Page 43 of Hades and Persephone: Crown of Souls

Sheneverthrew down with me. Never gave me her emotions. They were always under lock and key. Hidden far too deep inside her for me to catch even a glimpse.

Now, she's an open fucking book, and the pages are aflame.

She's mad at me, that much is obvious.

But how can I agree that she is my soul mate when such a thing is not possible? At least, not in the way that she thinks.

If our souls are tethered, it's been done to manipulate. If our souls are tethered, it means we are vulnerable to the Moirai.

If our souls are tethered, we are at the harrowing mercy of the Fates.

Such a thing is a terrifying thought, even to me.

The idea thatshecould be at the mercy of the Fates, now, again, after all this time—after they sanctioned her brutal murder—after they cut the cord of her life and left her soul to wander aimlessly, without purpose for centuries in the Underworld alone?—

I cannot forgive them that sin.

If it were within my means, I would punish them.

Agitation rings from Thanatos. It spills from every pale pore that crafts the God of Death, seeping into the room and scenting it with the acrid scent of a Reaper come before one’s time.

I haven't seen him this wild since the first years after Persephone’s murder, when he carried the weight of her lost soul on his shoulders. It's no wonder, if I'm being honest. It is the first time he's sat at a table with Hermes since I banished him.

I when I lost Persephone, I'd been overwhelmed with my own grief. My own anger. The toxic spill of rage that tainted every ounce of my blood left me blind to the fact that Thanatos grieved, too.

He grieved the loss of his queen, yes. He grieved the fact that he had been unable to find her wandering soul where it roamed, untethered and unrecognized in the shadows.

But more, he'd grieved the loss of his lover.

Now he cannot even look at Hermes.

I don't think Hermes has torn his gaze from Thanatos once.

My eyes drift from the two males to where Persephone sits. Her back is stiff. Her eyes are cold. She refuses to meet my gaze, even though I had felt her eyes on me in the moments before I slid mine to her.

I sigh, and push from the chair to stand. “Demeter has disliked me from the beginning. Her feelings regarding me, is not news. The fact she tried to employ Persephone tokillme…” I pause to mull this thought over. With a tap of one finger against the table, a dull thud echoes in the silence. Right now, one could hear a pin drop, I am certain. I murmur low, “Now, thatisinteresting.”

“Interesting?” Leuce scoffs after a beat. “I call it diabolical.”

Hypnos slides his eyes to Leuce. “Has Demeter ever been anything other than diabolical?”

Leuce rolls her eyes. “You know what I mean.”

Hypnos winks at her before his gaze slides to Minthe. He gets a smolder that is exclusive to the God of Dreams and waggles his brows. Minthe wets her lips.

I bite back a second sigh. If there is a soul who's gotten more ass than Hypnos, I don't know it.

The trio make plans to meet up later while Thanatos avoids Hermes’ eyes. Hecate hasn’t spoken a word, but I’ve noted she looks significantly healthier, her skin not so thin.

For Persephone’s part, she glares at the lot of us. She hasn’t even deigned to touch the pomegranate treat Maya brought for her. At her back, Noc, Jas, and Prim stand sentry. She has yet to see them in their Cerberus form.

I’m honestly not sure how that would go. In her mind, they are pups.

She has no idea the wreckage they are capable of.

“Enough.” I place my hand to the table, and every pair of eyes settles on me. A heavy silence stretches over the room as I pin the little goddess with my eyes. Her lovely features harden, and Ibite back my third sigh. “Persephone, I need you to run through your dream again.”

She huffs. “I've done it multiple times already.”

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