A Touch of Ruin (Hades & Persephone 2)

“Do you need anything? Coffee or a snack?”

Persephone thought for a moment. “Tylenol,” she answered. “And some water.”

“I’ll be right back!”

Helen returned a short time later. Persephone took the medicine tried to concentrate on her work which consisted of reading hate mail and staring at a black document that was supposed to contain her exclusive.

If she was being honest, she was on edge, waiting for Hades to slam his way through the doors of her workplace, gather her up and carry her off to the Underworld to be punished for her decision to betray him.

At first, she was anxious about his potential arrival, but as time passed, she became more and more frustrated with the God of the Dead.

What would it take to get his attention?

She got up and walked to the break room to make coffee. While there, she looked out the window. A crowd was still gathered outside the Acropolis.

“Your article is causing quite a stir.” Demetri joined her. He turned on the television in the corner. The news was streaming, and the headline read:

Hades’ Lover Attacks Beloved God.

She squeezed her coffee cup so hard, the lid came off sloshing hot liquid all over her hands. Demetri took it from her and handed her some napkins.

“You think they could at least use my name?”

“You might not want them to,” he said. “It’s probably best they remember who you belong to.”

Persephone glared at her boss. “I don’t belong to anyone.”

“Fair,” he said. “Poor word choice. I just meant that…you’ll want people to remember that you’re with Hades because they aren’t happy that you went after Apollo.”

That was obvious—and no wonder. The news was particularly critical of her article.

“She mentions eight mortal women who apparently experienced abuse from Lord Apollo, but where are they?”

“She’s only doing this because of her association with Hades. No other mortal would dare write this...trash about a god.”

“Guess she didn’t gain enough fame by sleeping with Hades. She had to go after Apollo, too. Is this the kind of fame you wanted, Persephone Rosi?”

She felt sick and frustrated and a little hopeless.

“This isn’t fair. They aren’t even trying to fact check,” she said.

He shrugged. “They’re probably too afraid.”

“That’s no reason to avoid it.”

Demetri sighed. “No, but it’s the way of our world. The vengeance of the gods is a real and feared thing.”

The news continued bashing Persephone for her critique

of Apollo. For the fact that she used two stories from antiquity to illustrate his horrid behavior, claiming that all gods in antiquity were different from who they were now—that change was possible, and that Apollo should be forgiven.

Persephone snatched the remote from Demetri and turned off the television.

“They weren’t eager to come to Hades defense when I wrote about him,” she said.

“That’s because Hades is supposed to be feared. He’s supposed to be bad. Apollo he’s…the God of Music. The God of Light. He’s…revelry and beauty. He’s not supposed to be an asshole.”

“Well, he is!”