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“Many,” he said, raising his brows a little. “Some are here because they were slain. Some are here because they were captured. Come.”
He led her through the gates and into the dungeon, down the darkened walkway, past shadowed cells. All the while, the animal-like sounds of the monsters grew louder, cut through with a horrible wail.
“The harpies,” Hades said. They were half-human, half-bird creatures who were often insatiable in their hunger for food and were used in punishments to starve mortals. “Aello, Ocypete, and Celaeno—they get restless, especially when the world is chaos.”
“Why?”
“Because they sense evil and wish to punish.”
They continued, passing cells occupied by chimeras, griffins, sirens, and the Sphinx. Persephone did not pause long before any of the bays and remained close to Hades as they made their way to the very end of the cell, which was barred by a massive gate.
“What is this?” Persephone asked.
“That is a hydra,” Hades said. “Its blood, venom, and breath are poisonous.”
He had been responsible for its death when Hera had forced him to fight the creature during her notorious Fight Night. It had not been easy. It had seven heads that grew back even after they were cut off. He’d only managed to defeat it with fire, and in the end, it had become a resident of the Underworld.
“And the mortals in the pool?” she asked. “What did they do?”
Hades’s eyes dropped to the men and women at the hydra’s feet. They were all sitting in a pool of black venom that dripped from the creature’s fangs, their bodies covered in horrible sores and burns as it ate away at their bodies slowly.
“They are the terrorists who attacked the stadium.”
“Is this their punishment?”
“No. Think of this as their holding cell.”
She was quiet and then looked up at him.
“And how will you punish them?” she asked.
“Perhaps…you would like to decide?”
He was a little hesitant to hand over the task, uncertain of how she might feel about torture. She’d been hesitant when it came to Pirithous. She’d asked him if ithelped. He still wasn’t sure, but it was fair to say that in the moment, vengeance felt good.
Her gaze returned to the souls.
“I wish for them to exist in a constant state of fear and panic. To experience what they inflicted upon others. They will exist, for eternity, in the Forest of Despair.”
“So you shall have it,” he said, and then he offered his hand. As her fingers settled into his, the souls beneath the hydra vanished. “Let me show you something,” he said, taking her to the library, which contained a basin that acted as both an accurate map of the Underworld and a portal. “Show the Forest of Despair,” he said, and the water changed to show the souls that had sat in the hydra’s venom and their punishment in the forest.
The reality of the forest was that it became whatever one feared.
When Persephone had entered it, she had found Hades in Leuce’s embrace. When Hades entered it, he saw nothing.
Persephone watched for a while and then turned away, stepping down from the basin. “I have seen enough.”
Hades followed and reached for her hand, worriedthat he had gone too far in showing her the horrors of the forest even if she knew them.
“Are you well?” he asked.
“I am…satisfied,” she said. “Let’s go to bed.”
He did not argue, and they made their way back to their bedchamber, but he couldn’t help noticing the shift in her energy. It was dark and sensual, and he wanted to taste it on her tongue.
Hades hung back as they entered their room, and he watched as Persephone walked ahead. She slid out of her robes and faced him. His eyes roamed her body—from her full breasts, over her stomach, to the curls at the apex of her thighs. When he met her gaze again, her stare was dark and carnal.
She wanted to fuck.
