Page 87 of The Queen & the King

I love you. I want you home soon.

Persephone

I love you too. I need to be home soon.

Hades

What do you want to do first?

I think for a moment.There are so many things I want to do with Hades. We had such a short time together in our realm, and we spent a lot of it separated or fighting. Not anymore because we are a united front now. We have grown and adapted. We have the rest of the time to be together.

Persephone

Spend all day in bed with you.

Hades

We could do that…on our honeymoon?

I grinat my phone like a teenager in love for the first time. Ideas for our honeymoon flood my mind: where we’ll go, what we’ll see. I wonder if we could stretch an Underworld honeymoon and then a human realm one the next time we are there.

Persephone

Definitely on our honeymoon. But I think I want to change my answer. The VERY first thing I want to do is go on a walk with you and Berry. Just the three of us walking through our realm.

The next messageI receive is a selfie of Hades and Berry cuddling in bed. I laugh, thinking about how difficult it must have been to get all of Berry’s heads in the frame. But on closer inspection,both of Hades’ hands are tucked under his head, and there is a tendril of his shadows in the corner of the photo. I quickly make the photo my lock screen and curl up in a ball, trying to find comfort without Hades and Berry.

My eyes widen when I see a little ball of Hades’ shadows collect at the foot of the bed. I sit up, tilting my head when the shadows morph into a form. It looks like… a puppy Cerberus!

The tiny marshmallow clumsily pads up the bed, his goofy faces the same as the real Berry’s. He licks my cheek once before collapsing. He is surprisingly heavy, considering his small size. The precious little creature curls beside me and falls asleep in Cerberus’s favorite position. I smile at how all six of his ears stickup, looking far too big for his tiny body. My heart aches thinking about my boy at home and how he would have grown into his ears and paws.

I shift in the bed, smiling, the warmth of the mini Berry comforting me. I pick up my phone again and send Hades a selfie of me and shadow Berry before passing out.

Fifty

Persephone

ISTRETCH IN BED THE NEXT MORNING, MY BODY ACHING IN THE BEST WAY,sore from being wrapped around Hades last night. With every movement, I am reminded of our intimacy.

Shadow Cerberus snores softly beside me, and I scratch his middle head fondly before climbing out of bed. The sun is barely above the horizon, so it must be early, but I feel so awake and ready for the day. Every day brings me closer to going home, to being reunited with my true family.

I’ve barely made it to my dresser when there’s a knock on my door. I glance at it and whisper to shadow Cerberus to hide. At the command, he begins to disperse like smoke.

“Persephone?” My mother knocks again and starts to open my door. I glance around, making sure there are no remnants of Hades from the night before. I’m vaguely concerned that she may scent him, but it seems my concerns are unfounded when I finally see her. Her skin is pale, almost gray, and the cracks have deepened. Her eyes look almost sunken in.

“Oh, you’re awake. Shall we go for a stroll?” she asks, and I can hear the exhaustion in her voice.

I nod. “Yes, Mother.” I tilt my head, looking at her closer, noticing that her eyes are bloodshot and she is much slimmer than usual.

Gaia’s power will kill her.

“Mother, are you all right? You look terrible.” My words are laced with concern, but it’s a lie.

My mother’s face hardens. “Is that any way to speak to the person who gave you life?” she hisses at me, her eyes blazing dully.

Unable to hold back my anger, I snap right back at her. “You’ve said much worse to me as a compliment.”

Mother narrows her eyes at me. “The difference, Persephone, is that I am your mother. I can say whatever I want about you.”

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