Chapter 60

60

Persephone sat in the balcony seat while Orpheus’s voice rang out in the hall. It was beautiful. Pure. Perfect. At the same time, everything was wrong. So wrong.

She clutched the railing, shaking her head. No, she had to stop it. She looked around frantically for someone to help but there was no one.

“If you die before I wake,” Orpheus sang, “I’ll give my soul; it’s theirs to take?—”

“No!” Persephone screamed but her voice made no sound even as a monstrous darkness rose behind Orpheus. “Run!”

Eurydice stumbled out from the other side of the stage, looking dazed and confused. She was clutching her stomach and when she brought her hands away, they were covered in blood.

“Eurydice,” Orpheus shouted, throwing his guitar to the ground and sprinting towards her.

But the darkness, the monster behind him, it was faster. Persephone screamed as it swallowed him up, a title wave of blood drenching Eurydice as she fell to her knees and?—

Persephone sat up in bed, hand flying to her mouth to stifle her scream as sweat poured down her temples and her heart raced.

On the side table, her phone was buzzing insistently. It must have woken her. Thank the Fates. Sometimes she was stuck in the nightmare world for what felt like an eternity.

Persephone wiped her forehead with her forearm and reached for the phone, fumbling for the angry little device.

Missed call…four thirty-two pm. She groaned. She’d gotten only an hour of sleep after getting back from the spa.

Her fingers hit the button to listen to the voicemail.

“Mrs. Ubeli,” said a familiar voice, and she started at hearing her married name. “This is Poseidon; Mr. Merche gave me your number. Please call me when you get a chance.” He gave his number.

She blinked in confusion for a moment but then remembered her earlier conversation with Hermes.

He’d come in while she and Aphrodite were at Metamorphosis, before they’d gone in to get their massages. “Don’t mean to interrupt girl’s day out. I wanted to let you know I gave Perceptions a referral. You remember the big black guy in the white tux?”

She remembered the intense stare down between the tall man and her husband. “Poseidon…uh, yes.”

“Well, Poseidon called trying to get in touch with you. Persephone, he is raving about how great the party was last night. I sent him to your website but I’ll send you his number, too. This is huge! He owns a huge company—I bet he wants you to do something corporate. That’s big money right there. I’ll help you, of course. We’ll get some sub-contractors.” Hermes’s voice had buzzed with excitement but Persephone had been beyond exhausted at that point. She’d hoped she’d fall asleep during the massage, but no such luck.

Saving the voicemail, she dropped her phone on the bedside table with a groan. How long could a person go without sleep before they went crazy?

Hauling herself out of bed, she went tiredly to the bedroom door to stare at the rest of the apartment. No one was home. Athena would probably work through the night with Pig. Where Athena was a devil, stubborn and driven, Pig—Persephone didn’t know his real name—was an angel, sweet and talented. His ideas were cutting edge, Athena had told her once, but he’d give them away if it wasn’t for her push to get them patented, designed, and distributed properly. Athena was a fiend when it came to business.

Aphrodite was probably getting a private tour of the studio by her new boy toy, Max Mars.

Meanwhile, Persephone thought, I’m slowly going mad. Grabbing a laundry basket, she started picking up the place.

When she went to clean her purse, the baggie of white pills Hermes had given her fell out, and she paused, considering. She hated taking medicine for anything. Even when she was little, her mother would let the fever burn out or feed her chicken soup for a cold. She frowned. Her mom was scarcely a role model, though, considering she was a murderous crime lord. Then Persephone laughed humorously. She had a lot of those in her life.

She pulled out one of the little pills. It weighed heavily in her palm, a fair trade for a night’s rest.

After swallowing it with a glass of water, she waited a few minutes, then kept packing for her upcoming move.

She was rummaging around in her suitcase when she heard a clink. Checking the small pockets, she pulled out her wedding rings, the plain white gold band and matching engagement ring, unique with both diamonds and red stones. She slid it on her finger, watching the diamonds and garnets catch the light.

She remembered the night Hades had first put it on her finger. That had been another lifetime. She’d been another woman. A girl, really. She hadn’t even known who or what Hades was yet. She’d been so na?ve. And if she could go back in time and warn her former self? She flopped back on the couch and stared at the ceiling fan. If she could do it all differently…would she?

A knock at the door startled her out of her thoughts.

She glided across the small apartment and opened it, expecting Hermes or even one of her roommates who’d forgotten their keys. She didn’t expect the familiar dark-haired form, with tall, broad shoulders filling the narrow frame.

“Hades,” she whispered numbly.

The next second he was on her, his large hands cradling her face with infinite care as his mouth closed over hers. Firm lips pressing, pulling, dominating hers until they parted.

She closed her eyes, her breath leaving her in a rush. What was she doing? She couldn’t just let him— Hades’s hands caressed her cheeks, her shoulders, her hips, guiding her backwards. And she let him. His scent washed over her.

She clutched his shoulders for balance at first, then harder, her fingers digging in and grabbing him. Yes. She missed him. She needed him.

He swung her up and her legs locked around his waist. Then they were in her bedroom. On the bed.

Her hips arched upwards, juddering, begging, as Hades braced his big body over hers. His mouth, his hands, were everywhere. His stubble scraped the inner curve of her breast and she cried out in shock at the abrasive pleasure.

Fabric tore and she kicked free of her ruined sleep shorts. Her hands turned to claws, digging into the solid muscle of her husband’s back.

Please, I need?—

He reared up, a massive shadow over her. In a moment he’d fill her and all would be well. Everything in the world swirled away. It was only Hades, Hades, Hades. She couldn’t see his face, but as her body convulsed in painful pleasure, the light silhouetted the curve of his cheek, cruel and confident and everything she’d longed for in the eternity they’d been apart...

Persephone woke up with her body shuddering in the throes of her orgasm. Her hand flew to her naked chest as if she could still her pounding heart.

She looked around in confusion even as she checked the sum of her naked limbs. In the cool bedroom light she couldn’t tell whether it was night or day. Hades was nowhere to be seen. Had it been…a dream?

What the hell? She pushed her hair back from her face and tentatively felt herself down there. No, she hadn’t had sex. Sex with Hades, especially after going so long without—she’d definitely feel it afterwards.

She flopped backwards on her pillow. She wasn’t sure which was more unsettling, the sex dream or the nightmares.

Her phone chirped at her from an unruly pile of pillows on the floor. 7:56 a.m., the glowing light told her, over twelve hours since she’d taken the sleeping pill. She didn’t remember anything—taking off her clothes, climbing into bed—nothing except for the dream.

It had been a dream, right? Though she didn’t feel sore, it had still felt so real.

Blushing hard, she gathered the bedspread around her naked form and peeked out of the bedroom. No one was in the apartment, and there was no way to tell whether or not someone had been there.

Except that the air in the bedroom held the heady smell of sex.

Okay. Enough. Persephone jumped off the bed and ripped off all the sheets, throwing them in a pile for laundry before taking the coldest shower of her life.