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It was a clue she did not catch. Instead, she glared at him.
“If you steal me away to the Underworld, you will face my mother’s wrath.”
“Oh, I am sure,” he mused, imagining it now, and yet it was the price Demeter would pay—first for bargaining with the Fates, and second for hiding Persephone from him. When would the Goddess of Harvest come for him, he wondered?“Much like you will feel her wrath when she discovers what you’ve so recklessly done.”
He hated that he spoke those words, and he considered reassuring her that he would protect her from her mother, but then Persephone straightened, met his gaze, and accepted his challenge.
“Fine. When do I start?”
He almost smiled.“Come tomorrow. I’ll show you the way to the Underworld.”
“It will have to be after class,” she said.
His brows drew together.“Class?”
“I’m a student at New Athens University.”
It was an example of how much he did not know about this woman, and he found himself curious. What was she studying? How long had she been in college? Where had she been living prior to New Athens? What had Demeter taught her about the Divine?
All things I will learn in time, he reminded himself.
“After…class, then.”
They stared at each other for a long moment, still touching, still invading each other’s space, and he found he was content with this—the silence, the feel of her energy—because it made his chest feel lighter.
“What about your bouncer?” she asked suddenly.
Hades frowned, brows lowering.“What about him?”
“I’d prefer he not remember me in this form.” She lifted her hand to her horns, and Hades eyes followed. They were beautiful horns, gracefully twisted into sharpened points, but as he looked at them, they disappeared from his view, covered by the glamour Persephone had called up. His eyes, again, fell to hers.
“I’ll erase his memory…afterhe is punished for his treatment of you,” he promised.
“He didn’t know I was a goddess,” she said.
Do not come to his aid, he wanted to say.He does not deserve your kindness.
“But he knew you were a woman, and he let his anger get the best of him. So he will be punished.”
And I will enjoy the process thoroughly.
“What will it cost me?”
He focused upon her again, on her thick lashes, mesmerizing eyes, and sensuous mouth.
“Clever, darling. You know how this works. The punishment? Nothing. His memory? A favor.”
“Don’t call me darling,” she snapped, and he raised a brow at her sudden frustration. Perhaps she thought he was growing too comfortable too fast.“What kind of favor?”
“Whatever I want,” he said.“To be used at a future time.”
She narrowed her eyes, skeptical of his request, and she should be. The most dangerous favors were those unspecified, and if she agreed, it would give him an idea of just how much she truly knew about what it meant to be Divine.
“Deal.”
Nothing, he thought.She knows nothing at all. It made him more than curious. How could Demeter let her daughter enter a world run by the Divine and know nothing of them? She had to know that sooner or later, Persephone would find her way into this world.
Despite his worrying thoughts, Hades smiled at her.“I will have my driver take you home.”
