Page 91 of Hades

They rocketed towards her, so fast he could barely track them, and her eyes dropped to them as they roared up on her. She nimbly dodged to her left and then kicked off, coming at him and bringing her sword up at the same time.

Hades swept his bident upwards as they neared each other, tightening his grip on it at the last moment to withstand the ferocity of her blow as their weapons clashed. He bared his fangs again and shoved forwards, attempting to knock her off balance, as his shadows swept around behind her.

She leaped, sailing into the air to land behind him, and Persephone was waiting for her. A long thorn stabbed through Mnemosyne’s calf, spilling her blood, and the titaness whirled towards Persephone on a vicious hiss. Before she could attack Persephone, Hades shoved his bident towards her. Her sword slid between the two sharp prongs and he rotated the end of his bident away from her, snaring her blade and twisting it out of her grip. It clattered to the ground and she turned on him, her mirror-like eyes widening as he thrust his bident forwards.

It pierced her breastplate before she could react, lodging deep in her stomach.

She gasped and then coughed, bringing up blood that painted her lips a darker shade of red.

A stillness swept outwards from her across the battlefield, all eyes turning towards her as she weakly grasped the staff of his bident and tried to push it out of her.

Her skin paled further, becoming like ash, and she sank to her knees.

And with one last, desperate look at him, she fell onto her side and went deathly still.

Hades stared down at her, shock ringing through him, unable to believe it.

Mnemosyne was dead.

Keras and Ares ran over to him, the surprise he felt painted across their faces too, and Valen blew out a low whistle as he joined them together with Enyo and Calindria.

Hades couldn’t take his eyes off the dead titaness.

He slowly shook his head.

It had been too easy.

He looked at Persephone, sure she would feel the same thing he was—that something wasn’t right.

And roared as she disappeared.

Chapter 25

The moment Persephone’s thorns reached the young illusionist female, she knew something was wrong. Persephone dropped to her knees on the black dirt and pressed her hands to it, her eyes slipping shut as she reached through the ground and her power over nature connected her to it. That same feeling hit her again.

She lifted her head and scanned the battle, watching it play out. Her sons and daughter fought valiantly, dealing with the Keres and the warriors. Hades cut his way through the men, his shadows and bident making fast work of them, heading for Mnemosyne.

Persephone pushed to her feet and looked in the direction of the gate, where Mnemosyne was coming towards him, her men parting to allow her through.

And then at the lilac-haired illusionist again.

It was all a lie.

The second that registered, Persephone donned the helm of darkness, disappearing from view. Hades and her children continued to battle Mnemosyne’s forces, believing the illusion they were being shown.

Only that wasn’t Persephone’s brambles that paved a corridor for him to take to the titaness.

And that wasn’t the real Mnemosyne he clashed with.

Persephone could feel it.

The real Mnemosyne was far from them, closer to the gate, and Persephone intended to catch the titaness off guard.

Persephone slipped through the battle, keeping her breathing steady and shallow so she didn’t give herself away. The world shimmered around her as she moved deeper into the fray, past Valen and several soldiers from the legion as they fought a group of Mnemosyne’s men, and towards the edge of the plain. She hurried over a narrow rock bridge that spanned one of the rivers of lava and breathed easier when she reached the other side, where no one was.

Beyond the sphere of the illusion.

As she had suspected, the real Mnemosyne was at the gate, pawing the black rock and studying it as her men hauled Cerberus towards it.

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