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“What’s the matter, Demeter?” he challenged.“Afraid of the Fates?”
His words were an acknowledgment.I know of the prophecy, they said.
“If you truly care for her as you so publicly claim, then walk away,” Demeter said.“She stands to lose everything if you do not.”
“And those are the actions of someone who cares for her?” Hades asked.
Demeter stepped toward him, her voice shaking.“I am doing this because I care!You are not right for my daughter.”
“I think she would disagree.”
Demeter glared, and after a moment, she stepped back, laughing.“My daughter would never betray me.” Hades got the feeling Demeter was only trying to convince herself of that.“She would never choose you over me.”
“Then you have nothing to fear,” Hades said.
Except she had everything to fear, because Persephone had already betrayed Demeter. She betrayed her every time she’d come to Nevernight, every time their lips met, every time she put her mouth on his cock, spread her legs, and let him taste her. Persephone had betrayed Demeter every time they came together, calling each other’s names, and it was that thought that had him smiling as he vanished from the grounds of Olympia.
CHAPTER XXIV – THE ASCENSION BALL
Hades teleported to the Underworld. His first stop was Hecate’s cottage, where he found the goddess preparing for the evening. She looked like the moon, draped in silver, her lampades weaving matching stars into her dark hair.
“Hades,” Hecate said.“How was council?”
He was not often vocal, but he felt the need to recount his time at Olympia.
“Zeus will pay dearly for his commentary on women,” Hecate said when Hades finished.
He had no doubt. Hecate was not afraid to punish gods. She had done so many times and in many ways, from setting traps to curses to revoking the victory of a precious hero. Her wrath was real and deadly when she was pushed.
“I worry his attention will turn to Persephone,” Hades said.
Hecate’s eyes glimmered like coals.
“If it does, she will be able to defend herself.”
Hades looked at the goddess questioningly.“How?”
“She did not tell you? The night you had—err…” She paused, and Hades glared. He knew what she was going to say.The night after they’d had sex.“The day after The Olympian Gala, she sensed life for the first time. She could feel her magic.”
Hades let Hecate’s words sink in. Persephonesensedher magic. He knew it was possible that her powers would begin to awaken, but he had not expected it to happen so fast. It meant that Persephone had accepted his worship, that she had felt powerful and worthy while they had made love.
It meant that she trusted him.
The realization made his chest swell, and it made Demeter’s words feel even more threatening, but when Hades expressed this to Hecate, the goddess just smiled.
“Have hope in your goddess, Hades. Has she not already chosen you?”
***
Hades did not stay long with Hecate. He was eager to see Persephone. It sounded strange, but he was curious to observe a change within her. Would her ability to sense life alter the way she thought of herself and her Divine blood? He thought of when he had met her. It was like she resented who she was, as if she felt like less of a goddess because she could not call upon her power. Power that had not arisen because she had been hidden away her whole life.
Hades clenched his fists at the thought. Demeter had let her believe she was powerless, she had watched as Persephone spiraled, putting distance between herself and her Divinity until she no longer saw herself as one.
And yet she was the most god-like of any of them.
The first thing he noticed when he manifested in the Queen’s Suite—the suite that would one day belong to her—was her scent. She smelled of sweet vanilla and earthy lavender. Their eyes met in the mirror, and just as she started to turn toward him, he stopped her.
“Don’t move. Let me look at you.”
