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Had he not just acted the same way toward her since he became an Underworld citizen?
She smiled, but it did not reach her eyes. She knew what he was thinking.
“Devon, I am what people fear. I represent an unknown to them and people do not handle the unknown well. Hera can create a storm and though there may be damage, people have lived through storms before. People do not live through death. They do not come back to tell what waits for them on the other side. People fear me. That is the burden I carry. But it is one that I do so knowing when they reach my realm, I will care for their souls. They fear me in life but need me in death. I am okay with that, but it does lend itself to a lonely existence.”
In that moment, he truly saw the two sides of this Goddess. This woman.
She may act cold and calculated in the presence of people she did not know well outside of her very small circle. But, in the Underworld, he saw the warm, intelligent, beautiful soul that hid beneath the coldness of her gorgeous exterior.
Devon could see how a person with a weaker constitution would shy away from someone with her power. He also saw that behind all her confidence and control was a woman who felt those slights bone deep. She was not as unaffected as he had thought.
“People do fear the unknown, this is true, and something I can personally understand. But you radiate strength and intelligence, and if they could look past their own fears, they would see someone well worth knowing. Something I plan to keep in mind from now on. I am honored to stand beside you, even if I haven’t acted like it.”
He put his elbow out again after releasing hers, patting the hand of her arm as she wrapped it through his.
“You and your pretty words,” she teased. He caught a glimpse of the true Persephone before
she returned to her Goddess persona. Her armor.
He chuckled. “Not something I was well known for when I was mortal. Guess I am evolving after all.”
“That man was always in there. Never forget that,” she told him as she tightened her hand on his arm for a brief moment and gave him a dazzling smile.
They crossed the double doors to enter the ballroom, him feeling lighter on his feet for the first time since returning to the mortal world.
Hecate and Thanatos walked in, arm in arm from another entrance, and he wondered if this was something more than just a date between friends. Thanatos wore a dark tuxedo, looking every bit the young model straight from Hispania.
Hecate looked gorgeous in a black gown; her silver hair pulled up in a detailed hair style with black beading. They nodded to him before a couple moved over to speak to them.
There were so many people, mingling, laughing, sitting, and having a drink. His eyes caught flashes of color here and there, and he realized he could differentiate who was mortal and who was not.
A new sense of his power, he thought, and wondered why he had never seen these flashes of color in the Underworld or at Cerberus Financial.
It was overwhelming, the stimuli, and he had to push the instinct down to snarl at people as he passed. It felt almost like he needed to assert some dominance. An almost territorial need to keep people away from him… and, he slowly realized, Persephone.
“You may feel different among these people,” Persephone explained almost as if she could read his mind, “since our building dampens powers in order to protect from an attack within. Here you are unbound and will sense more and be able to do more. If you feel off in the slightest, we need to excuse ourselves and find a way outside to calm you.”
He nodded and swallowed down the urge to go on a rampage and build a wall of bodies around them. He did not want to ruin her evening, but this was an intense feeling. He would need to do his best to control himself.
As much as he hated to be a burden, he knew if it became too much, he would have to alert her. He had to keep his wits about him, he thought, as a man passed by him and barely touched Persephone’s shoulder. Devon had to take a deep breath not to follow the man and rip off his arm in his anger that the man had dared to touch the Goddess.
“Devon?” Persephone asked, moving in front of him to get a good look at his eyes.
He took a huge breath in and shook his head.
“Sorry. I’m fine,” he said as he grabbed her hand and squeezed in reassurance.
He felt her power going through his hand and into him, calming him, anchoring him. He felt a huge wave of relief wash through him at having physical contact with her.
“Thank you,” he whispered as he squeezed her hand one more time.
A woman holding a tray of glasses filled with champagne walked up, offering them each a flute.
He grabbed two, handing Persephone one and taking a sip from his.
He was able to get himself back under control now that Persephone had blunted the power radiating off the crowd.
A few people greeted Persephone and Devon with him being introduced as her date for the evening. He found he enjoyed the idea of being her date, of letting himself relax into that role, even if it was all a ruse.
