days easier, in fact, he’d argue they were here to make them harder.
Mortals fell prey to the gods every day. Zeus liked to sow his seeds in whatever woman he could. Hera likes to punish anyone who caught his gaze. Artemis thought her version of saving women was helpful, but really she banished them into a life of monstrous natures. Athena fought. Apollo raped. Dionysus drove men to early graves.
The list went on and on. And if she looked harder, she’d understand why these men would want to make their anguish known.
Kore stood as a man raced toward her. He screamed with his sword swinging wildly over his head. He clearly wasn’t a warrior, but he could still do damage with the sharp edge of that blade.
Hades prepared himself for battle, only to freeze as Kore lifted her hand. Magic sparked at her fingertips and the man froze in place.
Not because she had controlled him, but because twin vines had surged from the ground. They wrapped around his throat, squeezing like snakes and stealing the breath from his lungs.
“Why?” she asked again.
“Fuck the gods,” the man snarled.
Hades watched with an apathetic gaze as the vines twisted. They snapped the man’s neck with an audible crack, then let him fall to the ground. He’d have to find the man’s soul later and make sure it was brought to the correct part of the Underworld.
If he was being honest, he hadn’t thought Kore had such violence in her. Even Demeter could kill when she wanted to, but she rarely wanted to. He turned with his jaw hanging open, even though she couldn’t see him.
This wasn’t the Kore he had seen before. She stood with her hands held limp at her sides. Her hair had darkened into a deep, bloody red. Her cheeks were bright with anger, but it was her eyes that caught his attention most.
Tears dripped down her cheeks, but they were red as blood. Like she was bleeding instead of crying.
“They shouldn’t be doing this,” she snarled. “I don’t care how angry they are. These are innocent lives.”
“Do you think Artemis is innocent?” he asked, his voice drifting on the wind. Hades was curious to see if she was so blind to her friend’s actions.
“Not Artemis,” she replied, her voice deep with anger. “Them.”
This was not what he expected. He had thought she would cower in fear as Demeter had trained her to do. He’d never expected the power that shattered the surrounding realm.
The mortal men paused and stared at their dead friend. They looked back up at Kore with anger in their eyes and he knew they were about to attack.
“If they want to hurt you, what are you going to do to them?” he asked.
“I’m going to make them feel pain.”
How unexpected.
How extraordinary.
Hades stepped back and let her power run free. More men charged her in a wave of sweat and grime. They ran with all the foolish nature of farmers who thought a sword made them soldiers. But these weren’t soldiers.
The plants came alive around them. Vines lashed and leaves became razors that cut through their skin. The mortals didn’t stand a chance against her wrath, though Hades still wasn’t sure why she was punishing them.
Did she feel as though they should revere the gods more than they did now? No, he’d already puzzled through that and knew she was smart enough to see the flaws in their kind.
Perhaps she was taking her own frustration out on their dying breath, but he also didn’t believe that. She was too kind. Too sweet for that to be the reasoning.
When all the men were dead on the ground, their lifeblood feeding her plants, he stepped closer again. “Why did you kill them?” he asked, curiosity turning his voice to a rasp. “Why not let them go?”
“How could I?” She turned and dropped to her knees beside the deer. She placed her hand on one graceful head, still now after suffering the hatred of the mortals who had used the creatures to punish a goddess. “Life is sacred,” she breathed. “All life. Not just their own.”
He felt her drawing power from the earth. The grass around her withered and turned black as it fed whatever spell she was about to cast.
He saw her take in a deep breath, her chest rising as graceful as the doe had once been. Kore exhaled, and the deer opened her eyes again.
“Impossible,” he murmured. He already knew she was.