Captured (Shadow Guild Hades & Persephone #3) - Linsey Hall Page 0,32

kept it so I could return home?”

She nodded. “They’re bright, those witches. I have a feeling my friends spoke to them.” She frowned. “Can they come to the Underworld? We’ll need to speak to them.”

I nodded. “That will be fine.”

“Thanks. Let’s get inside first.” She pushed open the door to the library, and we left the icy world behind.

I could feel the souls trapped in their houses, frozen, but I didn’t mention it to Seraphia. She wouldn’t like it.

The interior of the library was much the same as we’d left it. Dark and shadowed, but unfrozen. Seraphia pulled her phone from her pocket and typed a message into the little device. Once she was done, she looked up at me. “Okay, let’s get out of here.”

I nodded, pleased to be going back to my realm. We’d need to start the next phase of our journey, and we’d need to leave from there.

Quickly, I strode through the library. As we passed through the main atrium with its high domed ceiling, I couldn’t help but search the library for clues about Seraphia. She had spent much of her time here before I’d taken her. It was important to her.

“What are you looking for?” she asked.

“Nothing.”

“Not true.”

“I’m interested in you.” I stopped in front of the portal to my realm. “And this place is important to you.”

“You’re just interested in me because you need me,” she said.

I drew a deep breath, staring forward. “That is not true.”

I wanted to say more, but I didn’t know how.

She said nothing, though I imagined there were words on the tip of her tongue. Wishful thinking. We needed to get back to my realm. I stepped toward the portal, then gestured for her to proceed me. I didn’t want her to be the last in this frozen realm and possibly get caught by the ice.

She didn’t look at me as she stepped through the portal. I followed, emerging into my own library. It was silent here, the space lifeless in a way that her library was not. The dark shelves were deeply shadowed, the books hidden behind the spiders that protected them.

It was all so dark and dreary. I’d never noticed it before—I hadn't even had a concept of a warmer world than this one. But meeting her had changed that.

My realm was so different than hers.

Worried, I looked at her. Did she hate it here? Could she be happy here?

Frustration seethed through me. Why did I care? I shouldn’t. I needed her at my side to defeat Chronos.

I wanted her as my queen. For my people. For myself.

I was growing weak around her, and I did not know how to stop it.

She strode from the library, not bothering to look back. As she crossed the dark space, she almost glowed with light. Watching her walk away from me made my heart race in the strangest way. I rubbed a hand against my chest, trying to get it to settle down.

When she pushed open the main doors of the library and stepped onto the steps, I strode after her. I didn’t want her out of my sight for reasons I couldn’t entirely explain.

As I neared the exit, I heard her gasp. “It’s so different.”

I joined her, looking out over the city. My fortress loomed on the other side of town. Though we couldn’t see it from here, I knew that black roses climbed up the walls. Deep emerald grass grew at the base.

At the library stairs where we stood, massive vines climbed upward. Plants spilled out of the courtyard to the side of the building, though she couldn’t see it from here. Nor could she see the other places she’d secretly planted things, places that had also run riot.

“I can feel them,” she said. “This place feels more alive.”

“Because of you.”

“Well, it’s about to change even more.” She hurried down the stairs to the main street, then knelt.

Magic vibrated around her as she touched the ground.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

She ignored me, and her magic thrummed in the air, smelling of green grass and flowers and feeling like a cool breeze. I wanted it to flow through me so I could feel her better. It made the light inside of me hum, rising to the surface. It brought with it the usual pain, but I welcomed it even as I loathed it.

The vines that climbed up the stairs around me retreated. I blinked, surprised. Was she killing the plants she’d put here?

Panic flared. I hadn’t liked