Page 75 of Queen of the Underworld

She didn’t think he could create living things as she could, but she had the feeling he could mould this realm into whatever he wanted it to be, shaping buildings from the black earth and rock—like her tower.

Persephone added another dozen questions to the list in her head and frowned as she spied a glow in the sky far off to her right. She squinted, even though she would never be able to make out anything at such a vast distance, feeling a little foolish for even attempting to see what was happening. It looked as if something was on fire just beyond the next mountain range.

Something large.

Cold power pressed against her spine and she twisted to face the room, her hands coming up in front of her, something which startled her almost as much as the black-haired goddess standing before her. She had been ready to strike at Nyx to protect herself. She had never punched someone before, had never even considered it, but every instinct she possessed had her on the verge of lashing out at the goddess of night.

Before Nyx could strike at her.

Nyx’s blue eyes narrowed on Persephone’s raised fists and then slowly lifted to lock with hers. “I received quite the tongue lashing from Hades about my behaviour. I have learned my lesson. I will not touch his pet again.”

Pet.

Persephone wanted to growl as Hades could at that term. She had thought of herself as his pet before, but to have another call her it was insufferable.

“What do you want?” Persephone bit out, keeping her fists up and her distance from Nyx.

Nyx’s delicate black eyebrows rose slightly. “You, gone from this realm.”

Persephone’s eyes widened and then she frowned at the goddess. “Why? Because you want Hades for yourself?”

The thought she might set fire to Persephone’s blood and had her fingers curling into tighter fists.

“By the gods, no. I have my own husband to satisfy my carnal needs, daughter of Demeter.” The way Nyx’s lips curled into a hint of a smile had Persephone faltering, that knowing look she levelled on Persephone wrecking her confidence. Nyx knew about her, and she doubted she had learned of her from Hades. No. The wicked light that glittered in Nyx’s eyes said she had uncovered details about her, things she believed would be a disadvantage to Persephone, which meant Nyx had been seeking information on her.

Suddenly, what Hades had told Nyx made a dreadful sort of sense.

He had sent his subordinate to Olympus.

Was that the reason he had stayed away?

Surely Nyx had told him the things she had learned upon her return, and now Hades knew what a poor match Persephone was for him, how everyone in Olympus looked down on her and no mortal worshipped her. By the gods, he probably wanted rid of her, and that was why Nyx wanted her gone from the realm.

She was here to carry out her god-king’s orders and remove her from the Underworld, freeing Hades to find a more suitable queen. Her heart took a direct hit at that thought, her hands dropping as a strange kind of hopelessness washed through her to numb her.

Nyx’s eyes narrowed further, her fine eyebrows knitting, and she canted her head to her right. “Such a weak little thing. I can see your false confidence falling away, revealing the goddess everyone painted you to be, one without spine and strength. You truly are unfit for him.”

Persephone glowered at her, covering the sharp jab of pain in her heart with the scowl, and the way Nyx scoffed shattered what confidence and strength she had mustered.

“Spare me the act. It might fool Hades, but it does not fool me.” Nyx’s gaze moved beyond her, settling on the dormant volcanoes, and disappointment laced her voice, mingling with a hint of disgust and anger. “You are no good for my god-king. Look at how the Underworld has changed since your arrival. I thought it unusual at first, but nothing to be concerned about… but then I learned of you… and I know this is not just something that will die down and the realm will settle again.”

Nyx lifted her right arm and Persephone flinched, the automatic, fearful reaction tugging a cold and knowing smile from the goddess as she casually swung her arm to point towards the glow Persephone had been studying.

“Entire districts are burning,” Nyx’s voice lowered to a fierce growl, “and you are responsible.”

Persephone shook her head, not quite following the goddess. “How am I responsible? I have done nothing—”

“Nothing?” Nyx spat, cutting her off, and the delicate beauty of her face darkened into a scowl, the pale blue that ringed her pupils brightening. “You are changing Hades, and there are gods and goddesses of this world who see it as an opportunity to seize power. Hades is blind to it… blinded by his infatuation… his obsession with you. If this is allowed to continue, then Hadeswillfall.”

A gasp escaped Persephone as her head whipped towards the distant glow and her heart constricted, her right fist coming to rest between her breasts against it. Nyx wasn’t here to remove her on Hades’s order, which meant he either didn’t know the information Nyx had gathered on her, or he did and he didn’t care that she was inferior to him in every way. A weak bud of hope sprouted in her heart and struggled to blossom, faltering as she stared at the blaze beyond the black mountains, Nyx’s words ringing in her ears.

She didn’t want to be Hades’s downfall. She didn’t want him to lose his realm. She hadn’t been able to understand his attachment to this dark world at first, but over the time they had spent together, she had come to realise it meant everything to him. It wasn’t just duty that had him dealing with the souls of the dead—it was a strange sort of passion. He was passionate about his realm, and protective of it too. He shared a deep and powerful bond with it that was unlike anything she had seen in another god, even his brothers. That bond he had was born of love.

He loved this realm.

She couldn’t allow him to lose it, not because of her.

“What can I do?” Her brow furrowed as her gaze sought Nyx, a wild kind of desperation flooding her to have her almost taking a step towards the goddess. “I can help him. If I had my powers—”

---