Page 32 of Bride of Death
My gaze narrows. “Her name is Persephone. And she is fully aware of our history.”
“Persephone, yes,” Orcus says. “But Sera doesn’t. Not unless you’ve actually spoken to her, which I’m guessing you haven’t.”
“Why would I waste my time by speaking with her?” I ask him, deflecting.
Because I don’t want to admit that yes, I have spoken to her. Once. And she pretended not to know me.
Her innocence during that meeting still grates on my nerves. It felt genuine.Toogenuine.
“Hades, I know you sense Persephone inside of Sera, but all I’ve felt from her is a hum of potential. And all I’ve observed is innocence. She… she’s very human.”
I grunt at that.
Maliki feels similarly, his claims of Serapina Everheart’s ignorance one he voices almost every time we discuss her.
And it seems Persephone has manipulated Orcus as well.
But I know my mate.
She’s devious to her core. An actress of supreme caliber.A temptress who manipulates everyone and everything around her.
With a snap of my fingers, I call for the Netherworld Fae Registry, the netherite-encased book mine to command, as I manifested it long ago.
When the book arrives, it drops with a thud that has Orcus’s brow furrowing.
I ignore him and flip to the page he needs to see.Four thousand and seven. Then I spin it around for him to read the words for himself.
“If my devious little mate wants to play this game, then so be it,” I tell him. “We’ll see what she has to say after I claim her in front of the entire fucking kingdom.”
Orcus gives me a look, one that borders on pity as his eyes return to their usual obsidian color. “She’s not playing a game, Hades. Sera has no idea who you are. And sheissingle. She’s very human.”
“On the outside, yes,” I agree. “But her soul is all Omega.”
“While I agree on her soul—because I sense it, too—don’t you find it strange that she hasn’t shown any outward signs of her Omega heritage?”
“It’s all part of her game.”
He snorts. “Hades, Omegas can’t hide their heats. You know this as well as I do. I mean, fuck, she’s not even nesting.”
“Probably because she’s taken some sort of suppressant,” I say.
“That she got from where?”
“Her mother, obviously,” I tell him. “She spent two years with that wretched bitch. Who knows what she did to help Persephone mask her true nature?” It’s a thought I’ve had several times over the last thirteen months.
Because it’s the only thing that makes sense.
Demeter did something to her daughter.
And I’m going to undo it with my knot, as well as my bite.
“The nuptials will go forward as expected in eleven days’ time,” I go on. “You can be there in support, or you can hear about it afterward. But I’ve made up my mind, and I won’t be changing it.”
Orcus stares me down, his Alpha energy pulsing around him. But I’m older and stronger, and he knows it.
There is no fighting me on this.
“She’s not yours to protect,” I remind him, my tone carrying a soft warning. “I respect that you’ve mated a woman who considers Persephone to be her sister, but we both know they’re not truly related. Not like you and I. And blood claims are everything in our world.”
