The Iron Queen (Daughters of Zeus) (21 page)

“You bastard!” I shrieked, lashing out with a wave of crackling energy encased in flame. “He was just a kid!”

Zeus deflected the blow, but his face tightened with pain. “You’ll be joining him soon enough.”

“I can’t swear fealty to you! My promise—”

“To never act with intent of harming Hades?” Zeus laughed and drew his hand back. “Kind of depends on you being sane enough to understand intent.” With that he slammed his fist into my gut, releasing wave after wave of lightning.

Chapter XLIV

Persephone

“
Persephone…”

Stirring, my eyes fluttered open. “What?” I looked around, confused at finding myself curled up on the grass beneath a weeping willow.

Mom sat against the trunk, fingers combing through my hair. “Wake up, sweetie.”

“How did I get here?” I sat up, looking around the picturesque landscape. Flowers bloomed everywhere. The sun shone bright in the sky, filtering through the green leaves of the weeping willow. Its trunk was just a little wider than Mom. That bugged me for some reason I couldn’t put my finger on.

“You’re dreaming, sweetheart.”

Of course I was. A fresh wave of pain tore through me. I doubled over, gasping in agony. “Mom, it hurts.”

She shushed me, voice soothing. “You’re going to be okay.”

“How can you say that?” I asked as another wave of pain washed over me.

“Because I know it’s true. I am so sorry. I never wanted you to have this life. To make these decisions.” She studied me, tears brimming in her eyes. “You were so small. Just this warm little bundle cuddled in my arms and now…” She swept her arm up and down over me. “You’re all grown up.” She wrapped her arms around me in a hug, and I leaned against her, taking some small measure of comfort despite the searing pain.

“Mom, I can’t win.”

“You have enough power to win, if you use it all.”

“Hades is filtering—”

“Ask him to stop.”

“I’ll die.” I moved away from her. I wanted to move her away from the tree. Something about it bothered me.

“Not because of that. You’re about to come into your powers.”

“How?”

She smiled. “I know a way, that’s all. Come here.” She reached out for me, but I jerked away.

“You’re not telling me something.”

“You’re going to be fine.”

“No. Mom, no more secrets. You owe me.”

To my surprise, tears filled her eyes. “Will you trust me? Just this one last time. I promise, after this there will be no more secrets.”

“Mom…”

She shook her head and brushed the tears out of her eyes. “I’m just being over emotional. Now, we’d best hurry. If Zeus figures out what I’m doing, he’ll go underground, and you’ll spend your whole life wondering when he’s going to come at you again.”

I nodded, though I still felt uncertain. But I couldn’t focus because I was still trying to figure out what was bothering me about that damn willow tree. It’s hard to pay attention in dreams, but it’s foolish to overlook a symbol. Everything has meaning.

She knelt before me. “I swear fealty—”

“Mom,” I flushed and forgot the tree in my embarrassment. “You don’t have to do that. I can’t take your power—”

She hushed me and wrapped a hand around my wrist. “I’m giving you your best chance.” She narrowed her eyes at me and gave me her “don’t argue” look. Then softer, she said, “Your very best chance. I love you darling.”

Her power slammed into me like a boulder crashing down from the sky. I stumbled back, but her grip tightened on me like an iron vise.

Why can’t we plant a weeping willow?
I’d asked.

“Mom! What are you doing? It’s too much!” But she wouldn’t let me go. Then all at once it was gone. Not her power, but that feeling of being bombarded, overwhelmed. Pain I hadn’t even realized I was feeling was gone. It was like something snapped into place within me. I felt full, complete. Alive.

Never plant a willow tree,
she’d replied.

She smiled at me, looking frail and vulnerable. Smaller somehow. As I stared at her, she changed. Her hair and eyes brightened, all the little details that made up her appearance suddenly became more obvious, hyper-realistic.

Because as soon as the trunk grows wide enough—

“No,” I whimpered. “Mom, no.”

It becomes your coffin.

I was looking at her soul.

“I love you
so
much,” she whispered. Then she was gone.

