Tempting Hades - Emma Hamm Page 0,127
it with grace and poise. Now, I crown you as the Queen of the Underworld so you know that no matter where you are, your family, your people, are here waiting for you.”
Tears burned in her eyes and flowed down her cheeks. She didn’t know how to thank him for this. How had he known the only thing she’d ever wanted was to be accepted? Completely, not just for what someone else wanted her to be, but for the magic that made her Persephone.
The darkness inside her rose and melded with the other half. And for the first time in her life, Persephone felt like she wasn’t two people warring inside one body.
She was whole.
“Thank you,” she whispered, reaching for him and tugging him close. She kissed him with all the heartbreak and relief inside her. Kissed him until she could taste the salt of her own tears. “You have no idea how much this means to me.”
“I believe I do,” Hades replied. He tunneled his fingers into the heavy locks of her hair and held her tightly to him. “You are my family, Persephone. My wife, my soul, my love. I cannot tell you how lucky I am to have you, but I promise I will spend the rest of my life proving to you that I am worthy.”
“I know you’re worthy,” she replied. “Every day I know that.”
She leaned forward and kissed him again. He quaked beneath her touch. The power inside her heaved a happy sigh, and she knew that she was queen for a reason.
Even the god of death trembled at her touch.
Epilogue
Ambrosius leaned back on his hands, seated on the ground before the fire. “That’s very different from the story I was told.”
“Ah yes, the kidnapping. The rape. Forcing her to eat the pomegranate seeds when she wanted nothing more than to go back to her mother. That’s the story you knew, yes?” The Oracle tossed a piece of wood into the fire. “That’s the story everyone tells.”
“I didn’t even think she might have loved him.” He scratched at his chin, staring into the wavering flames as though they might have some answers for him. “Or that he would love her so much.”
“Few do. They want to think of him as the monster, when they both are rather monstrous creatures who found each other.”
He supposed that was the right way to think of it. A person couldn’t fix a monster, and neither could a monster love a person. But they could come together and find solace in each other’s arms.
Knowing that the end was coming, he leaned a little closer to the fire. A cold chill had already settled on his shoulders, smoothing down his arms, leaving gooseflesh in its wake. “Thank you for telling me the tale.”
“You were the one who pushed for it.” The Oracle moved to stand in front of him, and he swore her features shifted.
Where she had once been a beautiful, lithe, young woman, now she looked older. Not quite ancient, more like a mother than a crone. She crouched before him and reached out a hand. Touching his cheek.
She was gentle as she traced the lines of his face. Calm as she reassured him, “All will be painless.”
He’d traded his life for this information. This story that would come with him for the rest of his days. And now he knew the truth that so few people ever discovered.
“Will I regret this?” he asked.
Another voice interrupted them. This one was smooth, calm, and as deep as the ocean. “I don’t think you’ll regret it, Ambrosius. But only time will tell.”
He squeezed his eyes shut against sudden tears. It couldn’t be her. He couldn’t survive if she was standing on the other side of that fire, waiting to collect him herself. Not his goddess. He wasn’t worthy of such an honor.
But when he opened his eyes, she was there. Clothed in a grey peplos that looked like the mist on an early summer morning. Her chestnut curls tangled around her face and blew in a breeze he couldn’t feel. She was impossibly lovely standing there with a slight smile on her face.
“Hello,” he said, his voice thick with tears. “Have you come to collect me then?”
“It should be Thanatos,” she replied. Persephone walked to his side and sat down beside the Oracle. “He’s the god of death, after all. But I think I can make an exception for you.”
“Why?”
“Because you were the very first mortal who came to this place, willing to trade his own life to understand who I was. Who I am. And because you cared enough to know that I am here for you, and that of all people, I might have a story different from what other people tell.”
He swallowed hard. “I don’t deserve that recognition.”
She shook her head and reached out her hand for him to take. “Oh Ambrosius, you are worth so much more than that.”
He took her hand. Persephone herself pulled him up to standing, almost as though she had lifted him out of his body. And when he looked over his shoulder, he realized he was still seated on the ground. His physical form listed to the side and drooped into the waiting arms of the Oracle.
When he looked back to Persephone, she smiled again.
“Come,” she repeated. “I’m going to take care of you. Forever.”
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About the Author
USAToday Bestselling Author Emma Hamm grew up in a small town surrounded by trees and animals. She writes strong, confident, powerful women who aren't afraid to grow and make mistakes. Her books will always be a little bit feminist, and are geared towards empowering both men and women to be comfortable in their own skin.