Page 2 of The Queen & the King

I nod, my jaw tight.

Mellie takes a step back, her head moving side to side slightly, almost out of sync. The voices in her head are no doubt shouting.

“You could never wake up,” she hisses, moving farther away with each word.

I lock eyes with her. “I am aware.”

It is worth the risk to see her, to talk to her.

“There must be another way,” she insists, still backing away from me.

I look between the two gods. “I need someone to put me under and another to pull me out.”

Dreamwalking is not like speaking to Persephone through her dreams, like when I was trapped. Not only were we in the same physical realm, but our bond made it easy to connect. The bond Demeter snapped. My stomach rolls when I reach out for her familiar warmth, but instead, I find nothing but cold, aching loneliness.

“I’ll need time to prepare,” Morpheus states.

Mellie backs almost into the wall. “No. We’re not doing this. The risk is too great.”

I close the distance, grabbing Mellie’s shoulders. “Please.” I press my forehead to hers. “I have never asked you for anything, but I need her.”

She frowns. “I understand that, Hades. But this realm needs you. We need to exhaust other avenues before we jump into something so… dangerous.”

I pull back, grinding my teeth. “What other avenues?”

“We find out what’s happening on Olympus.”

Morpheus scoffs. Again, the only emotion he ever shows is when it involves Melinoë. “You think they’ll open their golden gates to you?”

Mellie snarls at him, “Do not condescend to me, Morpheus. Take your bitch ass insecurities and back the fuck up.”

Morpheus just blinks at her in shock, his mouth slightly open. He clearly wasn’t expecting that from the Goddess of Nightmares.

I growl, “You want to send your boyfriend to Olympus?”

Mellie growls back at me, “Not my boyfriend. But yes. Helios could go on a little scouting mission.”

I look between the two of them. “You have one day.”

Both gods vanish from my sight, leaving me achingly alone. Alone with nothing else to do but feed this growing anger, this growing darkness, until it could reach through to the tallest part of Olympus and rip the Goddess of Harvest in two.

Two

Hades

ALONE THE DARKNESS STARTS TO PRESS IN ON ME.I look at the bed with its sheets still tossed from our bodies hours before. I take a small step closer and reach for her pillow. Lifting it to my nose, I bury my face in it.

With my eyes squeezed shut, I can erase the last hour and forget everything. I can believe that when I open my eyes, she’ll be here, and I will see her dark hair with that hidden fire lurking between the strands. She will look up at me with those eyes, the sun shining on a blue sky, twinkling with a laugh or exasperated with me. Yet when I open my eyes, I can no longer pretend.

The darkness inside me trembles, trying to shield me from reality. A world where my fated queen slipped through my fingers because I was not strong enough to fight my enemy, where I wasn’t smart enough to predict her movements so I could prepare for the coming conflict. I cling to anger, putting the pillow down on the bed and turning away.

My eyes catch on Persephone’s discarded negligee draped over the back of the chair. Her brush sits on the vanity, several strands of her hair wrapped in the bristles. The marks of the lifewe had together, only a few precious moments. It is a glimpse of the life we should have had for the rest of eternity.

The rage flickers again, close to being eclipsed by heartbreaking despair. My breath is sharp, each one painful, coming faster and faster. She’s gone. I can’t get her back. I’m too weak.

I stumble to the wall, catching myself in time to slide down and pull my knees into my chest. I cover my face with my hands, trying to regain control, but it’s like trying to stop a flood with a single towel. The more I fight it, the faster it comes.

My breath only comes faster and more painfully. The darkness cloaks me, trying to shield and comfort me. But there is no comfort in shadows. They’re cold and hollow. They’re not her.

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