“I owe you, for the getaway car.”
“No, you don’t,” he said quickly. “I’m not a god. I don’t extract a favor for a favor.”
He definitely has a history with the Divine, she thought, frowning. “I just meant that I would bring you cookies.”
The man offered a dazzling smile, and in that moment, beneath the exhaustion and the sadness, she thought she could see the person he used to be.
“See you tomorrow?” she asked.
He gave her the strangest look, chuckling a little and said, “Yeah, Persephone. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
***
By the time Persephone arrived home, the apartment smelled like popcorn and Lexa’s music blared throughout the house. It wasn’t the kind you could dance to—it was the kind that could summon clouds and rain and darkness. The music cast its own spell, drawing on darker thoughts—revenge against Kal Stavros.
Lexa was waiting in the kitchen. She had already changed into her pajamas—a set that showed off her tattoos—the phases of the moon on her bicep, a key wrapped in hemlock on her left forearm, an exquisite dagger on her right hip, and Hecate’s wheel on her left upper arm. Her thick, black hair was piled on top of her head. She had a bottle of wine in hand, and two empty glasses waiting.
“There you are,” Lexa said, pinning Persephone with those piercing blue eyes. She indicated to the bottle of wine.
“I got your favorite.”
Persephone smiled. “You’re the best.”
“I thought I was going to have to file a missing person’s report.”
Persephone rolled her eyes. “I’m only thirty minutes late.”
“And not answering your phone,” Lexa pointed out.
She’d been so distracted trying to get out of the Acropolis and make it home unnoticed, she hadn’t even bothered to retrieve her phone from her purse. She did so now and found four missed calls and several texts from Lexa. Her best friend had started by asking if she was on her way, if she was okay, and then resorted to sending random emojis just to get her attention.
“If you really thought I was in trouble, I doubt you’d have sent me a million emojis.”
Lexa smirked as she uncorked the wine. “Or, I cleverly thought to annoy your kidnapper.”
Persephone took a seat opposite Lexa at the kitchen bar and sipped her wine. It was a rich and flavorful cabernet, and it instantly took the edge off her nerves.
“Seriously though, you can’t be too careful. You’re famous now.”
“I’m not famous, Lex.”
“Uh, did you read any of the news articles I sent you? People are obsessed.”
“Hades is famous, not me.”
“And you by association,” she argued. “You’re all anyone at work wanted to talk about today—who you were, where you were from.”
Persephone groaned. “You didn’t say anything about me, did you?”
It was no secret that Lexa was Persephone’s best friend.
“You mean that I’ve known you’ve been sleeping with Hades for about six months and that you’re a goddess masquerading as a mortal?”
Lexa’s tone was light.
“I haven’t been sleeping with Hades for six months.” Persephone felt the need to defend herself.
It was Lexa’s turn to narrow her eyes. “Okay, five months, then.”