“I’m starting to think you’ve misunderstood me,” he says slowly.
“Am I Persephone?” I ask again.
He still appears to be confused but answers with “No. You’re Serapina.”
“Right. So I’m not worthy of your love nest, or whatever this place is, yet you still feel a possessive need to keep me from Morpheus—despite not actually being your Persephone. All because of my soul?” I phrase that last part as a question while he gapes at me.
“Now I’m certain we’re having a miscommunication.”
“That isn’t an answer to my question,” I state flatly, exhausted by this whole interaction. “So tell me this—do you want to share me?”
“I’ve already demonstrated how I feel about that by letting Maliki touch you,” he hedges.
“That was to test whether or not I’m Persephone,” I point out. “Yet you wouldn’t share her at all, would you?”
“No, of course not.”
“However, you let Maliki touch me, so maybe you already knew I wasn’t Persephone.” I shake my head, suddenly feeling like I’m talking in circles. There’s just so much to unpack between us. So much anger. So much insanity.So much history.
Thorns, it feels like we have a decade of issues to work out.
Which is impossible given our short tenure together.
“Hades—”
“No,” he interrupts. “Somewhere in this conversation, we took a strange turn, and I think it’s because I didn’t appropriately explain what I meant aboutwhyI never intended to bring you here.”
“I don’t need you to?—”
“Please, Serapina. Let me explain,” he stresses, his tone stern yet soft. “This maze is the product of two thousand years of anguish. I built it with the sole purpose of punishing Persephone for her betrayal. That’s why I took you to the cavern first; I wanted somewhere nicer for your heat. Not…” He gestures to the walls. “Notthis.”
My lashes flutter as I try to process everything he just said. “What…? What did you plan to do to her here?”
His jaw ticks again, but he doesn’t answer.
“You said it was for her heat,” I add, my stomach twisting. “Whatwas the plan, Hades?” I need to know what kind of monster I’m facing. To understand how dark he’s willing to go topunishhis mate.
Because this male thinks he owns me, too.
What will he do to me if I say no? If I say I want Morpheus or Maliki instead?
Hades’s expression shifts into something I don’t recognize. Not fury. Not condemnation. Not sorrow, either.
If I didn’t know any better, I would think he’shurt.
“Fuck, the way you’re looking at me right now…” Hades shakes his head and takes a step backward. “Omegas like to be hunted during their heat. It’s how an Alpha shows his worth. So I built this maze to hunt Persephone.”
I shiver. “And force her…?”
His gaze widens. “Fuck, Serapina,no. You don’t understand me at all.”
He moves even farther away, like he’s afraid of me. Or maybe trying to give me room. I don’t know the purpose, but I suddenly feel even colder than before.
“I would neverforceher to do anything. Nor would Iforceyou…” He trails off again and closes his eyes. “You could say I was going to force you to marry me, but I thought you were Persephone. I thought you were already mywife. That…”
He drags his fingers through his hair and blows out a breath like he’s trying to harness his self-control.
“The purpose of this maze was to indulge Persephone in her hunt, to see her through her heat, and take care of her like an Alpha should. All while surrounding her with the reality of what she did to us. These lifeless walls represent who I’ve become without her. They demonstrate the harsh reality of who she made us become.”
