“How are you?” I ask, settling beside him, knowing I need to do this quickly.
He nods, offering me a drink, which I gratefully accept. “I’m well. We’ve been planning another meeting with suitors for Persephone. It’s time she marries.”
Gulping the crimson liquid, I nod in understanding. I set the chalice down and meet his eyes. “I have just seen her. She’s . . . Intoxicating,” I tell him. Lowering my voice, I lean in. “I want her hand, Zeus.”
“Over my dead body,” the voice of Demeter booms from behind me, causing me to snap my gaze toward her. “You will not take my daughter to that vile place. She is meant to live in the light,” she tells me, moving closer to her husband.
Landing my stare on my brother, I try to read his schooled, emotionless expression. “Listen—”
“No, you will not take her.” Her words are final as she marches from the dining hall, leaving Zeus and me in the wake of her anger.
“You will love her?” he questions me a moment later, and I nod without hesitation. “Then you have one moment to steal her away. I’m doing this because we’re family. I will keep Demeter here. All you need to do is get Persephone out to the garden . . .” He doesn’t finish the sentence because I know the rear of the fields will allow me to open the gateway to the Underworld.
“When?” I question, my body alert and ready to kidnap a girl I’ve just met.
“Make your way up to her now. I’ll ensure my wife is distracted long enough.”
I nod, watching him rise. His footfalls sound on the marble floor. “Thank you,” I utter before he leaves the room, but he doesn’t respond. I move with haste, heading up the stairs to the bedroom I was in moments before.
I don’t knock before shoving the door open.
“What—?”
I cut her off by grabbing her slight frame, covering my hand over her mouth. In my arms, I hold the woman who will become my queen. She struggles, but I don’t let go. Taking the corridor toward the back of the house, I find the exit and step out into the cloudy evening.
“Mmm-hmm.” Her mumbles behind my hand are the only sound besides my breathing. Her body trembles, but I’m not sure it’s from fear. She doesn’t fight, and she merely allows me to steal her away.
My heart hammers wildly, knowing I’m about to have a queen. Once we’re far enough away from the castle, the ground shudders and vibrates as the entrance opens. I watch as the earth yawns, and I leap into the darkness with Persephone.
The lower we travel, the darkness envelops us more. My world appears before us, and that’s when I finally release the beauty.
“What are you doing? My mother—”
“Your mother will not know of this until she returns later to your bedroom to find you gone. You will be my queen,” I tell her adamantly.
Fire blazes in her eyes, burning me more so than the raging fires of Hell. “This is unacceptable. You cannot walk into my home and take me without my consent.” Her words are spit with venom, which only serves to anger me.
My hand juts out, gripping her slender throat. “You are mine.” I enunciate the words with adamant conviction. “Get used to this, sweetheart. It is your world now as much as mine.”
Releasing her, I stalk toward the entrance of the castle and find Cerberus guarding the door. When his eyes land on Persephone, the questions he pins me with, in one look, makes me smile.
Inside, I head toward the library, and I hear her soft footfalls behind me.
“This is…,” she utters, words trailing into silence as she takes in the beauty of the darkness. The butler enters with the fruit I requested — freshly sliced pomegranates.
“Eat,” I tell her, gesturing to the silver tray he sets on the small wooden table. “Once you do, I’ll show you to your chambers where you can dress for tonight when we wed.”
Her mouth opens, then shuts. She flits her gaze between the fruit and me. Questions dance in her mind, but I allow her silence for now. My body is rigid with fear that she’ll deny me. That she’ll want to leave. But then, I watch in awe as she eats the fruit. Her lips turn dark pink. Exquisite. And I know I’ve made the right choice.
Chapter 19
Persephone
The room he’s put me in is beautiful. The darkness surrounding the castle is dreary, but it’s the desire he’s unfurled in me. From the moment he touched me to the second, he kidnapped me.
Stalking to the window, I tug the heavy, velvet, deep red curtains open to find nothing but flames licking through the trees. However, they’re not burning. Instead, they’re black like coal from a fire.