Goddess of Spring (Goddess Summoning #2)(79)

"Thank you. I wil always cherish it."

The God pulled her into his arms. "The night I made it I was fil ed with emptiness and longing, but now you are here with me and the black hole within me exists no more. The mortals were wise; you are Queen of the Underworld. I cannot imagine my life without you. You have brought eternal Spring to the Underworld, and to the heart of its God. I am in love with you, Persephone." The tears that had been pooling in Lina's eyes spil ed over and she couldn't speak. He wiped her cheeks with his thumbs. "Why do you weep, beloved?"

"Things are just so complicated."

Hades' brow furrowed. "Because you are Goddess of Spring?"

"That's part of it."

"Tel me truly, Persephone. Do you weep because you cannot imagine remaining in the Underworld?"

The God tried to keep his voice neutral, but Lina could see the pain reflected in his eyes.

"I want to be with you," she said, trying not to sound too evasive.

"Then I cannot conceive of any difficulty that we cannot overcome together." He hugged her fiercely.

Resting within the strength of his arms, Lina squeezed her eyes closed, wil ing her tears to stop. Crying wouldn't help.

She did love him, but that was only a smal piece of the truth he needed to know. She wanted to tel him everything. She had to.

But she had given her word, and first she must talk to Demeter.

Chapter 22

"You say she is not in her chamber?" Hades snapped at the daimon.

"No, Lord. The Goddess is gone."

"And Eurydice does not know where she is?"

"No, Lord. Eurydice has been busy with the paintings she is to show her Goddess later today." Hades paced. Persephone had told him that she needed to soak in a hot bath and then take a nap. Yes, she had appeared distracted, but he had told himself that the Goddess was just tired. He had given her time to herself while he had presided, in an unusual y distracted manner, over that day's petitions of the dead. Most of them had come to see Persephone, and were visibly disappointed that the Goddess did not appear. His jaw tightened. He did not blame them; he wanted nothing more than to see her as well . He could stil smel her scent on his skin, and when his mind wandered, he could feel her soft heat against him.

Where had she gone? And why hadn't she told him? What was she thinking? He raked his hand through his hair. After eons of solitary existence, his desire had been too fierce; he had been too rough with her. Perhaps he had hurt her. Or perhaps his lovemaking had not satisfied her. Had she compared him to her other immortal lovers and found him wanting? He clenched his fists. Just the thought of another god touching her caused him to feel il .

"Find her, Iapis," Hades growled.

The daimon bowed and disappeared.

Okay, Lina admitted to herself, she was worried. She chewed her bottom lip.

" Merda! Why does it have to be so complicated?" Orion's ears tilted back to catch her words and he whickered in soft response.

"I do love him," she said aloud. "So now what are we going to do?" She knew what she had to do, which was why she'd evaded Hades and snuck off with Orion.

"I think my cover story was excel ent, though," she told Orion. "And I'm sure Iapis wil only be a little annoyed when he finds out that the huge wineskin of ambrosia that Eurydice insisted he fil to the brim was for Cerberus."

At the mention of the three-headed dog, Orion snorted in disgust.

"Oh, he's not that bad. Perhaps a closet alcoholic, but at lease he's loveable. Anyway, you know I like you best." She patted the horse's glistening coat. Orion arched his neck and shifted from a trot into a rol ing canter. The dark road passed quickly beneath them. Lina's faithful bal of light hovered over her right shoulder, keeping pace with the stal ion. In the distance, she could see the milky outline of the grove of ghost trees.

She wondered if Hades had noticed her absence yet. She hoped not, but if he looked for her, Eurydice would tel him that Persephone had wanted to bring Cerberus the treat she had promised, and the stablemen would report that she had taken Orion for a ride. Hades shouldn't worry. She didn't want him to. She didn't want to cause him any pain. Their night together had been a new experience for her. Hades had awakened feelings in her that had, until then, just been wisps of dreams and fantasies. And it wasn't just about the sex. Lina sighed. That would have been easy to deal with. She could have a torrid, steamy affair with him, and then be satiated and pleased with herself when it was time for her to leave. No, it hadn't just been the sex.

The memory of the soul mates haunted her, as did the look on Hades' face when he had declared his love for her. She had wanted to respond with the same words, but she wasn't free to pledge herself to him - not yet - not until she dealt with Demeter. And it had broken her heart. Lina hadn't meant to love him. She had gone to the Underworld with the best intentions; she'd had a job to do. Period. She hadn't been interested in romance or love or sex. And, quite frankly, the Underworld was the last place she had expected to find any of those things. Merda! Demeter had described Hades as an asexual bore. Lina had been total y unprepared for the truth. She twirled a strand of Orion's satiny mane around her finger as the stal ion navigated quickly through the grove of ghost trees. She was definitely in the middle of a mess. She loved him - that Lina was sure of - but a nagging thought wouldn't leave her alone. While she was with him, while she could touch him and look into his eyes, it was easy to believe that he loved her, too. Her -