Goddess of Spring (Goddess Summoning #2)(81)

"Then you should know better," Demeter said.

Lina's face burned as if Demeter's softly spoken words had struck her. "You don't know him. He's not like the rest of you."

"Not like the rest of the immortals? This is naive nonsense. He is a God. The only difference between Hades and the rest of the gods is that he is reclusive and has chosen to place the dead above the living."

"And that's part of what makes him so different." Lina took a deep breath; she didn't want to betray Hades' confidence, but she had to convince Demeter. "I am the only Goddess he's loved." Demeter's eyes narrowed. "Is that what he told you? Then here is your first lesson in immortal love. Never believe anything a god says when he is trying to gain access to the bed of a goddess. What he told you was only what he thought you needed to hear so that you would give yourself to him."

Refusing to believe Demeter's words Lina shook her head from side to side, but the Goddess ignored her and continued her barrage.

"What did you believe? That you and he would be together for eternity? Forget that you are a mortal. Forget that you are from another world. Even if you were truly the Goddess of Spring, did you honestly believe that Hades and Persephone would be mated, that their names would be linked for eternity? The idea is absurd! How could Spring exist in the Land of the Dead?"

"Then Spring doesn't have to exist there. I wil . Me - the mortal, Carolina Francesca Santoro. I'l stay in the Underworld and love its God. Just re-exchange me. Give me back my body and return this" - she gestured at herself - "to your daughter."

"I cannot. You are not of this world, Carolina." The anger drained from Demeter's face. "You knew your time there was temporary. I did not pretend otherwise."

"There has to be a way."

"There is not. Both of us must abide by the oaths we have given."

"Can't I even tel him who I am?" Lina asked hopelessly.

"Use your mind, Carolina, not your heart. What would the Lord of the Dead do if he knew he had wooed, not the Goddess of Spring, but a middle-aged baker from the mortal world? Would he open his arms to your deceit?" Demeter held up a hand to silence Lina's protests. "It matters little that you did not intend to deceive him. You say that I do not know Hades, but al immortals know this much of him: the Lord of the Dead values truth above al things. How would he react to your lie?"

"But he loves me."

"If Hades loves, it is Persephone, Goddess of Spring, who has won his affection," Demeter said with finality. "And consider for a moment how the spirits of the Underworld would feel if they learned that the goddess who has brought them such joy is only a mortal in disguise." Lina flinched. "It would hurt them."

"Yes, it would."

"I cannot tel anyone."

"No, Daughter, you cannot." Lina closed her eyes and Demeter watched the woman in her daughter's body struggle to accept the pain of her words. "Remember this, when you have returned to your rightful place, Persephone wil just consider Hades another god with whom she dal ied. And no matter what you believe has passed between you and he, Hades wil eventual y feel the same. Listen to the voice that is within you and you wil remember that this is simply the way of immortals."

When Lina opened her eyes, her gaze was resolute.

"I'l return to the Underworld and finish my job. You said my time is almost over?" Demeter nodded.

"Good. I'l be ready to go when you say so."

"I knew I made a wise choice in you." The goddess's image began to fade. "Return with my blessing, Daughter," she said, and she was gone.

Lina turned away from the oracle. Her eyes passed over the beauty of Lake Avernus without actual y seeing. She didn't cry. She held herself very stil , as if the lack of movement could protect her against further pain.

Cloaked in invisibility, Hades had, at first, stayed within the mouth of the tunnel. His initial reaction to finding Persephone had been relief. She wasn't leaving him. She was only speaking to her mother's oracle. He could not hear what she was saying, but as he watched, his relief was rapidly replaced by concern. Persephone was visibly upset, she almost looked frightened. Was that why she hadn't told him she meant to speak with Demeter? Was she afraid of her mother's reaction to their love? Had she been trying to protect him? Surely, she was aware that he was a powerful God in his own right. But perhaps she wasn't. Persephone was very young - she behaved with such maturity that it was easy for him to forget just how young - and he had kept himself separated from the rest of the immortals for a very long time. Did she believe that he only wielded power in his own realm?

He watched as her face paled. Demeter was wounding her. Anger surged through him. Stil wearing the Helmet of Invisibility, he strode toward his beloved.

Demeter's hard voice drifted to him from the oracle.

"Remember this, when you have returned to your rightful place, Persephone wil just consider Hades another god with whom she dal ied. And no matter what you believe has passed between you and he, eventual y Hades wil feel the same. Listen to the voice that is within you and you wil remember that this is simply the way of the immortals."

Hades stopped short. Had he heard her correctly? He was just another god with whom she had dal ied? Incredulous, he listened to Persephone's reply.