“Please…it is not necessary.”
His smiled widened. “I think you should get used to it, Lady Persephone, especially if you visit us often, as I hope you will.”
He shut the door and bowed his head. Persephone wandered into her apartment in a daze. This day had been long and bizarre thanks to the God of the Dead.
There was no reprieve from it, either, because Lexa stood in the kitchen when Persephone came inside and pounced.
“Uh, whose Lexus dropped you off in front of our lame apartment?” she asked.
She wanted to lie and claim that someone from her internship had dropped her off, but she knew Lexa wouldn’t believe that—she was supposed to be home two hours ago, and her best friend had just watched as she’d literally be chauffeured to their home.
“Well…you’re never going to believe this but…Hades.”
While she could admit to that, she wasn’t ready to tell Lexa about the contract or the mark on her wrist.
Lexa dropped the mug she was holding. Persephone flinched as it hit the floor and shattered.
“Are you kidding?”
Persephone shook her head. As she moved to grab a broom, Lexa followed.
“Like…the Hades? God of the Dead Hades? Owner of Nevernight Hades?”
“Yes, Lexa. Who else?” Persephone asked, irritated.
“How?” she sputtered. “Why?
Persephone started sweeping up the ceramic pieces.
“It was for my job,” It wasn’t technically a lie. She could call it research.
“And you met Hades? You saw him in the flesh?”
Persephone shivered at the word flesh, recalling Hades’ haphazard appearance. “Yeah.”
“What does he look like?” Persephone turned away from Lexa and grabbed the dustpan. She was also trying to hide the furious blush staining her cheeks. “Details. Spill!”
Persephone handed Lexa the dustpan and she held it as Persephone swept up the shattered mug. “I…don’t know where to begin,” Persephone said at last.
Lexa smiled. “Start with his eyes,” she said.
Persephone sighed. It felt intimate to describe Hades and part of her wanted to keep him all to herself. She was well-aware she was only describing a toned-down version of the god because she had yet to see him in his true form. There was a strange anticipation that followed that thought, and she realized she was eager to know the God in his Divinity. Would his horns be as black as his eyes and his hair? Would they curl on either side of his head like a rams, or reach into the air, making him even taller?
“He’s handsome,” she said, though even that word didn’t do him justice. It wasn’t just his looks, it was his presence. “He’s…power.”
“Someone has a crush.” The smug smirk on Lexa’s face reminded Persephone that she was too focused on what the god looked like and not enough on what he did.
“What? No. No. Look, Hades is handsome. I’m not blind, but I cannot condone what he does.”
“What do you mean?”
Persephone reminded Lexa of what they’d learned from Adonis at Nevernight.
“Well, you could ask Hades about it.”
“We’re not friends, Lexa.”
They would never be friends.
Then Lexa got really excited. “Oh! What if you wrote about him? You could investigate his bargains with mortals! How scandalous!”
It was scandalous—not only because of the content, but because Persephone was considering writing an article about a god, something very few people did for fear of retaliation.
But Persephone wasn’t afraid of retaliation because she didn’t care that Hades was a god.
“Looks like you have another reason to visit Hades,” Lexa said.
It looked like she did, and hadn’t Hades offered her easy access? When he’d pressed his lips to her forehead, he’d said it was for her benefit. She wouldn’t have to knock to enter Nevernight again.
She smiled.
The God of the Underworld would definitely regret meeting the Goddess of Spring—and she looked forward to that day. She was Divine, too. Though she had no power of her own, she could write, and maybe that made her the perfect person to expose him. After all, if anything happened to her, Hades would feel Demeter’s wrath.
***
On her way to class at New Athens University, Persephone stopped to purchase an assortment of bangles. Since she would have to wear Hades’ mark until she fulfilled their contract, she wanted to accessorize her outfits accordingly. Today she wore a stack of pearls, a classic touch to compliment her bright pink skirt and white button up.