Page 68 of The Queen & the King

Kronos growls and the sound makes my hair on the back of my neck stand up. “If you will not join, I will take all you care about.”

“You can try,Titan,”my mother practically spits the word. “But you will find yourself back in the cell I released you from, your bastard son’s prisoner once again.”

“Careful, Demeter.” Kronos’s voice sounds different now. I can hear the danger. “It would be unwise to make an enemy of me.”

I continue to move downstairs, trying to peek over the banister.

My mother’s laugh is harsh. “How can you be my enemy when you are so far beneath my notice?”

My brows raise in surprise. How is she not scared of him?

I stretch more, trying to see, but I lose my footing and have to move down a step. The wood creaks loudly, and my breath catches, my whole body going tense.

I remain deathly still, hoping that they missed the noise and the conversation will continue, but Kronos suddenly appears in front of me. I thought he looked like Hades before, but now that I know Hades, now that I’ve spent hours looking at his face, memorizing him, it’s clear that there’s only the barest of similarities. Kronos’s face isn’t as handsome as Hades’. His green eyes are cruel, unlike the perfect blue sapphires ofHades’. Kronos has harsh lines etched into his face, aged from savageness or his time in prison.

Can’t wait to fucking send him back.I blink at that thought, but quickly focus on Kronos.

His cruel eyes look me over, but I refuse to shrink from his gaze. I harden my stare and use my position on the stairs to my advantage.

I have the high ground, bitch.

My mother hurries up the stairs, and though the stare-off feels like it’s been going on for hours, it’s only been seconds.

“Kronos.” My mother gasps, and when I look at her, I finally see some fear in her eyes.

Kronos continues looking me over, a maddening smirk curving his lips. “Well, well, well, it’s the little flower goddess that’s causing all the fuss.”

I look back at Kronos, trying to keep my gaze hard as a memory of a battlefield, a large crack splitting the ground, flits across my mind’s eye.

Kronos moves in closer, pulling my attention away from the memory I want to explore. “Hm… I don’t see it.”

I lift an eyebrow and tilt my head. “Oh, no. How will I go on?” I say flatly, glaring at him.

In a flash, Kronos grabs my wrist, his eyes glowing. My mother screams, trying to move around him, to pull me away, but Kronos shoves her against the wall.

I expect something to happen, to feel pain. I’m not sure what Kronos is trying to do, but I blink and look down at my wrist when nothing happens. Kronos tightens his hand on my wrist, squeezing it painfully, but still nothing happens. I look back at him, my eyebrows raised.

He snarls and slams my back against the wall, my head smacking hard. There’s a flash of bright light, and my head aches as my mind fills with… me. Memory after memory floods melike an internal movie reel. The human realm, Helios, Jackson, Mellie. Plutus Industries. The Underworld, Hekate, Thanatos, Berry, and… Hades.

I am Persephone Prosperina Plutus.

Wife of Hades.

Goddess of Dark Spring.

Queen of the Underworld.

I quickly school my face, though my rage is unbearable, no longer simmering or easily manageable. I want to destroy everything. I will destroy this whole fucking realm to get back to my own, to get back to my husband. My love. My king.

“What are you?” Kronos snarls in my face.

I’m about to react, knowing I’m about to blow my cover, when Kronos is yanked away from me and plunged into the ground, the earth below the house swallowing him. My heart slams against my chest, and I feel the prickling of the spines beneath my skin, but now is not the time. I need to regroup and find out what I’ve missed. I need to know if Mother still has Gaia’s power and the ability to hurt Hades.

The cracks along her cheeks are even more pronounced now. Fuck, how didn’t I see it before? She still has Gaia’s power, but she can’t handle it. I look away, the building rage overwhelming. I can’t even look at her. My whole body trembles with fury and a desperate longing for my husband.

“Well—” my mother starts.

I clench my fists. “Who was he? Another suitor?”

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