Shaking my head, I settled my wings, beckoning them to rest at my back. “How do you do that?”
Zeus stood tall, his lightning seeping back into his skin. “Do what?”
“Make your cruel schemes and solutions sound somehow beneficial for all those involved.” Malice and defeat coated my words.
“If you have to ask that, then you know whyyouaren’t the king of kings.” Zeus leaned on his spear, his eyes having gone a bit heavy.
“No, brother,” I started, calmly folding my hands in front of me. “I’m not king because I was inside our father’s stomach, and dear mother hid away her baby boy. Any one of us could have been the rescuer.”
Zeus chuckled and beat his spear against the wooden floor. “I could’ve very easily left you all to live out the rest of your immortal existences there.”
“Then who would you have had to rule over?” I gave a meager shrug.
Zeus’ eyes formed slits, lightning vapors bouncing from his shoulders. “I’d have been a king ofsheepif it meant having ultimate power.”
“Yes, and there I go again beingungrateful.” Mockingly, I pretended to swat my own hand.
If I managed to get underneath my brother’s skin, he didn’t show it—a quality I’d always admired about Zeus but would admit it to him.
“Are we done here? You know what you need to do next.” Zeus pointed at the door.
“Yes.” Running the collar of my robes between my fingers, I started toward the exit. “Simultaneously uplift and crush a woman’s heart.”
Zeus gave a curt nod and spun the spear from the ground. “Have fun with that.”
The king of the gods disappeared from the Underworld, leaving me alone and in the middle of my vast bedroom. There was never a day I imagined that I would marry, that I would have a queen at my side. If I had somehow conjured such a dream, it wouldn’t have included my bride’s sorrow over her new husband, nor her disgust for her new home. As I opened the door and stepped into the hallway, staring at Persephone’s door, I prepared my heart to become rock-hardstone.
Not bothering to linger in front of her door this time, I decided to get the headache over with and immediately knocked. “Persephone? We need to talk.” My tone was a mix of both command and gentleness.
“I have nothing to say to you,” she shouted back, her voice muffled like she had her face pressed against something.
“Open the door or I’ll come in myself.” The urge to beat my head against the door in both frustration and the impending dread over this conversation was monstrous.
Persephone guffawed, and I could hear silk sheets shifting. “If you’ve been able to come in here at will, whyhaven’tyou already?”
“As a courtesy,” I answered through gritted teeth. “Openthe door.”
After an exaggerated sigh, thudding footsteps led to the door, which was then haughtily swung open. Despite Persephone’s hair in disarray, the dark circles under her eyes, and most of her tanned skin already turning pale, she still managed to take my breath away by her beauty.
“What?” She spat, giving me a seething glare.
Then there was thatmouth. Its venomous tone was enough to haul me back to reality despite her pretty distraction.
Not asking for an invitation because this was still my home, I moved past her, throwing out a stiff arm when she tried to shut the door on me, and easily overpowering her.
“What are you doing? You said we needed to talk. Conversation can just as easily happen from a hallway.” Persephone slammed the door, attempting to get a rise out of me, but I wasn’t flinching.
“Have your minimal days down here made you lose all sense of civility?” I motioned to one of two lounge chairs surrounding a circular white marble table with golden filigree. “Have a seat.”
“I’d rather stand.” Persephone crossed her arms, and no sooner had the words left her mouth than I lifted my hand, guiding my smoke magic tomakeher sit.
Persephone gasped, pink flushing her neck, her nails digging into the armrests. “Did you just?—”
“You will be allowed back to the surface,” I interrupted, locking my gaze with hers.
Happiness brightened her face, a glee I’d soon have to squelch with hard truths. A wide smile pulled at her lips, and her eyes glistened. Persephone went to stand up, but I flicked my hand, keeping her put. “What are you doing? I need to gather my things, need to?—”
“There’s more to it, darling.” I kept my voice as even as I could.
