Page 19 of Hades and Persephone: Keeper of Sins

“Yeah,” Leuce agrees. “I’d like to know the same.”

“I asked, and she said yes.”

“It’s not something you’d expect a girl her age to agree to,” Leuce observes, sharp as a tack. “She’s had two encounters with you and she’s agreed to move in. At this rate, she’ll be home in the Underworld within the week.”

“That would be nice, Hades,” Minthe says dreamily. “You won’t be so weak anymore.”

The mention of my ever-waning strength grates on my nerves like it always does. “It’s not that simple.”

“What isn’t?” Leuce demands. “She clearly feels things for you.”

“You know the curse of the Fates as well as I do.” I spin to face the nymphs, barring Hecate and Charon, they are my oldest and most trusted friends. My family. “The consequences of Demeter’s actions have made this more complicated than simply finding her again.”

“Hades,” Minthe says softly.

My rage erupts in a booming roar that sends a tremor through the Tower. “She was drowned inThe Lethe.”

Silence meets my eruption in a wash of grief that trembles the bones under my flesh. Leuce is the first to move, daring to close the space between us. She is smart enough, however, to refrain from touching me. “She will remember you. You will make her remember.”

Minthe takes a hesitant step. “You will make her fall in love with you.”

“She has no interest in love.”

“Neither did she the first time.” Leuce smirks, but there’s sadness behind the act. “She won’t be able to help it, Hades. The fall is unavoidable.”

I had thought, with her return into my life, I wouldfind a stability the like I’d known before she’d been taken from me. An ease to rule that had been mine from the moment I helped capture the Titans.

I feel even less in control than I had in her absence. Because now, I know there will be forces at work that will try to pull her away from me. To steal her. And they will use any means at their disposal.

“Until I can take her to the Underworld, she will be in danger.”

Minthe’s face pinches in tight displeasure, but Leuce juts out her chin confidently. “We will protect her.”

“She won’t give up her archaeology program. If Demeter realizes she is here in Greece—” I can’t finish. An image of her wrath flashes in my mind. Persephone, her beautiful, pale flesh bound by the black roots Demeter called from beneath the blue apatite bed of the river Lethe.

The heat of Tartarus moves unbidden through my veins, sweat prickling my flesh.

“I can join the program,” Minthe’s sweet voice offers, sounding through the buzz of eternal flames that crackle in my ears.

Leuce’s head swivels to her mate. “That is an excellent idea. She hasn’t met you. She won’t suspect a thing.”

Minthe’s head bobs. “And I can protect her.”

If there is one thing Minthe is accustomed to warding off, it is Demeter and her spiteful attacks.

I meet my friends’ eyes, the fire cooling inside my blood. “I’ll arrange it.”

“I’ll pack.”

“Thank you, Minthe.”

“It’ll be my pleasure.” Her smile trembles. “I miss her, too.”

A flash of something possessive flares. Memories of before—of them with her—stab like thorns in my mind. My voice is rough. “I know.”

Chapter

Eleven

---