Page 83 of The Queen & the King

Helios looks down at his hands. “I’ve been helping my sisters stay ahead of the Olympians. I know it makes me—” Helios exhales heavily. “But they’re still my sisters.”

I tilt my head, watching him.

“Will you be able to kill your mom?” he asks, finally meeting my gaze.

“She has never been amom, Helios. She is my mother, but if it comes to that, yes.” I search his face. “You and your sisters are safe, Helios.”

He chuckles. “Not with Zeus. Not even I am safe with him.”

“You are safe,” I repeat.

“I might have to take Mellie on the run with me,” Helios whispers, looking away again.

I stand, and Helios follows. I place my hand on his arm. “You always have a safe space in the Underworld.”

Helios looks at me, searching my eyes for any hint of lies or deception. He won’t find any. “Thanks, P.”

I smile. “Give Mellie a hug for me? And keep looking after her.”

Helios pulls me into a hug, nodding. “I’ll see you later.” He winks and vanishes in a flash of sunlight. I use my vines to deposit Hades’ shirt safely in my bedroom before going into the house to find Margaritte.

Forty-Eight

Hades

THE SHRILL RING FROM MY PHONE IS ALMOST COMFORTING AS I FACETIME PERSEPHONE ONCE NIGHT FALLS.She answers the phone, wearing one of my shirts, curled in her bed. Her hand is tucked under her head, her eyes soft.

“Hi, demon,” she purrs softly.

“Nice shirt.” I smirk, and she buries her nose into the collar, inhaling my scent.

I smile at her and turn the camera to show Cerberus sitting obediently, a sign that saysHI, MOMMYat his feet.

“Hi, baby boy! I miss you so much!” Persephone smiles wide at him, and Cerberus barks, wagging his tail aggressively. He knocks the sign over, trying to get to her inside the camera.

“You were supposed to stay still!” I admonish him, pushing his heads away.

I turn the camera back to face me, pushing the dog back until he heads back to his bed and flops down with a huff.

She smiles softly, cuddling her pillow tightly.

I touch the screen, imagining I could stroke her cheek. “How was she today?”

Persephone sighs again, her eyes slightly glazed. “She’s losing it. Her hold on Gaia’s power is slipping.”

“I spoke with Nyx about that.” I shift to sit up slightly, propping my head up. “It’s more than her inability to hold on to the immense power. She is also upending the natural order. Whoever takes the power on has to put the world into balance before the earth can absorb it.”

The way her eyes go dull sets me on edge.

“It has to be someone who can handle that amount of power,” I add, trying to read her expressions and understand where her mind is. But there’s nothing. She just keeps rhythmically stroking her pillow.

I watch her eyes, the vulnerability and loneliness shimmering in them. “Would you like to go on a date, my spring?”

Her eyes focus on mine, reading my face, but she looks present, not as lost.

“Very much,” she whispers.

I smile at her, shadowing into bed with her. She lunges at me, wrapping her arms around my neck and inhaling me. I close my eyes, burying my face against her neck. I knew it. The way she holds me is different, familiar, but also new. It’s both Persephones, the one I know, and the one I fell in love with all over again.

---