Chapter 16 Sera
Sera
Hades’s scent is all around me, drowning my senses with the false promise of a beautiful winter morning.
I’m so eager to escape it—and him—that I shove away from him the moment my feet hit the ground.
And instantly stumble into something hard and cold.
A shiver bolts up my spine, the temperature a startling difference from the Hell Fae Kingdom. Glancing around, I see stone walls and intricate designs that look like vines, except they’re made of rock, not leaves.
The ground beneath me is hard as well, matching the walls, reminding me of a concrete prison. However, this one has texture. Like the garden at the palace, I realize, examining the intricate engravings more closely.
There are flowers etched into the corridor, giving it the illusion of being amongst wildlife.
Only it’s all cold and dead.
How fascinating, I marvel.
Then remember that I’m not here to enjoy the view or the company.
Because he brought me here. To wherever here is.
“Where are we?” I demand as I spin toward Hades.
He regards me carefully. “In a safe place,” he answers vaguely.
“Like the cavern in the Human Realm?” I ask, unable to mask my annoyance. “Which you made unsafe by trying to kill Morpheus?”
He frowns. “I didn’t try to kill Morpheus. Why would you think that?”
“Because I was forced to leave when you found us in that lagoon together?” I suggest.
“That’s not why you had to leave,” he replies. “I was careless in my pursuit of returning to you and failed to check my surroundings, thus putting you in danger. And for that, I apologize.”
I blink. “Wait, what? You weren’t fighting Morpheus?”
“I may have been about to at one point, but no. I didn’t fight Morpheus. He helped me handle the Alpha issue after Maliki took you to the Hell Fae Kingdom. However, unfortunately, it means the cavern is compromised. So I brought you here… where I know I can keep you safe.”
My lips curl down at the hesitation in his voice. “How do you know I’ll be safe here?” My question comes out almost as slowly as the latter part of his statement. I may not know Hades well yet, but it’s obvious there’s something he isn’t telling me.
He stares at me for a long moment before saying, “Because I built this place for Persephone’s heat. Only our souls can exist here.” His jaw ticks after uttering the words, suggesting that he’s still holding something back.
“And?” I prompt, my hands on my hips.
Hades looks ready to growl, but his voice is interestingly steady as he replies, “And I never meant to bring you here.”
My brow furrows. “What? You just said this place is for Persephone’s heat, right?”
“Yes. Persephone. Not you.”
My lips part a bit at the way he says that, the anger underlining the words, the frustration crossing his features, the narrowing of his dark eyes.
I swallow. “Oh.” He built this as some sort of gift for his mate. I… I’m just… the human who has his mate’s soul trapped inside her. “I see.” That makes more sense.
This place means something to him, and he’s not pleased about having to bring me—Sera—here.
“That’s why you took me to the Human Realm first, then, I assume?” I phrase it as a question. A distraction. A way to keep the conversation going while I consider what he’s admitted. What it means.
“Yes. You don’t deserve this place, Serapina. I’m sorry for bringing you here. But I have no other option.”
I wince, his words hurting me in a way I could never have anticipated.
This male—this infuriating, arrogant, God—has been cruel to me from the beginning. First, when he thought I was actually Persephone and playing some sort of game with him. Then, by testing my truth by making Maliki please me.
And now… now he tells me I don’t deserve to be in the place he made for Persephone.
Because I’m not her.
And he’s sorry I’m here.
Yet he had no other option.
“That’s not true,” I whisper. “You could have left me with Morpheus and Maliki and let them take care of me.”
He scowls at that. “You are mine, Serapina. That means protecting you at all costs, even ones that may be unfair of me to pay.”
“Right. Because your mate’s soul exists inside me,” I reply, swallowing. “So you feel obligated to protect me.”
“Obligated?” he repeats, his brow creasing.
The echoed word reverberates around my mind, beating at a nerve that has my hands fisting at my sides.
Because I didn’t ask to be this Alpha’s obligation.
It’s not my fault that I have his mate’s soul inside of me.
Just as it’s not my fault that I’m not truly her. That I’m not worthy of this little “safe place” that he built for her.
I don’t deserve to be talked to this way or treated like this.
Maybe Persephone does—if she hurt all those Omegas—and maybe he thinks that’s why it’s okay to manhandle me and talk down to me.
But none of that means I have to stand here and take it.
