My Lord Hades (31 page)

Hades winced and rose to his feet. Persephone peered around his lean frame to a god she

never met and the small woman who appeared to be barely out of childhood standing at his side.

She found an instant interest in the woman. She was dressed in a swirl of sheer ruby cloth attached at the right shoulder by a gold broach leaving the left bare. Her shiny black hair was a mass of shiny coils that framed her pale creamy face and accented the kohl-lined brown eyes.

She was spirit and innocence and seductress wrapped into a mortal frame. Persephone knew they would be friends. Perhaps they were already.

“Nothing that shouldn’t wait,” Persephone said. “I believe there is rebellion that needs

crushing.” She stood and stepped off the dais, her eyes never leaving the woman’s sharp gaze.

“Why don’t we retire to the andronitis while the men discuss their war plans?”

THE WOMAN’S name was Lilith and she was only twenty-years-old, taken from her tribe as

a child and trained to be the bed-slave of the man Adman. She’d escaped once and returned to her tribe, only to witness the slaughter of everyone she loved when he came for her, their deaths her punishment for running away.

Persephone was entranced by the tales Lilith wove of distant lands and people. She would

like to visit such places one day.

“I watched Adman conquer tribe after tribe, killing anyone he felt threatened by, destroying entire people in the name of greed. All he wanted was to claim their riches. All he ruled was an empty land of death. I had to stop his evil. My life didn’t matter.”

“How did you kill him?” Persephone asked.

“I changed the rules. I seduced him, rode him, and waited until the moment he spilled his seed inside me to stab him through the heart. But I missed and he bled to death while he

strangled me.” She laughed. A bitter laugh filled with the irony and amusement of the situation.

“How about you? You’re as cold as any goddess I’ve met, but it’s not a natural state for you.”

“And you presume to know this after an hour?”

Lilith shrugged. “Your man is full of passion. He wouldn’t love you the way he does if you were such a cold-hearted goddess. So what happened? What did he do?”

“He did nothing. I did.”

Both women turned to Eris, who was lounging on one of the benches, wearing another one of her thigh revealing dresses. This one was black and dipped very low in the front. An onyx stone rested between her small breasts and a long, wicked looking dagger was strapped to her right thigh.

Eris grinned at Persephone. “Aren’t you going to run and hide?”

“What would be the use? You’d just come looking for me.”

Eris pouted. “You’re no fun anymore.”

Eris waved her hand, weaving an interlacing ball of magic. The faint glow of the spinning globe brightened and from the corner of her eye, Persephone could see an image forming inside.

She would have to turn her head to learn what it was, but she wasn’t about to look away until she knew the reason behind Eris’ visit. Her lessons had been well learned, she couldn’t afford to turn her back on Eris.

“Sometimes he makes me so proud,” Eris said, absently lifting a velvet bag from the bench.

“Of course, it’s easier when the idiot shades play by the rules of the living,” Eris said to Lilith.

She pointed to the globe. “See, they think they can die again.”

Persephone couldn’t stop herself; she wanted to see him in a real battle, and not one half remembered. She wanted to see the warrior in the man she loved, and she wanted to see if he was as impressive as they claimed.

Hades was oddly attractive in his black armor, almost arousing as he advanced, the tip of his sword drawing a small circle in the air, forcing the five shades to back up. He reminded her of a large cat she once saw. Lean. Graceful. And lethal.

He swung his massive sword in a lazy arc over his head, the blade falling with enough force to shatter bone. The first man lost his weapon in seconds of joining the fray. The second was hit in the head with the flat of his sword. However, the last three were skilled warriors. They circled him, teasing him, and for a moment, she thought they might be better.

Hades feigned to the right, twirled into the sword swing, and grabbed the man with one

strong arm. Hades crushed the man’s throat and dropped him in his wake, taking on the other two in moves so swift she was awed by the fluid grace of the dance. He moved like a man at ease with war and strife. So how had he learned to love?

A diamond bounced off her shoulder. Eris giggled. “My aim is really off today. I was aiming for your face.”

Persephone glanced at her. “And you feel the need to do something this childish because...?”

Eris shrugged and dug another diamond from the bag. “Sometimes I just want to be

naughty,” she said, tossing another diamond.

