Goddess of Spring (Goddess Summoning #2)(34)

"Some did, but not out of love for me, as has your Eurydice. For most it is simply that they find comfort in holding fast to the echo of their mortal lives. Others are performing duties as a part of penance for past deeds."

Hades helped himself to the fruit of the Underworld while he awaited her next question. He could almost see her teeming thoughts. She had stopped eating and was twirling a strand of her long hair around one finger, an action that he found strangely endearing.

"So, Iapis must be one of the dead who stays because he loves you." This time Hades could not help laughing aloud. "Iapis is not one of the dead, Persephone, he is a daimon. But, yes, he has chosen to remain forever by my side."

Lina didn't know what stunned her most - hearing that Iapis was a demon and/or the effect Hades'

laughter had on her.

She reacted first to the least volatile of the two.

"Iapis is a demon?" she squeaked.

At the second burst of Hades' laughter the servant's door swung open and several startled heads peeked into the dining room then retreated quickly, but not before Lina registered their shocked expressions.

"I said he is a daimon, not a demon." Hades shook his head at the young Goddess.

"Oh, well , of course," Lina sputtered while her mind screamed WHAT THE HELL IS A DAIMON?

Thankful y, her inner voice provided an answer. Daimon -  a spirit of a lower divinity than the Olympian gods. They are guardians and semi-deities. They are immortal.

"Young Persephone, how sheltered you must be not to recognize Iapis as a daimon," he said, stil chuckling.

The damn man was laughing at her and looking at her with the same benevolent, fatherly expression he'd used on Eurydice. And he'd just cal ed her "young Persephone!" Like she was a sil y little girl! He had no idea he was dealing with a grown woman. One who definitely did not like being the butt of male jokes. Her irritation made her forget that he was God of the Underworld and she was visiting his realm. In that moment he was just another man who had pissed her off. Without stopping to consider the consequences, she narrowed her eyes at him and edged Persephone's soft voice with her own flint.

"I suppose in some ways I have been sheltered. I've been taught to believe that one's guests should not be used as a source of comedic fodder."

Hades sobered instantly as he recognized within her eyes the coldness of a goddess's wrath. He was a fool. He had al owed himself to relax around her and had stumbled into the snare of his own fantasies. Persephone was of Olympus - he must never forget that. He inclined his head in stiff acknowledgement of her reprimand. "I ask your forgiveness, Goddess. There is no excuse for my rudeness."

Without speaking further, he stood, bowed again, and walked from the room, leaving Lina to stare after him and curse sincerely and fluently in Italian.

Chapter 11

"Iapis!" Hades' voice echoed through his vast chamber.

"My Lord." The daimon materialized within two breaths after his name had been spoken.

"Go to her. When she has finished her meal, show her the way back to her chamber. Be certain she has everything she desires." Hades paced restlessly as he talked. "I insulted her." Iapis stayed silent, but he raised one brow.

"Then I left her there. She had not even finished her meal." Hades raked a hand through his hair, causing some of the shorter strands to come loose. He looked at his loyal friend. "You know I have never been able to do this."

"This?" Iapis asked.

"This! This! This mixing with them. This insane ritual of feint and stab they require to maintain their interest."

"Perhaps you mean conversing with a goddess?"

"Of course that is what I mean!" Hades exploded.

Nonplussed by the God's show of temper, Iapis kept his voice calm and inquisitive. "And was Persephone requiring much, as you cal it, feint and stab before you insulted her?" Hades stopped his pacing and rubbed his brow, considering lapis' question.

"No," he said truthfully.

"So you had been conversing with her?"

"Yes, yes, yes," he admitted and then reality caught up with him. He had been enjoying himself. She had shown such interest in his realm, and she had been so easy to talk to - so unlike Aphrodite or Athena or... his lips curled in a sneer as he thought of the other young goddesses he had known. They were spoiled, manipulative beauties who rarely thought beyond their own needs and desires. When Persephone's voice had hardened at what she had taken as an insult, he had instantly been reminded of those other lovely immortals and his reaction had been automatic. He had absented himself from her presence.

"Did you mean to insult her?" Iapis asked.

"Of course not!" He started pacing again. "I thought what she said was amusing." He gave Iapis a dark look. "She had mistaken you for one of the dead."

lapis' lips twitched as he tried not to smile.

"I laughed at her and then I spoke to her as if she were a child. That insulted her. She reacted as any goddess would have." Hades hunched his shoulders.

"You say she reacted as any goddess would have. Then may I assume the dining room has been destroyed and she has departed the Underworld?" Iapis said.

"No, she... no. She remains and she destroyed nothing." He stopped his pacing and met the daimon's inquiring gaze.