Page 92 of The Queen & the King

I watch as he looks over the piece, his eyes full of malice and hate, but his threat does nothing. I will protect Hades with everything I am and everything I have.

I roll my eyes. “We can just not talk, you know?”

Kronos’s eyes snap to me, and I can see that he wants to tear me limb from limb, but then he would lose his leverage. Checkmate, bitch.

I tense when the ground rumbles, my gaze swinging to Kronos, whose eyes are narrowed on the mouth of the cave. He is furious but ready. He is not the source of the quake.

“Time’s up,” he growls, and a moment later, my mother storms into the cave. The earth rises to meet her feet as she strides in, her eyes glowing with Gaia’s power. The cracks that started on her face are lengthening by the second, extending down her arms. “You think you can hide?” she snarls at Kronos.

Heavy, rusted chains snap around her, holding her in place. The glow in her eyes completely extinguishes. I sit up, looking at the chains, recognizing them from my research before the coronation. These are the very chains that once held Prometheus.

Kronos surges to his feet. “You always did think with your heart instead of your head, Demeter.”

Demeter struggles in the chains, but they hold her tight. Her gaze locks on me,and if I didn’t know better, I think I see a flicker of… regret, but it’s gone as soon as it appears. She opens her mouth, about to say something to me, but Kronos summons a sword, swinging it fast and true, slicing her head clean off. I gasp, watching as it rolls away from her body. In a rush, deep green light escapes her and circles the cave like a maelstrom, looking for a vessel. Instinctively, I step toward my mother, but before I reach her, I’m wrapped in a cocoon of bright white light that lifts me off my feet.

“There should be balance.”The voice sounds like it is shouted from miles away, the merest of echoes. It also feels like it’s being whispered directly into my ear. It is nowhere and everywhere all at once. “Always balance,”it repeats. “Your mother decimated the natural order. Should I make you pay for her crimes?”Holy fuck. This is Gaia.“Or give you a chance to fix what she broke?”she asks.

I feel as if I’m floating in the bright void. There is nothing but light and power. “I am nothing like her. I long for the natural order to be restored, to be returned to the Underworld and my king.” Saying the words makes me ache from how true they are. I long for home and Hades.

Gaia continues, “You’re not. You are much stronger than her and will be even more so when I reinstate your bond to your king and the Underworld.”

My heart leaps.

“Alas, this means you will have even less time to restore balance before my power tears you apart. What will you do with it?”

I close my eyes, a tear sliding down my cheek. “All I want is my realm back. My king. Then, if you tell me how, I will restore the balance and release your power.”

Something snaps inside me, like when the bond was broken, but this time, there is no pain. Instead, elation, power, and rightness fill me, and my whole body arches.

“With my power, you could be the queen of all realms with the snap of your fingers.”

She’s testing me. I know that, but I don’t care about any of the other realms, just my own, mine and Hades’.

“I don’t want that. I want my realm. My husband.” The bond ebbs and flows through me. Fuck, how did I manage without this? How did I not know that the huge gaping feeling in my chest was this?

Gaia hums happily.“Then, when you return, you repair the harm that has been done. Call for me, and the power will be released.”

I nod, basking in the warmth of the bond. I feel complete once again. The light vanishes, and I drop, landing delicately on my feet. I can feel Gaia’s power within me, but I also feel my own, and it is raging beneath my skin, repressed for too fucking long.

Kronos looks at me with a smirk, his nostrils flaring. “I’m going to have fun breaking you, Goddess of Spring.”

I grin and roll my shoulders, my tie to Hades and the Underworld once again strengthening me. Careful not to disturb Gaia’s power, I send black vines toward him. They shoot at him like vipers, so fast he can’t dodge them, golden poisonous spines piercing his skin on impact.

He wraps his hands around them, and they wilt under his power. His evil eyes glow in victory, but I continue to smirk, knowing the poison remains. He won’t notice until it starts rotting him from the inside out.

Kronos charges at me, but I feel the bond yanking at me, trying to pull me home. It looks like my time in this realm is up.

I summon my sword, the comforting weight boosting my confidence tenfold. I feel the intricate patterns of a trellis draped with vines and roses on the handle. I try to resist the pull, knowing that I can’t let Kronos get away. I should end this now to protect my family. But the Underworld tugs at me again, and shadows surround me. The curse will not be denied.

I swing my sword as Kronos gets closer, but the blade merely cuts air as I’m deposited in the same spot I appeared when I was first brought to the Underworld. I look around the empty throne room. The fire still crackles cheerily in the corner, and our thrones still sit proudly on the dais, awaiting my return.

“My queen?” Thanatos’s voice makes me whip around, and I see his hooded form watching me from the door. I can tell he’s surprised to see me from the tone of his voice. Suddenly, any worries about Kronos and thoughts of my mother are gone. I have only one thought.

My sword clatters loudly to the floor. “Hades?” I take off, running past Thanatos and down the long halls of our palace. “Hades!” I call for him over and over as I run through our home, easily navigating the corridors. I come to a sudden halt when I see him walking through the door from the library. He stops, and his gaze meets mine, his jaw dropping. We silently stare at each other for a long moment, my eyes filling with tears.

Home. I’m home.1

1 The Nightmare & The Daydream Chapter 39

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