It landed in Persephone’s hair. “Stop it.”

“Why?”

Eris flung two more diamonds at Persephone. They bounced off her neck, landing in her lap.

She closed her hand around the precious gems, thinking of yesterday morning when Hades had insisted on playing a game with them. She’d resisted his attempts to awaken her playful side.

Now she was just bothered that Eris was tearing apart her life yet again.

“Because it’s not polite.”

Eris threw her head back and laughed. “Polite? Poor misguided girl, whoever gave you the

idea that I’m polite?”

“I tire of you. Leave.”

She focused on the globe that held the battle. Hades was outnumbered and losing ground fast, but rather than using magic to turn the tide of battle, he ducked the stroke of the sword whistling past his head, a hairsbreadth from splitting his skull. He grabbed the man’s leg on his way up, flipping him into his fellow resisters, and she caught the glimpse of a smile on his face. He was enjoying himself.

The grace of his movements were replaced by the hacking motion of his sword as he pushed

the shades of the Underworld back to Tartarus, the thrill of adrenaline pouring through his veins.

This was the warrior, the man everyone feared.

“I’m bored and I need a diversion.”

“And I’m it?”

Eris threw three more diamonds in quick succession. This time Persephone intercepted the

diamonds. They floated in midair.

“Nice. Very nice. Do you know any more tricks?”

“I told you to leave,” Persephone said.

“No.”

Eris threw more diamonds and Persephone caught each one and then flung them back at her.

“I’ll make you leave.”

Eris laughed. “You’ve got to stop. Really, who knew you could be so funny? I mean, I knew you were weak and gullible, but I had no idea you had a sense of humor.”

She felt the anger rise and struggled for control. As satisfying as it would be to blast the woman into oblivion, she would not endanger her happiness with Hades for something so stupid.

“Go away!” she snarled between clenched teeth.

“Why?” Eris leaned forward and stared at her. “Give me a good reason. And don’t tell me it’s because I’m not being polite. I don’t do polite, little girl.”

“I’m not a girl. I’m a woman.”

“Really? Since when did having sex with my son make you a woman?”

Persephone gritted her teeth. “I’m of age to choose.”

“Yes. And so is the whore who sells her body but locks away her emotions. Have you

become that whore, little girl?”

“I’m a woman,” Persephone snarled.

“And I say you’re a whore selling her body for a place to hide from her mother. A woman

would have told her mother to screw off. She would have the dignity to fight for what is hers.

Can you?”

Persephone stood, anger flushing through her. Lilith’s movements drew Persephone’s

attention. She was cringing beside a tree as if she wished she could be anywhere else except between the two goddesses. She needed to get a grip on her emotions.

“He loves her,” Lilith whispered.

“He’s amused by her, little shade. You’re a woman, you should know better. He’s a man

looking for a warm body to fill his bed. It doesn’t hurt that she mindlessly obeys him.”

“I don’t mindlessly obey him,” she spoke as if from a great distance. She felt odd,

disconnected. Had she finally done what Hades feared and closed herself off completely from her emotions?

“What I can’t understand is how you pretend to enjoy being with such a scarred man?”

The expected flicker of anger died. She blinked. “Scars don’t make the man. He treats me

right and respects me. I find him acceptable.”

“Oh? How charming,” she said to Lilith, wrapping an arm around the woman’s shoulder.

“I’m sure he finds her acceptable as well, don’t you?” She looked Persephone up and down.

“Especially when she’s not wearing clothes. You’re well made. Plump in all the right places, though a bit big breasted for my taste. But those hips should make it easier for birthing. I really thought Menthe was more his type. Tall. Dark. Mysterious. A true woman.”

Eris waved her hand and the picture in the globe changed. A woman with dark skin and blue-black hair stood half-naked in the surf, laughing with a younger, unscarred Hades. He took the woman into his arms, swinging her around, falling back in the surf with a laugh. She screeched, a smile on her face.

Rage sparked through Persephone at the thought that he’d lied to her. She could see he loved the woman! She bolted to her feet and the globe shattered. “Stop it!”

