Goddess of Spring (Goddess Summoning #2)(99)

"Of course," Anton said. "Anything else I can get for Her Majesty?" He nodded his head at Demeter.

Persephone laughed. "Just the check."

"I shal pay," Demeter said. With a great sense of dignity she stood and then strode to where Anton waited at the cash register.

"With what?" Lina whispered.

Persephone shrugged her shoulders.

"Anton!" Lina said.

He looked at her.

"With these ladies we accept barter. Just be sure you drive a hard bargain." Anton's eyes widened. "Whatever you say, boss." He faced the approaching Goddess. "Wel , Queen Greentree, what are you offering for pizza, gubana and wine?"

Demeter raised her haughty chin. "I prefer the title Goddess. Queens have realms that are entirely too limited."

"Fine, Goddess Greentree. What are you offering?"

Demeter's smile was sly. "Do you have any need for a talking bird?"

"No, honey," Anton rol ed his eyes. "We have way too many animals that hang around this place. Try again."

Persephone pulled on Lina's sleeve. "Leave them to their bargaining. I have one more question to ask you."

"What is it?"

"What did you do to Apol o?"

"Nothing," Lina said, surprised.

"Nothing?" Persephone asked.

"Not a thing."

"You refused the God of Light?" Persephone wasn't sure she had heard her correctly.

"Of course. I'm only interested in one god at a time," Lina said.

"Real y?" Persephone tapped her perfect chin thoughtfully. "What an interesting concept."

"Sold! For one gold crown that is probably fake but I just adore it!" Anton squealed.

Chapter 28

Hades brooded, and be couldn't stop staring at the sketch the lit tle spirit had given him.

"Do you like it?" Eurydice asked.

"How did you know?" Hades' voice sounded rough and foreign to his own ears. How long had it been since he had carried on a real conversation with anyone? He couldn't remember.

"I have been thinking a lot about her. I even started dreaming of her. Only, when I see her in my dreams, she does not look like she did when she was here. But how she looks - it's hard to describe - how she looks in my dreams feels right. So I drew her that way. When I showed Iapis, he told me that I should bring it to you."

"I hope I did not overstep myself, Lord," Iapis said.

Hades could not take his eyes from the sketch. "No, old friend, you did not overstep yourself. You were right to show me." He made himself take his eyes from the sketch and look at Eurydice.

"Thank you. May I keep it?"

"Of course, Lord. Anything I create is yours."

"No, little one," Hades said sadly. "Anything you create stil belongs to her."

"Wil she return to us?" Eurydice asked.

Hades looked back at the sketch of Carolina. Her mortal features were sweet and kind, her body ful and womanly. He felt a stirring within him just looking at the likeness of her, and he closed his eyes, blocking her picture from his mind. He had lacked the strength to trust her, and because of that she had almost lost her soul to Tartarus. But she had battled back from the abyss only to be betrayed and wounded by his rash, thoughtless words. He did not deserve the gift of her love.

"No," Hades said. "I do not believe she wil return to us." Eurydice made a smal , sad noise, and Hades opened his eyes to see Iapis taking the spirit into his arms.

"Hush, now," the daimon soothed. "Wherever she is, she has not forgotten you. She loved you."

"Please leave me," Hades rasped.

Iapis motioned for Eurydice to go, but he stayed in his Lord's chamber. His concern for the God gnawed at him. Hades did not pace back and forth in frustration. He did not work out his anger at the forge. He refused to eat and he rarely slept. He held court, passing judgment over the somber dead as if he belonged among their ranks and had been condemned to eternal y wander the banks of Cocytus, the River of Lamentation.

When Persephone tried to see the God, Iapis had felt a stirring of hope at Hades' display of anger. But it was shortlived. As soon as the Goddess of Spring left the Underworld, Hades had withdrawn within himself again. The God could not continue as he was, yet Iapis saw no respite ahead. Time seemed to fester the dark God's wound instead of al owing him to heal.

"Iapis, do you know what happens when one soul mate is separated from the other?" Hades asked suddenly. He was standing in front of the window that looked out on the area of his gardens that joined the Elysia forest and eventual y led to the River Lethe.

"Soul mates always find each other," Iapis said. "You know that already, Lord."

"But what happens if they cannot find each other because one of them has done something inexcusable?" Hades turned his head and looked blankly at Iapis.

"Can you not forgive her, Hades?"

Hades blinked and focused on the daimon's face. "Forgive her? Of course I have. She was only keeping her oath to Demeter. Carolina's sense of honor would not al ow her to betray her word, not even for love. It is myself that I cannot forgive."

"Yourself? How, Lord?"

"Carolina Francesca Santoro is a mortal woman with the courage of a goddess, and I hurt her for the most empty of reasons, to salve my own pride. I cannot forgive that in myself. How can I expect her to?"