A Touch of Darkness (Hades & Persephone 1)

Lexa placed her hand on Persephone’s. “You are good at so many things, Persephone. Especially at being a goddess.”

She scoffed. “How would you know? You just found out what I was.”

“I know because you are kind and compassionate and you fight for your beliefs, but mostly, you fight for people. That is what gods are supposed to do and someone should remind them because a lot of them have forgotten,” she paused. “Maybe that’s why you were born.”

Persephone wiped tears from her eyes.

“I love you, Lex.”

“I love you, too, Persephone.”

***

Persephone had a hard time sleeping in the weeks following Demeter’s threats. Her anxiety had skyrocketed, and she felt even more trapped than ever before. If she didn’t fulfill the terms of her contract with Hades, she would be stuck in the Underworld forever. If she managed to create life, then she would become a prisoner in her mother’s greenhouse.

It was true she loved Hades, but she preferred to come and go from the Underworld as she pleased. She wanted to continue living her mortal life, graduate, and start her career in journalism. When she’d said as much to Lexa, her best friend had responded, “Just talk to him. He is the God of the Dead, can’t he help?”

But Persephone knew talking would do no good. Hades had said over and over that the terms of the contract were not negotiable, even when facing Demeter. The choice was to fulfill the contract or not—freedom or not.

And that reality was breaking her apart.

Worse, she was using Hades magic and while there were a few advantages, it was like having him around all the time. He was a constant presence, a reminder of her predicament, of how she’d spiraled out of control and found herself in love with him.

It was two weeks from graduation—and from the end of her contract with Hades, when Persephone arrived at the Acropolis for work.

Valerie stopped her as she stepped off the elevator, coming around her desk to whisper.

“Persephone, there’s a woman here to see you. She says she has a story on Hades.”

She almost groaned out loud.

“Did you vet her?” Persephone had given Valarie a list of questions to ask anyone who called claiming they had a story about Hades. Some of the people who’d made calls or came in person to interview had only been curious mortals or undercover journalists trying to get a story.

“She seems legitimate, although I think she’s lying about her name.”

Persephone tilted her head. “Why?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. It was the way she said i

t. Like it was an afterthought.”

That didn’t make Persephone feel too confident.

“What name?”

“Carol.”

Weird.

Then Valerie offered, “If you want someone to go with you into the interview, I can.”

“No,” Persephone said. “That’s okay. Thanks, though.”

She put her things away, grabbed coffee, and headed into the room. She wasn’t paying close attention as she entered, thinking this was just another person trying to get face time with her, and said, “So you have a story for me?”

“A story? Oh, no, Lady Persephone—I have a bargain.”

Persephone looked up immediately and froze.