Chapter 29 Persephone
Persephone
I look at the time on the new iPad that Hades gave me, sighing.
It’s almost three in the morning here in Rabat, a gorgeous city of gleaming white buildings built up on the sparkling Moroccan coast. After traveling for three days to arrive at our hotel, achy and covered in the city’s dust, I broke off from the Lyon brothers. I said I needed a nap and a shower.
Really though, I wanted some alone time. Traveling with all three men left me uneasy. Hades I had a firm grasp on, so that was all right. But Ares and Eros, who looked so like their older brother, were very much not like him at all.
Ares is handsome, as tall and dashing as the other two.
But I soon figured out that he’s as boorish and crude as they come.
When we were at the private airport in Inverness, the second that Hades left the room he came and pressed himself up against me.
There was no pretense or guile when he propositioned me, either.
He simply arched an eyebrow and asked if I wanted to fuck.
Eros gave me no reason to outright dislike him, but I felt like he was watching me at all times. Always thinking and watching.
At least he didn’t try to get me in bed, though.
I shiver, despite the heat in the air. It’s full summertime in Morocco and even though it’s dark outside, the heat still pervades every single space in the hotel. The room I’m in is luxurious and air conditioned, but I’m still just so hot. Come to think of it, it’s not unlike being in New Orleans.
I lick my lips, thinking of my brother Lawrence. It’s been so long since I’ve seen his face. Maybe… just maybe I should check my email again. After all, I just heard Hades and Eros discussing how they planned to move us to a former royal palace…
So even if someone is tracking me, they surely won’t be able to follow me once I’ve left this building.
…right?
I spend a few minutes on Google, trying to find research that backs up my supposition. Unfortunately, all I find is a bunch of tech nerds arguing. I can feel a headache building when I try to read any of that stuff, honestly.
What’s the worst that could happen?
It takes a couple of minutes to pull up my email through the iPad’s browser, but when I do, I’m surprised. There are ten emails from my brother, all with WHERE ARE YOU and ARE YOU OKAY followed by question marks.
My lips twitch. Lawrence is usually not the greatest at keeping in touch with me. The fact that he has been trying to reach me kind of tickles me.
I start to open the first email when a dialogue box pops up, beeping alarmingly.
INCOMING CALL - LAWRENCE.
ACCEPT? CANCEL?
I lick my lips, my finger hovering over the buttons. Lawrence must be going crazy if he is actually calling me. I know I should decline, but I hit accept.
In an instant, a video chat screen blooms, taking up the entire iPad.
There I see my mom and Lawrence. My mom has straight, waist length silvery blonde hair that is piled in a gigantic bun on her head; she wears a loose gray t-shirt underneath tight black corduroy overalls.
She’s standing next to my impeccably dressed brother Lawrence, with his close-cropped dark hair, wire-framed glasses, and sleek black track suit.
My mom pops her rainbow colored glasses and arches a brow at me. “Are you there, Persephone?”
My brother skewers my mother with a glance. “Hello, Seppie. I’ve been emailing and calling your phone for weeks.”
I squint at him, my cheeks coloring. “I left well over a month ago.”
“Persephone, darling.” My mother rips off her glasses and gives me an exasperated look. “You can’t just run off like this. People will eventually ask around about you.” She leans in, intoning the last few words. “Your father is quite worried about you too. Where are you?”
I swallow, giving my surroundings a quick glance. The dark wood and white linen of the bed behind me are not easily recognizable. Sucking in a breath, I know that Hades would kill me if I just told anyone our location.
“I’m safe,” I say, answering their questions in the only way I know how. “I’ll be back soon.”
“Persephone, I’m really going to need you to come back here right now. I let you hide out after that unfortunate accident…”
I close my eyes, stung by my mother’s words.
“Mom,” Lawrence chides her. “Constantine tried to kill Persephone. Whatever fantasy you are harboring…” He waves his hand over her, his face contorting.
“You should get with the program. It’s like, hashtag believe women, hashtag me too.
” He looks down his nose at me, his lips twitching.
“I told you that Constantine was a bad guy, didn’t I? ”
“Why did I answer this call?” I wonder aloud.
“Because we are your family, young lady.” My mom cocks her hip, taking the camera from my brother.
She looks down into it, her expression turning strict.
“Persephone Cora Corbin, you need to come home right now. I have enough going on here in my art studio, trying to teach all of my apprentices. You should try and re-integrate yourself with them, darling.” She pauses.
