“Are you going to stop me from going into my husband’s rooms?” Persephone asked.
“No, I just don’t think you should go in there right now.”
“Why not?” Her eyes burned with anger and rage. Her heart thudded in her chest until she felt as though a drum were slamming into her sternum.
Hecate sighed and her shoulders tilted forward in defeat. “Might as well see for yourself at this point. But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
The words sounded ominous, and Persephone had the distinct feeling in her gut that whatever she saw through those doors would be her own fault. If she didn’t like what was beyond, then she couldn’t take out her anger on Hecate or Thanatos.
Persephone released her hold on the magic and let Thanatos fall to the floor. His wings struck the ground first, the heavy thud echoing in her head. “Fine,” she replied. “Then it will be my fault.”
The look in Hecate’s eyes was one of sincere regret. “I tried.”
They strode away, their pace quickening until they were running. Racing away from Persephone. Or perhaps they were fleeing away from what was on the other side of the door.
That sick feeling in her stomach multiplied. She swallowed hard and wiped her hands on her black peplos. Nothing beyond could hurt her. She was the Queen of the Underworld and nothing would dare rise against the queen.
Persephone placed her hands against the doors and shoved.
The room beyond was the same as she remembered. Black accents and beautiful carvings of spirits spiraling up the four posts of the bed. The black fabric of the velvet covers and the handsome portrait of Hades and his family over the fire at the back corner. This place had been a haven for her, and a room where she’d learned how easily she could love a man.
Something stirred in the sheets. For a moment, she thought Hades had slept in and that Hecate and Thanatos were trying to give their lord some time to rest.
Then a long, lean leg slipped out from under the blankets. The soft leg of a very beautiful, and very unwelcome, woman.
Her first instinct was to rage. She wanted to fly at the bed in anger and rip the woman from Hades’ sheets. She wanted to tear her limb from limb just for daring to touch what was Persephone’s.
The dark thing inside her lifted its head before she could do that, though. It whispered words of power. Words that meant something far more than just a lover's quarrel.
“See what she wants,” it said, “then punish her.”
So Persephone did not run at the bed, screaming like a banshee enraged. Instead, she walked forward quietly, light footsteps impossible to hear. Then, she leaned against one of the bed posts and asked, “How long have you been in here?”
As expected, a blonde head of hair immediately popped out of the covers. Minthe recovered well from hearing Persephone’s voice, at the very least. She tugged the covers up to her chest and hid her naked body. She then flipped her hair over her shoulder with an entirely too graceful movement.
“My queen,” Minthe said, her voice a careful stammer. “I’m sorry. I didn’t hear what you said.”
“I’m sure you didn’t,” Persephone replied. She leaned so hard against the bed post that she worried it might snap.
How dare this little harlot be in her husband’s bed! Persephone tried not to let her mind wander down the paths where dark fears lay. What if Hades had invited Minthe here? Then she’d kill them both. What if Minthe was waiting for her husband, as she did every night while Persephone had been gone? She would fly into a rage and turn the Underworld into her own version of dark madness.
There was no reason, ever, for her husband to cheat. And though she knew he wouldn’t, considering how much he loved her and the life they were building, that niggle of fear still pricked at her heart.
“I said,” she repeated. “How long have you been in here, Minthe?”
The nymph looked to the window as though she were tracking the sun. “Some time now, I’d imagine.”
“And am I to believe you are often found here, in this room, at this time?” Persephone lifted a brow and waited to see what lie the nymph would come up with.
Minthe didn’t even hesitate in her response. “Well, yes. You heard Hecate and Thanatos trying to stop you from coming inside. Why do you think they