Page 101 of Queen of the Underworld

Cerberus snarled and flashed fangs again.

“Are you going to growl whenever I mention Persephone?” He tipped his head back and met Cerberus’s bright blue gaze.

His hound growled.

“Very well.” Hades started walking again. “But it will not stop me from talking about her.”

Cerberus trailed beside him and then began nudging him in the back again, loosing low, quiet growls from time to time as he worked to drive Hades further from Persephone. Hades chuckled, turned and planted his palms against the muzzle of Cerberus’s middle head.

“I have room in my heart for both of you.” He stroked Cerberus’s muzzle, hoping to soothe the beast. “Persephone has not replaced you, nor will she ever. You are my oldest, wisest, and most beloved companion. If anything were to happen to you, I would tear this world apart to take you back.”

If anything happened to Persephone, Hades would do the same, but he kept that to himself.

Cerberus perked up again, licked him with a tongue that was as wide as Hades’s body, and then bounded away from him. Hades grimaced and wiped his hands down himself, clearing the slobber away and not enjoying this new, jealous side of Cerberus. Cerberus hadn’t licked him since he had been a pup, when he had quickly learned that Hades didn’t enjoy being bathed by his tongue.

His hound snarled and Hades frowned at him, and his brows rose as he watched Cerberus wrestling with the tree trunk Hades had brought back for him from the Elysian Fields a long time ago. The bark was gone, and the wood had been chewed, and the ends were rounded from Cerberus gnawing at them, but it was still in one piece, something which always surprised him given how much Cerberus enjoyed playing with it.

As expected, Cerberus dropped the long, gnarled piece of wood near Hades. Hades made him wait, amusing himself with the anticipation that built in Cerberus’s eyes and how his big body tensed whenever Hades made the slightest move. When Cerberus sat and stared at him, a puzzled look on his faces, Hades used his shadows to hurl the piece of wood, catching him off guard.

Cerberus barked, the sound deafening and making Hades’s ears ring, and then thundered after it.

Hades turned back towards the temple, pausing to throw the toy for Cerberus whenever his faithful hound brought it back to him, enjoying the calm and the air, and how his thoughts began to settle.

He would win Persephone’s heart. He no longer doubted that. He had seen the looks she had given him from time to time today, ones filled with longing and tenderness. She was falling for him too. Might have already fallen. He only needed to continue to let her in as he had been, lowering his guard around her to show her the side of himself he usually kept hidden from others, and victory would be his.

She would be his.

Cerberus lost interest in the toy and walked slowly towards him, panting hard, all three tongues lolling out of his mouths. Hades walked with him to the stable but rather than placing the hound back into the paddock, he continued past it and Cerberus followed him. He stopped when he had a good view of the orchard, the temple and the tower, and patted the ground. Cerberus came to him and laid down, and Hades sat and rested his back against his pet’s side, using him as a pillow.

He sighed out his breath and closed his eyes as he relaxed into Cerberus, listening to the beast’s breathing as it finally slowed, the sound of it lulling him towards sleep too.

Hades sank into it.

Hoping he would dream of Persephone.

Chapter 29

Persephone had half expected to wake in the tower, but instead she woke in Hades’s bed where she had fallen asleep in his arms. Only she was alone. She sat up and looked for him, but the large black-walled chamber was empty. Where had he gone?

She scooted to the edge of the bed and frowned as her gaze snagged on something.

A dress draped over a chair that had been positioned facing her, so she would see it as soon as she rose.

She stood and brushed her fingers over the fine, soft fabric.

The green fabric.

She smiled as she lifted it and held it before her. It was beautiful. The layers were sheer, the way they draped over each other turning them from transparent to opaque, and there was a gold band around the waist and under the bust. The embroidery was delicate, subtly depicting flowers and leaves.

A dress made for her.

It seemed Hades was finally coming to learn the ways to her heart.

Persephone pulled it on and tightened the fastenings of the bands so the dress fit snug to her frame, buzzing a little as she looked down at herself. She lifted her head and looked for a mirror, and found one across the room. She hurried to it and stared at her reflection. It truly was a beautiful dress. Far more beautiful than any she had owned before. All her dresses in Olympus paled in comparison to this one.

She wished Hades was here to see her in it.

She finger-combed her unruly scarlet waves, determination sweeping through her to bring her courage to the fore. If he wasn’t here to see her in it, then she would just have to find him so he could. Once her appearance was as good as she could get it without wasting time bathing, she hurried to the doors, hesitated for only a second, and opened them. If Hades was mad at her for leaving, she doubted it would last long.

---