“Maybe if you do that, Constantine will grow jealous and come back to you. You could do worse than having a powerful man like Constantine in your corner.”
“Mom!” I gasp, shocked. “He left me for dead on that beach! He’s not going to swoop in and marry me now.” My mouth fills with bile. “God, not that I’d want him to anyway.”
“It was just a misunderstanding, surely.” Mom flicks a hand at me. “You two should really try and work it out. You would make such lovely children.”
Lawrence rips the camera out of her hands.
“Bleh, stop talking.” He sets the camera upright, rolling his eyes. “That’s some kind of narcissistic mental illness just pouring out of her mouth. Ignore it. Just… you’re okay, right? Not hurt or anything?”
I instinctively reach for my ribs, which are still bandaged from being knifed in Monaco. Telling my brother about that isn’t likely to help anyone, though.
“I’m fine.” I purse my lips. “I should go.”
“No!” my mom howls. “You need to come back! Just tell us where you are, darling…”
There isn’t a chance in hell that I’m telling her where I am. Her insistence that I return home is weird, given that she couldn’t even be bothered to visit when I was in the hospital for over a month.
I grit my teeth. “I’ll call you later, Lawrence.”
I hang up the call, closing the iPad and flopping it onto the bouncy mattress. After a second, I fling myself down onto the bed, staring up at the ceiling.
It was nice to hear from Lawrence… but my mom is still living in a dream world. That’s been a problem my whole life; my mom never approves of what I’m doing. She always turns her nose up at it, telling me that if only I would do things her way, I would be successful…
My hands clench into fists. Typical mother bullshit. She’s only interested because she needs someone to organize her studio or make her apprentices healthy meals. I would bet my last gold dollar on it.
My right hand twitches and I raise it, staring at it. From the outside, I probably seem like a normal, slightly bumbling young woman. Inside though… I’m still a seething mass of pain, both psychic and real.
The knock on the door startles me, making me sit bolt upright. I frown, checking the time.
It’s barely three-thirty. Standing up, I hustle to the door and find Hades standing outside of it. Opening the door a little wider, I look both ways.
Checking for his brothers.
“It’s just me,” he says, leaning against the doorway. “Thought ye might like a walk.”
“A walk?” I look up at him, frowning a bit as I straighten my dark dress. “It’s the middle of the night, Hades.”
“Yeah, well.” His expression is unreadable, which frustrates me beyond words. He steps back, inclining his head toward the front of the hotel. “Are ye coming or not?”
I stare at him for a few seconds. He fidgets, touching his dark hair that falls in gentle waves around his face. I expel a quick breath.
“Let me get some shoes on,” I sigh.
Not five minutes later we are exiting the hotel’s hushed white marble lobby. As we step out into the darkened street, a young man in a white hotel uniform stands at attention. He bows very slightly and murmurs something to us.
It might be, “Lyon.” But even as I turn my head to look at him, Hades catches my arm and pulls me along.
I glance up at Hades as the first rays of purplish light begin spreading through the sky. He clutches my arm, looking around. I follow his gaze; against the stony gray of the long, uneven cobblestone road, the white and off-white buildings rise in an endless row, seeming like mismatched teeth.
His gaze never stops, never lands on any one thing for too long. Checking behind me, I pull my sweater up around my neck.
Hades just pulls me down the street, seeming like he has a destination in mind.
“You are freaking me out,” I say, gripping his forearm gently.
“What?” he asks, looking at me sharply. His green eyes glint. “I’m not very familiar with the area. So, I’m on my game.”
He slips an arm around my shoulders, forcing me down a series of quick left and right turns. I feel protected in the vaguest sense of the word, but… a large part of me misses Scotland.
He let his guard down when we were together before. Let himself breathe, give me an inch to peer at what is beneath his shell. But now?
That Hades is gone.
We walk by a merchant, just now opening for the day. He is unloading caftans and scarves, hanging them up for display at his stand. I tug Hades’ arm and nod.
“Would you feel better if we wore disguises?”
He stops, considering that. “Actually, yes.”
I wave my hand, indicating that he should buy two scarves. He picks out a red and white checkered keffiyeh for himself and after a moment’s consideration, he chooses a light blue scarf delicately stitched with pomegranates for me. My lips twitch as I accept the scarf.
“I love pomegranates,” I tell him as I don the scarf.