“I don’t—”
“If I’m such a burden to you,” I say, interrupting him. “Then why not give me back to Morpheus and Maliki? Surely that would be better than keeping me in your precious safe space for Persephone, right?”
Now he just looks confused. “Precious?”
I roll my eyes. “Sacred love nest?” I offer instead. Then I wave my hand through the air, like I’m trying to erase the words. “I don’t even care what you call it. What matters is that I’m not Persephone, right?”
He stares down at me for a long beat before replying, “Yes, I’ve already said I believe you don’t possess her memories.”
“But I am not her, correct?” I reiterate. “That’s why I don’t deserve to be here, yes?”
“I’m starting to think you’ve misunderstood me,” he says slowly.
“Am I Persephone?” I ask again.
He still appears to be confused but answers with “No. You’re Serapina.”
“Right. So I’m not worthy of your love nest, or whatever this place is, yet you still feel a possessive need to keep me from Morpheus—despite not actually being your Persephone. All because of my soul?” I phrase that last part as a question while he gapes at me.
“Now I’m certain we’re having a miscommunication.”
“That isn’t an answer to my question,” I state flatly, exhausted by this whole interaction. “So tell me this—do you want to share me?”
“I’ve already demonstrated how I feel about that by letting Maliki touch you,” he hedges.
“That was to test whether or not I’m Persephone,” I point out. “Yet you wouldn’t share her at all, would you?”
“No, of course not.”
“However, you let Maliki touch me, so maybe you already knew I wasn’t Persephone.” I shake my head, suddenly feeling like I’m talking in circles. There’s just so much to unpack between us. So much anger. So much insanity. So much history.
Thorns, it feels like we have a decade of issues to work out.
Which is impossible given our short tenure together.
“Hades—”
“No,” he interrupts. “Somewhere in this conversation, we took a strange turn, and I think it’s because I didn’t appropriately explain what I meant about why I never intended to bring you here.”
“I don’t need you to—”
“Please, Serapina. Let me explain,” he stresses, his tone stern yet soft.
“This maze is the product of two thousand years of anguish. I built it with the sole purpose of punishing Persephone for her betrayal. That’s why I took you to the cavern first; I wanted somewhere nicer for your heat.
Not…” He gestures to the walls. “Not this.”
My lashes flutter as I try to process everything he just said. “What…? What did you plan to do to her here?”
His jaw ticks again, but he doesn’t answer.
“You said it was for her heat,” I add, my stomach twisting. “What was the plan, Hades?” I need to know what kind of monster I’m facing. To understand how dark he’s willing to go to punish his mate.
Because this male thinks he owns me, too.
What will he do to me if I say no? If I say I want Morpheus or Maliki instead?
Hades’s expression shifts into something I don’t recognize. Not fury. Not condemnation. Not sorrow, either.
If I didn’t know any better, I would think he’s hurt.
“Fuck, the way you’re looking at me right now…” Hades shakes his head and takes a step backward. “Omegas like to be hunted during their heat. It’s how an Alpha shows his worth. So I built this maze to hunt Persephone.”
I shiver. “And force her…?”
His gaze widens. “Fuck, Serapina, no. You don’t understand me at all.”
He moves even farther away, like he’s afraid of me. Or maybe trying to give me room. I don’t know the purpose, but I suddenly feel even colder than before.
“I would never force her to do anything. Nor would I force you…” He trails off again and closes his eyes. “You could say I was going to force you to marry me, but I thought you were Persephone. I thought you were already my wife. That…”
He drags his fingers through his hair and blows out a breath like he’s trying to harness his self-control.
“The purpose of this maze was to indulge Persephone in her hunt, to see her through her heat, and take care of her like an Alpha should. All while surrounding her with the reality of what she did to us. These lifeless walls represent who I’ve become without her.
They demonstrate the harsh reality of who she made us become. ”
He finally looks at me again, his tormented expression undoing something inside me.
He looks ravaged.
Pained.
And above all else… contrite.
“I never meant for your first heat to be in this maze, Serapina. That’s why I said you don’t deserve this place.
But I know I can properly protect you here, and your safety matters most right now.
I… I’ll do whatever I can to help you find comfort here.
But I will not force you to do anything you don’t want to do.
Despite what you might think of me, that is not who I am. ”
He stands there, looking utterly defeated. And I’m pretty sure my heart breaks for him.
Which is ridiculous to an extent. He’s not been kind to me. He hasn’t earned my wavering emotions.
But this is no ordinary situation for either of us.