Chapter XL: Hades

CHAPTER XL

HADES

He knelt beside her and took her into his arms, brushing her hair from her face.

“It’s okay,” he said, though he didn’t believe his own words. He understood why this was devastating, even given that they would not…could not have children. It was the violation of the whole thing. They had to admit to things that should have remained between them.

“It’s not. It isn’t,” she sobbed. “I will destroy him. I will end him.”

“My darling,” he said. “I have no doubt. Come, on your feet.” He urged her to her feet and took her face between his hands, holding her teary gaze. “Persephone, I would never—will never—let them have any part of you. Do you understand?”

She nodded, taking a breath but clearly overwhelmed, so he took her to the baths and helped her out of her dress and into the tub. She sat with her knees to her chest and seemed to relax the longer she remained in the warm water.

Hades lowered to his knees beside the pool and ran soap and water over her skin. He worked slowly, in time with her breaths, which became deep and shallow, and then her hand came down on his wrist, halting his touch as it passed over her breasts.

“Hades,” she murmured, her eyes falling to his mouth.

The tension between them was thick and burning, and they seemed to move at the same time, each of them dragging the other closer. Their lips collided in a hard kiss that sent a wave of heat straight to his groin.

“I want you,” she said, gripping him tight.

“Marry me.”

She gave a breathless laugh. “I already said yes.”

“You have, so marry me. Tonight.” She just stared, so he explained, “I do not trust Zeus or Poseidon or Hera, but I trust us. Marry me tonight, and they cannot take it away.”

He knew it was far more sudden than either of them had expected, but what difference did it make if they waited? Besides, if she married him now, she would have power over his realm.

She studied him a moment before a smile spread across her face as she answered, “Yes.”

His grin matched hers, and he drew her to him once more, kissing her until he ached for her.

“I will have you tonight as my wife,” he promised. “Come. I will summon Hecate.”

Hades retrieved a robe for her and as they left the baths, Hecate was waiting.

“Oh, my dear!” she said, embracing Persephone. “Can you believe it? You will be married tonight! Let’s get you ready.” Then her eyes slipped to him and narrowed. “And if I see—or sense—you anywhere near the queen’s suite, I will banish you to Arachne’s Pit.”

Hades chuckled.

“I will not peek,” he promised, his gaze shifting to Persephone, as there was a part of him that was still trying to grasp the fact that by the end of this night, she would be his wife. “I’ll see you soon.”

“I didn’t let her do anything,” said Hades. “She just did it.”

He straightened his jacket for the millionth time.

“Stop pulling on it!” Hermes chided. “Here.”

Hermes pushed Hades’s hands down and smoothed his collar and the lapels of his jacket. When he was finished, his hands fell to his sides, and he met Hades’s gaze.

“I’m really happy for you, Hades,” he said, his tone and expression so serious, it was most unnerving. Hermes was rarely sentimental, save for when he was angry.

“Thanks, Hermes,” Hades said. “You really are a great friend.”

“The best, right?” Hermes asked with a grin.

“Don’t push it,” Hades replied.

Hermes chuckled. “As for me, I’m not sure I could commit to just one person. I am a god with many needs, if you know what I mean.”

He waggled his brows, and Hades rolled his eyes.

“Everyone knows what you mean, Hermes. It’s not as if you keep it a secret.”

There was a knock at the door, and they both looked up as Hecate popped her head in.

“Hades, it’s time. You must take your place!”

Hermes led him from the palace. Cerberus, Typhon, and Orthrus followed behind him as they made their way to Hecate’s grove. As they neared, he grew increasingly nervous. He wasn’t even sure why. Maybe it was the significance of this event. Hades had been desperate for this for so long, and now it was finally here. He almost couldn’t believe it.

They came around a line of trees, and Hades halted in his tracks, realizing that he hadn’t been prepared for this at all—to find the grove both decorated beautifully and crowded with souls and divinity alike, all gathered to celebrate the great and passionate love that had blossomed between him and Persephone, this incredible goddess who had brought life to his world in ways he had never thought possible.

It was almost overwhelming but in a way that made his chest and throat feel tight.

He made his way down the aisle to the arbor of greenery at the end and took his place on the right. Cerberus, Typhon, and Orthrus remained at his feet. Hermes sat in the front row beside Apollo—both had left the feast upon his summons, because he knew Persephone would want them here.

Hermes leaned forward and half whispered, half yelled, “Don’t lock your knees, or you’ll pass out.”

