Goddess of Spring (Goddess Summoning #2)(38)

"Carry on as usual, Iapis," Hades said.

Iapis nodded to the God before disappearing from the room.

"Iapis is going to the front of the palace. There he wil announce that I wil hear petitions. It wil not be long before the first begin to arrive," he explained.

"Do you do this every day?" Lina asked.

"No," Hades shook his head.

"Oh," Lina said. "How often do you hear their petitions?"

"As often as I feel it necessary."

"Oh," she said again, feeling uncomfortable at the shortness of his answers. Hades watched Persephone brush nervously at her hair, and the little gesture of discomfort made him realize that he had fal en back into acting Like he was made of stone. Give the Goddess a chance. His friend's words rang in his memory. Hades cleared his throat and leaned close to Persephone.

"I can sense the needs of the dead. It is not that I can hear their feelings and desires; it is more like I become aware of their increasing restlessness. I can sense when they need me, and that is when I open the Great Hal to hear their petitions."

"That's an incredible gift - to be able to respond to the needs of mortal souls." Hades turned his head so that he could look into the Goddess's violet eyes. Their faces were very close, and he could smel the sweet, feminine scent that clung to her body.

"It does not repulse you that I am linked so strongly to the dead?"

"Of course not," she said. He suddenly looked so vulnerable that Lina had an overwhelming urge to brush her fingers down his face, to soothe the lines of worry that creased his handsome brow. Instead she reached out and took Eurydice's hand. She squeezed it and smiled up at the spirit, who grinned back at her. "Some of my best friends are dead."

Hades looked from the spirit to the Goddess and al at once hope blossomed within his chest with such bittersweet intensity that he made a show of cal ing for wine to cover his heart-wrenching response.

The servants instantly settled a smal table beside them and Hades was able to col ect himself as they poured golden liquid into two goblets.

Lina nodded her thanks, sipped, and her face broke into a beatific smile.

"Oh, it's ambrosia! This is so delicious. Thank you for thinking of it." Fascinated, Hades watched her. Why was she so different? She wasn't repulsed by the dead. She obviously cared a great deal about Eurydice; she even cal ed her "friend." And things that most immortals took for granted, like ambrosia and the opulence of the gods, Persephone delighted in, as if everything was new and interesting to her. She was a puzzle, an intriguing puzzle he was beginning to yearn to solve.

"If it pleases you so much, I wil have to remember to serve it often," Hades said. He raised his goblet to her.

Stomach fluttering, Lina tapped her goblet against his. The stilted, wooden Hades who had abruptly left their dinner last night appeared to have been banished. He had been replaced by a charming, powerful God. Her cheeks felt flushed and her body was incredibly warm. His dark, magnetic eyes were mesmerizing. Feeling a little lost, she forced her gaze from his and looked around the Great Hal , reminding herself to breathe.

The light from the chandeliers glinted off the silver helmet that sat on the table on the other side of Hades. It winked with an eerie glow that somehow made it hard to focus on. She felt the God's eyes on her and she looked back at him.

"The helmet is beautiful. I've never seen one like it," she said.

"Thank you. It was a gift from the Cyclops," Hades said, smiling in obvious pleasure at the compliment.

Cyclops? Wasn't mat the guy with one eye? Cyclops, a one-eyed monster who gifted Zeus with thunder and lightning, Poseidon with his trident, and Hades with the helmet -

Okay! Lina broke into her internal encyclopedic monologue. Whoever he was, she certainly didn't want to get into a discussion about mythological creatures with Hades. So she did what any calm, col ected, mature woman would do - she changed the subject. Quickly.

"Your throne is very unusual, too. I don't recognize the stone from which it is made."

"It is white chalcedony," he said.

"Does it have special properties, too?" Lina asked.

"Yes, it banishes fear, hysteria, depression and sadness. I thought it a good choice for this particular room."

"I agree with your choice."

Hades turned his head and leaned toward her again,

bringing their faces close together again. "Do you recognize the colored stone in this room?"

"It's amethyst."

"It is the same color as your eyes, Persephone," Eurydice said in a happy voice of discovery.

"Yes, I have noticed that, too," Hades said slowly without releasing Lina's gaze. His voice had deepened so that it was an audible caress, and Lina felt an answering flutter low in her stomach.

"The dead ask to speak to their God!" lapis' voice carried his words with formal authority across the Great Hal .

Hades' attention shifted reluctantly away from her, and Lina mental y shook herself. How in the hel was she supposed to think about business with Hades beside her oozing Sex God? She almost wished he'd turn back into Mr. Wooden and Withdrawn. Almost.

She could only hope that Persephone was having better luck staying focused back in Tulsa.

"The dead may enter." Hades' powerful voice commanded.