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And now she wasn’t. Loneliness was a fucking bitch. It was pathetic to think that I, Hades, God of the Underworld, was lonely. No one saw me that way. I was just always seen as some kind of devil.
It made me sound a lot more invincible than I really was if I had to be honest about it. But I wasn’t going to admit that to anyone.
I walked through the empty palace, the hallways empty of furniture and paintings, looking for the Fates. They were here somewhere, too. Maybe I could strike up a conversation with them. Maybe it wouldn’t be so dull.
When I moved from one room to the next, I thought about the last time people had been here. The gods visited with Elyse to rescue Catina, her little friend whom X kidnapped to draw Elyse out. They’d all been down here. Even Poseidon, who’d never set foot in the Underworld before.
And Elyse had been in my home. In the flesh. The Underworld wasn’t a place the living should have been able to visit. I had no idea how she did it without my intervention.
It just wasn’t all shiny and fit for any of the other gods. But it was still a realm Elyse shouldn’t have been able to enter. Yet, she had.
What I would give for her to be here now. It would make the loneliness go away.
I shook my head. She didn’t deserve my bullshit, so I had to stop thinking about her. I’d make myself miserable, like I wasn’t already enough of a sad sack.
“Hades,” Persephone called behind me, and I closed my eyes for a second. My name on her lips brought back years and years of memories.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, turning around to face her. “I thought you ditched this hellhole for good.”
Her lips pressed together in a slight grimace. “Only for six months of the year, remember?”
I’d done that to her. I’d been tricked, and I tricked her, too.
“So why aren’t you celebrating your freedom up top?” I pointed at the ceiling to where Earth was in relation to the Underworld.
She exhaled heavily, her fingers interlacing across her stomach. “Because I want to talk to you.”
“About?”
I didn’t like where she was going with this. Persephone could really get on a topic and not let it go. I wasn’t obligated to listen.
“Elyse,” she said.
Yeah, to hell with that shit. “I don’t think so.” Ipoofedthe fuck out of there, disappearing without even giving her a chance to have her say.
Once at the mountains, I hurried through the snow, the white powder squishing beneath my steps, but I barely felt the cold as I marched to the dingy cabin I called home.
“You can’t keep running away,” she said behind me.
Fuck, she’d follow me until she had her say. I should have known. It was classic Persephone. Except now the curse was lifted, her occasional clinginess was a hell of a lot more irritating.
“Just hear me out,” she pleaded. “Please.”
I stopped in my tracks. After all, she’d saidplease. Whenever she talked to me that way, I listened. Damned if I didn’t still have a soft spot for her, and I doubted that reaction would ever go away. We weren’t together anymore, but we’d been together for so long and even though it wasn’t romantic affection I felt for her anymore, the woman had grown on me in ways I hadn’t thought would be possible without real love.
“Fine,” I said with a sigh as I opened the door to the cabin, waving her to walk in first.
Inside, I offered her coffee, which she took with a childlike enthusiasm that actually made me smile.
“I love this stuff,” she said, blowing on the top of the hot drink.
“The humans get some shit right.”
She nodded her head softly and didn’t respond, just sipped her coffee.
“So?” I asked, folding my arms over my chest. “What is it? You’re not here to drink coffee and make small talk.” Although it started to sound nice now we were chatting. She wasn’t my favorite person, but the company was welcome, and I’d missed her. She’d become a part of my life. Centuries together could do that to a man. I didn’t want her back, but I didn’t like being alone all the time, either.
I studied her as she chose her words, her eyes lifting to the ceiling, the corners of her mouth twitching. Her porcelain skin seemed to almost glow. She didn’t wear the white robe the goddesses usually wore. Instead, she dressed in jeans, boots that came over her knees, a coat, and a scarf,—looking modern and feminine. It was a good look on her.
