Page 76 of Flowers Near Me

“Titans,” she hissed and snap her attention to Hades. “Why is this happening?”

Hades tilted his head to get a look and let out a light chuckle. “You’re blossoming.” He smiled at her, but her glare had him clarifying, “I don’t know why, but they’re impressive. No minor goddess could conjure a living thing like this from nothing. By the Fates, I’m not certain my brothers or I could either.”

It was quite the compliment coming from a powerful god, but that didn’t mean it was true. She reached for her power, imagining it centered in her heart, and only felt a dull buzz. Did it even matter if she had magic or not if she couldn’t harness it?

Persephone’s facehurt from laughing during the morning interview. It turned out that the first reporter they spoke with was a former classmate of hers from grade school. During media training, Persephone thought the photo of the woman looked familiar but didn’t recognize her last name. As soon as she went to greet Persephone on set, she gave her maiden name and it clicked.

With more energy than she had at the start of the day, Persephone went back to the green room to gather her bag and thermos. Halfway slumped on the couch—which still had a garden of poppies blooming on it—was a passed-out crew member.

“Oh Fates!” She rushed to the crew member’s side to check her face. Thankfully, she was still breathing, but despite Persephone shaking the woman’s shoulders and calling to her, she didn’t wake.

“Help!” she shouted, and Hades appeared next to her.

“Hades, I can’t get her to wake up. Are there medics here?”

Hades narrowed his eyes on the unconscious crew member, then placed his palm on her cheek. “She’s alive, but…” He sniffed the air and pursed his lips. “I think she’s been poisoned.”

“Oh Fates… oh Fates… I’ll call the hospital.” Fumbling with her phone, she dialed the emergency number. As she relayed the scene to the dispatcher and flagged down a producer—who knew the studio’s address—Hades moved the unconscious woman to a different couch, away from the poppy-covered one.

The producer checked on his crew mate, then stared at the poppies. “Why is the furniture covered in flowers?” He stepped closer to examine them, but his legs buckled beneath him, and he crumpled to the floor.

Persephone and Hades shot a look at one another.

“It’s the poppies, Sephy. Let’s get both of them out of this room.”

With her phone still pressed to one ear, she nodded. Hades carried out the two studio employees. They waited with the unconscious pair and a small group of staff who’d gathered to check on them before the medics arrived. Within minutes of treatment, both parties were awake and coherent.

In a low whisper, Hades said to Persephone, “Your poppies, Sephy. I think they may emit a poisonous fume.”

“I was worried that was it.” Her face went hot and sweat broke out against her skin. This was terrible. Not only could she not control her magic, but it was the kind that could harm others. She was dangerous. Would this mean she could no longer visit her niece, Helena? How could she trust herself around the girl if she knocked out grown adults? Somehow, both her and Hades were fine. “Why weren’t we affected?”

Hades shrugged. “Well, you’d be immune to your own poison, I’d think, and I’m your soulmate so it wouldn’t harm me.”

“Hades.”She groaned. “We need to get rid of those flowers, but I don’t know how.”

He caressed her shoulders, then said, “Leave it to me, love.”

Stepping into the green room, he released dark, billowy smoke from his hands and all the poppies turned to dust. Like sand funneling down an hourglass, the remaining powder traveled towards Hades’ shoes. He conjured a glass vial and held it close to the floor. The dusty remnants near his feet gathered in a tornado and flew right into the small glass enclosure. Corking the vial, he handed it to Persephone. “Want to keep it? Poison can come in handy, you know.”

Her mouth flew open. “No! Just get rid of it.”

With a snap, the vial disappeared, and Hades laughed. “Poisonous flowers. That’s quite a gift, little goddess.”

Persephone crossed one arm over her stomach and covered her mouth.I could’ve killed those two people.Bile rose in her throat, but she closed her eyes and tried to will it back down. “They could’ve died.”

“You think so? It looks like they passed out from a sedative. And even if they had, we could’ve fixed that.” Sometimes Persephone forgot that life and death were trivial to the gods, like the flip of a switch. Not Persephone, though. Killing wasn’t in her nature.Or is it?

Was she the opposite of her mother, a force of ruin instead of life?

“Sephy? Let’s call off the next interview and go back home. You’ve been under immense pressure and anyone in your position would need a break.” Hades pushed her hair back from her face, then rubbed her shoulder.

“No. Let’s check on those two and then finish the afternoon interview.” Stopping after the first interview wasn’t an option for her. It would take more than a scare to keep her from completing the workday.

Other than some lingering lightheadedness, both the crew member and producer said they felt fine. Apologies spilled from Persephone, but neither one was upset with her. Their graciousness made her feel worse. Couldn’t they be angry with her? She’d poisoned them, for Fate’s sake. A little anger wouldn’t hurt.

One of the crew members kept repeating that she was honored to beblessed by Olympus’ newest goddess.Sweat beaded on Persephone’s brow at the assertion. She wasn’t a goddess. She was Persephone—the executive who liked gardening, spending time with her sister and niece, and spent too many hours wasting time on her phone. The poppies were a fluke, nothing more. She just needed to remain calm and move past this.

CHAPTER TWENTY NINE

---