A Game of Retribution (Hades Saga #2)(101)

Maybe she needed this—another form of release. He lifted her into his arms and carried her inside, where he laid her on their soft bed and kissed her until she was calm.

“I love you,” he said, because he had yet to say it back, and then, “I am sorry.”

She shook her head. “Things have been hard.”

It was true for both of them in very different ways.

He bent to press his lips to her forehead and settled between her thighs.

Despite the fact that they had just come together outside, he wanted to make love to her, and he wanted it to be both delicate and desperate. At the end of it, he didn’t want to know where he ended and she began.

She widened her legs as he guided himself to her entrance but froze as a knock sounded at the door. He met Persephone’s gaze, then grinned.

“Enter,” he said, and Persephone’s eyes widened.

“Hades!”

He chuckled as he rolled off her into a sitting position, and she rose too, pulling the blankets to her chest right as Hermes entered.

The god gave a lopsided smirk.

“Hey, Sephy,” he said, a note of warmth in his voice.

“Hermes,” Hades said, and his gaze shifted to him.

“Oh yeah.” For a moment, Hermes’s smile widened, then he took on a more serious expression. “I found the nymph, Leuce.”

“Bring her,” Hades ordered, and the nymph appeared before their bed, looking stricken and pale.

“Please—” she began, already sobbing.

“Silence!” Hades’s voice was like a lashing, and Leuce immediately quieted, tears tracking down her face. “You will tell Persephone the truth.

Did you send her to the Forest of Despair?”

At his question, more tears spilled down her cheeks and she nodded.

There was a very small part of him that felt remorse for Leuce—not for what she had done to Persephone but for how sorry she truly seemed.

“Why?” Persephone asked. The betrayal in her voice made him feel terrible for bringing this to her, but she needed to know.

“To tear you both apart,” Leuce answered in a whisper, her eyes on the floor.

Hades could not tell what Persephone was thinking, but he thought she might be in shock, because all she could ask was “Why?”

Leuce pressed her lips tight and shook her head, body shaking with renewed sobs.

“You will answer,” Hades commanded.

She collapsed in a heap on the floor. “She will kill me.”

“Who?” Persephone asked, looking from Leuce to Hades.

“Your mother,” Hades said. “She’s talking about your mother.”

Persephone’s eyes widened and she looked at Leuce. “Is this true?”

Hades didn’t like the shock in her voice. This was a woman who had taken Leuce in. Not only had she invited her into her home, but she had

offered to mentor her. Even if Leuce hadn’t wanted to, she still deceived Persephone.

“I lied when I said I didn’t remember who gave me life,” Leuce said. “But I was afraid. Demeter reminded me over and over that she would take it all away if I didn’t obey. I’m so sorry, Persephone. You were so kind to me, and I betrayed you.”

There was a moment when no one spoke—not even Hermes, who still stood by, watching this interrogation take place. But then Persephone shifted, wrapping the sheets around her as she left the bed, exposing his nakedness, though he did not care as he watched her approach Leuce and kneel before her.

He wanted to protest. The only person he would ever kneel to was her, but Persephone was not like him, nor did she need to be.

“I don’t blame you for fearing my mother. I feared her for a long time too.

I won’t let her hurt you, Leuce.”

Persephone spoke with a note of understanding in her voice that Hades did not share, but her kindness comforted Leuce, and the nymph fell into her, sobbing. Hades watched the strange display, his feelings mixed. On the one hand, it was what he had expected of Persephone, but he was angry with Leuce and frustrated that she had received such an easy pardon, though he supposed she had been punished enough by him.

“Hermes,” Persephone said once Leuce had collected herself. “Will you take Leuce to my suite? I think she deserves some rest.”

He smirked, bowing as he accepted her instruction.

“Yes, my lady.”

Persephone rose with Leuce, and they shared an embrace before Hermes led her from their room. Once they were gone, Persephone’s gaze returned to Hades, her eyes dipping to his exposed flesh, as if she’d just realized he’d been sitting there naked.

Then her eyes darted to his face.

“What?” she asked, likely because he was staring and smiling at her.

“I am just admiring you.”

She raised a brow, her eyes momentarily darkening, but then she sighed.

“I suppose we should summon my mother to the Underworld.”

“Shall we call on her now?” Then he suggested, “Perhaps we should make love so that she has no reason to suspect her plan worked.”

“Hades!” she scolded playfully as he reached for her, pulling her between his thighs. She dropped the sheets and pressed against him skin to skin, and they fell back onto the bed, descending into their madness once more.