Page 45 of The Queen & the King

“I know. I’ll find you. I’ll always find you,” Hades says, pressing desperate kisses along my cheeks and jaw.

Find me? What does that mean? I frown. “Hm?”

Hades pulls back, a smile on his lips, but there’s sadness in his eyes.

“Nothing,” he says, kissing my nose and cheeks.

I moan softly at the small sparks of electricity every time his lips meet my skin.

“We have to go back,” he says, nuzzling my cheek and sighing.

My stomach knots at his words. No, we shouldn’t be apart. We belong together.

“No,” I protest, tightening my fingers in his hair.

Hades slams his lips to mine and slowly pulls out of me. I shiver at the feeling of emptiness. I feel his release trickle out of me, and I moan at the idea that I’m full of him.

“Wait…”

Hades kisses me again before shifting to his knees. He stands and offers me his hand. “As much as I’m desperate to stay with you, we can’t.”

“But…” I try to come up with some excuse that we need to stay on the beach for a little longer. Five minutes, maybe. An hour. Eternity?

Hades’ lips twitch, and he waves his hand, dressing us instantly. He takes my hand and pulls me to him, leaning in for a kiss. I close my eyes, anticipating the feeling of his lips against mine, but it never comes.

A furious snarl has my eyes snapping open. Hades’ hand is yanked from mine, and he is thrown across the beach.

Twenty-Eight

Hades

MY FINGERS ARE TORN FROM HERS, THE BLOW THROWING ME ACROSS THE BEACH.Something is always tearing us apart, always pulling us out of reach, too far to touch. My breath leaves me in a pained whoosh as my back hits a tree. My sight blurs as I try to focus through the pain. That fucker definitely broke my shoulder when I hit the tree.

Persephone.

My vision clears immediately at the thought of her in danger, and I focus on the being that had emerged from the ocean. His body is a million different cascading shades of blue, his eyes completely black. He is hulking and monstrous.Titan.Oceanus, Titan of the River that encircles the world.

He strides toward Persephone. Adrenaline floods my bloodstream, and I throw my hand out, hurling my power at him. “Run!” I order Persephone, closing the distance between us. He’s too close to her, far too close.

My power harmlessly bounces off him as he turns his body to water, becoming the very embodiment of his calling. He summons a wave, hitting me in the chest and pinning me to theground. It’s so easy for him to corral me. He is darkness and the ocean. He’s seen the very depths of the watery abyss, making him practically immune to my abilities.

I slash with my claws at the watery fist holding me, pinning me, but it glances off harmlessly. My rib cracks under the force of the tsunami, pummeling me into the sand. I cry out in pain, blood staining my lips as bone punctures one of my lungs.

Persephone, run!I want to scream the warning, but I can’t breathe. The air is turning to blood in my throat.

Oceanus storms toward me, his body still ever-shifting water, every color of the ocean painted on his skin. He smirks at me, his teeth made of dark coral, and I know his breath smells like salty brine.

My vision flickers, the edges turning black. Did she get away? Is she safe?

Black vines shoot through Oceanus’s chest from behind, lessening his hold on me. I gulp at the air greedily, making up for what I lost during the hit. It won’t be long before he recovers from Persephone’s attack. I need to figure out how to take advantage of this.

Oceanus and I stare at the vines protruding from his chest as they begin to rip the Titan apart.

“Release him,” Persephone hisses, her voice deadly as poison.

Oceanus sneers at her, and Persephone splits him in two, right down the middle. I gasp as the hold he has on me disappears, blood filling my mouth as I cough violently.

Hurry up and fucking heal.

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