Captured (Shadow Guild Hades & Persephone #3) - Linsey Hall Page 0,22

been made for. It is all that I’ve ever known. All I’ve ever worked for.”

“You can be more than that,” I said.

“You want me to be something I am not.”

“You are good though. I’ve seen the light in you. You just have to choose it.”

“It doesn’t matter.” Frustration vibrated around him. He gripped my hand, raising it upright until the moon shone on it. “It’s not just desire for the crown anymore. You are fading, Seraphia. Just like I was. I didn’t want to tell you because I didn’t want you to worry, but the curse of Tartarus is upon you. When you saved me from it, you took it upon yourself.”

His voice was rough, and he sounded…devastated. “If we do not defeat Chronos and spread my dominion to the Earth, you will be dragged to Tartarus for eternity. To save you, I must take the Crown of Destiny. It would give me the power to save you. Lachesis made that clear.”

“How do you know that?”

Fear chilled me. Was that true? Going to Tartarus would be a fate worse than death. But at what cost? “You’d destroy the whole world for me? Everyone on the planet?”

“If it is between them and you, I choose you. Every time.”

I pulled away. “I don’t want that.” I would sacrifice myself to Tartarus to save the others if I had to. “There has to be another way. And even if there isn’t, I can’t do that to everyone I love. Or to people I don’t even know. They don’t deserve that.”

Hades frowned, clearly confused.

I pulled back. “It’s just too much, don’t you see?” I turned around and headed back to the house, saying over my shoulder, “I’ll see you in the morning.”

Hades

I watched Seraphia hurry toward the house, my heart thundering.

It’s just too much.

Her words echoed in my ears. Too much what? Too much to ask? Too much to sacrifice?

Didn’t she realize it could never be too much? I’d do anything to save her. And yet, she didn’t care. More than that, she actively opposed it.

She opposed everything that I was.

I dragged a hand through my hair, squeezing tight. What was I supposed to do to make her accept me?

You know.

The words whispered in my mind, yet I couldn’t tolerate them. Because I didn’t know.

Once, before Seraphia had been cursed, I could have given up on my desire for the crown to have her. But now I needed it to save her.

I would do anything to save her.

Even give her up.

Because that’s what this would mean. If I couldn’t turn her to the dark—which was looking less likely every day—she would leave me when I accomplished my goals.

But at least she would be alive. And I would have the crown. It would be a comfort.

I shook the thoughts away and stalked back to the workshop where I’d bunked down for the night.

8

Seraphia

As Aurelia had promised, we left early the next morning. Hades waited for us near the boat, leaning against a hip-high boulder with his arms crossed. The early morning sun hid behind brilliant orange clouds, gilding him in golden light.

Memories of last night flashed in my mind, warming and chilling me at the same time. How would we ever escape the trap we were in?

As we neared the boat, Aurelia handed him a cloth-wrapped package that contained a breakfast sandwich of bread and ham. He took it with a silent nod of thanks but did not eat.

Stavros worked quietly and efficiently to ready the boat as the sun crept over the horizon. It stayed behind the clouds; no doubt due to Hades. Aurelia climbed on first and gestured for us to follow onto the long, sloping deck.

“Come, we will sit in the front.” She moved around the equipment to reach the bow, where benches had been built against the railings.

Hades and I sat, and he looked distinctly stiff.

He didn’t have to rely on other people for help, normally. It obviously sat ill with him.

Well, he’d just have to deal with it.

I looked at Aurelia. “Where are we going?”

“There is an island between here and mainland Greece. It is hidden from humans, but not from gods and their descendants. There, we will leave you to find your mother.”

So she lived on an island. Or not lived exactly, considering what Aurelia had said. I smiled at her. “Thank you.”

Stavros climbed onto the boat. Magic fizzed on the air, and the vessel rose a few inches off the rocks and drifted back into the water.

The trip