Page 110 of The Queen & the King

“I am the Goddess of Dark Spring. I am Queen of the Underworld, and…” I pause, lifting my chin, looking down at him though he towers over me, “I am your end.”

His eyes glow with fury, and I can feel his power swell around me, but no matter how much power he sinks into my vines, they don’t budge.

“An inconsequential bitch like you is no threat to me,” he roars.

My smirk deepens, and my hands shake as I delve into my power, my vision blurring. I instinctively feel myself pulling from the Underworld, though it takes so little effort. It’s as if the Underworld is eager to give me whatever I need. I open my arms, allowing the power to fill me, basking in the feeling of it rushing through every cell. My feet leave the ground, my hair billowing around me in a mysterious wind. I close my eyes and raise my chin, reveling in it. This doesn’t feel like when I was hosting Gaia’s power. Every scrap of this power is mine, and I have never had control over so much. It belongs to me, and it moves through me, caressing me as it does. The power drawn from the Underworld dances with my power, ebbing and flowing in tandem.

I open my eyes and look at Kronos. My vines have turned solid gold, and he looks up at me, falling to his knees. The rage in his eyes has morphed into pure, untainted fear.

“N-no. You… It can’t be you,” Kronos stutters out. “You’re a flower goddess, unimportant and inconsequential!”

The power swells within me, levitating me higher. The cyclone increases around us, thriving off his fear. He underestimated the wrong goddess.

“I am your queen. You bow to me, and you are mine to destroy.” The words come from me, but my voice sounds foreign, lower, darker, and more threatening.

My vines are now tightly wrapped around his chest, piercing him there, too. They are climbing up his throat, leaching power from him and giving it back to the Underworld, giving it to me.

“Destroyer… of… Worlds,” Kronos grinds out, struggling to breathe.

I smirk at him and lift my arms, my palms facing the ceiling. “This is for my husband and everything you ever put him through. This is for my realm and the power you stole from it. This is for me and believing I am merely aflower goddess.”

I watch as he hyperventilates, struggling to pull in any air, but I don’t let him. My vines squeeze him tighter, traveling up his cheeks, and I groan as more power floods me. I throw my head back and release it all.

His scream shatters the windows, sending shards of broken glass flying everywhere. I barely feel it as it slices my skin. Kronos shatters into oblivion, and I lift my head again, looking at the space he used to take up. My vines still stand there, an empty shell that once held Kronos. I smile weakly, and then… everything goes black.

Somethingwarm and wet drags along my face, and my brows furrow at the feeling. It happens again, and then something cold and wet nudges against my cheek, whimpering. My eyes fly open, and I blink to see two of Cerberus’s heads panting down at me, his hot breath fanning over my face. I groan, pushing him back slightly as I sit up, my head pounding a little.

“Berry, Mama is okay.”

He whines, nudging me with his nose again and then looking down at his front left paw. It is hanging awkwardly and at a strange angle. My eyes go wide, and I look up at him, slowly reaching for the paw.

“What happened?”

Berry barks loudly, and I can hear the pain in it. He whines, nuzzling into me, needing comfort. I kiss his nose and try to reach for the paw again. Berry turns, wanting me to follow him, but he’s limping.

“Cerberus.” I make my voice stern. “We are not going anywhere until I fix that leg.”

Cerberus sighs and limps back to me, holding it out. He turns his head and closes his eyes as if he doesn’t want to see what’s about to happen. He is such a big baby.

I brush my fingers over his paw, and using some of the residual power from the Underworld, I heal it. There’s a nasty snap, and then it’s instantly better. Berry glances at his paw and then at me. He licks my face again, his large tongue almost spanning my full face.

I laugh and push him away. He spins happily, the ground shaking beneath his enthusiasm. I laugh again, moving a little out of his way. I turn toward the door and meet the stunned sapphire blue eyes of my mate.

Sixty-Five

Hades

IGROAN AS I COME TO ON THE COLD STONE BENEATH THE BALCONY.My skull cracked when I landed, remnants of my brain staining the ground around me in a macabre halo. I touch the side of my skull, my regeneration knitting me back together.

Persephone!

I stumble to my feet, my mind still too scrambled to shadow up the stairs. I support myself on the wall, struggling up each step. Kronos must be desperate to attack us like this. This is a last-resort kind of interaction, not a carefully executed plan. Which just makes him all the more dangerous. I slam my shoulder against the door, breaking it open, ready to fight.

Instead, my breath catches. Persephone is hovering about two feet off the ground. Her hair has turned black and is floating around her head. Her lips are blood-red, and even her eyes have turned black. The script that usually decorates her body in this form, moving over it in a hypnotic symphony, has changed. Now, the words are warnings of crossing the person they mark and what happens when the power is awakened.

Destroyer of Worlds.This is the being the Fates whispered of. The one they hoped to use for their own purposes and plans. Darkness slithers through her veins as she feeds her power into Kronos, summoning the Primordial power contained within the Underworld. It’s not just the power that springs from the remains of Tartarus. She summons all Primordial power within our realm, including mine.

I drop to one knee as she drains me, funneling the power into my father. She rips open the Underworld beneath him and sends Kronos into the depths of the Void. The Underworld fluctuates as it absorbs my father’s power. It doesn’t send it to Persephone or me, obeying its queen. Persephone is the physical manifestation of Primordial power. Sheisthe Underworld, not merely ruling over it, and that is all her own ability.

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