“I’m not locking my knees,” Hades whispered back, though he wasn’t sure why. “Why would you tell me that?”

“I’m not saying you are. I’m saying don’t.”

Well, now he was worried. What if he passed out? He practiced bending his knees just to make sure he knew the difference between bent and locked knees.

“You look like an idiot,” said Hermes.

Hades glared, but then the music started—played by a small group of souls who sat off to the side—and his eyes shifted to the end of the aisle.

His heart raced in his chest and throughout his whole body as he waited for Persephone to appear, and then she did, and she was so fucking beautiful it physically hurt to look at her. All he could think was that everything he’d ever done or fucked up was worth it for this one moment.

He worked to memorize it—every detail of her approach—from the baby’s breath on her head to the silhouette of her gown to the way her eyes lit up when she saw him and the smile that followed.

Gods, he never thought he would be grateful for the Fates.

True to her nature, she stopped to hug those closest to her, including Apollo and Hermes, and then she was finally in front of him, and he felt a profound and euphoric rush of pure joy.

She took a step toward him when Lexi pulled her back to take her bouquet. Hades chuckled, and the crowd laughed.

“Eager, darling?” he asked.

“Always,” she said, and when she finally stood opposite him, he took her hands. “Hi.”

“Hi,” he said, grinning. “You are beautiful.”

“So are you.”

He thought it would be easier to breathe once she was in front of him, but it wasn’t.

Hecate cleared her throat as she stepped between them, looking from him to Persephone.

“I knew this moment would come eventually,” Hecate said. “I have seen love—all forms and degrees—but there is something dear about this love—the kind you two share. It is desperate and fierce and passionate.” She paused to laugh, and so did everyone behind them. “And perhaps it is because I know you, but it is my favorite kind of love to watch. It blossoms and blazes, challenges and teases, hurts and heals. There are no two souls better matched. Apart, you are light and dark, life and death, a beginning and an end. Together, you are a foundation that will weave an empire, unite a people, and weld worlds together. You are a cycle that never ends—eternal and infinite. Hades.”

Hecate gave him Persephone’s ring. Her eyes widened when she saw it, and he knew she was just now realizing she didn’t have one, but she had no need to worry. He had prepared for this moment.

“Do you take Persephone to be your wife?” Hecate asked.

“I do,” he said as he slipped the ring on her finger.

“Persephone,” Hecate said, giving her a black ring. “Do you take Hades to be your husband?”

“I do,” she said, and as she slid the ring on his finger, Hades felt like she had given him the greatest gift.

He had the honor of being her husband.

“You may kiss the bride, Hades.”

He took her radiant face between his hands.

“I love you,” he said and pressed his mouth to hers, gentle at first, thinking it would be enough, but it wasn’t. He pulled her against him, parting her mouth with his tongue, deepening the kiss, and it was strange to say, but it felt different. Maybe it was because he had never been so happy. Either way, he was very aware that this was his wife, his goddess, his queen.

“Get a room!” Hermes shouted.

He held her in his embrace a little longer just for that. When he pulled away, he pressed his lips to her forehead before taking her hand and turning to the crowd.

“May I present Hades and Persephone, King and Queen of the Underworld.”

The crowd erupted in great applause, and they returned down the aisle as husband and wife. Once they had come around the copse of trees, he paused to kiss her again.

“I have never seen anything more beautiful than you,” he said, looking down at her, memorizing her as she stared back just as intently, just as happily.

“I love you. So much,” she said.

“Come,” Hecate said sharply, teleporting them into the library. “You have a few minutes to yourselves until I return to collect you for the festivities,” she said. “If I were you, I’d keep your clothes on…and your feet on the ground.”

When they were alone, he looked down at Persephone. “That sounded like a challenge.”

“Are you up for it, husband?”

That word tightened his chest, and he closed his eyes against the emotion that welled within his eyes.

“Are you okay?” she whispered.

“Say it again. Call me your husband.”

“I said, are you up for the challenge, husband?”

When he was sure he could handle it, he looked at her again and drew their hips together.

“As much as I want you now,” he said, “I have something else planned for us tonight.”

“Does it involve…something new?”

“Are you asking…for something new?”

“Yes,” she whispered.

He took one of her hands, which had come to rest on his chest, and kissed the inside of her wrist.

“And what is it you wish to try?”

He wasn’t prepared for her answer.

“Restraints.”