A Touch of Ruin (Hades & Persephone 2)

The two looked at the Amazon.

“Persephone?” Sybil said. “What do you think?”

She opened her mouth, and then closed it.

“I’m...engaged,” she blurted.

Sybil and Zofie shrieked in excitement, and Persephone laughed.

Over the weekend, Persephone recruited Leuce to help with her new business. They met at The Coffee House and worked together over vanilla lattes.

“I’ve called every news outlet on your list,” Leuce said. “They’ve all agreed to run your story. The Divine said it would be front page news.”

“Excellent,” Persephone smiled.

She’d asked Leuce to cold call several newspapers and magazines to announce her new business venture—and her engagement to Hades. It was a strategic move that would automatically guarantee she had a readership for her blog where she would share the story of how she met and fell in love with the God of the Dead.

It would also enrage he mother. Persephone new Demeter paid attention to the news from all the instances she’d scolded her for writing about gods.

“Several have requested reviews,” Leuce continued. “I said you wouldn’t be available for them for another two weeks. I’ve put them in a spreadsheet. It took me forever—how do you use this…keyboard…so easily?”

Persephone laughed. “You’ll learn, Leuce.”

Sybil joined them later. Persephone had tasked her with creating a website that communicated simplicity and power and the results were stunning. The Advocate was scrawled across the top of the page in a rich shade of purple. Sybil also showed her a timeline for how the website would evolve as they added content—pages for health of all kinds and arts and culture.

Seeing the site fueled Persephone’s excitement. Now all she had to do was focus on her welcome article.

It was strange to revisit the start of her relationship with Hades because her mindset had been so different then. She’d been insecure and suspicious, and yet, she’d wanted adventure. Little did she know her yearning would lead to an inescapable contract with the God of the Dead—a bargain that became love.

He helped me understand that power comes from confidence, from belief in your own worth. To him, I am a goddess.

She felt those words deep in her soul.

***

On Monday morning Persephone sat between Leuce and Sybil at The Coffee House as she pressed publish on her article. She smiled when she read the bold lettering on the landing page of her website:

My Journey toward Loving the God of the Dead.

The two squealed and hugged Persephone.

“This is just the beginning,” she said. She felt proud, she felt empowered, and she felt free.

Persephone left Leuce with a to-do list while she and Sybil gathered their things and headed to their respective workplaces. For Persephone, it was the most excited she’d been in a long time to return to the Acropolis because she would never be going there again.

“Good morning, Helen!”

The young woman seemed surprised and stammered. “Good morning, Persephone!”

The goddess walked straight into Demetri’s office. He looked up at her, his tablet glared off his glasses, obscuring his expression.

For a moment, neither spoke.

“You quit.”

“I quit.”

They spoke at the same time.