Page 96 of The Queen & the King

I hug him back, desperately trying to press even closer together.

“I’m not convinced you’re really here,” Hades whispers against my neck, and I tighten my fingers in his hair.

“I’m here. I’m home.” My heart races, and I close my eyes, nuzzling my face into his hair.

I pull back, desperate to kiss him. He glances at my lips, about to lean in when the ground trembles and a roar rumbles through the Underworld. Hades and I tense, knowing exactly who that is.

“Let’s fucking end this,” I growl, my eyes hardening.

“Call the troops. It’s time,” Hades says, nuzzling his nose with mine. I stand and offer him my hand. He takes it, and I pull him to his feet, looking up at him.

The King and Queen of the Underworld united at last. As if on cue, a battle cry rings out over the Underworld.

Fifty-Five

Hades

IKNOW THAT SHOUT. NO… HE’S NOT THAT INSANE.He wouldn’t dare unleash him. It is just as likely that he will turn on Kronos than fight for him. My armor forms over my body. Shadows turn to scale metal over my arms and legs, hardened leather covering the metal on my chest.

Persephone’s black vines turn to steel, covering her body in her own unique armor. She stands at my side as we look out the window of the palace. My hand squeezes hers tight, horror coursing through me and twining around my stomach.

He is that insane.

Two hands have broken through the gates of Tartarus. Larger than the gates themselves, they grip and shred the adamantium easily. He wasn’t in the cells but under them. He’d reached up through them to break the gates, shattering the cells in the process, killing some of the Titans imprisoned there with a single clench of his fist. The powers left behind swirled where their bodies once stood, unable to be absorbed by the creature. He isn’t a god. He is a monster. A god killer.Typhon.

Cerberus joins us, growling at the sight of the creature, sensing the threat. His body changes, becoming even bigger, snakes appearing along his spine.

I wince as the hundreds of snakes on Typhon’s shoulders let out a monstrous cacophony. I cover Persephone’s ears as the sound echoes through the Underworld, shattering the windows and one of my eardrums. She claps her hands over my ears, both of us struggling to stand as the noise continues, shaking the walls and making the air vibrate.

The art on the walls shakes and falls as Typhon’s battle cry slowly tapers off. I lower my hands slowly from her ears. My healing is slow, my ears still ringing. The Underworld is injured and struggling to heal amidst Typhon’s destruction. Anything that happens to Persephone and me during this time will take a while to heal.

I rub at the blood from beneath my ringing ear, locking eyes with Persephone. “You need to go to Thanatos and tell him to get Zeus. I’ll hold him off until you get back.”

“I’m not leaving you,” she snarls,

I grab her arms. “It has to be you. I’m sorry. I have to conserve my power as much as possible. Even summoning him takes something from me.” I glance at my phone to confirm. “And Typhon fried all electronics with that scream.” We need another plan. This is another thing I wasn’t prepared for. “Go, get Thanatos, and come back.”

She opens her mouth to argue, but I pull back and order, “Go!”

Her eyes narrow on me before she vanishes. She’s going to make me pay for that later. Hopefully, we’ll have the chance at least.

I put my hand onto Cerberus’s flank, his fur hardening under my fingers. Preparing for battle. “We have to stay safe, all right?” I glance at him. “For her.” Cerberus huffs at me, nodding histhree heads. I swing up onto his back, my shadows forming a cloak around my shoulders. The bident hums as it appears in my hand. I lean down, whispering to him, “Let’s go,Berry.” He growls, his body humming as he lunges out the broken window. Cerberus’s paws pound against the earth, eating up the distance between the terrifying Typhon and us.

I need to conserve my energy, especially as the wounds to the Underworld remain, leaving screaming pockets of Void. The essences of the Titans who were killed during Typhon’s release were sucked into the Void, returning to Khaos. There will be no healing from that, no regeneration. If we fall in this battle, it is the end.

My fingers tighten on the bident, the hum resonating up my arm. I will not die here. I am notfuckingdone. The bident flies from my hand, soaring through the sky to hit Typhon in the shoulder. The monstrous giant turns toward me, smiling slowly, showing the rotting teeth and decaying flesh around his mouth. He is truly the Father of Horrors.

My legs tighten protectively around Cerberus. Typhon may be the three-headed dog’s biological father, but he is not his dad.

Typhon keeps his eyes on me as he yanks the bident from his shoulder and flings his blood off the tip. It flies through the sky and hits the ground. A moment later, monstrous creatures sprout from the spilled blood and lunge for me. The first sends me flying off Cerberus. I bounce across the ground, each hit making me lose the breath in my lungs. When the fuck did he get that power?

I punch my jaw back into place. The monstrous creatures made of Typhon’s blood keep coming for me, their movements disjointed. The screech they make is nearly as powerful as their creator’s but not enough to debilitate me. I throw my hand out, hitting them with my shadows. They go flying, tumbling close to one of those gaping holes, and are swallowed whole by the Void.

I look up at Typhon, roaring to be heard. “Typhon! You are in violation of your imprisonment. Return to your cell or face my wrath!”

Typhon towers over me, looking down at me before throwing back his head and laughing. I cover a flinch at the sound, but I don’t break my glare up at him.

“You think to order me, puny king?” he mocks.

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