Captured (Shadow Guild Hades & Persephone #3) - Linsey Hall Page 0,43

everything that I’d planned on had changed. “What if she wore it? Would that save her? Surely if she were the most powerful being on Earth, Tartarus would have no pull on her?”

Pyroeis tilted their head at me, clearly surprised. “You would give up the crown for her?”

“If it would save her, yes.” Without a doubt.

Pyroeis nodded. “When I touched you and felt that you were worthy, I was surprised. I know you’ve sought the crown a very long time.”

“For millennia.”

“Yes. Ever since you were created. And now you would give it up to save her?”

“I’d give up anything.” The words came without any thought from deep in my soul. My lust for the crown had been bred into me by the Titans when they made me.

But what I truly desired was her.

She was the light inside me. And even if it hurt to face the light, it was glorious, too.

“I have to save her.” I stepped toward Pyroeis, desperate. “How do I do it?”

Pyroeis looked back at the stars. “Give me a moment.”

“Can the stars read the future?” I asked.

“They have seen all the past and know all the future, for time is not as we experience it.”

Heart pounding, I watched Pyroeis. Thoughts of the crown, of ruling, had faded with the knowledge that Seraphia’s life was once again at risk.

I’d interpreted Lachesis’s prophecy wrong. She’d told me all was not as it seemed, but I’d ignored her. I’d wanted the crown and Seraphia. My interpretation had been the only way to get it. But I’d been wrong.

I cursed inwardly, cold with fear that I would lose Seraphia.

I can’t.

Finally, Pyroeis looked back at me. “She has taken the curse from you out of love, and love is the only thing that will save her.”

“Love?” Dumbstruck, I stared at Pyroeis. “I can’t love somebody into being uncursed. That is not how curses work.”

“No, that is how cures work.”

I frowned, mind racing. “Do I love her enough to save her?”

“That depends on what you do.”

“Fuck.” I dragged a frustrated hand through my hair. Rarely did I use the curses of humans, but it fit. “I have no idea what you mean by that. I don’t understand love.”

“You are no less equipped to understand love than a human or a god. It is foreign to you, but it is simply something one feels and then acts upon.”

Acts upon. Pyroeis seemed obsessed with the actions surrounding love. “What are the mechanics of taking the curse from her? What must I do?”

“Make the greatest sacrifice you can make.”

Understanding dawned. “I must love her enough to suffer the curse in her place. That’s it, isn’t it?”

“You can break the curse with that sacrifice, yes.”

Despair opened a hole inside my chest. I knew what I had to do and would walk gladly toward it. But it meant… “We were never going to be together, were we?”

It was impossible to read Pyroeis’s expression. But it didn’t matter. I knew the answer. It was all too good to be true. Somewhere along the line, I’d given up hope of wearing the crown. But I’d nurtured a desperate hope that Seraphia and I would be together.

Now, that hope was dashed.

“What about Chronos?” I asked. “How do we defeat him?”

“This is how you defeat him. Protect Seraphia.”

“I’m leaving her alone to face him?” That knocked my legs out from under me. “I can’t do that.”

“You must. This is your path, as ordained by the stars. Difficult, but yours.” Pyroeis’ flaming eyes softened. “And she won’t be alone. But even if she were, she’s a goddess. She is strong enough to do what must be done. She has everything she needs.”

She was strong enough. I knew that in my soul. “Is there anything specific I must do to ensure that I am breaking her curse?” I didn’t want to go to Tartarus without doing that, then wind up with both of us chained in front of the eternal flames.

“The apothecary in your realm can give you a potion to ensure that the fates know why you are going to Tartarus. This is the path you must take.”

Despair hollowed out my soul, and I nodded. “Thank you, Pyroeis.”

The god inclined their head, then disappeared. The stars faded and the light returned, until finally, I stood in the room with Seraphia once more.

She was still by the window, clearly having just returned from speaking to Phaethon.

It was amazing how quickly I’d given up my goal of pursuing the crown. But now that I