him.
She could see that now. She could see she had been a fool to think she could break down the barriers around his heart without help. They were impenetrable. If she was going to succeed in destroying the layers of walls he had constructed to protect himself, she was going to need help.
She was going to need to speak with someone who had shattered barriers far thicker and far taller than the ones guarding Thanatos’s heart.
Her mother.
By her mother’s account, her father’s heart had been locked within a thousand cages, each more intricate and tougher than the last. Persephone had broken through them all though to claim Hades’s heart. If anyone could help her with Thanatos, it was her mother.
Her family knew where Thanatos lived too. She could return home and learn the trick to winning his heart, and then go to his castle to lay siege to it.
Thanatos jerked to his left, scowling over her head in the direction of another tunnel, one that led deeper into the mountain. His face darkened further and his growl echoed around the cavern, sending a shiver down her spine, and then he was moving. She turned and began to lift her hand, let it fall back to her side as he stormed away from her, picking up speed.
He wasn’t going to follow her?
She began in the same direction, worried that Thanatos would be stuck in this realm for longer than necessary or might end up attacked by the Keres again. Who would tend to his wounds then? Who would have his back and help him fend off the death spirits?
The Messenger was quick to step into her path, his placid face an unreadable mask.
“Home is in the other direction, my lady.” He pressed his hand to his chest again, dipping his head.
She stared at his face, into his eyes, trying to see the feelings that Thanatos claimed he had. They were empty, no trace of emotion in them. She shook her head. Thanatos had been desperate to stop her from leaving him, must have said whatever had come into his mind in an attempt to make her wary of the Messenger and remain with him instead.
Messengers didn’t have feelings.
She knew this one well and could remember him clearly now she was no longer afraid of looking back at her life. He had served her for her entire life up until her death, and not once had she seen even the barest hint of emotion in him.
“But… Thanatos.” She pointed towards the tunnel, aching with a need to follow him.
The Messenger looked over his shoulder. “The god of death has made his choice.”
It struck her that he had.
She had given Thanatos an ultimatum, and he had chosen to leave her.
That hurt.
Calindria stared at the tunnel he had disappeared into, the ache to follow him becoming an ache to get away from this place. Hurt turned to anger in her just as it had in Thanatos, the darkness swift to latch on to it and fill her mind with wretched thoughts that carved great holes in her heart.
She turned her back to the tunnel and followed the Messenger as he led her towards the other exit, her thoughts swallowing her. She had given herself to Thanatos and had thought that what they had shared had meant something to him, but apparently not.
Calindria sighed as they stepped out from the tunnel, into the long valley, trudged along behind the Messenger as she thought about Thanatos, about how he had smiled at her, how happy he had looked when he had woken to find her watching over him. How loved she had felt when he had looked at her like that, as if she was the source of his happiness.
“It will not be long until you are home,” the black-haired male said, breaking into her thoughts.
She shrugged.
Felt his eyes on her.
He fell back into step with her. She didn’t bother to look at him, just kept walking, following his lead. She paid more attention to the ground than she did to her surroundings as she tried to figure out if she had been mistaken about Thanatos.
“The palace has changed much since you were last there, but we will be able to find a place for you. Your parents have built homes for all your brothers. I am sure they will build you such a home too.”
She nodded. A home of her own would be nice. She pictured the one she had always dreamed of owning, set