Goddess of Spring (Goddess Summoning #2)(46)

With a powerful effort, Eurydice silently mouthed two words to her Goddess, help me. Orpheus stepped into the sunlight of the World of the Living.

Hades raised his hands to pull off the Helmet of Invisibility and do something he had never before done: he would revoke his word by refusing to al ow Eurydice to leave the Underworld. But before he could act, Persephone moved. She grabbed Eurydice's hand and held it in such a tight grasp that the little spirit was able to keep from stepping from the edge of the Underworld and into the light. Then, in a voice pitched to impersonate Eurydice's naivete', she cal ed to the musician who stood with his back resolutely facing them.

"Oh, my goodness! Orpheus, look! This sunlight makes my robe completely see through! And I have absolutely nothing on underneath it."

With a victorious shout, the arrogant young musician spun around, but the look of triumph vanished when he realized that he was staring at his wife and the Goddess Persephone. Both women were stil safely within the dark mouth of the Underworld.

"NOOOOOO!" His shriek of rage echoed through the tunnel. He lunged forward. Unseen, Hades threw his hand up and issued a silent command.

When the musician's living body tried to pass into the shadowy entrance of Hades' realm, the air surrounding him seemed to solidify. Orpheus set his square jaw and kept trying to move forward, but the invisible barrier prevented him. The harder he struggled, the more firm the barrier became.

"You belong to me!" His words were no longer seductive or magical; instead they had become hard and cruel.

Eurydice shrank back from him as if she was afraid he would strike her. Lina was fil ed with a wave of righteous anger.

"You sound like a spoiled brat. You can't own another person's soul. Go back to your world. Leave Eurydice at peace in hers," Lina said.

"Never! She wil always be mine!" Orpheus shouted.

Lina shook her head. She had known his type of man. He would never be content with simply loving a woman. His kind had to control and bully and subjugate. She felt the anger expand within her, lending power to the words she hurled at Orpheus. "Go away, boy!" The command slammed into the musician, lifting him off his feet and tossing him end-over-end away from the tunnel, carrying him back farther and farther until he disappeared completely from sight.

Apparently she'd discovered another one of Persephone's Goddess powers. Lina smiled grimly. One shouldn't piss off a goddess.

Unaware that she was being shadowed by the invisible God of the Underworld, Lina wrapped an arm around Eurydice, who was sobbing quietly. Supporting her slight weight, Lina turned away from the World of the Living and led Eurydice through the welcoming darkness of the tunnel and into the glade of white trees. Once within their shielding canopy, Eurydice col apsed onto the soft, dark ground. The girl had quit crying, but she was panting like she had just run a marathon.

"You c-c-came for m-me!" She struggled to talk while she fought to bring her breathing under control.

Lina sat beside her and hugged her fiercely. "Of course I did. I knew something was wrong. I'm sorry I let you go -  it was his music. At first I couldn't think clearly because of it, but as soon as Orpheus left with you I understood that you didn't want to go with him."

"N-no!" She shivered, but drew strength from the embrace of her Goddess. "I did not want to go with him."

"That wrong choice you said that you made. It wasn't taking the path that led to your death, was it?" Lina asked.

"No!" Eurydice said. The strength of her voice grew as she continued to speak. "It was him! He was the wrong choice I made. I was so incredibly wrong. I met him one day and the next I pledged myself to him. I was blinded by the magic of his music. I did not look into his heart." She trembled, but forced herself under control. She needed to say it. She had been silent too long. "If I had looked into his heart I would have seen that it was fil ed with cruelty. I did not understand until it was too late. It began with little things. He did not like my hair when I wore it a certain way. He asked me to change it. I did." Eurydice's words came faster and faster. "Then it was my clothes. Then my friends. I tried to tel my family, but they could only hear his music. They gave me to him wil ingly, believing that my hesitation was simple, maidenly reserve. After we were married he would not even al ow me to visit my family. He could not bear it if I was not always by his side. He wanted to consume me. When I tried to get away from him, even if it was just to have a moment of privacy, he struck me. He struck me again and again. Life with him was a prison." Eurydice's eyes were bright, but her tears had stopped. "When the fog separated us I simply ran from him. I did not know about the nest of vipers. But I was glad of their bite. I welcomed the release."

"You are so brave." Lina touched the girl's damp cheek.

"Do you real y think so, Persephone?"

"I know so. On that you have the word of a Goddess."

Eurydice's smile flashed. "Then I must believe it." Her expression changed, and became introspective.

"What is it, honey?" Lina asked.

The girl was staring down the path that led back to the Underworld. "I have to go. I don't belong this close to the World of the Living. It does not feel right."

Lina nodded understanding. She could see the need in the little spirit's eyes. This time Eurydice's steps were confident as she hurried through the grove of milk-colored trees. Lina fol owed her more slowly. When they broke through the trees, Eurydice glanced over her shoulder at Lina, who had stopped.