know the danger of him and Persephone being apart.

They had never seen him without their mother.

His fangs lengthened and the forest around him grew cold and dark.

They hadn’t witnessed the monster he would become.

Chapter 12

Persephone jolted around to face the heavy iron door as it opened with an ominous boom, her heart lodging in her throat. She steeled her nerves, concealing the fear that flooded her and quickly tamping it down, unwilling to let Mnemosyne see it. Persephone glared at her and tipped her chin up, refusing to be cowed as the titaness settled cold silver eyes on her that were as sharp as the black dagger she gripped in her left hand.

Mnemosyne entered the room, her steps measured, her expression impassive. Persephone couldn’t tell what the goddess was plotting, but she knew it couldn’t be good.

Rather than backing away towards the window as Mnemosyne approached, Persephone straightened her back and remained where she was, quelling that urge as it rose inside her. This female didn’t scare her. She was the queen of the Underworld. Mother of some of the strongest warriors in that realm. She could be as ruthless as her husband when something called for it.

“Return me to the Underworld and Hades will be merciful.” Persephone didn’t believe for a second that Hades would have any mercy left for Mnemosyne, but didn’t allow her to see that.

Mnemosyne scoffed and flicked her sleek black hair over her shoulder, her long obsidian nails grazing pale skin as she did so. Her tone dripped venom when she spoke, relaying her hatred of Hades as clearly as the scorn that filled her eyes.

“Merciful?” Mnemosyne hissed as her face twisted in dark lines. “Your husband is anything but that. Look at the lengths he has gone to in order to protect his precious realm. Titans incarcerated for eternity in Tartarus, left to rot there in a prison he built specifically for them. Is that merciful?”

Persephone’s own anger flashed to the fore. She tightened her fingers into trembling fists and refused to let Mnemosyne paint a terrible picture of Hades, because the titaness was wrong about him.

“Tartarus is where you should have gone after the Titanomachy. You and the rest of your vile kind,” Persephone spat, her blood thundering as she thought about how close Hades, Zeus and Poseidon had come to losing that battle, and how wretched the world would have been if they had failed.

The titans had been a cruel, unforgiving race who had murdered and raped, and oppressed every living being. Hades’s own father had devoured him and his siblings upon their birth so they couldn’t rise against him in the way he himself had revolted against his father. They were selfish and cold, and vicious, and some of the titans had even recognised that. Hades’s mother had hidden her pregnancy with Zeus from her husband, knowing he would devour Zeus too the second he was born. She had given birth to him in the mortal realm, hoping he would grow up strong enough to take down the titan who had spawned him and his siblings.

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