definitely will.” There wasn’t a hint of doubt in Hades’ voice.
“You have everything you need?” Zeus frowned, his gaze searching the surroundings. They landed on me, and I jerked down below the rock.
Had he seen me?
Oh fates.
“Who do you have there?” Zeus asked, interest thick in his voice.
“Just a pawn.” Hades sounded bored.
A pawn.
“The pawn.” Zeus frowned.
Okay, now I hated him, too. I hated all gods. These bastards, playing with lives smaller than their own.
“May I see her?” Zeus asked, and I thought I might catch the faintest hint of jealousy in his voice. “Your Persephone.”
I’m not his.
I wasn’t even Persephone.
At least, I didn’t want to be.
Hades stepped forward, his intention clear. He wouldn’t let Zeus anywhere near me. If he weren’t protecting me for his own selfish, surely horrible reasons, I would have appreciated the gesture.
As it was, I just wanted these two insanely powerful gods to duke it out so that I could get a sample of the mist coiling toward me, thick with the scent of Hades’ magic.
Zeus stepped closer. “I won’t let you take her to the temple, brother.”
“Try to stop me.” The words were a growl.
Zeus raised his lightning bolt, directing it straight at Hades. A brilliant streak of electricity shot right toward him. In a flash, Hades drew a shield from the ether. When he raised it in front of himself, it looked like he held a black hole that led directly into space.
The lightning bolt shot into it and disappeared. Hades didn’t so much as flinch. He raised his bident, the bi-pronged staff swirling with dark mist. A low roar filled the air.
This was my moment. I shot out from behind the rock, diving for the mist that was nearly to me. I swooped up a tiny sample just as Zeus roared.
A lightning bolt slammed into the ground right next to me, and I screamed, scrambling away. The glass vial fell from my hand, shattering against the ground.
“Zeus,” Hades roared, clearly trying to gain the god’s attention.
But Zeus wasn’t stupid.
He wanted to go for the weaker target.
Me.
I took cover behind the rocks again, wishing I’d practiced my magic more. Vowing that I would. All this scrambling and hiding was so not my style. I’d never had to fight in the library. There, I’d been queen.
Here, I was weak. And I didn’t like it.
The sound of battle roared. From my spot, I could see between the rocks, right to Hades and Zeus.
Hades had both arms raised, dark, smoky magic reverberating around him. His power surged into the ground, rumbling beneath me.
Shadows rose from the earth, warriors of mist and bone. Hundreds of them, a legion of the dead. Sharp steel glinted amongst the mist.
Fear like I’d never known surged through me. I pressed my back against the stone, watching as the army advanced on Zeus. They were so close that I could see the flashes of their skeletons through the deep, dark shadows that made up the rest of their forms. Their footsteps rattled the earth, and Hades stood among them, the most powerful of all.
Zeus roared and shot lightning from the sky, dozens of bolts slamming right into the army of the dead. When one shadow warrior fell, blasted apart by lightning, another took its place.
Within their ranks, I could see visions of past atrocities they’d committed. Like a terrible movie played out on the dark mist that surrounded them. Homes burning, villages destroyed, people wailing, crying, killed.
And Hades, always their leader.
My heart pounded so hard in my chest that my ribs ached, my lungs felt empty yet burned. I heaved in a breath, trying to get control.
This is Hades.
This was the monster behind the beautiful eyes.
The apothecary had told me to fear the dark lands past the city walls. Had said that I would see terrible things if I came out here, things that would chill my soul to ice.
She hadn’t said that Hades would be the one to create such things.
But of course he was.
He was the dark god in the flesh, so powerful that he was terrifying to look upon. Not only because of his power, but because of his beauty. Because of the contrast.
How could someone capable of something so terrible also be so perfect in form?
He had not moved an inch, but his army had nearly reached Zeus. They were only a dozen feet away. The fair-haired god raised his hands to the sky, his eyes flashing with lightning. Bolts of lightning landed around him, sending plumes of