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As much as he had hoped, as much as he had wished for a reprieve from this world, a single bright spot in his life, she had too.
“I know,” she said vehemently. “I love you. I just want everything. I want more. I want all of you.”
“You have it,” he said, her declaration urging him on.
His mouth met hers and he held her to him tightly, one hand digging into her flesh, the other pressed to the wall for support as he drove into her, finally ready to make her come, ready to come himself.
But the distinct feel of Hermes’s magic entering the Underworld made him stop.
“Fuck!” he snapped with all the venom in the world.
It was the second time the god had interrupted them, and for that, he would pay.
He left Persephone’s quivering body, her angryand anguished cry making his body ache. She thought he only meant to torture her more before he allowed release, but she would understand soon enough.
He had just managed to adjust Persephone’s dress and himself when Hermes appeared. And while at first Hades had expected some sort of snide comment about the air smelling like sex and brownies or admonishing their fucking in the kitchen where food was made, Hermes looked completely…desolate.
Fuck. Something horrible had happened.
“Hades, Persephone—Aphrodite has asked for your presence. Immediately.”
Hades did not mind going, but Persephone?
He held her closer.
“At this hour?”
“Hades,” Hermes almost begged, his face growing paler by the second. “It’s…not good.”
Hades’s heart stuttered in his chest.Who was it now?he thought.Hephaestus?
“Where?”
“Her home.”
CHAPTER XI
HADES
Hades brought Persephone to Aphrodite’s home on Lemnos. He was never sure where he might appear when he teleported there—the locations had varied over time, but it all depended on where she or Hephaestus decided to grant access.
Today, it was the God of Fire’s study, which surprised him, given that Hephaestus did not even allow Hades direct access to his workshop, but he understood why as soon as they manifested.
Aphrodite sat at the base of a chaise positioned in the center of the room, bent over a woman who lay in an unnatural position. Hades recognized her as Harmonia, though it took him a moment because of how badly she was beaten.
She was the Goddess of Harmony, Aphrodite’s sister.
This was exactly what he had feared.
Every inch of her exposed skin was covered in dirt or blood or bruises, and at the top of her head were twoblunt bones. They were her horns, and they had been cut from her head.
“Oh my gods.” Persephone’s voice shook, and she left Hades’s side to go to Aphrodite. He squeezed his hands into fists to keep from pulling her back to him, to keep from shielding her from this. In some ways, she needed to know the reality of the world and how it preyed on them just as it did on mortals.
But this was worrying. A second attack and this time a goddess, both connected to Aphrodite.
Hades looked up and into the shadowed room, finding Hephaestus nearby. He was not surprised. He was never far behind when Aphrodite was in trouble, her constant shadow, even if she did not realize it.
“What happened?” he asked.
