Page 97 of The Queen & the King

My bident returns to my hand, the power ringing through the metal and up my arm. Cerberus is snarling, following my example, and tossing the monsters into the Void.

“I will give one more warning!” I continue, ignoring the giant’s blustering. “You are in violation of your imprisonment. Return to your cell or face my wrath!”

He blinks, his yellow eyes scanning me. The size of a single eye is larger than my entire body. He moves slowly as he winds up his kick. So be it.

I use the new ability I acquired when I finally let my darkness free and move through the shadows, becoming one of them, swirling with them. I hurl the bident into his Achilles tendon, burying it deep. He screeches, stumbling with the injury and slamming into the mountain that marks the Gate of Dawn.

Souls scream at the intrusion, the walls that kept them regulated to their deserved afterlife coming down with the force of the giant’s impact. They flood toward me, hitting me and hurling me back into the ruins of Tartarus. Fuck. Souls can still touch me even when I am in full shadow form. I did not expect that.

A familiar laugh echoes through the prison, and I freeze. “To think you were put in charge of maintaining my prison. Pathetic,” my father croons, stepping from the rubble of the prison. I stumble to my feet and try to hide my gasps of pain. The landing fractured a rib, maybe more than one. I don’t even try to heal them, needing to preserve my strength.

Kronos steps forward, and I recoil at seeing how he’s dressed. He’s wearing a bloody head as a crown, the face contorted with the horror of its death. It takes a second for me to identify the god.

Demeter.

The Titans that survived Typhon’s release flank him on either side, ragged but ready to fight. I don’t take my eyes off my father. I know who the most dangerous is.

“My sons,” Kronos calls to his Titans, “are mine to kill.”

My brow furrows. I was not expecting that. His need for retribution is clearly much more deeply rooted than I realized.

“The rest… make them scream,” he orders. “Especially that pathetic little flower goddess who plays at being queen.”

My darkness explodes from me. They willnevertouch Persephone. Light pierces through my shadows, my power faltering with the immensity. I shield my eyes as it breaks my concentration. I blink through it and see Hyperion,Titan of Light, and Helios’s father. Fuck, does this mean Zeus was right, and Helios is not on our side?

A fist slams through my chest, creating a hole. I grab Kronos’s arm, trying to stop the blow even as his fist pierces my back. My eyes connect with my father’s, the maniacal green searing me. He could have stolen time and put me out for the entire battle, but he didn’t. Instead, he decided to kill me.

Blood pools in my mouth, and my vision goes hazy. “You… won’t… win.”

He laughs, but the sound is muted. He hurls me into a pocket of the Void. I grab onto the edge of the Underworld, fighting to keep myself from being swallowed whole. Kronos comes closer, hunching over, his eyes level with mine.

“Goodbye, Son,” he says before he pushes me into the Void.

Fifty-Six

Hades

KRONOS IS A BOY TO US, NOTHING. THERE IS MORE COMING.

The voices of the Gods of Fates whirl around me as I fall into the Void. Is this death for gods? Is this where we go? My body jerks to a stop, my stomach lurching at the sudden change in pace.

My eyes attempt to take in my surroundings and understand what I’m seeing. The Titans consumed by the Void are nowhere to be found. There is only emptiness, the unanchored abyss. No. Not again. I open my mouth to scream, to beg, but there’s no sound. There is nothing. Only Void.

Persephone. I have to get back to Persephone.

I tilt my head back, trying to find the hole that Kronos threw me into, but it’s gone.

“I don’t know about this, my love,” a voice says, and my gaze snaps to the direction of the voice. It’s disembodied, completely detached, but so familiar. I can’t turn my body to find the source, so I try to shout for attention, but I am still unable to produce sound.

“We are not interfering. This is still neutral,” another voice responds to the first. This time, I recognize the speaker as Nyx.

What are they talking about? Can they see me?

I struggle to move, but the Void holds me tight. Without firm hands or even the sensation of power wrapped around me, it holds me in the vacant abyss. Light sparks and intrudes on my vision. My eyes struggle to remain open against the brightness. It’s so different from the rest of the Void and the Chaos from which the Primordials are cut.

“You know the consequences if we do this,” the first voice answers.Erebus.

“I know,” Nyx whispers back. “We can’t fight. The treaty binds our hands, but we can do this.”

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