Page 31 of The Queen & the King

“Do you want me to prove it to you, Persephone?” he snarls. “You spread your legs for him easily enough, but he cannot help you here.” His lips pull into a horrible, evil smile. “Even the king cannot save you.”

The pain dulls at his words, and I frown.

Spread my legs? He cannot help me here?

“What are you talking about?” I ask, but deep down, I feel like I already know the answer. It’s as if my heart beats to the rhythm ofHades, Hades, Hades, Hades.

My skin tingles with the anticipation of hearing his name, of acknowledging him in real life.

Adonis smirks. “I see you really have nothing but flowers in there. Your mother did well.” He releases my thigh, the blood rushing back into my leg nearly as painful as his grip. “It doesn’t matter. You will give me what I need. You will fulfill your purpose. The only thing you are good for.”

“Purpose?” I ask, my stomach once again knotting and twisting.

“Heirs. You will give me as many as I want.”

I snarl quietly. “You willneverhave me in that way.”

Adonis laughs, throwing his head back. The sound makes my skin crawl. “Your mother has all but guaranteed it. Even offered me the chance to sample the goodsbeforethe wedding.”

My heart stops in my chest, and my lips part. I am in complete disbelief, and yet this is also completely believable.

“She-she wouldn’t…” I stutter.

Adonis sneers, leaning in. “She is desperate to get rid of you. Your mother understands that your only use is producing grandchildren for her. She hopes they aren’t as disappointing as you.”

I can’t stop my flinch, though the words are not new or surprising to me. But hearing them from someone other than my mother adds another layer of humiliation that I have yet to experience.

He pulls back, the pride clear on his face. Oh, how he loves using his words to wound me. The wrath within me churns, the shame adding a new level to it. I don’t just want to run from Adonis. I want to destroy him. Adonis focuses on the waiter, ordering for both of us, but all I can hear is the sound of my rage rushing through me.

I hear nothing for the rest of the meal, and I barely touch my food. Of course, it consists of nothing but vegetables grown in our garden. My mother had them delivered for tonight. I force myself to become completely numb to stop myself from smashing a wine glass and using the shards to slash Adonis’s throat. Never have I felt anger like this. I didn’t even know I had it in me. I’m the woman who cries when a flower dies, and here I am, going through different scenarios for how I could obliterate Adonis, and I don’t feel a drop of guilt.

In a fury-filled daze, Adonis pulls me to my feet and slams his lips to mine. My whole body recoils. I pull back, just managing to refrain from wiping the taste and feel of him from my lips. I will not make a scene.

He winks at me, spanking me hard on the ass before leaving. My mother hurries over, beaming. I swear she has never looked so proud of me.

“Well, that went well!” she chirps, looking me over, but there’s a wariness in her eyes that I identify easily.

I look at her, locking my gaze with hers, watching for every emotion, every micro-expression. “Did you tell Adonis he couldsampleme before the wedding?” I ask, my voice surprisingly even.

My mother narrows her eyes, lifting her chin as if about to challenge me. “Does that sound like something I would say, sweetling?” she asks, her voice light but with an undercurrent of a warning.

Her face is once again fixed in that faux smile, but she is too slow. I see the deception.

Twenty-One

Persephone

THE PREVIOUSLY PERFECT EVENING ON OLYMPUSnow feels thick with tension as my mother and I look at one another. She scrutinizes my face, trying to identify what I am desperately trying to hide. I look away, breaking eye contact, feigning submission. I already know that’s what she wants. It’s what she’s waiting for, what she’s always waiting for, but I can’t pretend I didn’t see what she tried so hard to mask. I saw the deception. I saw the lie.

My mother, mollified by my looking away, brushes her hands down the sides of her brown dress. “We must hurry home. You have an important meeting.”

She roughly links her arm through mine and walks briskly, practically pulling me along. I glance at her out of the corner of my eye. Her chin is lifted, and she once again seems to stare down the whole of the mountain. Everyone seems to quiver under her influence.

Who could I be meeting with now? Could Hades have been successful in arranging a date? No… Mother looks far too at ease for that.

“Mother?” I ask, ensuring my shoulders are back, but my eyes are glued to the ground.

“Yes?”

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