Page 80 of The Queen & the King

“Hades,”the wind whispers back.

I need to do it for myself. Let go for myself. Tears mix with the sweat on my body, the dark emotions wanting to take control. My teeth grind.Fate needs the Dark Spring. The Destroyer of Worlds. The Iron Queen.

A couple more vines are ripped from my skin to be sucked into the cyclone.

I open my eyes, locking on Nyx’s, which are completely black, her hair whipping around her face. “It won’t leave completely!”

“You’re still holding on!” Nyx shouts back. “The power is not your love for her! Trust in fate!”

“Fate has never been a friend! It put me in a prison, on a battlefield, on a throne!” Tears blur my eyes. The hold on her hands is the only thing that keeps me from being consumed by the cyclone.

Her nails dig into my hands. “Fate gave you Persephone. Fate is fighting for you both. Join. The. Fight.”

I keep my eyes on hers, and my mouth slowly opens, letting out the broken roar coiled inside me. The darkness rips from my skin, consumed by the cyclone and vanishing into the world. My strength disappears, and my eyes roll up before I collapse. This time, the darkness is welcome.

I blinkmy eyes open and lift my hand, moving my fingers, seeing all the vines are still gone.

“It worked,” I whisper.

“You no longer possess the power,” Nyx says, and my eyes drift to her. She is staring up at the starry ceiling again.

I struggle to sit up, my strength completely sapped. “It’s on its way back to Persephone?”

“It will find her,” she confirms.

I stand slowly, forcing my body to work through sheer force of will. “You won’t enter the war,” I assure her. “The treaty will remain intact.”

She nods slightly. “It is not our war.”

“I had a dream where I was confronted by all pantheons’ Gods of Fate,” I say, watching the Primordial’s face for any hint of her thoughts. “They warned me that something is coming. That this is merely a skirmish of little note.”

Her face doesn’t change, not even a flicker, nor does she pull her gaze from the stars. “Nothing is certain when it comes to the future. Only the past is written in stone.”

I move closer to her, watching her. “Did you ever doubt your decision to hand over this realm?”

Did you ever doubt me?

“There is no place for doubt. The decision was easy.”

I blink in surprise, studying her profile. “I wish I could live without doubt.”

“Stop wishing for it, and simply do it.”

My mouth gapes slightly at her answer. I can’t even form an appropriate response before Nyx vanishes in a flash of starlight, leaving me alone.

Forty-Seven

Persephone

ISIT BACK ON MY HEELS LOOKING AT MY ROSES WITH ADMIRATION.They are so vibrant and strong. They would be fierce, too, if they were allowed to keep their thorns. I tilt my head and study them. They’re not any weaker without their thorns. They just look more unassuming, just like me. When I was without my memory and my tenacity, I didn’t look strong, but I was. It was still in there.

I reach out to brush my fingers over the petals when everything goes black, and my whole body tenses. The only awareness I have is of the darkness within me vibrating excitedly. It feels like it’s beckoning to something. My body arches and my nerve endings spark. It’s not pain. It feels good and powerful. I feel the darkness fill me, but it doesn’t eclipse the light. Somehow, it makes it even brighter. For the first time since I left the Underworld, I feel my full power, and my whole body sighs in relief.

“Persephone!” my mother calls. I can tell by her tone that she is irritated. “Why are you bothering with those roses?”

I bristle. My vision clears, and I glance at her, the rage bubbling, the spikes pinching beneath my skin. I take a breathbefore saying, “What would you rather I tend, Mother?” I ask, hearing the slight edge in my voice. My mother looks at me, and I can see the smallest glimmer of suspicion in her eyes, but she pushes it away.

“While the vegetables need pruning, you could dedicate this time to accentuating your figure,” she throws back at me.

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