Page 108 of Queen of the Underworld

“Let her through,” Hades said, aware how closely Persephone was watching him.

The guards eased back, but didn’t leave, as if this female was a threat to him and he needed their protection.

The woman hobbled towards him and when she was close to him, she held her scrap of bread out to him. Hades stared at the meagre offering and then at her, and shook his head. Which didn’t please her.

She offered it again, thrusting it towards him.

Persephone stepped up beside him, placed her hand over the woman’s, and gently pushed the bread back towards her. “Your presence is gift enough for Hades. You need this food more than he does.”

She meant her words to be kind, he was sure, but they were a knife in his chest.

It stabbed so deep he flinched.

Persephone noticed it, and how the darkness surged in response to the vile words spinning through his mind. It coaxed and cajoled, hissing at him. These pilgrims looked down upon him, believing he needed their food. Persephone looked down upon him, disgusted by how he allowed his subjects to suffer. She despised him. She would find any other male in this room more pleasing company than him. Wanted any other male in this room more than she wanted him.

The guards looked back to check on him.

But all he saw were them looking at his Persephone.

His love.

Intending to steal her from him.

“Return home now.” Persephone ushered the woman away, her actions hurried.

She knew the woman was in danger.

Hades fought the darkness, struggling to hold it back as it continued to taunt him with images of Persephone and other males, with visions of her looking upon him with scorn and lashing out at him for his failings. He curled his hands into fists that had his emerging claws digging into his palms to draw blood.

One of the guards made the mistake of turning towards Persephone as she urged the elderly woman away from Hades.

The moment the male’s dark eyes landed on her, Hades was lost.

Darkness blasted through him and erupted out of him, shadows swift to wrap around the male and seize hold of him. Hades growled as he dragged the male towards him, the guard’s terrified scream ringing in his ears and making him shiver as pleasure rolled through him, pushing him deeper into the abyss.

Pandemonium erupted in the temple, several guards rushing towards him as the pilgrims scattered. Hades bared his fangs and hurled the male he held at the guards. The male struck two of them and they landed in a heap on the floor. His shadows tore from the black stone floor, and the temple shook as they gathered and devoured the light.

Hades narrowed his black gaze on the guards as they tried to scramble onto their feet, their fear flowing around him—through him—turning his head hazy and flooding him with a seething need to rip them apart.

And then green vines shot from the floor, weaving together to form a wall between him and the men. He growled as that wall rapidly expanded outwards, rising up to the ceiling and stretching from wall to wall.

Cutting him off from the guards and the pilgrims.

But it wasn’t only the wall of vines that was stopping him.

Persephone stood before it, her arms outstretched and her steady green gaze fixed on him as she shielded everyone from his shadows and wrath.

There was no judgement in her eyes, not as he had expected—not as the darkness had hissed there would be, feeding his fears.

There was only tenderness, and understanding, and a wealth of concern.

Her tone was even and calm as she said, “My apologies all. Your god-king is grateful for your tribute, and is pleased to see you, but tensions have been high across the realm and he is in need of rest. I humbly request that you exit the temple as I require a moment with your god-king.”

Hades bared fangs at her, the darkness goading him into attacking her instead, just as he had feared it might. He willed her to do as she had promised and run from him, even when some part of him was aware that if she ran, he would chase her. He would hunt her down.

Rather than fleeing with the others, she did something that stole his breath and shocked him so thoroughly that the darkness lost its grip on him.

She came to him, bravely facing him at his worst, uncaring of the shadows that lashed at the floor near her and unafraid of him as he snarled and flashed fangs at her, warning her away.

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