Page 70 of Hades

Their death might free them of their corporeal flesh, but their soul was his for eternity, and their pain would be endless.

When the last light of life guttered out in their eyes, he donned his black helmet again and stepped over them, his footing sure as their bodies shifted beneath him. He focused on the path ahead of him, his ears twitching as he listened, straining to hear movement or a sound that might indicate more guards were waiting for him.

He froze, his grip on his bident loosening as a scent hit him, one that rocked him and had him wavering on his feet as it stripped him of his strength.

Lilies.

And fear.

Two scents that should never belong together.

Hades growled and surged up the stairs, taking them two at a time as he renewed his grip on his bident. Darkness poured through him, blotting out the light and shredding his focus. It narrowed to one point ahead of him, awareness of the world falling away as her scent called to him.

Pulling him forwards.

The sound of blades clashing rang out and he snarled as he tried to move faster, desperate to reach her before it was too late. The delicate scent of lilies and the acrid note of fear that hung in the air were joined with the coppery tang of blood.

Her blood.

A red veil descended, tearing his sanity from him and ripping away the last of the light, together with his ability to think beyond saving Persephone and destroying whoever she was fighting.

A thud and a little gasp wrenched at him and he exploded onto the next floor, his bident at the ready, and his heart stopped as he saw Persephone on her knees, a sword aimed at the delicate column of her throat.

A savage growl rumbled through him, the darkness growing feral and uncontrollable, pulling him deep within its grasp, and he lunged at the colossal male’s back.

Because no one would take Persephone from him.

The twin prongs of his bident drove home, piercing the rear of the male’s black breastplate and propelling him forwards, and Persephone gasped again as she fell to her left, out of the guard’s path.

Her wild emerald eyes watched in shock and horror as the male fell, her scarlet hair spilling across the wooden floor as she hit it. Hades cast a glance at her as the guard landed on his front, swiftly cataloguing the blood on her and the rips in her delicate black nightgown and the fear that tainted her sweet scent, and turned on the guard with a vicious snarl.

He yanked the bident free of the male’s back, stepped onto him and drove it down, through his spine and his skull, pinning him to the floor.

Persephone threw a fearful look at the guard’s head as blood pooled outwards.

Hades stepped off the male, leaving his bident lodged in his skull, and seized hold of Persephone. She gasped as he hauled her off the floor, her fear growing to an unbearable degree.

Until he ripped his helmet off.

Relief flooded her green eyes and she sagged in his grip, as if all her strength had left her as it had left him when he had seen her kneeling, awaiting her death. The thought that he might have lost her shredded his soul and he couldn’t stop himself from pulling her to him, the need to feel her in his arms and know she was safe too powerful for him to deny.

The moment he tugged her towards him, her features shifted, the fear and relief that had been on her face morphing into a wild kind of need that drummed in his blood too.

She swept him into her arms, tunnelling the fingers of her left hand into his black hair to grip it fiercely as she claimed his mouth in a bruising kiss. Hades growled against her lips and banded his arms around her, pinning her soft, pliant curves against the hard planes of his body. He stole control of the kiss as the savage need that pounded inside him stole control of him, hijacking his body and his mind, making him ravenous for her.

She moaned and gripped his shoulder, pressing her body against his, maddening him as her lips parted and her tongue came to meet his. Her kiss was bold and hungry, stoking his need, making him painfully hard for her. The urge to take her and reclaim her body and soul was near overwhelming, but the salty tang that laced her kiss had him reining in his needs.

He pulled back and gazed down at her, his brow furrowing as he saw the tears shining in her eyes.

“My love,” he croaked and framed her face with his hands, lowered his head and pressed his forehead to hers. “I am sorry I did not come for you sooner.”

She shook her head, rubbing it against his. “Do not be. You are here now.”

A question that had been playing on his mind from the moment he had seen the sealed gate rolled up his throat to his lips, and he didn’t hold it back, even when he feared what her answer would be.

“Is this place truly a fond memory of yours?” He eased back and searched her eyes.

Their bewitching emerald depths left him to roam over the room and then drifted back to him.

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