Chapter 25 Persephone
Persephone
“So... we were in the middle of something,” I said, breaking off the kiss and giving him a pointed look that I hoped screamed take my clothes off, now. Yours too.
“Until the bond awakens, I won't lay another finger on you,” Hades said, cupping my cheek.
“Why not?” Disappointment crashed through me and the words came out as a squeak.
“Because I don't do anything by halves. When I finally get to be with you, I want it to be the most mind-blowing thing you've ever experienced.”
“I'm pretty sure you could achieve that right now,” I told him, thinking about the orgasm he'd given me without even taking my damned clothes off.
He gave me a long, penetrating look, then sighed.
“You really should get some rest. Hecate needs to teach you healing tomorrow, before the endurance tests. I've no doubt my dickhead brother has something horrendous planned.”
I briefly considered begging him to finish what we'd started, but my pride kicked in just in time.
“Fine,” I scowled. “Can we walk though? I don't feel like any more flashing today.”
“Of course.”
We didn't speak on our walk through the seemingly endless blue-torch lit corridors, but it wasn't awkward. He gripped my fingers in his, and it felt nice. Better than nice.
My body was still humming with all the power and pleasure I had experienced in the last few hours, the horror of the Empusa's lair starting to feel like a long time ago.
When we reached my rooms, Hades turned to me, and his face was steely and hard, and heat began to simmer inside me again. Strength emanated from him, and gods help me, it turned me on.
“Do not leave this room without me or Hecate,” he said.
“I know.”
“And again, I'm sorry in advance for whatever Zeus has planned for you. For what it's worth, he's not making me put you through any endurance tests, but I don't know which gods it will be.”
I felt a stab of relief that Hades wouldn't have to suffer through causing me pain or anger. Both for his sake and mine.
“I'll be fine,” I told him. “I'll learn everything I can from Hecate about healing.” It was probably a good thing he had decided Hecate should teach me instead of him.
My desire and confusion when I was around him would definitely distract me, and healing sounded like a pretty important thing to get right. “Are these bonds always this impractical?”
“Yes,” he smiled, and kissed me, his lips like feathers and fire at the same time. “But they say love conquers all,” he said as he broke away from me, then vanished with a flash of white light.
“Love,” I repeated quietly as I shut my bedroom door.
It hit me then. The reason he wouldn't be with me without the bond. He didn't want to 'do things by halves'. He wanted me to love him, as much as he already loved me.
Could I love him? There was no doubt at all that I wanted him, and that I cared deeply about his happiness. Was that what love was? I pictured his face as I leaned against my door.
There was something so right about it. About him. And I knew there shouldn't be. He was practically the definition of wrong, he was the Lord of the Dead, a god who didn't mourn the loss of life, who shed corpses made of light as he tore humans apart, who instilled primal terror in his victims.
Yet he'd created an entire realm, and new species because of his craving for life. He'd never chosen his role, but accepted it because he had to. His realm housed outcasts without judgment, and didn't allow invasions of privacy like gods reading your mind.
I respected him, I realized. I admired him as much as I feared him.
The softness of his touch, the tenderness of his kisses, the intense emotion in his eyes, they all contrasted so bluntly with the monster he showed the world.
Soft and fierce.
Light and dark.
Life and death.
The Empusa had told me that I would not master the balance, and she was likely right. Had Hades nailed that balance, and hidden the soft side of himself away but kept it whole? Or was he just as in danger of losing his balance as I was?
“Is most of every god’s life just parties?
” I asked Skop as I adjusted the corset of yet another ball-gown.
This one was bright red, the top half boned and tight like a classic corset, the bottom like weighted silk.
White roses curled all the way from the hem up the right-hand side of my body.
It was beautiful, but it was heavy and restrictive.
“It is when they're hosting these events, yeah. I guess that's why they have them so often.” I raised my eyebrows at him.
“Have any of the other gods been forced to marry like this?”
