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“What if the roles had been reversed?”
“They have been reversed,” he snapped. They’d beenrealfor him.
She blanched, looking horrified. “Was that some kind of punishment?”
“Persephone—” That had not been his intention. Fuck. He reached for her, but she took a step away.
“Don’t.” She put her hands up. “I need time. Alone.”
“I don’t want you to go,” he said.
“I don’t think it’s your choice,” she said.
She took a deep, shaky breath, as if she were gathering the courage to go, and when she did, Hades let out his own frustrated cry.
CHAPTER XXXIII
DIONYSUS
Dionysus found himself walking up the fucking mountain again, and though he was faster without Ariadne, he’d have much rather had her slowing him down.
Gods fucking dammit.
He was angry, but worst of all, he was worried.
Dionysus did not know much about cyclopes beyond their role in ancient times. Then they’d been great craftsmen and had helped the Olympians in the battle against the Titans. While he knew some remained in their employ, they did not all appear to have evolved the same, as evident by this one, which roamed this island eating sheep. And if it ate sheep, it surely ate humans.
As Dionysus came to the top of the mountain, he looked out on the island, which was far vaster than he expected; the terrain varied from deep canyons to rolling hills. Despite how huge the cyclops was, Dionysus caught no sight or sound of the monster. It was as if it’d disappeared.
That only served to make his anxiety worse, and he felt a familiar and dreadful shuddering deep in his bones. He ground his teeth and fisted his hands against it, unwilling to let the madness take root. If it did, he would be useless, and it was likely that more than just the cyclops would die in his quest to rescue Ariadne.
He took deep breaths until the feeling subsided, though the fact that it had come about so quickly unnerved him. But for now, at least he was in control.
He tore down the mountain, retracing his steps to the cottage where he’d healed Ariadne, then to the shore where he’d met the old man.
“Hello!” he bellowed. “I need you, old man! The cyclops has taken her!”
He paced the shore, catching a glimpse of something in his periphery. He startled and turned to find the strange god standing on the rocks, the same as he had been before.
“Where the fuck do you come from?” Dionysus demanded.
“I saved your life once,” the old man said. “What more could you want from me?”
“The cyclops has taken my—” Dionysus hesitated, uncertain of what he intended to say. “The cyclops has taken Ariadne, and I do not know where. I have climbed that gods-forsaken mountain. I have looked across this fucking island. Where has he taken her?”
“To his lair, I imagine.”
Dionysus took a step, his hands shaking.
“Where?” he asked through gritted teeth.
“Across the way,” replied the man. “On the other side of the strait.”
Dionysus turned to where the old man had nodded, and far in the distance, with an ocean between, was something that resembled a set of islands, but they were barely visible on the horizon.
Dionysus whirled. “Did you not think this information valuable enough to share when you asked me to kill him to begin with?”
“Nothing is as valuable as your life,” replied the man.
