Page 67 of Hades and Persephone: Crown of Souls

“The funny thing about the realms is how truly close the living realm is to the dead. It’s a little earth, a little nothing, and the worlds collide. From the years she’d visited me, she knew the patterns Hades kept. The way he stalked the borders of Tartarus between his sessions of torture. She aligned her garden of flowers that Persephone had grown to adore so deeply, with where Hades roamed in the Underworld. She spent so much time in that garden, plucking flowers, evenIcould scent her, and it was not my soul that had been woven to hers. It was only a matter of time before?—”

“Before he took me.”

“And he did, didn’t he? He couldn’t help himself, really. He was driven by a madness handcrafted by the Moirai.”

“But she wanted me to kill him.”

“Of course, she did.” Uranus scowls. “You were never supposed to love him more than you loved her. When sherealized you would not end him for her, she realized she lost control.”

“And the Moirai sanctioned her death.” I hiss. The Moirai wanted me dead as well. They must, to have sanctioned all that they had. To plant the ultimate weapon—my bargained soul—inside the one meant to end me.

“I cannot answer for the Moirai in this. I only know that both Demeter and Zeus believed that in your rebirth, the ties that bound your soul to his would be severed.” He appraises us. “It appears The Lethe is not quite as powerful as we believed it to be, is it?”

“And you’re just willing to turn on them now? So easily?” Persephone rasps, hatred spilling from her in waves.

“Oh, you think the millennia that has passed, the millennia that I waited, in torture after torture, prison after prison, that I am now turning so easily?” An ancient wrath hums from the soul inside Hecate. “They promised me reprieve, and they abandoned me. After I sacrificed the souls of power I claimed, toyou. Totheirweapon.” Uranus laughs a laugh of bitter spite. “They failed me first.”

“You’re disgusting.”

Uranus’ black eyes land sharply on Persephone. “But you will, my dear child, see his bargain through. If you fail, the blood he pulled from me so long ago will corrode him, and by extension the Underworld, to nothing.”

At her horrified gasp, I ask, “What do they want with the Underworld? With the Crown of Souls?”

Uranus laughs. It’s a full, wild, unhinged sound of pure hell. “How many centuries did you spend loathing your placement in the Underworld?” Hecate shakes her head and rolls her jaw in a move that is pure masculine energy. “The Underworld is the true power of the realms. The foundation of the Underworld was crafted by Chaos. In its veins surges the power of the MotherGoddess. The power of her soul allowed itself to be wielded in the completion of the realm, offering even more power. A kind of power in which Olympus has never possessed. Zeus hungered for that power as he hungered for the power of Atlantis, for both would allow him to access the power of Chaos. Something both you and Poseidon are blind to.” His black eyes fasten on me. “With the Crown of Souls, Demeter would assure herself a place at Zeus’ side, for she would command an army of the dead far greater than any army Zeus could amass. He would rule the Underworld and Chaos’ power, finally, truly forsaking Hera.”

“That’s the goal?” Persephone breathes. “Demeter is in love with Zeus.”

“After years pulling apart the truths that linger between their lies, I believe this is the case.”

“They want to rule together.”

“Demeter wants to rule together,” I murmur through the racing of my mind. “Zeus is using her like he uses everyone. His mistake was the trickery that bound me to the Underworld. He wanted the Golden City of Olympus for himself, because he didn’t know the true power was in the Underworld. He will discard her as soon as he has what he wants.”

Persephone spins in my arms and I am stilled in horror by the blue of her lips. “Not if she wears the Crown of Souls.”

I don’t think as I sweep her up in my arms and exit the way we came through the swirling paint of the canvas.

Chapter

Twenty-Eight

Persephone

“Hecate is still in there, Rhadamanthus,”Hades clips, holding me close to his chest as he moves away from the massive man who waits in the Tower for us. I recall him welcoming me into the Tower of Pluto that first day for my interview.It feels so long ago.My vision blurs as Rhadamanthus nods. “Make sure she is well.”

I hear a faint promise from Rhadamanthus as Hades moves quickly. Heat pricks at my skin like a burn and frost swims in my mind, splintering my thoughts. The cold is so deep inside me, I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to pull the frosty talons free from where they spur deep in my bones.

Awareness slips in and out of focus. I’m in the elevator.

My world is black and cold—like the eyes of my sire.

I’m in the condo.

My world is black.

Hades is running through a stairwell.

My world is cold—so, so cold.

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