Page 35 of The Queen & the King

“I willneverlet that happen.”

I don’t give a fuck about any natural order, any realm, or any war. When it comes to my queen being harmed, I will show no mercy. I’ll turn to the darkness I’ve suppressed for two millennia and wipe the fucking world clean. I’ll rip the stars from the sky in a shroud of black until everyone is as lost in the void as I am.

She shifts closer to my side, moving onto her knees. I turn to face her, hoping to conceal the way my mind is imagining the world as nothing but a vacant void where I could start anew with her, with no one and nothing to interfere.

She brushes her lips against mine, her touch as soft as a butterfly, uncertain of her welcome. I deepen the kiss, needing her to ground me and remind me not to give in to the darkness, no matter how much it beckons me.

She pulls back after a moment. “Something’s wrong. It feels like something is missing, and I?—”

I gently touch my fingertips to her lips, stopping the deluge of thoughts. I know where this is going.

“Don’t finish that sentence,” I caution. Her eyes are filled with distress, but she doesn’t speak. “Just listen.”

She nods, and I lower my fingers from her lips, though I can’t resist dragging them along the seam, giving her a hint of my skin’s taste.

“Something has been taken from you, but if you push too hard, it fights back.”

It flays your mind until you let out agonizing screams that echo in my head for days.

She frowns more, the lines around her mouth becoming severe, but she stays quiet.

“Remember how I told you about the war?” She nods shortly, that frown never dropping. “You’ve been a player in it since the beginning.”

They think you’re a useless pawn, Persephone. Let them until it’s too late for them to flee.Trap them in their arrogance and shatter them with your power.

She swallows, her face flickering with fear.

“Does it frighten you?”

She exhales sharply, her eyes darting across my face, analyzing every minute expression. “Who am I?”

Goddess of Spring to many. Queen to some. Wife to one.

“Who do you want to be?”

She sighs and bristles, some of her old self shining through. “Never a straight answer.”

Twenty-Three

Hades

ILOOK UP AT THE SKY, MARVELING AT IT FOR A MOMENT.“Do you remember how I said I had a queen and lost her?”

You. It’s you.

She nods, disturbing the air with her scent. “Then you made out with me, so you can’t be that committed to her.”

I blink before letting out a stunned laugh, looking at her. Only Persephone could make a comment like that. Only she could make me laugh right now.

“I am very committed to her,” I respond, taking a long look at her face. Her hair shines even here in the dream, and her eyes sparkle with mischief as she raises a brow.

“Then you’re terrible at it.”

I groan, falling back on the ground and throwing an arm over my face. “You’re still such a menace.”

This is an echo of her. It’s as if I’m seeing a picture of someone I knew from long ago. She is the person I love, but I don’t recognize the person in the photo. It is a snapshot of Persephone, and she has no idea who I am. She has never trulylived. She’s only survived, and there’s nothing I can do.

“Berry.”

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