withdrew, her eyes wide. “What happened?”
Panting, I stared at her. All I wanted was to disappear into her embrace. But so much had happened.
What had I just done?
Conflict roared within me, the darkness and the light at battle. Which would it be?
She pulled out of my arms and staggered upright, stepping away from me. “What happened?”
“You nearly fell into Tartarus.” My tone was harsh, the fear of the memory driving me. I rose, facing her. I drew in a ragged breath, clinging to the dark that I had known for so long.
She nodded, understanding lighting her face. “I remember. I had to stop Chronos from rising. Did I?”
I shook my head. “No. He has escaped.”
“What!” Horror stretched across her face. “You should have let me finish! It would have stopped him.”
“Would it?” I asked the question, though I didn’t care about the answer. Even if it would have stopped him, I’d never have let her sacrifice herself.
“Yes!” Anger flashed on her face. “This is all my fault.”
“There is no fault if it is fate.”
“So you’re saying it’s a good thing he’s out?” She spun around, searching the land around us. Some of the grass was dead, and a few of the bushes. “Was this what you intended all along?”
“No. This is a complication.”
“A complication? He’s the personification of evil, and now he has escaped Tartarus.”
“And I will deal with him. I will stop him. But I want you at my side.”
She swallowed hard, her eyes huge. “At your side?”
“As my queen.”
“And you’re going to stop this terrible plan to spread the underworld to earth?”
“No, of course not.” The idea was absurd. I’d sought this for millennia. It was all I knew. “I am going to stop Chronos and take my place as the ruler of all. With you at my side.” I held out my hand, remembering how she’d saved me. It was only because of her that I was even standing here. Desperation made my heart thunder. Take my hand. “Join me, Seraphia. Please.”
She shook her head, eyes horrified. “I can’t do that, Hades.” She backed up farther, her hand outstretched as if to ward me off. “I thought you were changing. I thought you had changed. You could have fulfilled your goals here tonight. But instead, you saved me.”
“I would never let anything happen to you. It doesn’t mean I’ve given up my goal. Just delayed it.”
“That’s the problem.”
Her voice was so stark, so set, that dread opened up inside me. She had appeared to turn to the dark, but she clearly hadn’t. Would she not join me? “It is who I am. What I was made for. Be my queen, at my side.”
A tear rolled down her pale cheek. “No.”
She plunged a hand into her pocket and pulled something out. In the flash of an eye, she’d thrown it to the ground, stepped into the glittery gray cloud, and disappeared.
I stared at the space where she had been, devastated.
23
Seraphia
The ether flung me through space, spitting me out in the Haunted Hound a few moments later. I spun in a circle and spotted all of my friends standing near the bar. All except for Carrow.
As if she’d heard me, she appeared at my side, clearly having used a transport charm. “Are you all right?” she demanded. “I saw Hades save you.”
“I’m fine.” My heart felt like it had torn in two and I would never catch my breath, but at least I was here.
She hugged me tight. “Oh, thank fates. I couldn’t believe it when I saw him jump into that pit after you.”
I nodded and pulled back, head spinning. Desperate to check on my friends, I turned toward Beatrix, Eve, and Mac. They looked whole and healthy, thank fates. I hurried to them, hugging each in turn.
Carrow joined us. “What just happened?”
I collapsed onto a bar stool. “So much.”
“But you saved us,” Mac said. “Again.”
“I did so much worse.” I swallowed hard. The words spilled out of my mouth, and I told them everything. Me, Hades, releasing Chronos.
“So, you’re saying he’s out there now?” said Mac.
“Yes.” I nodded. “We had no idea, but it was his goal all along. Now he’s free, and whatever he does, it’s going to be terrible.”
Eve nodded, her eyes shadowed. “The gods locked them up for a reason.”
“And Hades wants to defeat Chronos and take control for himself?” Mac asked. “He still wants to spread the realm of the underworld to the earth?”
I nodded. “I’ve unleashed something. Started whatever it was that