Hunger flares in his eyes. “When can you get away next?” he asks, his voice betraying him, allowing me to hear just how deep his need runs.
I suck on his thumb again and slowly release it with a popping sound. “Maybe next week. I think my mother has an engagement.”
“With whom?” Hades asks, his body tensing.
“I’m not sure.”
Hades scans my eyes and cups my cheek, towering over me. “Can I ask you something completely unfair?”
I will do anything for you, demon.
I lean my head into his hand, looking up at him.
“This war. You and your mother are at the center of it,” he begins, and my brows draw. “Soon you won’t be able to escape it.” He pauses, his penetrating gaze looking directly into my soul. “Which side will you choose, Persephone?”
“Side?” I ask, looking up at him. Is he asking me if I will choose him?
Hades nods. “Your mother remains,” Hades pauses again, struggling to find his words, “somewhat neutral at the moment. But she is tied to my father?—”
“I’m on your side,” I interrupt. Never has there been an easier decision, in my opinion.
Hades strokes my cheek with his thumb. “Are you sure? She’s still your mother.” Hades sighs. “I won’t force you to my side. The choice is yours.”
I nod and take a few moments to consider what he is saying. I am not worried about the choice to choose him, not even about the repercussions of the choice I’m making. What I am unsure of is how this will all come about. Will there be a battle? Will I be strong enough to fight for what I want? For what I love?
I pull back from Hades and start walking through the grove of the most beautiful, thriving trees I have ever seen in my life.
I feel Hades’ eyes on my back. “Choice is not something you’ve had very much of.”
I tense and reach out, brushing my fingers over the bark of one of the trunks.
“When I was born, my choice was stripped from me, too,” Hades continues. “I was given titles I had no say in donning. Prisoner, Warrior, King.”
An image flashes through my head of a painting on a dark wall filled with pain and uncertainty.
“Falling…” I whisper, the word disappearing from my mind a moment later.
“I want you to have what I didn’t,” Hades says, his voice closer now.
I nod, looking up at the leaves of the tree and the now -ripe apples.
“Don’t choose now, but know that you will have to soon.”
I turn to face him. The heartbreakingly sad smile that graces his lips makes my stomach knot.
“I wish I could take you from this. That war would not be the choice you need to make.” He strokes my cheek with the back of his knuckles, and if I concentrate hard enough, I swear I can feel him more than usual in the dream.
“Hades,” the words wrap around my heart and travel up my throat like a caress, “I-I know it’s soon. I have no explanation for any of it, but there’s something within me that…” My voice shakes a little. “Craves you.” I swallow, my eyes misting a little. “I love y?—”
Hades covers my lips with a finger, moving in closer to me. My heart sinks at the thought that maybe I have gotten this so wrong. Maybe I’ve misread things and involved my heart in a situation that will only lead to it being trampled. Have I just given my heart to someone who doesn’t want it?
“I want these words, Persephone. Fuck, believe me, I do. But I want them when I don’t have to leave. When I can kiss you, and you can feel it.”
I feel my cheeks heat, embarrassment prickling my skin like an itchy sweater. Though, I’m not sure why. Hades wants the words, just not when we’re limited to half a touch, which I can understand.
Hades leans down, resting his forehead against mine and closing his eyes. “Because I feel it, too.”
My heart lurches at that and starts racing so fast I swear it’s going to give out.