A Touch of Darkness (Hades & Persephone 1)

“I knew you were here because I could feel you.”

His words made her shiver, and she withdrew from his warmth. She picked up her backpack where she’d left it on the couch and heaved it on her shoulders. On the way out the door, she paused.

“You said the map is only visible to those you trust. What does it take to gain the trust of the God of the Dead?”

He responded simply, “Time.”

CHAPTER XII – GOD OF THE GAME

“Persephone!”

Someone was calling her name. She rolled over and covered her head with her blanket to muffle the sound. She left the Underworld late last night, and having been too keyed up to sleep, stayed up to work on her article.

She had a hard time choosing how she should proceed after watching Hades’ help the mother. In the end she decided she had to focus on the bargains Hades made with mortals—the ones where he chose to offer an impossible bargain. As she had worked on the article, she found she was still frustrated, though she couldn’t tell if it was over her bargain with Hades or their time in the stacks—the way he’d asked her what she wanted and refused to kiss her.

Her skin pricked with anticipation, though she wasn’t anywhere near him.

Persephone pressed save on her article at four in the morning and decided to rest a few hours before rereading it.

As she started to drift off, Lexa burst through her bedroom door.

“Persephone! Wake up!”

She groaned. “Go away!”

“Oh no, you’re going to want to see this. Guess what’s in the news today!”

Suddenly she was wide awake. Persephone shoved off her blankets and sat up. Her imagination took hold—had someone snapped a picture of her in her goddess form outside Nevernight? Had someone caught her inside the club with Hades? Lexa shoved her tablet into Persephone’s face, and her eyes focused on something much worse.

“It’s all over social media today,” Lexa explained.

“No, no, no,” she gripped the tablet with both hands. The title across the top of the page was black and bold and familiar:

Hades, God of the Game by Persephone Rosi.

She read the first line, “Nevernight, an elite gambling club owned by Hades, God of the Dead, can be seen from anywhere in New Athens. The sleek pinnacle expertly mimics the imposing nature of the god himself and is a reminder to mortals that life is short—even shorter if you agree to gamble with the Lord of the Underworld.”

This was her draft. Her real article remained safely on her computer.

“How did this get published?”

Lexa looked confused. “What do you mean? Didn’t you submit it?”

“No.” She scrolled through the article, her stomach in knots. She noticed some additions, like a description of Hades she would have never written. Hades’ eyes were described as colorless chasms, his face callous, his manner, cold and boorish.

Boorish?

She would have never described Hades in such a manner. His eyes were inky, but expressive and every time she met his gaze, she felt like she could see the threads of his lifetimes there. In truth, his face could be callous, but when he looked at her, she saw something different—a softness to his jaw, an amusement alight in his face. A curiosity that burned, and his manner was anything but cold and boorish—he was passionate and charming and refined.

There was only one person who had gone with her and saw Hades in the flesh, and that was Adonis. He’d also invaded her workspace and read her article without permission. Guess he’d been doing more than just reading it. Persephone’s anxiety was now only as strong as her fury. She tossed the tablet aside and jumped out of bed. The words running through her head were angry and vengeful and felt more like her mother’s than her own.

He will be punished, she thought. Because I will be punished.

She took a few deep breaths to cool her anger and consciously worked to uncurl her fingers. If she weren’t careful, her glamour would melt away. It always seemed to react to her emotions—maybe that was because her magic was borrowed.

In reality, Persephone didn’t want Adonis to be punished, at least not by Hades. The God of the Dead did not like the mortal. Bringing him to Nevernight had been a mistake for several reasons, which was clear now. Perhaps this was part of the reason Hades had wanted her to stay away from him.

A third emotion rose inside her—fear—and she tamped it down. She wouldn’t allow Hades to get the best of her. Besides, she’d planned on writing about the god despite his threat.