Page 82 of Queen of the Underworld

Fear he had lost Persephone, and then fear she was dead, and then fear from seeing her almost plucked from his reach by the wyvern, was responsible for the fatigue sweeping through him. That fear continued to beat inside him, chipping away at his remaining strength, but the moment he reached the forest and saw Persephone standing at the fringes of it, another branch held in a white-knuckle grip before her, it melted away.

Hades couldn’t help himself.

He strode right up to her and swept her into his arms as she dropped her weapon, clutching her to him as he banded one arm around her back and palmed the back of her head with his other hand.

Clinging to her.

He bent his head and breathed her in, and shivered when she brought her hands up and planted them against his back.

Holding him.

By the gods, her reaction made him greedy, made him want to keep hold of her and never let her go. He ached to savour this moment, to drink his fill of it before she realised what she had done and released him or pushed him away. The fear returned, only this time he feared her letting him go and stealing the pleasure of her touch from him.

He just needed to hold her a little longer.

He had almost lost her.

“Nyx,” he growled, unable to hold back the spike of anger that speared him as he thought about what might have happened if he hadn’t returned to the tower, no longer able to resist his need to see Persephone.

If he had been only minutes later, he might have lost his little goddess.

His love.

“I will kill her,” he snarled, his mind darkening, the abyss beckoning again as pleasing images of adding Nyx’s blood to the wyvern’s that covered him tempted him into teleporting to Tartarus. “As she tried to kill you.”

Persephone emerged from his embrace and gave a soft shake of her head as her green eyes sought his, but the anger and hurt in them were unmistakable. She could mask it all she wanted, but Nyx’s actions had wounded her.

His sweet, wonderfully diplomatic queen held her nerve as she gazed up at him and spoke words he could see had taken her a lot of effort to keep calm and even.

“She worries you will lose this realm and that all of these troubles… they are caused by me. Nyx only wanted me gone so you would not be dethroned. I do not want that to happen either.” She placed one hand on his chest and her gaze fell to it, and her scarlet eyebrows slowly lowered as she murmured, “She did try to kill me, didn’t she?”

And then her eyes leaped up to meet his.

“But that is no reason to kill her.” Persephone pressed her fingertips into his chest. “I am not dead, and Nyx is a valuable ally to you, and perhaps she is right about some things—”

The way she cut herself off and averted her gaze made him want to demand to know what things Nyx had been right about. He frowned as he recalled what the goddess had said to him about Persephone being unworthy of him, and had to clench his teeth to hold back a growl as he realised Nyx had said those things to her too, filling her head with doubts and clawing away her confidence, stripping it from her just as others had before her.

“I understand you must punish her. It was wrong of Nyx to act as she has and it is tantamount to treason,” her gaze sought his again, “but do not kill her. I do not want her death on my hands, or you to lose a powerful ally you might need in the future. I worry that she might attempt to overthrow you if you are not firm with her. When she teleported me here, I feared she might seek your head to take your throne. Perhaps you could just teach her the error of her ways and remind her that you are king in this realm?”

His gentle little goddess. He basked in her tenderness and her light, unsure he had ever found a soul that was more good and beautiful than she was, but he also had to fight to hold back the tide of anger that swelled within him as he ran over her words and felt she was doubting his strength.

He barked out a laugh at that.

Framed her face with his palms and made sure her eyes remained on his as he gazed down at her and kept his voice soft, despite the darkness that raged within him and demanded he show her that he was strong, that she was wrong about him. She hadn’t meant to belittle him, but he couldn’t let her slight go uncorrected either.

“No god, goddess, or titan in this realm can overthrow me, my little goddess,” he husked as he held her gaze. “They are but irritating flies, buzzing around me, and easily crushed. My power here is absolute. You have no need to fear I will lose this handsome head of mine.”

She glanced beyond him to the remains of the wyvern, the look that graced her sublime features speaking to him and telling him she believed him because she had just witnessed it for herself.

He ran over everything she had said to him, picking out all the things that had shown the depth of her concern for him, and had strengthened his hope. Her unguarded words seared themselves on his soul, a balm that deepened the feelings he had for her, drawing them to the surface. He could almost believe she loved him.

And he might have lost her before ever hearing her speak to him as she had just now.

He might never have known she had feelings for him.

Whatever they were.

“I meant to return,” she whispered, snaring his attention and drawing the whole of his focus back to her just as his mind began to wander dark paths filled with pleasing thoughts of what he was going to do to Nyx as punishment. He stared down at Persephone, not sure he had heard her correctly. She shyly met his gaze. “I thought to bring an army with me to help you.”

---