I fell to the ground as her dreamscape faded around me. “No,” I whispered, broken. Tears chased each other down my cheeks, but I wasn’t given more than a second to mourn before I felt the power of all the other gods slam into me, unfiltered from Hades. I felt them tethered to me, alive. It wasn’t fair.

Your very best chance.
Her voice whispered through my memory.

Chapter XLV

Hades

Persephone sat at the base of the weeping willow, sobbing.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered.

She sprang to her feet at the sound of my voice, whirling on me. “Bring her back!”

“I’m so sorry.” My voice was hoarse with grief. “I can’t.”

“I
gave
you Thanatos’ power! Use it!”

I shook my head. She was asking the impossible and she knew it.

Rage flashed in her eyes, and I felt her pull upon the power of the other gods. Maybe she even tried to use it on me, but her oath to never hurt me held.

“I wasn’t asking. Bring her
back!”

“I
can’t,
Persephone.” I moved forward, arms encircling her, and she broke, folding into me. “I can’t,” I whispered. “I’m so sorry, I can’t.”

She drew back. “You knew she was going to do that?”

She knew. I didn’t need to answer but did anyway. “It was the only way to trigger you coming into your powers early. Persephone, it was your only chance.”

It was hard to watch her struggle with that. I was the
only
person in her life who had never once misled her. And now that was gone, along with her mother. “I offered my plan as an alternative, but she didn’t want to risk the rest of the world any more than you did.”

“What good is the rest of the world without her in it?” Her eyes glittered. “It needs her.
I
need her.”

But Persephone didn’t need Demeter. She hadn’t for a long time. And the world only needed Demeter’s power, which now resided in Persephone. But now wasn’t the time to lay the burden of the planet at her feet. Persephone had reached the last line of her defense. Questions. You can ask almost anything without lying.

There’s a reason there are seven stages of grief. It takes time for the mind to process tragedy. Grief, true grief, needs the cushion of denial and anger and blame to cope.

“Tell me I’m overreacting,” she begged. “Tell me I’ll see her in the Underworld every day, and that everything is going to be—”

I pulled her back to me, letting her sob into my shoulder. She’d seen Demeter’s soul vanish. Persephone knew what that meant. Demeter had given her everything, mind, body, and soul. There was nothing left of her. It wouldn’t have worked otherwise.

“I’m sorry,” I said again. Apologies were all I had left to offer. “I’m so sorry.”

Her thoughts went in endless circles while she tried to accept what had just happened. There was a glimmer of rationality, and then her mind latched on to someone she could feel angry at. Someone she could blame.

Zeus.

Chapter XLVI

Persephone

The dreamscape faded around me as I regained consciousness. I found Zeus still on top of me, still hitting me with wave after wave of lightning. It had probably only been seconds since I’d lost consciousness, but it felt like a lifetime.

I kept my eyes closed, concentrating on the power he kept pulsing through me. A ghost of a plan passed on from my mother rooted in my mind. Gathering a small shield around my hand, I channeled the power to it—my power, the power of the other gods, and his own lightning. When the shield stretched to the breaking point, my eyes flew open.

Zeus jerked back in surprise, but I was ready. I brought my hand up, slamming it into him, then through him as I pulled on Thanatos’ power to influence souls. My hand turned white as it wrapped around Zeus’ soul.

Zeus’ eyes widened as he realized I had the upper hand. I didn’t have to overpower him, I didn’t have to be stronger than he was. All I had to do was squeeze. My fist clenched and he sputtered in shock.

“No, no, don’t! I’ll swear fealty. I’ll swear! I’ll give you every drop of my power. Just leave me enough to live.”

A smile curved on my lips, and I allowed myself one second to relish the feeling of being strong, powerful, in control. For once, I wasn’t the one quaking in fear. I loosened my grip. “Better get on with it then.”

Zeus’ mouth twisted in a snarl. “Oh, I’ll swear all right.” He chuckled. “I swear fealty.”

With that oath, his power slammed into me. Unprepared, I lost my grip and lurched backward. He pressed one hand to my chest, just above my heart, and let loose a torrent of power, bright and blinding like the sun, while his other hand wrapped around my throat. Again.

