Chapter XLIII: Hades

CHAPTER XLIII

HADES

Persephone was still screaming when they made it to the Underworld.

“It’s going to be okay,” Hades said. He knew those were the wrong words, but he did not know what else to offer. There was nothing that could quite quell the hysteria of battle—not even time.

“She took that spear for me,” she said, leaning heavily against him.

“Aphrodite will be well. It is not yet her time to die,” Hades promised, though he could not discount the terror of seeing the goddess injured and in such a violent manner. Persephone had never seen Olympians battle before. “Sit.”

She followed his directions but spoke as he knelt before her. “Hades, we cannot stay here. We have to find Sybil.”

“I know, I know,” he said, though he had no idea what she was talking about. He just needed her to sit still for a few moments. Her shirt was covered in blood, and he would not feel at ease until he knew she was not injured. “Just let me make sure you are well.”

“I’m fine,” she argued. “I healed myself.”

“Please.”

He knew she’d been practicing her healing skills, but he had to be sure, because he could already feel his body shaking and his heart racing at the sight of her blood.

She stared at him for a moment and then relented, unbuttoning her shirt to show him her smooth skin. He took a breath and then shot to his feet, that strange terror roiling through him turning to anger.

“Fuck!” he roared. “I never fucking wanted this for you!”

“Hades, this is not your fault.”

“I wanted to protect you from this,” he said.

He had tried so hard, but at some point, it seemed inevitable that things would come to this.

“You had no control over how the gods would act today, Hades. I made a choice to use my power. Zeus made a choice to end me.”

“I will destroy him,” Hades swore.

“I have no doubt,” she said. “And I will be beside you when you do.”

“Beside me,” he said and stroked her cheek. Then he let his hand fall. “Tell me about Sybil.”

“This morning, Sybil never showed for breakfast,” she explained. “I went in to work hoping she might be there and had just forgotten, but she wasn’t. Then when I arrived at my office, there was a box on my desk.” She paused and swallowed, her voice shaking slightly. “Sybil’s severed finger was inside.”

Hades’s blood ran cold. He thought of the nymphs Demeter had killed; had she gotten Sybil too? Was this her way of luring Persephone into a trap?

“You are certain it was Sybil’s?”

“Yes.”

“Where is it now?”

“It’s still in my office.”

“We’ll have to retrieve it,” Hades said. “Hecate can cast a tracing spell that will at least tell us where her finger was removed.”

“What do we do if she isn’t there?”

“I cannot say,” Hades said. “It depends on what we find when we trace her.”

The point was they needed a place to start.

“Come. We must hurry. We cannot spend much time outside the Underworld given how we left the Olympians.”

Hades had expected the retrieval of Sybil’s finger to be easy. The hard part would come when Hecate conducted the trace and her rescue, but as soon as they arrived at Persephone’s office, he realized he had guessed wrong.

Demeter was not responsible.

It was Theseus.

He should have known.

Demeter used her magic to hurt.

Theseus used weapons.

Gods-dammit.

Theseus sat across from Persephone’s desk, reclined on her couch as if he belonged there.

“You,” Persephone seethed.

Hades kept his hands planted firmly around her.

“Me,” Theseus said in an almost singsong voice. His arrogance permeated the air, an oily feeling that slid over Hades’s skin.

“Where is Sybil?” Persephone demanded.

“She’s right here,” Theseus said, holding up her severed finger.

“What do you want with her?”

“Your cooperation,” the demigod said, and then his eyes shifted to Hades. “I will need it after I collect my favor.”

Hades went cold, and he dug his hands into Persephone’s waist, holding her tighter. He had known this day would come eventually.

Theseus had captured Sisyphus, the mortal responsible for using a spindle to extend his own life. The Fates had been furious and Hades knew that if he did not contain the threat, they would retaliate. So when Theseus brought the mortal and the stolen relic to his doorstep, requested a favor in return, Hades had granted it.

“What favor?” Persephone asked.

“The favor Hades owes me,” Theseus said, a smile playing on his thin lips. “For my aid in saving your relationship.”

“What is he talking about?” Persephone asked.

Hades did not respond. He was thinking about how he was going to kill Theseus and the best way to engage in the fight without Persephone and Sybil coming to harm.

“Hades?”

“He returned a relic that fell into the wrong hands to me. You have learned the devastation such a piece can cause.”

There were no coincidences here. The spindle was the first relic Poseidon and Theseus had introduced to the world as a test. When it had wreaked enough havoc and they were done with their game, Theseus had brought him Sisyphus and the spindle in exchange for the favor.

It was a trap.

It had worked.

“What is it you want from him?” Persephone asked.

“You,” Theseus answered.

Hades shook. His bones rattled in his body. He did not think he could hold Persephone any tighter.

“Me?” she asked breathlessly.

“No.” Hades’s voice was dark but resonant, and his magic rose, thickening the air.

“Favors are binding, Hades,” Theseus reminded, as if he were chiding him. “You are obligated to fulfill my request.”

“I know the nature of favors, Theseus,” Hades hissed.

“You would face Divine death?” Theseus asked, rising from his spot on the couch.

“Hades, no!”

Hades ignored her pleas. “For Persephone? Yes.”

“I’m only asking to borrow her. You can have her back when I’m through.”

Hades knew too well what that meant.

“Why me?” she asked.

“That is a conversation for another time. For now, you must leave here with me, and Hades cannot follow. If you do not do as I say, I will murder your friend in front of you.”

She managed to turn in his arms. He didn’t want to look at her.

Don’t make me do this, he thought. Don’t make me watch you leave.

“Persephone,” he said, his teeth clenched. There was a thickness in his throat that burned his nose and his eyes.

“It’s going to be okay,” she whispered.

“No, Persephone.” His chest felt heavy, his heart racing in his chest.

“I have lost too many people,” she said. “This way…I can keep you all.”

Hehad lost too many people and yet she asked this of him. He couldn’t do it. He could not let her go—how was he supposed to watch her walk away with a man who had the power to kill gods?

Persephone rose onto the tips of her toes and pressed a kiss to his lips. He did not return the kiss and he did not release his hold as she pulled away.

“Trust me,” she whispered.

“I trust you.”

It was Theseus he did not trust.

“Then let me go,” she said and he wasn’t sure what it was about how she spoke, but he found himself relaxing his fingers but it was as though he’d been spelled, his heart at war with his mind.

Theseus chuckled and opened the door. “You have made the right decision.”

Hades held her gaze, unable to look away. She took a few steps back, eyes wide and pleading. She was asking him to let her leave, begging him to stay. When she turned away from him, she took his heart with her..

“Persephone,” he said, desperate to call her back.

Do not leave with him, he wanted to say. We will figure this out, but he knew there was no escaping Divine Justice if he did not let this transaction take place. As much as he hated to admit it, letting her go was likely the best option. It would leave him free to find her, to save her, to tear Theseus to pieces.

She came to stand beside Theseus, and she held his stare.

“I love you,” she said. “And I know you.”

He knew what she was saying, because he felt her magic a second before it burst through the ground and took hold of him. His arms and legs suddenly anchored him to the floor, which was quickly buckling beneath his feet.

“Persephone!” he roared though she was right. He’d have likely not let them leave the building before he came after them and she wasn’t willing to risk Sybil’s life.

As he struggled against her restraints, his muscles shaking, he looked up in time to see her stricken face before the door slammed shut.