Chapter 6
Persephone
“So, do you guys have any idea what's coming up next?” asked Hecate, and began to gulp from her glass of the divine fizzy liquid. I copied her.
“None. Although we have heard a little rumor about the last Trial of the Second Round,” said Hedone, eyes shining with excitement.
“Ooo, do tell?”
“I couldn't possibly,” Hedone said coyly. I clamped my teeth down on the inside of my cheeks to keep my smile in place. I seriously couldn't handle this shit. It was like secrets were currency in this place, nobody told anyone anything without making a great big deal of it first.
A gong sounded and the chatter broke into a fevered buzz before dying out completely. I looked around the room for the smug pretty-boy commentator, and spotted him in front of the dais.
“Good evening Olympus!” he sang out. My eye twitched. “Tonight we mark the start of Round Two of the Hades Trials. Now, we'd better keep you all in the loop on what's been happening... Those seeds little Persephone asked for weren't just any ordinary seeds, folks! She's not as simple as she looks!”
“Hey!” I protested, but my words were instantly drowned out by his booming, amplified voice.
“Those seeds contained power! So our only human contestant is no longer at quite such a disadvantage.” He beamed at me as my mind raced at a hundred miles an hour. He knew about the seeds?
He hadn't mentioned who I really was though, so whoever had told him was pretending it was new power, rather than my original powers returned. But why had they told everyone who was watching?
The answer came to me straight away. If I suddenly did something magical in front of the world they would have a hard time explaining it. It would look like they had lied about me being human.
“And now, please welcome your gods!” With a blinding flash of light, the gods appeared behind him, their respective thrones shimmering into existence.
My eyes were drawn immediately to Hades, his dark smoky form translucent and unnerving. I scanned the smoke for any glimmer of silver and found none. Shoving my disappointment deep into my gut, I looked along the row of thrones as I dropped to my knees and clapped with the rest of the crowd.
Aphrodite was impossible not to stare at, this time with snow-white skin, black lips and eyes, and baby blue hair cascading down her shoulders in a poker-straight sheet.
She was wearing a sheer blue dress that split almost at her hip, and it was clear she had nothing on underneath.
I felt heat in my cheeks, and forced myself to look on.
Athena and Hera were dressed as they had been at the start of the First Round, traditional and serene looking, and Artemis and Apollo were both wearing gleaming gold armor in the style ancient Greeks wore in my books at home.
Enthusiastic smiles shone out of their youthful faces, their amber eyes alive with excitement.
Ares too was fully clad in war gear, as he had been before, and Hephaestus shuffled backwards in the same leather tabard.
But Poseidon looked completely different. Instead of the serious man with cropped hair and simple toga, I found myself looking at a fierce tan-skinned man, with long white hair that should have aged him, but instead made him look dignified and extremely attractive.
He was still wearing a toga, but I could swear it was made from the ocean itself, greens and blues and whites crashing together across the fabric in rolling waves. A gleaming silver trident shone in his fist, easily three feet taller than he was. I couldn't help gulping.
This was a god who had made it clear he didn't like me, and today he looked like he did not want to be fucked with. Had he done that on purpose?
I dragged my eyes from him, and found Hermes and Dionysus both grinning at me, and both wearing matching Hawaiian shirts with bright orange palm trees and parrots on them. A smirk leaped to my lips and they flashed me the thumbs up.
At the end of the row, and just as imposing as Hades' swirling smoke and Poseidon's glowing trident, was Zeus. He seemed to have merged the pretty boy image from the coffee shop with the dark haired older man I'd also seen him as, and the result was quite breathtaking.
He looked like a retired football player who hadn't stopped training, his muscles bulging and experienced confidence emanating from him. Even from where I was standing I could see the purple lightning in his eyes, and feel his infectious energy.
Something in my blood responded to him, like it had with the rose throne. But instead of feeling drawn to him, I felt a heat that I was pretty sure wasn't passion. I didn't know what it was, but it made my body hum, and that restless sense of urgency crept through my muscles and made me fidget.
“And now, for the announcement of the next Trial,” boomed the commentator and every god but Poseidon sat down on their throne.
Oh shit.
“You may rise,” said the ocean god, his voice lyrical and strong.
I stood up, glancing to each side of me at Hecate and Skop as nerves skittered through me.
“I have agreed to take some pressure off my dear brother's realm, and host the next Trial in Aquarius.” I looked at Hades.
