The Iron Queen (Daughters of Zeus) - By Kaitlin Bevis Page 0,4
goddess, I wasn’t weak. But that didn’t make me a match for Hades. “Sorry, I can’t help you find her.”
“You’re sorry?” His jaw clenched so hard, I was surprised I didn’t hear his teeth shatter against the pressure. “When did he come to you? How long have you known Joel was Zeus, and why didn’t you warn her?”
I shuddered at the memory of the day I met Joel. I’d thought he was human. Then he’d smiled at me, eyes flashing an unearthly blue I’d only ever seen once before—when I was created then abandoned to Poseidon’s realm. That was the day I’d learned I had to obey Zeus no matter what. The cruelty in those eyes forged my worst nightmares.
“I didn’t know—”
“Didn’t know what? That he would take her or hurt her, or that he was pretending to be Joel? What didn’t you know?” Hades drew back, electric blue eyes so full of rage I was blinded to everything else. In that moment, there was no difference between him and Zeus because their eyes were the same. “We warned you Zeus was dangerous. She fought to take you in after everyone else told her not to trust you. And after everything Persephone did for you, you pushed her toward him! Why?”
“He’s our father!” My voice broke.
“You honestly think he gives a damn about you?” Hades hauled me to my feet and shoved me down the path of damp packed earth where weak sunlight filtered through the trees, barely breaking through the clouds. “Fine, then let’s trade you for her. How loud do you think you’ll have to scream to get his attention?” Black energy sparked from his fingertips, dancing up his palm like lightning set on fire.
I stumbled away from Hades, holding my hands out as if that would keep him at bay. “I’m not stupid!” I snapped. “If he cared about me at all, he wouldn’t leave me here with you.”
Fury contorted Hades’ features. His dark hair stuck to his face in the rain, but he didn’t seem to notice. “Then why? What did he offer you that would make it worth betraying her?”
“Nothing! He didn’t give me anything. I didn’t want to help him, but I didn’t have a choice. He’s my father!”
“That doesn’t mean anything!”
Normally it didn’t. Gods didn’t really do the whole family thing because we were created, not born, so there were no genetic ties. Good thing, too, given all the incest. Labels like brother, sister, mother, father, didn’t apply to us because that wasn’t how we thought of each other. Persephone was weird. She’d been raised to believe she was human. Demeter and Persephone had the most human-looking mother/daughter relationship of all the gods.
Serious trust issues notwithstanding.
Hades advanced on me, and I edged backward. My heel caught on a branch. and it snapped, twisting my foot out from under me. He darted forward. Screaming, I ducked my head away and thrust my hands toward him.
“Don’t hurt me!”
“Give me one reason I shouldn’t rip you limb from limb, you traitorous bitch.”
I had thousands, but only one that would matter to him. “She wouldn’t want you to.”
Hades stopped. “She was the only one of us who gave a damn about you.”
“I know.” With a wary eye on him, I stood, keeping my movements slow and non-threatening. Not that Hades would ever feel threatened by me. He could crush me. And probably would before the day was through.
“Then why did you help him?” Hades grabbed me by the shoulders and gave me a rough shake. “Where is my wife?”
“Shouldn’t you know?” They were married after all. Marriage between gods came with this whole power exchange thing, more mutually beneficial than fealty. They were supposed to be connected. You’d think that would come with a basic idea of each other’s whereabouts.
Desperation danced across his face, and I suddenly understood. “You don’t, do you? Zeus did something to mess with your connection, and that’s how you got knocked out.”
Hades worked a muscle in his jaw, and I knew I was right. No wonder he was freaking out.
“She’s not dead,” I assured him. Technically, a god getting enough worship to exist can’t die, not even in combat, unless they’re fighting their own kids, but that’s a whole other story. Persephone hadn’t come into her powers yet, so she fell into a gray area. “I saw her with Zeus. He must need her, Hades. He won’t let her die. Otherwise, why bother taking her at all?”