Chapter 21

Chapter

Twenty-One

P ersephone

“I’m never getting into another car you’re driving as long as I live.”

Minthe swings her head to me in much the same way she swung the car into the parking lot. Wildly and slightly manic. “Why?”

I blink at her. She can’t be serious. But she is. “Because there’s a good chance, I won’t make it out of the experience alive.”

Minthe’s shoulders bounce in a shrug. “We’ll just come back.” She pauses, scrunching her nose. “Well, you’ll come back after you find the Elysian Tree, that is. Me, I’m immortal thanks to a certain evil Goddess.” She lets out a giggle when I shoot her a gobsmacked stare.

“No wonder I fit in with you. You’re a whole other brand of nutty.”

“Come on, crazy girl.” She exits the car with the same kind of energy that she drives with, which is a lot. Still, my jaw is in my lap, so I don’t move. Leaning down to peer through the car at me, Minthe shoots me a wink. “Don’t be so surprised. You’re not the only one with a little crazy in you.”

I loose a sound that is somewhere between a laugh and a groan. Pushing open the car door, I mutter, “I can’t believe you’re calling me crazy after everything I just confessed to you.”

“Called myself crazy, too,” she sings as she loops her arm through mine. “But that’s why we’re here.” She waves her free hand toward the sign overhead. A sign that is in Greek, which I haven’t yet learned. “We’re going to prove, irrefutably, that there’s nothing at all wrong with that pretty brain of yours.”

I dig my heels, eyes never leaving the modern building. “Where are we, Minthe?”

“Don’t worry. No one is cutting into your brain today.”

“Today?” I wheeze. “Maybe you are the crazy one.”

She flutters her lashes innocently. “I’ve been trying to tell you.”

“Seriously.” I can’t help my responding grin. It accompanies my tired chuckle. “Where are we? ”

“This is a medical clinic and funeral home.”

“In one?” I can feel the scowl that forms on my face. “That’s weird.”

“Well, not technically in one.” She waves her finger between the two buildings. “They’re connected, though. Owned by the same man.”

As though called, a man in a suit appears behind the glass doors. I can’t fully see him through the glare of the sun on the glass, until I’m standing inside the building. As soon as I do see him, though, every inch of my body stiffens.

“You.”

Minthe’s brow arches. “You know him?” Her head twists, rather stiltedly for Minthe, to Herman. “You know Persephone?”

His eyes widen just a touch. “Persephone.” He breathes my name like the wind has been knocked out of him, recovering quite quickly. Herman nods, having the sense to look just a touch ashamed. “So, it’s true, then. I couldn’t be certain.” I don’t understand his bizarre words, but he doesn’t explain as he adds, “I’m sincerely sorry for the way I behaved when we met, Persephone.”

Hades had introduced me as Annie. For some reason, he hadn’t wanted this man—his family—to know my name.

I lift my chin. “Hades says you’re responsible for the death of his wife.”

Minthe gasps, crying, “That’s not true!” at the same time Herman says, “It will forever be my greatest regret.”

Minthe’s head swings to Herman. She looks downright incensed. “Her death was not your fault. She killed her.”

Herman dips his head. I sense there are deep and great thoughts swirling in his mind before he lifts his head again, eyes sweeping over me thoughtfully. Without taking his eyes off me, he asks Minthe softly, “You trust me enough to bring her to me? To let me know her true identity, without question?”

She touches his arm. “You’re on our side. Even if Hades can’t see it yet.”

“How can you be so sure?” His words are a web that weaves wicked trickery in my mind. I can see all the ways this could go wrong, second-guessing every move I make when it comes to this man. I feel suddenly ill, as though the thoughts in my head aren’t my own. As though my hesitation is infused by another. My insecurity crafted outside of my own fears.

What is happening?

“Stop it.” Minthe whacks Herman in his broad chest with the back of her palm.

The thoughts simply stop.

I blink. He cocks his head. “She is unprotected. Entirely open to manipulation. Like—like a true human.”

“She is human,” Minthe huffs .

What the heck?

His brows furrow. “Impossible.”

They’re messing with me. They have to be messing with me. The thought stings, because after everything I confessed to Minthe this morning, this feels like the worst kind of betrayal right now.

Pulling in a shaky breath that stings of sharp emotion, I take a quick step back. “Look, I don’t know what’s going on, but I’m uncomfortable. I don’t want—I don’t think Hades would want me here.”

“I will never hurt you.” Instead of the surge of insecurity and hesitation, an overwhelming sense of trust and soothing comfort floods me. I have enough sense to wonder if it is my own, but I am incapable of producing suspicion even as I know I should.

I’m so confused right now.

“I—” I shake my head. Lifting fingertips to my temples, I rub. “I don’t feel well.”

“Is it happening again?” Minthe asks softly, moving closer.

“Don’t touch me.” I force my voice to soften at the hurt that paints her expression. God, I don’t know what’s wrong with me. Half of me wonders if I’ve imagined their bizarre exchange, because it doesn’t make sense. Nothing makes sense anymore.

“Persephone?” Minthe soothes.

“I don’t know. Just—” I meet her eyes with my own, pleading, “Take me back to Hades. Please.”

Herman takes a step closer. Oddly, comfort oozes from the man. A kind of comfort that is very different from the predator I first sensed when I met him at the gala.

His voice is soft, his brown eyes are the same as he peers into my own. I’m struck then by how handsome he is, in a way that is entirely different from Hades’ rough, darkly powerful attraction. “Minthe tells me you’ve been experiencing some anomalies with your—,” he considers and says, “thoughts. That you think there is a possibility there is something wrong with your brain. Something, perhaps, growing where it should not be growing.”

I can’t help myself; I nod. But I’m unable to force the words from where they sit on my tongue.

He blinks slowly. I’ve never analyzed a blink in my life, but this blink feels like a soft touch. A gentle caress. His voice matches the soothing lilt to that blink. “I would like to help you put these fears to rest.”

I croak, “H—how?”

“With your consent, I would like to do a full body and head CT scan.” His eyes drop to my quivering lips. I feel like I’m teetering on the edge of sanity, a moment from slipping to a deadly fall I’ll never come back from.

“What if there is something? Something gr—growing?”

“We will cross that bridge when—if—we get there.” He smiles gently. “What do you say, Persephone? ”

I say nothing. I can’t find the words. But when I nod, Minthe takes my hand in hers, holding me like I’m not breakable, and for that, I’ll forever be thankful to her.

She squeezes my hand, and I squeeze hers. With strength.