Page 43 of Hades

Her blood chilled.

Her eyes widened.

“You were the one behind the last two uprisings by the daemons.” Persephone let the words tumble from her lips.

Mnemosyne’s cold smile said it all.

Shehadbeen behind them.

“You will not succeed this time either,” Persephone bit out as the anger that had ebbed flowed back into her, stronger than before now that she knew Mnemosyne had been a traitor in their midst all this time and had come close to killing Keras when he had been a baby. “Hades will stop you. My family will stop you.”

“They will not.” Mnemosyne idly inspected her dagger again, as casual as anything. “This time, I will be victorious… and you will choose their fates.”

Persephone didn’t like the sound of that. Cold engulfed her, dampening the fire of her rage, and she closely studied the titaness, feeling like a prey animal watching a predator as Mnemosyne turned on her again and waved the point of the blade in her face. She stood her ground, denying the urge to shrink back. Not that she could have if she had wanted to. The two men on either side of her were holding her so tightly that her arms ached. She glanced at one and frowned as her gaze caught on the tattoo on his exposed deltoid above his tense biceps, just below the folds of scarlet material that sat beneath the shoulder of his black breastplate.

She knew that brand.

He had served in the palace guard.

She flicked a look up at his face, fire sweeping through her again, and wrenched her arm free of his grip as disgust chased on its heels. The angry words that balanced on the tip of her tongue remained there when she easily freed herself despite the fact he was far stronger than she was. He should have been able to keep hold of her, but he hadn’t even tried. His dark gaze leaped to meet hers for a split second, not even a heartbeat, and then darted away again.

Whatever he saw on Mnemosyne’s face had him seizing hold of Persephone’s arm once more, but he didn’t hold her tightly this time.

Persephone didn’t dare to hope she might have found an ally. He was probably just another trick, something thought up by Mnemosyne to give her false hope. For all she knew, that tattoo on his arm could be fake, given to him by the titaness to make him appear a convincing ally to Persephone.

Or he might despise Hades as much as Mnemosyne did.

Mnemosyne grabbed Persephone by her jaw, forcing her head back around so she was looking at her again.

“You will convince Hades to cede the throne and give me the Underworld, and in exchange I will let you and your family live.” Mnemosyne’s silky tone didn’t even come close to persuading Persephone to do as she bid.

Persephone glared at her. “I will do no such thing. You are desperate. You have no powerful allies other than those in Tartarus. No true army this time. You are alone… and you will end up dead or in Tartarus with your wretched allies.”

“I am far from alone,” Mnemosyne countered.

Persephone scoffed. “Your guards here? They are not strong enough to best my family.”

“I do not speak of them.” Mnemosyne released her and Persephone wanted to ask who she was speaking about, but knew the goddess wouldn’t answer.

So instead, she harnessed the rage she felt, the hatred that burned inside her, all of it aimed towards the woman standing before her. She despised Mnemosyne for what she had already done to her family. The last two uprisings had been orchestrated by her, and she had made them all believe Calindria was dead, stealing her daughter from her.

She wanted Mnemosyne dead.

But she was well aware she was in no position to make that happen.

She couldn’t do battle with the titaness physically, but there was no stopping her from doing it verbally.

“You cannot win.” Persephone put more conviction into those words this time, trying to sow seeds of doubt in Mnemosyne’s mind, ones that might take root and weaken her, or make her do something reckless that would expose her location or bring her to her death. “Give up now and I will petition Hades so he will only imprison you in Tartarus with your allies.”

Mnemosyne laughed in her face. “I will not go to Tartarus like those other fool titans… and what else can Hades do to me? I am a titaness, little lamb. I am immortal. There is a reason Hades had to imprison the titans. Hecannotkill us.”

Cold slithered down Persephone’s spine and a shiver raced along her arms. No. It wasn’t possible. Everything could be killed. But then, Hades had only imprisoned the titans, including his father, a male that Persephone felt sure he and his brothers would have killed as revenge if they had been able to.

Mnemosyne’s red lips curled at the corners and her voice softened, becoming a murmur drenched with satisfaction. “I like that look on your face.Despair. You wear it well, little lamb. I shall let you in on a secret. Soon, Eris and Harleena will be free of Tartarus and they will rejoin me… and then Hades will pay. Your family will pay.”

The titaness raised her free hand and motioned to someone.

The guards?

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