of it. Fate was the most powerful force in the universe. Seers could read it sometimes, and magic could provide a glimpse.
But seeing right into the heart of fate?
It would be like seeing into the heart of God if such a being existed.
The night had turned fully dark, and I looked up, finding a hole in the center of the immense domed ceiling. It provided a view of the sky outside, of three brilliant stars moving slowly toward each other.
Hades pointed to them. “Those are the stars we wait for.”
“Then what?”
Before he could answer, the stars reached each other, three glowing white lights becoming one.
Magic surged on the air. Rushing through the hole in the ceiling, it slammed into us like a gale force wind. I went to my knees, breath driven from my lungs.
Hades remained standing, though barely. He braced himself against the wind, eyes turned toward the sky as his dark hair whipped around his head. The intensity on his face made me shiver, and I stared up at the stars, waiting.
When the magic came, it flared to life in front of me. I dropped my gaze to see a vision appearing, almost like a movie projected upon the air.
It showed Hades, appearing in my library like a ghost from the darkness. His dark cloak was swept back from his broad shoulders, and his eyes burned with an unholy light.
Memories of when I’d first seen him, of when he’d abducted me, slammed into me.
In the vision, I appeared behind him. I wore a dark cloak to match his and a crown of black glass upon my head. Blood red painted my lips and stained the ends of my nails. Impossible to see if it was varnish or blood.
Hades strode forward, power incarnate as he walked through my library. I followed him, close by his side, my chin raised and my eyes cold.
I blinked, frantic, searching the vision for any kind of chain that would suggest I was his captive.
Yet I saw none.
Instead, I walked willingly at his side. An accomplice, not a captive.
And I looked so different.
As cold as Hades in his iciest moments. I was a machine, too—purpose and power.
Unlike before, Hades’ form was solid and opaque. Nothing bound him to the library, forcing him into a shadow world of mist and darkness.
He was really there.
Walking upon the Earth.
It was what he wanted, though he hadn’t admitted it.
In a flash, the vision changed. Hades had left Guild City. He’d left London, arriving in a field in the middle of nowhere. If it was England or Greece or North America or Africa, I had no idea.
But it was most certainly Earth. And I was most certainly at his side. Brilliant white magic swirled around me, more powerful than anything I’d ever wielded before. In this strange future, I must have practiced my magic, coming into it fully.
I am Persephone.
I didn’t want it to be true, but the power I wielded in this vision . . .
It could only be god-like.
Hades was clearly god-like. Darkness swirled around him, magic like I’d never seen. So powerful it could send armies to their knees.
Yet it was I who went to my knees.
In the vision, the regal version of myself knelt among the waving grasses. She plunged her hand into the earth, and lightning cracked overhead.
The vine tattoo at my wrist flared brilliant white, impossible to miss.
I could feel it as much as see it—the life being sucked from the earth. It started at the edges, the plains growing gray and dusty until the grass disintegrated into nothing, blowing away on a faint wind.
“Stop,” I screamed, as if I could prevent this other version of myself from spreading Hades’ domain.
But I couldn’t. She kept drawing the life from the earth, sucking it into herself and leaving the ground barren and dry. The sky turned from blue to red, mimicking the sky in Hades’ realm.
I was spreading eternal night.
Hades wanted to expand his territory to Earth, to bring hell to the land of the living. And he wanted me to do it for him.
The worst part? I appeared to be doing it willingly.
In the real world, the earth rumbled all around me. The force vibrated up through my knees, and danger surged on the air.
“Stop.” Hades’ hand appeared on my shoulder. “We’ve seen enough. The temple will tolerate us no longer.”
At the corner of my vision, I could see a white pillar wobble slightly, a tremor in the earth shooting through it.