Page 111 of Queen of the Underworld

“Your temple is rather beautiful,” she murmured and stroked his fingers of the hand he had on her waist, a possessive grasp that he couldn’t quite convince himself to loosen.

Far too many males had gazed upon her in his temple. Just as far too many males had looked at her during their visits to several villages, the barracks and even Tartarus. His little goddess had been curious about that place too, asking questions about it whenever they lazed together like this, savouring each other’s company and the peaceful quiet.

She angled her head back so her gaze touched his face, her brow furrowing. “Hades?”

“Hmm?” He slid his gaze to meet hers and smiled to alleviate the concern growing in her eyes. “I am fine.”

She twisted onto her front, her hands coming to rest on his chest as she pressed against it and frowned at him.

“You are not fine. I wish you would not shut me out.” She sighed at him as she lifted one hand and feathered her fingers down his cheek. “Your eyes betray you. Speak to me, Hades.”

“I do not like how every male in my realm looks at you.” His arms tightened around her as his mood darkened again, veering back towards the abyss that beckoned him now. “You are mine, Persephone, and I will not share you with anyone.”

She smiled, a sweet one that teased but soothed him. “I do not wish to be theirs, so you do not have to worry about sharing me with anyone.”

Did she wish to be his?

He feared voicing that question, even when she had been his constant companion over the last ten days, never leaving his side whenever he was at home. The only time they had been apart was when he needed to handle business in Tartarus or help his men with unrest in the regions.

Unrest that had been decreasing each day now that he had finished hunting down the final dangerous and dark souls that had eluded capture and moved them to the new district he had set up for them.

And maybe also because he was growing lighter.

He could feel it.

The whole of the Underworld was a testament to the effect Persephone was having on him.

The land had settled, the volcanoes becoming dormant, and water had begun to flow where lava had once been. His throne room was the perfect example of how much he had changed, and the Underworld had changed with him. Beyond the smaller columned temple that housed his throne, deep in the canyon that bordered the plateau where they were now, a river cut a path between the flat bank and the steep sides of the mountains that enclosed it.

A river that had once flowed with lava.

The darkness remained though. His other constant companion. He wasn’t sure he would ever be able to shake it. It was swift to seize him whenever a male neared Persephone or even glanced in her direction, rising within him to goad him into taking their head so they couldn’t gaze upon his love.

Or steal her from him.

“Your eyes are changing again,” she murmured softly and stroked her fingers across his brow, soothing that darkness with her light touch. Rather than snapping and snarling, it purred.

He had discovered in his temple that his darker side was just as possessive of Persephone as he was, that the side of him that craved bloodshed and violence and could so easily turn him into a mindless slave to it craved her too. She had tamed it so easily when she had faced him, driving it back far quicker than he had ever managed himself.

“Hades…” She hesitated, and he knew what she wanted to ask.

The same thing she had asked many times over the last few weeks.

She wanted him to speak to her about the darkness, to break down that final wall that stood between them and let her all the way in. Just as she had for him. She had told him of her pain. She had confided in him and shared the source of her darkness with him.

He gazed at her, his fingers pausing in her hair, nerves rising. It felt only right to do the same for her.

But he had never spoken of the darkness to anyone.

He frowned.

He doubted she had either.

She had hidden her pain from the world, concealing how deeply her mother’s actions had wounded her. But she had told him.

He drew down a deep, calming breath as the darkness growled that she would use it against him. If he told her of it, she would fear him. Despise him. Hades shut it down and silenced it, refusing to listen to its fearmongering.

Persephone trusted him.

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