A Game of Fate (Hades Saga #1)(103)

“You will not take it?”

Hades shook his head. It was a symbol of what he might have had, of a future that was no longer on the horizon, and he could not bear to see it or know that it existed in the same realm as he did.

“I will not ask you why you no longer want the ring. I can guess well enough,” The God of Fire said. “But I will not accept payment for something you do not wish to keep.”

“Would you rather I take it?”

“No.” Hephaestus smiled. “I have a feeling it would end up in the ocean, and I have doubts about you asking Poseidon to retrieve it when you want it again.”





CHAPTER XXXI – TO CLAIM A QUEEN




Hades watched from a distance as Persephone walked across the grand stage at her graduation. She looked beautiful, her honeyed hair gleaming beneath the bright sun, her skin glistening like gold, and a smile curving her perfect lips.

“She looks so…happy,” Hades said, more to himself than anyone else, but Hecate was there to answer.

“Of course she’s happy. She just spent four years in purgatory.”

“College, Hecate,” Hermes corrected. “I think you mean college.”

“Same thing,” she shot back.

“She invited me to the afterparty,” Hermes said with a grin, and Hades tried not to smirk when Hecate elbowed him in the ribs.

“Ouch! Stop!”

He tracked Persephone as she left the stage, holding onto her hat as the wind blew. It picked up her scent and carried it to him, leaving him feeling hollow. It was then she paused and looked in their direction.

“Oh, oh! I think she sees us!” Hermes waved.

“She can’t see us, we’re invisible!” Hecate said, elbowing him in the ribs again.

“Watch it, Hecate! I’ll turn you into a goat!”

“Just try, feather feet!”

Hades sighed and rolled his eyes at the two, but quickly focused on Persephone again. She seemed troubled, a line forming between her brows and the corners of her mouth dropping. It was in that moment he thought he saw the truth of her heart—she was just as devastated as he was. It was almost unbearable, and the thread that still connected them throbbed in his chest.

He ached for her, wanted her, loved her.

“Go to her,” Hecate encouraged.

“She would deny me,” Hades said.

“Maybe,” Hermes replied.

Hecate raised her arm again, and the god flinched, shuffling a few feet away. She turned back to Hades and argued.

“She would welcome you. She loves you.”

“She loved me,” Hades said.

“Do you want me to call you an idiot again?”

Hades glared.

“At least she told you she loved you,” Hecate said, hands on her hips. “She still hasn’t heard those words from you.”

He frowned and felt ashamed. Hecate was right, he should have told her he loved her the moment he realized it. All this time, he had gone on about how she was his goddess and queen, and he had not even managed to say the three words that would illustrate the truth of how he felt because he feared her rejection.

Persephone’s attention turned from them as Lexa’s name was called. She cheered for her best friend as she walked across the stage, and the two embraced before they returned to their seats. Despite his painful thoughts, Hades found himself smiling as he watched her continue living.

He had few regrets in his long life, but one of them would always be never telling her how much he loved her.

***

Hecate flung open the door to Hades’ chambers. It was noon, and he was still in bed, exhausted from a night of bitter bargains at Nevernight.

“Get up!” she said, and threw open the curtains, letting in daylight. Hades groaned and rolled over, covering his head.

“Go away, Hecate.”

There was a pause, and then his blanket was torn away.

“Hecate!” Hades sat up, frustrated.

“Why are you naked?” she demanded, as if she had just seen something horrifying.

“Because,” he said, gesturing to his room, “I’m in bed!”

She tossed the blanket back to him.

“What are you doing?” he demanded.

“We’re going to get Persephone,” she said. “Well, you’re going to get her. I’m going to help.”

“We’ve been through this, Hecate—”

“Shut up,” she snapped. “I miss her, the souls miss her, you miss her. Why are we spending all this time missing her when we can just…get her back?”

Hades laughed, mostly from disbelief. “If it were that easy—”

“It is that easy!” Hecate threw up her hands, frustrated. “You’ve spent all this time waiting for the Fates to take her away, but they didn’t. You did.”

“She left, Hecate. Not me.”

“So? It doesn’t mean you cannot go get her. It doesn’t mean you can’t still tell her you love her. It doesn’t mean you can’t still fight for her. You’re the one who always talks about actions. Why don’t you live by your words?”

“Fine,” Hades gritted out. “We’ll go, and then you’ll see once and for all that she does not want me.”