I didn’t want it near her.
She looked toward the pit, her eyes widening. “Is someone in there?”
Was there? I honestly did not know. I’d always thought the voice was something like a god, yet greater than me or Zeus or Poseidon. The voice of the universe speaking directly to me.
But what if it had form?
Could it hurt Seraphia?
The thought tore me apart. I’d been loyal to the darkness my entire life, yet now I questioned it? How was that possible?
Seraphia.
I gripped her arm. “Come. We must go. It’s not safe here.”
“But it’s in your castle.”
I turned to her, knowing my eyes blazed with hellfire. “I’m not safe.”
Something flashed in her gaze, and her jaw hardened. All the softness was wiped from her face. “You’re right.”
She strode past me, away from the pit and the danger that I brought to her life. I watched her go, then followed, unable to face the darkness and what it had said.
Fracturing.
Was I really?
Was she?
13
Seraphia
I’d stormed back to bed after leaving Hades. When morning came, he was nowhere to be found—typical. As I didn’t sense immediate danger, however, I allowed myself to sit up and rub my face as I eased back into consciousness.
Last night.
Holy fates, last night.
Two kisses. Not one, but two. Like we were normal people getting to know each other. Falling for each other.
It was too insane to be believed.
No. I didn’t have to believe it, actually. Sure, it had happened. But it was just physical. It didn’t have to mean anything. I wouldn’t let it.
A faint squeaking noise sounded from the window, and I looked over to see Echo.
Was he laughing?
“Can you read my thoughts?” I demanded.
He nodded his little head.
I threw a pillow at him, and he launched himself into the air, swooping though the room.
“I’m in control, Echo. I’m not going to let Hades sway me.”
He made a noise that I was certain meant suuure.
“You little rat,” I said, then grinned at him, unable to help myself. “Cute rat, though.”
He landed on my shoulder, and I walked toward the main living area. I knew Hades was gone before I even looked, and I wasn’t surprised to find a tray of breakfast sitting on the table. It was becoming routine to wake alone with breakfast waiting.
I stared at it, debating.
Today, we were meant to begin looking for whatever it was he sought. Was I going to help him with that? It had to be bad, whatever he wanted.
He wants to destroy the world.
Memories flared in my mind, so bright and bold that they overtook my vision. It was almost like I was at the Temple of Shadows again, watching my future self walk alongside Hades. In that vision, we’d been on earth. He’d accompanied me, and I’d knelt in a field, touching the waving grass and sucking the life from the earth.
He wanted to spread the dominion of hell, overtaking everything warm and good about my home. Spreading more of the darkness that had frozen his own realm.
It had created him. I’d seen it myself.
How had he survived so long here? I’d felt what it was like to be him, and it was terrible. But I’d also felt the good inside him. He was only doing what he’d been created to do, and I’d felt the part of him that fought it. He didn’t really want to do it, did he?
Another memory crept into my mind.
You are fracturing.
The darkness within the pit had spoken to us. To him? To me?
I shivered.
I was fracturing. Feeling the dark magic rise inside me, succumbing to Hades. Without a doubt, that darkness was talking to me. But it had to be talking to him as well. He kept moving toward the light, only to turn away.
What if I could help him? Save him, even?
Maybe that was my role?
I chewed on my lip, mind spinning.
It wasn’t like I had any other options while I was here, anyway. Eve was still working on a potion to help break the pomegranate curse, and I needed to master my magic if I didn't want the darkness to overtake me. I hadn’t finished that yet.
Anyway, in the vision, I had to willingly go to earth with Hades and help spread the darkness. I just wouldn’t do it. I’d uphold my part of the bargain and go with him today to find the information he sought. If I could, I’d try to find a way to turn him to the side of the light.
Decided, I grabbed a pastry and went