“I love you, Lex.”
“I love you, too, Persephone.”
***
Persephone had a hard time sleeping in the weeks following Demeter’s threats. Her anxiety had skyrocketed, and she felt even more trapped than ever before. If she didn’t fulfill the terms of her contract with Hades, she would be stuck in the Underworld forever. If she managed to create life, then she would become a prisoner in her mother’s greenhouse.
It was true she loved Hades, but she preferred to come and go from the Underworld as she pleased. She wanted to continue living her mortal life, graduate, and start her career in journalism. When she’d said as much to Lexa, her best friend had responded, “Just talk to him. He is the God of the Dead, can’t he help?”
But Persephone knew talking would do no good. Hades had said over and over that the terms of the contract were not negotiable, even when facing Demeter. It was fulfill the contract or not—freedom or not.
And that reality was breaking her apart.
Worse, she was using Hades magic and while there were a few advantages, it was like having him around all the time. He was a constant presence, a reminder of her predicament, of how she’d spiraled out of control and found herself in love with him.
It was two weeks from graduation—and from the end of her contract with Hades, when Persephone arrived at the Acropolis for work.
Valerie stopped her as she stepped off the elevator, coming around her desk to whisper.
“Persephone, there’s a woman here to see you. She says she has a story on Hades.”
She almost groaned out loud.
“Did you vet her?” Persephone had given Valarie a list of questions to ask anyone who called claiming they had a story about Hades. Some of the people who’d made calls or came in person to interview had only been curious mortals or undercover journalists trying to get a story.
“She seems legitimate, although, I think she’s lying about her name.”
Persephone tilted her head. “Why?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. It was the way she said it. Like it was an afterthought.”
That didn’t make Persephone feel too confident.
“What name?”
“Carol.”
Weird. Then Valerie offered, “If you want someone to go with you into the interview, I can.”
“No,” Persephone said. “That’s okay. Thanks, though.”
She put her stuff up, grabbed coffee, and headed into the room. She wasn’t paying close attention as she entered, thinking this was just another person trying to get face time with her, and said, “So you have a story for me?”
“A story? Oh, no, Lady Persephone—I have a bargain.”
Persephone looked up immediately, and froze.
The woman in front of her was familiar and beautiful and deadly.
“Aphrodite,” Persephone’s breath left her. Why was the Goddess of Love here to see her?
“What are you doing here?”
“I thought I would pay you a visit,” she said. “Seeing as you are close to the end of you contract with Hades.”
Persephone covered her wrist unconsciously, though the mark was hidden by a bracelet.
“How do you know about that?”
She smiled, but there was pity in her gaze. “I fear Hades has place you in the middle of our bet.”
Persephone wasn’t sure she understood what Aphrodite was saying.
“Bet?” she echoed.
The goddess of love pursed her lips. “I see he has not told you.”
“You may drop the false concern, Aphrodite, and get to the point.”
The goddess’s face changed, and she became more severe and more beautiful than before. When she’d seen Aphrodite at the gala, she’d sensed her loneliness and her sadness, but now it was clear across her face. It shocked her—Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love—the goddess who had affairs with gods and mortals alike—was lonely.
“My, my,” she said. “You are awfully demanding. Perhaps that is why Hades likes you so much.”
Persephone’s fists clenched, and the goddess offered a small smile.
“I challenged Hades to a game of cards. It was all for fun, but he lost. My wager was that he had to make someone fall in love with him within six months,” she said.
It took a moment for what Aphrodite said to sink in. Hades had a contract with Aphrodite—make someone fall in love with you. She swallowed hard.
“I must admit, I was impressed with how quickly he zeroed in on you. Not an hour after I set my terms, he lured you into a contract and I have been observing his progress ever since.”