Eris laughed. “You haven’t really changed! You keep saying you’re an adult, but all you do is whine. Maybe you should go back to your mother and cry on her shoulder,” Eris sneered. “You have no purpose. You’re a mindless drone who doesn’t contribute anything. You followed your mother’s orders and now you’re following my son’s wishes.” She poked Persephone’s shoulder.

“You clung to the first authority figure around you. You’re a pathetic little girl.”

Another wave of rage burst through Persephone. Pure adrenaline surged through her veins,

accelerating her heart rate and quickening her breathing. Eris pushed her and she stumbled, the diamonds falling from her hands and clattering on the floor. She shoved the irritating woman back. Eris slapped her.

Shocked, she stared at Eris, and the whirlwind of rage consumed her, pouring outward. The inevitable had been unleashed. The lash of power threw Eris across the room. Her body hit the wall with bone crushing intensity. But it didn’t stop her. Eris landed on her feet, reset her broken wrist, and laughed. “Is that the best you can do?”

Persephone clenched her fists and flashed to the woman. “Get out!”

She trembled with fury. The magic around her swirled in sharp, zigzagging patterns. It cut and slashed. It opened the flesh and made Eris bleed.

Eris met Persephone’s glare and glared right back. Then Eris smiled and waved her off.

“Shoo. Go home!”

The darkness closed around her and fear chilled her to the soul. No! She ripped at the magic binding her, flashing back to the andronitis.

Persephone leapt upon Eris with a howl of rage, taking her to the floor. They grappled, but ultimately, Eris gained the upper hand. She grabbed Persephone by the hair and snapped, “Is that all you can do?”

She growled and bit the woman’s arm. Blood flowed into her mouth and she clenched her

fist.

Eris smirked refusing to let go. “Children bite too.”

Damn her! Persephone didn’t think. She slammed her head into the smug woman’s face. Eris

released her. Persephone hit her again and again. Eris pushed her back, but Persephone didn’t give ground. She grabbed Eris’ short hair and flung her over her shoulder and across the room with a boost of magic. She pinned her to the floor.

Standing, she slowly walked to Eris who showed mild discomfort at the broken nose. She felt immense satisfaction at causing the woman pain. She knelt beside the other goddess, gripping her chin and forcing her to look at her.

“I’m the Queen of the Underworld. My word is law. When you are here, you have to obey

me, or I’ll cast you into Tartarus and strip you of your powers!”

Eris smiled and nodded. “Now there’s the girl I trained.” She disappeared.

The adrenaline rush subsided and she felt relief and pleasure. She’d not only defended herself against Eris, but she’d fought back. She fought for what was hers. She fought for Hades.

And then it dawned on her. The fight hadn’t really been about Hades. Eris had used him as a catalyst to channel her emotions. She’d used him and Persephone’s own fears to crack open the shell around her emotions.

Fire flared across her right shoulder and Lilith’s voice broke through the pain. “Hades has fallen!”

The daemon screamed for blood. Happiness, love, passion, hate, jealousy, sorrow, fear, and every emotion in between flowed into her.

HOW COULD something so simple have gone so wrong so fast? It could have been his

overconfidence in thinking Adman was just another thug who would be easily subdued. Or it could have been his single-minded focus on the rebellion at hand and forgetting about the imprisoned Titans in Tartarus. Either way, one moment Hades was relieving some penned up

rage and tension, and the next his fears were manifesting themselves in the worst possible way.

Adman was leading the few Titans he’d freed, Coronus included, and the shades against the palace.

Persephone was in danger and there little he could do to save the Underworld and

Persephone. He had to make a choice: trust that Persephone could take care of herself and continue to fight or go to her now and lose the Underworld to his enemy. The woman he loved or the Underworld he hated. It wasn’t the hardest choice, but then it wasn’t just her or a place; it was about her and the shades in that place. So he stayed and fought, hoping to save them both and nearly losing everything under Coronus’ blade.

The shadow of a sword fell across his arm. He flung himself to the right but already it was too late. The blade glanced off his left shoulder instead of his head. The force sliced into the metal and flesh to the bone. He fell to his knees, rolling to the side and coming up ready for a fight, but the sudden weakness in his legs made him drop to his knees. His vision blurred and it was all he could do to hold Coronus at bay.