Then he heaved the man from the seat he had made into a throne, and he landed on the hard, marble floor with a crack. The jarring aggravated his serpents, causing them to attack, and with each bite, Kal’s screams got louder and louder. Hades watched as his body convulsed on the floor, knowing that the bite of these snakes was unlike any other. It was the sting of his magic, a shock that went straight to the soul.
“You bastard,” Kal wailed, rolling onto his side, shaking.
“Careful, mortal,” Hades said, standing over the wounded man.
“I followed the rules,” Kal moaned. “I followed your rules.”
“I know the rules well, mortal,” Hades said. The rules were that if a mortal summoned a Magi for work, the consequences belonged to the summoning mortal.
But Persephone was not a mortal.
And Hades was not willing to let her live with the consequences of Kal’s horrible magic.
“You don’t fuck with me or my lover, understand?”
Kal’s breathing was heavy, but he managed to roll onto his stomach and lift himself onto his shaky hands and knees. When he looked up, it was Persephone who stared back.
“Help me!” he dared to demand, his cry guttural, but Persephone did not move, nor did she speak. She just watched in serene silence, and Hades kicked him to the ground.
“Do not speak to her, mortal,” Hades seethed.
Kal landed with a grunt and a wail as another snake bit into the fleshy part of his arm.
Hades turned his attention to Persephone, who stared back, almost emotionless. He wished he could read her thoughts or at least read her expression, but she had watched all this with a passivity that made him think she was either in shock or somehow approving.
He hoped it was the latter.
“Shall I continue to punish him?”
She watched him a moment longer before shifting her attention to Kal.
Then she approached, lowering to study his face.
“Will his face scar?” she asked.
Hades did not know why she asked, but he answered nevertheless. “It will if you wish it.”
“I wish it.”
Hades was only marginally surprised; the rest of him was satisfied. At least he had not scared her away with his display.
At her words, Kal whimpered.
“Shh,” Persephone soothed, mocking. “It could be worse. I am tempted to send you to Tartarus.”
There was a strange pride associated with those words, and Hades found them welling in his chest.
“Tomorrow, I want you to call Demetri and tell him you made a mistake.
You don’t want the exclusive, and you will never, ever tell me what to write
again. Do we have an agreement?”
Exclusive?
Hades’s brows lowered. Was there something happening beyond the blackmail Kal had tried to secure tonight?
Whatever it was, Kal agreed, nodding emphatically.
“Good,” Persephone said, her voice a quiet whisper. As she rose to her feet and turned toward him, Hades knew he would do anything she asked. If she had wanted him to die here in this room, he would have made the choice.
“He can live,” she said.
Generous, he thought, then he turned his attention to Kal.
“Leave,” Hades commanded, sending him seven floors below to the stage.
Kal’s sudden appearance would interrupt the performers, and when the crowd looked upon his scarred and bleeding face and saw the snakes that had ensnared him, they would know he had been punished by the God of the Dead.
In the quiet aftermath of Kal’s torture, the two stared at each other, and a strange tension flooded the room. It felt to Hades as though Persephone were building a wall, and while he’d have preferred to tear it down, he began to build one too.
He had so many questions, among them, What were you thinking? But before he could demand an answer, she charged ahead.
“You ruined everything!”
“I ruined everything?” he demanded. He took a step toward her. “I saved you from making a huge mistake. What were you thinking, coming here?”
She glared up at him. “I was trying to save my friend, and Kal was offering a way to do that, unlike you.”
“You would give up our private life—something you cherish most—in exchange for something that will only condemn your friend?”
“Condemn her? It will save her life! You bastard. You told me to have hope! You said she could survive.”
He had also said that it was up to Lexa, but Persephone was conveniently leaving that fact out.
He felt like a monster, towering over her, but she rose to the occasion, fighting back just as hard.