“You thought you were free before me?” he asked. “You just traded glass walls for another kind of prison when you came to New Athens.”
“Why don’t you keep telling me how pathetic I am,” she spat.
“That’s not what I—”
“Isn’t it?” She cut him off. “Let me tell you what else makes me pathetic. I fell for you.” Tears stung her eyes. Hades moved to touch her, but she held out her hand. “Don’t!”
He halted, looking far more pained than she could have ever imagined. She took a moment, waiting to speak until she was sure her voice was even.
“What would Aphrodite have gotten if you had failed?”
Hades swallowed and answered in a low, rough voice. “She asked that one of her heroes be returned to the living.”
Persephone pressed her lips together, and nodded. She should have known.
“Well, you won,” she said. “I love you. Was it worth it?”
“It wasn’t like that, Persephone!”
She turned from him, and he called out. “You would believe Aphrodite’s words over my actions?”
She paused at that and turned to face him. She was so angry her body vibrated. If he was trying to tell her he loved her, he needed to say it. She needed to hear the words.
Instead, he shook his head and said, “You are your own prisoner, Persephone.”
Something within her snapped. It was painful, and moved through her veins like fire. Beneath their feet, the marble rattled. Their eyes met, and then great black vines erupted from the floor, twisting around the God of the Dead until his wrists and ankles were restrained. For a moment, they were both stunned.
She had created life, though, what rose from the floor looked far from alive. It was withered and black, not bright and beautiful. Persephone breathed heavily. Unlike before, the magic she now felt was strong. It made her body throb with a dull pain.
Hades regarded his bound wrists, testing the restraints. When he looked at Persephone, he offered a humorless chuckle, his eyes a dull, lifeless black.
“Well, Lady Persephone. It looks like you won.”
CHAPTER XXV – A TOUCH OF LIFE
Persephone didn’t remove the gold cuff until she was in the shower. She stood under a hot stream of water until it ran ice cold and then slid to the floor of the tub. When she pulled off the bracelet, the mark was gone. She’d always envision this moment differently. In truth, she’d imagined gaining her powers and Hades. She’d imagined having the best of both worlds.
Instead, she had neither.
She knew it was just a matter of time before her mother came to collect her. A sob caught in her throat, but she held it back and dragged herself out of the bathroom.
She was her own prisoner.
Hades was right, and the weight of his words crashed down upon her in the night, eliciting a renewed stream of tears. At some point—she didn’t know when—Lexa climbed into bed with her, drew her onto her arms and held her. That’s how Persephone fell asleep.
When she woke the next morning, Lexa was awake and watching her. Her best friend brushed her hair out of her face and asked, “Are you okay?”
“Yes,” she said quietly.
“Is it…over?”
Persephone nodded, and forced the tears away. She was tired of crying. Her eyes were swollen and she couldn’t breathe out of her nose.
“I’m sorry, Persephone,” Lexa said, and bent down to hug her close.
She shrugged. She was afraid to say anything—afraid she would cry again.
Despite this, she felt different. She had a renewed determination to take control of her life.
As if on cue, her phone vibrated and when she looked down, she found a message from Adonis. It read: Tick Tock.
She’d forgotten the mortal’s deadline. She was supposed to have had his job reinstated by tomorrow. Knowing that was impossible, Persephone had no other options.
If only she could get those photos, she thought. He’d have nothing to blackmail her with.
“Lexa,” Persephone said. “Isn’t Jaison a programmer?”
“Yeah…why?”
“I have a job for him.”
***
Persephone waited in the Garden of the Gods on campus. She’d chosen Hades’ garden, mostly because it offered more privacy from prying eyes and eavesdroppers.
She spent the morning telling Lexa everything that had happened with Adonis. She asked Jaison if he could hack into the mortal’s computer and delete the photos he was using for blackmail. The amount of joy he’d gotten from the request was comical. During the hack, he uncovered a wealth of information, including Adonis’s informant.