Chapter Eighty-Five
Ash
Icould scarcely dare to breathe, let alone move, as she fell to her knees with me.
Those storm meadow eyes ricocheted into mine with such force that it would have knocked the air out of my lungs if there had been any to begin with.
Hope had begun to swell in my gut, hope that could be quashed at any moment, gauging by the conflict warring within Persephone at the moment.
It was one of the things I loved most about her—how expressive she was.
She thought she was so subdued, so impassive, but she wore every emotion on her face, and if not there, then in her eyes.
And right now, they were wide and full of fear and centuries of pain.
It was a look I knew well, seeing the torment on her face as an echo of the worst punishments in the Underworld.
Some of the worst mortals that ever existed knew the sort of pain she did, and it made me want to soothe her and destroy everything around us simultaneously.
Destroy the one who did this. Not just the Morningstar, but his right hand—Lilith.
That greedy, spiteful bitch would know pain new even to the cosmos.
“I think,” Persephone was so unsure, still keeping half an eye on her blade at her feet as if she wasn't sure if she might lunge for it again. I don't even think she knew what words were going to come out of her mouth next, “I think I love you too.”
And then she was falling into me, eyes lidded.
I caught her well before she met the water, wrapping her safely in my arms. She shivered through the cold, and the wet.
I hastily rubbed warmth into her arms as best I could.
After all that she had remembered, and relived, she still loved me.
How could I deserve someone as pure as her? My little shadow.
Thrusting my strength into my legs, I rose to my feet, water falling from the both of us as I waded onto the shore, where Minerva appeared from wherever she was hiding.
“Tell me it’s done.” I couldn’t help the frantic edge my voice took on. “That the spell worked.”
Minerva’s smile was the first genuine one I’d seen from her since we’d met.
“Yes, god of the dead. It worked. The curse will not progress further. Your mind is your own.” Minerva paused, something dire flickering across her face.
Something deeper than concern. “You still have the issue of the curse being tied to your exile, and the curse can still be broken by killing the one who placed it, but it won’t trigger in time now. ”
My body, my bones, felt weightless at this news, so much so that I nearly sank to my knees again.
Persephone’s eyes had fallen shut, her breathing being even and steady was all that kept a lid on my panic.
Her brows didn’t thread together for once.
She didn’t look peaceful, but she didn’t look hollowed out from the inside either. “Is she okay?”
“She just went through the worst sort of torture imaginable and found it in herself to love you. The poor girl is exhausted. Hold her close and let her rest. Do you think you can carry her out of here?” I nodded, stepping in line with her to follow back up all the stairs out of here.
“Worry not, Hades. A good night’s rest in a warm bed and some nourishment, and the spring goddess will be right as rain.
Maybe a bath too, for you both.” At my scolding glance she shrugged. “Respectfully!”
I couldn’t say I blamed her. Fuck only knew what was down here. I let myself smile too, feeling lighter for the first time in I wasn’t sure how long.