Neon Gods (Dark Olympus #1)(79)

I should let it end at that. We can circle all we want, but it changes nothing about our situation, about our deadline. Instead, I swallow hard. “I’m not.”





Chapter 25


Hades

I don’t sleep. Even after showering and crawling into bed with Persephone, holding her in my arms as her breathing evens out, sleep won’t come for me. I can’t shed the dread that’s risen with every minute from the moment when I pulled out of her, my harsh words still ringing in my ears. I crossed a line, and her being right there with me doesn’t change the fact that it’s done.

I don’t want to let her go.

An impossible scenario. I might as well try to lasso the moon as try to keep Persephone with me. Even if she was willing, the price is too high. Her mother will never acknowledge that her darling daughter might prefer the lower city—might prefer me—to the sparkling poison Zeus’s court has to offer. She’ll continue to punish my people to try to force my hand. We can last a few years on our own, as long as we don’t pull too hard on the supply lines I’ve set up with Triton, but the second Poseidon or Demeter realizes what’s happening, that avenue will be closed to us. People who depend on me for safety will suffer.

And Zeus?

He’ll never rest as long as Persephone’s by my side. I’d thought he’d make his play by now, but that old bastard is craftier than I expected. He’ll move against me, but he’s going to do it in a way that can’t be tracked back to him. If I can’t prove it…

No, there are a thousand reasons to honor my agreement with Persephone and pave the way for her to gain her freedom. There’s only one to ask her to stay—I love her. Not enough. It will never be enough with the odds stacked against us.

I’m so deep in my head, it takes a few moments to register the sound of a phone ringing. I lift my head, but it’s not my ringtone. “Persephone.”

She stirs and blinks those big hazel eyes at me. “Hades?”

“Someone’s calling you.” When she keeps trying to shake off sleep, I slip out of bed and snag her phone from the dresser. A quick glance at the screen shows Eurydice’s name scrolling across. “It’s your youngest sister.”

That gets her moving. She sits up and shoves her hair back with one hand while reaching for the phone with the other. I expect her to take the call into the bathroom or the sitting room for some privacy, but she puts it on speaker. “Eurydice?”

“Persephone? Oh thank the gods. No one else is answering.” The panic in the woman’s voice makes the small hairs on the back of my neck rise.

“What’s going on?”

“There’s someone following me. I was supposed to meet Orpheus at this bar, but he never showed and this guy got really pushy, so I left but…” Her breath sobs out. “He’s following me. There are no cabs. I don’t know what to do. There were people around, but we’re too close to the river now and all the streets are empty. I tried to call Orpheus, but he’s not answering. What do I do, Persephone?”

The more scared her sister sounds, the more Persephone shuts down her own emotions, her voice going brisk. “Where are you? Your exact location.”

“Uh…” The sound of the wind in the speaker. “Juniper and Fifty-Sixth.”

I meet Persephone’s gaze. Her sister is close to the River Styx but not close enough. If she tries to cross over, Zeus’s people will attempt to take her. If I do, I’m violating the treaty. “She has to get to the river,” I murmur.

Persephone nods. “You need to cross the River Styx, Eurydice. Do you understand me? If you go down Juniper, you’ll see the bridge. I will meet you there.”

It’s a token of Eurydice’s fear that she doesn’t even question it. “I’m scared, Persephone.”

“We’re coming.”

I’m already moving, hurrying into the closet and pulling on the first items I get my hands on and then shoving a gun into the back of my waistband. I hope we won’t need it tonight, but I want to be prepared. I grab jeans and a top for Persephone. She’s hanging up as I walk into the room. I text Charon to meet us at the door with a team. We have to play this carefully, but one look at the tightness in Persephone’s expression and I know I’m going to throw caution to the wind and do whatever it takes to ensure her little sister is safe.

“This is my fault.”

I’m already shaking my head before she finishes. “No, don’t take this on.”

“How can you say that? Doesn’t this sound familiar? A strange man herding a scared woman to the river? It has Zeus written all over it.”

She’s right, but that changes nothing. We have to get to the bridge. “We’ll know more once we get her safe. Focus on that right now.”

I half expect her to argue, but she squares her shoulders and takes a slow breath. “Okay.”

“Let’s go.”

We rush downstairs to find Charon and the others waiting. The Juniper Bridge is too far to get to on foot with any degree of urgency, so we all pile into two cars. I keep ahold of Persephone’s hand the entire drive. There’s no point in trying to dispel her tension, not when someone she cares about is on the line. The only thing I can do is offer what little comfort I have available. She keeps calling numbers and finally curses. “That motherfucker is sending me straight to voicemail. His phone wasn’t shut off before, and now it is.”