A Touch of Ruin (Hades x Persephone #2)(89)

It was like she was being told Lexa was going to die all over again.

She didn’t know a lot about souls, didn’t know what it meant to have a broken soul.

But she could guess.

It meant that she would never have the Lexa she knew before the accident.

It meant that nothing would be the same ever again.

It meant that she’d made a deal with Apollo for nothing.

She knew this is what Hades had meant.

Your actions have condemned Lexa to a fate worse than death.

It took a moment for Persephone to focus. “You really are the worst.”

She turned on her heels and left the elevator as its doors opened. Apollo followed close behind.

“Just because you failed to recognize the flaws in your bargain doesn’t make me a bad person.”

“No, everything else you do makes you a bad person.”

“You don’t even know me,” he argued.

“Your actions speak loud and clear, Apollo. I saw all I needed at the Lyre.”

“There are two sides to every story, Love Nugget.”

“Then by all means, tell me your side,” she snapped.

“I don’t need to explain myself to you.”

“Then why do you keep talking?”

“Fine, I won’t.”

“Good.”

There was silence as they crossed the main floor of the hospital and exited the building, then Apollo spoke again.

“You’re trying to distract me from my purpose!”

“I thought you weren’t talking,” she complained, and then asked. “What purpose?”

“I came to summon you,” he said. “For a date.”

“First, you don’t summon someone for dates,” she said. “Second, you and I aren’t dating. You asked for a companion. That’s it.”

“Friends go on dates all the time,” he argued.

“We’re not friends.”

“We are for six months. That’s what you agreed to, Honey Lips.”

Persephone glared. “Stop calling me names.”

“I’m not calling you names.”

“Love nugget? Honey lips?”

He grinned. “Pet names. I’m trying to find the right one.”

“I don’t want a pet name. I want to be called by my name.”

Hermes had given her a nickname, and she’d come to think of it as endearing.

“Too bad. Part of the bargain, Baby.”

“No, it wasn’t,” she said.

“You missed it; it was in the fine print.”

Persephone knew her eyes were glowing bright green.

“It’s not an option, Apollo.” She cut him off. “You will call me Persephone and nothing else. If I want to be addressed in another way, I’ll tell you.”

Apollo had a lot to learn about respecting people’s wishes. She noted how his jaw ticked, and she wondered what he would do next.

“Fine,” he said between his teeth. “But you will join me tonight. The Seven Muses. Be there at ten.”

“Tonight, really isn’t a great night, Apollo.”

She needed to go to the Underworld and hear Hades’ explanation for why he was with Leuce, plus she needed to finalize preparations for the Summer Solstice celebration tomorrow night.

“I didn’t ask you if the timing worked for you,” the god replied. “I’m telling you to get ready. We have an event.”





CHAPTER XXII - THE SEVEN MUSES


Persephone was in her closet, searching for something to wear. She groaned. “What am I supposed to wear to The Seven Muses?”

“Let me help,” Hermes said, taking Persephone’s place in the closet, he assessed her wardrobe.

“You know Apollo will be pissed when I show up with you,” Hermes said.

Persephone had summoned him as soon as she got home. When she called his name, he appeared immediately and asked, “Who do I need to kill, Sephy?”

“Your brother,” she’d responded.

“Ohh. Can I get a rain check?”

She’d given him another option—accompanying her tonight.

“He never said I had to be alone.”

Apollo was quick to point out where Persephone had failed when agreeing to their bargain, so she would do the same. She had no interest in being alone with the God of Music.

Hermes poked his head out of Persephone’s closet.

“Does Hades know you’re going out?”

“Why does everyone ask that?” Persephone complained. “He doesn’t have to know every move I make.”

Hermes raised his brows. “Triggered, much? I’m only asking in case there’s a possibility you run into him tonight.”

“What does that have to do with what I wear?”

“It has everything to do with what you wear,” Hermes said, disappearing into her closet again. After a moment, he reappeared. “I think you should wear this.”

He held a dress that looked like a patchwork of strategically placed gold-leaf appliqués held together with air.

“Where did you get that?” she asked, because she knew she didn’t own anything like it.

Hermes grinned. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”