It'd been two days since Zeus left to speak with the council on Demeter’s threats and Persephone’s unique situation. If it had been any other god, I would’ve grown restless that he might never return. As many flaws as my brother had, however, seeing a mission to completion had always been one of his greatest strengths.
Persephone remained relatively quiet but still made no motion to leave her room. I continued to bring her food, relieved each time I reached through the door to find an empty platter when replacing it with a new one. The curiosity over what she did with herself all day in there ate at me like a parasite. It would have been so easy to take a peek, to appear in the room without announcement. That would’ve done far more harm than good because if I’d truly abandoned her here, I would much prefer us as acquaintances over what I know she perceived as the kidnapped and the captor.
The reminder made my claws carve into the stone mantle, crumbling the corner and sending rubble to the wooden floorboards. Whatever happened, it would always haunt me to my undying days. For that, he Fates were cruel, mischievous crones.
The lightning cracking behind me had me swiveling on a heel. Zeus swiped his crown from his head, making it disappear in golden shimmers. He blew out a breath and sat on one of two cranberry-colored, crushed velvet lounge chairs, resting his forearms on his knees.
“I take it things wentwell?” I asked, sarcastically.
Zeus sat back. “They are so loyal to the primordial waysonlybecause they’re afraid of them. It pisses me off to no end.”
Tartarus itself was primordial, and even I had never found it to be comforting, let alone seeking the wrath of Gaia or the others.
“Perhapsyoushould fear them more.” I raised a brow at my self-righteous brother.
Zeus leaned an elbow on one armrest, propping his chin on his hand. “No, because otherwise I wouldn’t have gotten you the bargain they agreed on.”
My spine zipped straight at that. “Persephone can return to the surface?”
“Not exactly.”
Growling, making the flames lash from behind me, I threw my arms out at my sides. “Then what kind of bargain is that?”
Zeus glared, lightning sizzling in his eyes and down the lengths of his arms. “Are yougoingto let me finish?”
Bowing my head in apology, I kept silent.
“I proposed to divide her time between the surface and the Underworld. I asked for it to be every other week or even every other month, but they weren’t having it.” Zeus tapped his finger against his temple with obvious annoyance at their declining dancing in his expression. “They countered with six months here and six months on the surface.”
My ethereal heart hurdled into a gallop so fierce it could have burst through my chest. “Is that the bargain then? That doesn’t seem so horrible. Why do I get the feeling there’s more?”
“You’ve always been so intuitive.” Zeus stood and moved in front of me, our heights matching and our gazes leveling. “She needs to become queen.”
My chest tightened, and I gripped my robe there. “What?” I roared. “That’s absurd. I’d never force her into that.”
“You can and you will. No oneforcedher into eating the food.” Zeus stood firm, spirals of lightning coiling his arms and legs.
Shaking my head at him, I pointed a claw in his face. “You helped me do this, and now you expect me to force her into marrying me? To take over such a burden?”
Zeus batted my hand away and squared off his jaw. He was no longer my brother in this conversation; he was my king. “Youwillforce her hand, Hades, because if she isnotqueen within the week, she won’t be able to return to the surfaceforever.”
His words had me rocking back on my heels, and an unintended laugh punched from my gut. “Andthisis the bargain you fought for?This?”
Lightning consumed Zeus’s eyes now, replacing his usual blue irises. “I had to give themsomething. Considering she broke an archaic rule, she should be so lucky. If her captor weren’t mybrother, I wouldn’t have cared about her future.”
Captor. Godsdamn him. I should have known he would somehow find a way to turn this on me and act as if he played no part in it.
Fury raged in my gut, my wings unfurling, and the embers fiercely sizzled and glowed.
Zeus glared at my wings, lighting swirling his entire body now. “Cut the shit, Hades. I also did this foryou.”
“Trust me, brother. You’ve done more than needed. I’ve had about enough of your favors to last me a century.” My fists shook uncontrollably at my sides. It did not go unnoticed by the king of the gods.
Zeus marched forward, his eyes radiating with nothing but blinding white lightning. “You ungrateful minotaur’s ass. Listen to me. You’ve been controlling the entirety of the Underworld alone for far too long.”
When I sucked in a breath to protest, Zeus silenced me with a raised palm.
“You’re slipping. That wasn’t the first time Styx had been backed up, but it was certainly theworst. I need you in top form. Why else do you think I granted you a week on the surface every year and charged Thanatos to oversee the Underworld in your stead?” Zeus raked a hand through his hair, his jaw tensing. “Persephone is tied to this place and gives you the perfect opportunity for a partner. And she doesn’t realize it yet, but she would have only gone so long before driving herself mad with boredom. This will give her apurposedown here.”
