Page 120 of Queen of the Underworld

But it had to be done.

If he didn’t return her to her mother, the whole world would suffer for it.

She would suffer for it.

It was better he suffered than she did.

“Go,” he husked, his voice tight and low, and his eyes burned as she looked at him, love and fear shining in her eyes. “I will see you again soon, my love.”

She nodded and tears spilled down her cheeks, and went to leave, and then she hurried back to him, gripped his hand and kissed him hard. He tasted her tears as he kissed her as fervently, desperate for it to continue even when he knew it couldn’t. The kiss lasted all of a few seconds before she wrenched herself away and hurried through the portal.

Her hand lingering in his until the last moment.

It slipped from his grasp.

And she was gone.

The ground shattered in a circle around him, a thousand fractures breaking its surface to drop him by close to a foot, and the mountains around him trembled and split, hurling great rocks into the air as lava exploded from them.

Hades threw his head back and bellowed in rage and agony.

And the darkness devoured him.

Chapter 35

The moment Persephone crossed the threshold of the white temple she had once called home, something felt off. She frowned and looked over her shoulder, cold snaking down her spine to make her want to turn back the way she had come and run.

“Persephone, my child!” Her mother’s voice rang out, startling her, and she turned back to face her.

Demeter hurried towards her, her gold diaphanous robes swirling around her delicate matching sandals, and her dark red curls gathered up and held with shining gold pins and braids.

Persephone frowned as her mother embraced her, wrapping arms laced with heavy gold bangles around her, and that feeling still didn’t go away. This wasn’t right. Something was wrong. Her mother grasped her waist and pushed her back, her forest green eyes raking over her and a frown flickering on her brow as she noticed Persephone’s dress.

“This is not the gown you were wearing the day that vile male took you from me. And what is that on your neck?” Demeter’s eyes darkened as Persephone’s fingers flew to Hades’s bite mark, and then softened as they leaped to meet hers, flooding with concern as she petted Persephone’s face. “Oh, my child, pray tell me he was not cruel to you… that he did not take advantage of you.”

Persephone slowly shook her head, but Demeter didn’t look convinced.

“Such a wretched beast. Taking you like that.” A look crossed her mother’s face, one that chilled Persephone’s blood as Demeter plastered on a bright smile that didn’t quite cover the machinations of her mind. Persephone could practically see it churning as Demeter checked her over again, and the reason for her mother being swept up in her thoughts became apparent as she muttered, “All will be well. The wedding will go ahead tomorrow and Aristaeus will be none the wiser to your indiscretions. We only need to have a healer deal with that mark.”

Persephone’s fingers closed more tightly over the twin punctures as she backed away from her mother, shaking her head more vigorously now. “No. I will not be marrying Aristaeus, Mother.”

She frowned at Demeter, that cold growing within her and spreading as realisation slowly dawned, and she couldn’t believe it. Wouldn’t believe it. Not until her mother confirmed it for her.

“You harmed all those mortals just to force Hades to return me to Olympus so you could marry me off as planned.” Persephone searched her eyes, but she didn’t have to look hard to see her mother had done just that. She threw her arms up, disbelief crashing over her, the levels to which her mother would stoop in order to have things turn out the way she wanted astounding her. “I cannot believe you!”

Persephone pivoted on her heel and stormed towards the patio.

“Where are you going?” Demeter snapped.

“Home. To Hades.” Persephone tossed the words over her shoulder, biting them out as rage burned up her blood and a desperate need to return to the Underworld flooded her. “I am not marrying Aristaeus. I will not. Your fears are utterly unfounded, Mother. I have no desire to take your place or overshadow you. I love you and want you to be happy. I have only ever wanted you to be happy… but I will no longer do as you command. I will not let my happiness be destroyed in order for you to keep yours.”

She had to get away from Olympus, before her mother did something foolish, and broke her heart.

The row of armed guards that stepped into her path, forming a wall to block her escape, said it was too late for that.

Her head whipped towards the white columns to her left, where a broad terrace overlooked the city, and more guards stood there beyond the sheer green drapes that hung in sweeping curves, anchored to the golden rings on the columns. She spun on her heel to face her mother, not bothering to conceal the hurt that flared in her heart or her anger.

“Let me go,” Persephone barked. “I will not let you force me into wedlock to another. I love Hades. No one here understands him… No one here knows him as I do. I love him with all my heart, Mother. I will not marry Aristaeus.”

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