Gods, what was it with Zeus and chokeholds? I felt my flesh smoldering beneath his touch until my vocal cords withered and snapped under the pressure.

Give me teleportation rights, quick!
Hades demanded.

Do what?
I had no idea how to do what he was talking about.

Hades swore. I had the mental impression of being shoved aside. It reminded me of when I took too long to do something on the computer, and Melissa would snatch the keyboard and start typing away. Only in my head.

A pulse of power passed from me to Hades, followed by a long string of numbers I didn’t understand.

“You gotta get better with your wording, sweetheart,” Zeus sneered. “I gave you all
my
power. This is someone else’s.”

His fist drew back again. Words. He’d sworn fealty. I could order him to stop, but my scorched vocal cords couldn’t form words.

Hades’ hand shot out, intercepting Zeus’ fist. “That,” he grunted, lifting Zeus from me and throwing him against a wall, “is the
last
time you touch my wife.” His free hand smashed into Zeus’ face, and black veins spread across his skin.

Zeus let out an enraged roar, and the two exchanged blows, but it was obvious Hades had the upper hand. I gasped as my healing kicked in. Hades’ head jerked toward me at the sound, and Zeus surged forward, a flash of power emitting from his right hand in a bright blaze. Something shimmered in his left, something metal. Light fractured around it.

Voice restored, I shouted “Stop!” Quick as a thought, I teleported in front of Hades. I didn’t know what that thing was in his left hand, but every instinct screamed to me that it was dangerous.

Zeus froze, mid-slash. Shoving him into the wall, I gritted my teeth against the pain of the spike slicing into my arm.

I took his soul in my hand, and his eyes widened in shock. “I surrender.”

It didn’t matter. “Then tell me the absolute truth. No hedging, no double speak. What will you do now that you’re sworn to me? Now that you’ve surrendered?”

Zeus’ jaw tightened. “Plot every minute of the rest of my existence to put an end to you and
take
my powers back, you miserable little bitch.” He smiled. “I won’t have to wait long.”

“Yeah, I thought so.”

“Doesn’t matter. You’re not going to kill me. You don’t have it in you.” His lips twisted in a smirk. “I know you. I’ve seen everything that goes on in that empty head of yours. You’re not strong enough.”

It didn’t take strength to kill someone. It took fear. Fear and the knowledge he would come back, that nothing and no one in my life would be safe so long as he walked the earth. I finally understood why Hades kept saying I was brave, kept claiming I was strong. He’d misinterpreted my naiveté for bravado.

His eyes turned cunning. “You’re different than the rest of us. And that’s okay. You’re…you’re…”

“A novelty?” I supplied, quoting back his earlier words.

“More than that. So much more. You don’t want to do this. You don’t want to be like us. You’re different.”

I was. And maybe I always would be. But this wasn’t just about me and what I wanted, because it wasn’t just me who would be in danger if I let him go. The other gods had given me everything they had so I would end this. Mom had died for this. Her realm was my responsibility now, as much as the Underworld. Maybe this would make me a monster, but everyone has to grow up sometime.

I looked Zeus straight in the eye. “Drop dead.”

The spike clattered to the floor, and the rest of Zeus’ power slammed into me. Hades snatched the spike, swearing as recognition dawned in his eyes.

I stumbled backward, clutching at my arm. The pain from the scratch lanced up to my elbow, spreading like wildfire. Hades steadied me, and I felt a pulse of power pass through me.

My heart stopped beating. I gasped, sinking to my knees. Hades held onto me, lowering me to the floor. He grabbed my arm just above the elbow. “Where does it hurt?” When I didn’t answer right away, he shouted the question over and over again in my face, panic evident in his eyes.

“Elbow.” Though the pain was creeping higher.

“Okay.” He nodded like he’d just made some decision. “Okay, it’ll grow back.”

Grow back? What the hell was he talking about, grow back?

I followed his train of thought and shook my head, trying desperately to scramble out of his iron grip.
No, stop!

His hand tightened around my upper arm like a vise. Agony spread from my fingers, and my screams echoed from the rafters. Hades’ other hand went to my forehead, and then blissful darkness washed over me.