“Not yet. Are you ready for tonight? I doubt I'll be able to help you much.”
There was a bitterness to the kobaloi's voice again, and it was clear he didn't much care for being excluded from so much of my time with Hades. The suspicious part of me couldn't help wondering if he was reporting back to Dionysus. The trusting part of me wanted to believe he just cared about me.
“As long as you're not in danger again,” I told him, securing Faesforos to my ankle. My skirt reached the floor so the dagger would be unseen there.
Skop made a humphing noise, but didn't say any more.
I looked at my reflection, and took a deep breath.
The red lipstick that matched the dress was far bolder than I'd ever normally wear but I needed to feel as fierce as possible tonight, and it somehow made me stand taller, and hold my head higher.
That's because Minthe was in red last time you saw her, the petty part of my brain pointed out. You want to look better than her.
“Are you ready?” Skop cut through the thoughts.
“As I'll ever be,” I answered him.
Hecate had spent most of the day with me, trying to teach me how to access the part of my power that let me heal. When we were both pretty sure I knew what she was talking about, I'd very hesitantly made a tiny nick on my arm, and willed the skin to close.
To my sheer delight, it had worked. And to my relief, she hadn't suggest we cause any bigger wound to test it on, but spent time talking about what it would feel like and how to draw more power to a specific area of my body if I needed to.
I felt confident that I'd be able to help myself if I was injured, at least until my all-powerful god ex-husband got to me.
Knowing that Hades was looking out for me was a feeling I wasn't entirely used to, and liked more than I cared to admit.
My brother had always been there when I'd needed him, but we didn't live in each others pockets, far from it.
Sam would help when I asked, but otherwise he let me stand on my own two feet.
Which, to be fair, Hades was kind of being forced to do.
He wasn't allowed to interfere in the Trials, but he had broken the rules multiple times already to help me.
If I was actually about to die, would he intervene? Could he intervene? Hecate said that Zeus was stronger than the rest of the gods; I assumed that included Hades.
Hecate flashed into my bedroom and my hands jumped on the dresser.
“Can't you knock!” I exclaimed. “You frightened the shit out of me.”
“Oh yeah, sorry,” she grinned. “You look ace.”
“Thanks. Any last minute tips?”
“Yeah. Put up with whatever they put you through, no matter what, and you'll win,” she said with a shrug.
“Right. Easy,” I said, rolling my eyes.
“And don't screw Hades at the party. People will notice.”
I shot her a look and her eyes sparkled with mischief.
“You're as bad as him,” I told her, nodding at Skop.
“No, she's not,” he said. “Trust me.”
Hecate seemed much more relaxed than before the last Trial, and I eyed her curiously.
“Why aren't you worried about this one?” I asked her.
“It's an endurance test, and you're strong. If they need you to endure something, then it's not likely to actually kill you,” she said, flopping down on my bed.
“That's a good point.”
“Although they might kill someone else,” added Skop.
“Shut up,” Hecate said. “Look, you'll go around all the gods at the party, and some of them will make you put up with something shitty for a few minutes. Done.”
“That doesn't sound like a good end to Round Two,” I said skeptically. “I thought they liked more drama than that.”
“Some of them might be a bit nasty, I guess. But probably not as bad as drowning in Underworld sewage.”
“Yeah, not a lot could be worse than that,” I said, a shudder of anger taking me at the memory. I felt my magic simmer under my skin in response. I didn't know if that was comforting or alarming.
“What if whoever left the doll and the mirror gatecrashes again, with something worse than a phoenix?” asked Skop.
“Seriously?” Hecate glared at him. “You're not helping, Skop. Hades' captain of the guard, a very stern Minotaur called Kerato, is all over it. There's no need to worry.”
The anxiety and nerves were building inside me, Hecate's blasé attitude not really settling me at all. I didn't believe for one second this would be easy. Zeus would want to end the round with a bang, I was sure of it.