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“The favor Hades owes me,” Theseus said, a smile playing on his thin lips. “For my aid in saving your relationship.”
“What is he talking about?” Persephone asked.
Hades did not respond. He was thinking about how he was going to kill Theseus and the best way to engage in the fight without Persephone and Sybil coming to harm.
“Hades?”
“He returned a relic that fell into the wrong hands to me. You have learned the devastation such a piece can cause.”
There were no coincidences here. The spindle was the first relic Poseidon and Theseus had introduced to the world as a test. When it had wreaked enough havoc and they were done with their game, Theseus had brought him Sisyphus and the spindle in exchange for the favor.
It was a trap.
It had worked.
“What is it you want from him?” Persephone asked.
“You,” Theseus answered.
Hades shook. His bones rattled in his body. He did not think he could hold Persephone any tighter.
“Me?” she asked breathlessly.
“No.” Hades’s voice was dark but resonant, and his magic rose, thickening the air.
“Favors are binding, Hades,” Theseus reminded, as if he were chiding him. “You are obligated to fulfill my request.”
“I know the nature of favors, Theseus,” Hades hissed.
“You would face Divine death?” Theseus asked, rising from his spot on the couch.
“Hades, no!”
Hades ignored her pleas. “For Persephone? Yes.”
“I’m only asking to borrow her. You can have her back when I’m through.”
Hades knew too well what that meant.
“Why me?” she asked.
“That is a conversation for another time. For now, you must leave here with me, and Hades cannot follow. If you do not do as I say, I will murder your friend in front of you.”
She managed to turn in his arms. He didn’t want to look at her.
Don’t make me do this, he thought.Don’t make me watch you leave.
“Persephone,” he said, his teeth clenched. There was a thickness in his throat that burned his nose and his eyes.
“It’s going to be okay,” she whispered.
“No, Persephone.” His chest felt heavy, his heart racing in his chest.
“I have lost too many people,” she said. “This way…I can keep you all.”
Hehad lost too many people and yet she asked this of him. He couldn’t do it. He could not let her go—how was he supposed to watch her walk away with a man who had the power to kill gods?
Persephone rose onto the tips of her toes and pressed a kiss to his lips. He did not return the kiss and he did not release his hold as she pulled away.