His smoke was rippling steadily. “All I will tell you now is that you can expect to get wet,” Poseidon said, and I looked back at him to find his eyes locked on mine.
I gave him an awkward smile and bowed my head.
“We will begin at midday tomorrow, and if you survive, I shall host a feast in your honor.
If I survive? Gods above, what did he have planned for me?
“I look forward to it,” I lied, wondering if he would be more likely to celebrate if I didn't make it.
“I'm sure,” he said, and I could hear the thinly veiled malice in his voice. What was his problem?
“Well, there you have it, folks! We'll see you tomorrow at midday for the next of Persephone's Trials!” the commentator said, and Poseidon sat back down as Dionysus rose.
“How's it going?” he said to the room at large, a wonky grin on his face and his dark hair screwed up in a bun on top of his head. “I've sorted us out some entertainment, enjoy,” he said, and waved his hand in front of him.
He looked every bit like a stoned seventies rock star, and each time I saw him I desperately wanted to hang out with him. The air shimmered a gorgeous green color, and then four impossibly tall girls appeared, wearing different colored little tutu skirts. A cheer went up from the crowd.
As I looked closer I realized they all had pale tattoos covering their deep brown skin, of vines and flowers.
A drum beat ricocheted through the room, making me start, then more drums began to beat along with the first. It was a tribal sound that both set me on edge and made me want to move at the same time, until a beautiful flute began to play over the top.
A wave of happiness washed over me, and the four girls began to sway their hips in a synchronized dance. Slowly, the crowd began to chat again, some dancing too, some just staring at the girls.
“Dionysus's party dryads,” said Hecate at my side.
“They're very beautiful,” I said.
“Ohhh,” moaned Skop.
“You alright?” I asked him.
“Not that hanging round with you all the time isn't fun, but this used to be my daily view,” he said, staring at the four girls, his tail wagging furiously.
“Oh. Sorry,” I said. “I can see why you would miss them. They're quite mesmerizing.”
“Not as mesmerizing as you.” The voice was in my head but it wasn't Skop's.
“Hades?” I whirled, and found him standing behind me, smoky and translucent. Everyone around him was giving him a wide berth, hushed and watching.
“Evening, boss,” said Hecate, then touched my shoulder. “See you later,” she said, and sashayed off into the crowd.
“You look stunning tonight,” Hades said, still inside my head.
“Thanks,” I replied, pleasure tingling through me at his words.
“You should answer me silently, or tongues will wag.”
“Fuck 'em. Let them hear one half of the conversation,” I said loudly. “I'm not hosting or being judged today.”
My belligerent statement was rewarded with a flash of laughing silver eyes, and a glimpse of his soft lips in a broad smile. Heat pooled in my core. Those lips... Gods, I was like a randy teenager!
“As you wish. I think you will like Aquarius. You used to love it.”
“Well, I love swimming,” I told him.
“That is good. Poseidon will not make this easy for you.”
“Why does he hate me?”
“He does not hate you. He fears you.”
“What?”
“With all your power, you were a formidable goddess.”
Formidable? I would have liked the sound of that, if it didn't come with the knowledge that powerful Persephone had killed someone's wife.
“Well, I'm just little ol' human Persephone now, with only enough power to heal myself and survive your temper,” I shrugged. I got another flash of his face, this time pinched and serious.
“I wish you wouldn't remind me of that,” he said, voice low.
“Well, I wish you hadn't gone all monster and corpses on me, but we don't all get what we wish for.” I wasn't backing down on this. He deserved to feel bad for what he had done. And saying the words reminded me that as intoxicating as he was, I didn't belong here.
“I am a monster. I told you that.”
“Yes you did, but then you kissed me anyway,” I shot back. There was a collective gasp around us, and I scanned the onlookers as my cheeks heated. My eyes fell on one furious face in particular, and my stomach clenched.
Minthe. And her glare was so loaded with venom I might have dropped down dead on the spot if looks could kill.
Hades chuckled in my mind.
“I told you we should have kept this conversation private.” I stood up straight, and flicked my loose curls dramatically over my shoulder. There was no way he was winning this one. I would give them something to gossip about.
“Yes, Hades, I know being with me blew your mind and I know you cried like a baby afterward, but we're not doing it again. Now, please stop bothering me.”
I heard his deep, booming laugh in my head as I turned on my heels and marched away from him.
“Well played, Beautiful. Well played.”