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Her words stabbed me in the chest.
“Dammit, Persephone, what do you want from me?”
“I want you to man up and accept what’s going on here. Are you just going to hide in your little corner until it’s too late? This is not the man I know you are.”
I downed the contents of my glass, my throat on fire. “And what do you know about the man I am? How can you say you know anything about me when the person you knew was only the result of a curse?”
Persephone sighed and glared at me. “You can’t hold on to that forever. It was millennia ago. Yes, Hera pulled a fast one on you. And you got caught up in something you didn’t want. But guess what? So did I. And you don’t see me moping around and wishing ill on everyone around me, do you?”
She was right. I’d tricked her into staying in the Underworld for half the year, the same place I held a grudge against my brothers for tricking me into. Essentially, I’d done the same to her. But she wasn’t miserable and bitter like me.
“Maybe you’re just a better person than I am.” I meant it, since I was hardly the kind of man worth loving. And Persephone had proven that by not returning my love, no matter how hard she tried.
“You have to accept how you feel about Elyse,” Persephone pressed. “If you don’t, you’re going to lose her, and that’s going to hurt a hell of a lot more than anything else that’s happened to you.”
I put the glass down on the bar and dragged myself to the couch in the living room, before sitting down and dropping my head into my hands. My world spun, my heart lay shattered, and I was torn in two.
“They’re not doing well down there,” I muttered. I didn’t really care if Persephone heard me, if she was listening or not.
“So? Go help them then.” She sat next to me.
I shook my head in my hands. “I can’t. I’m not going down there. She doesn’t want me.”
“Bullshit, Hades,” Persephone snapped, and I looked at her, shocked at the kind of language coming from her beautiful mouth. Through it all, Persephone had always remained sophisticated, ladylike. I’d morphed into the dirtiest, foulest person because of my circumstances, but Persephone had held her head up high.
“You know she needs you,” she continued. “You know they’re losing down there, and if X gets the upper hand—which will be soon—Elyse is going to be dead. And you’ll lose her forever.”
“I’m not just talking about this fight,” I began. “I mean, as someone in her life. As a lover. Elyse doesn’t need me. Look at me. Who I’ve become. She doesn’t deserve this.” I pictured her smile and how I’d told myself I had to help her survive…then move on with my life. Except, I wasn’t sure I could do that.
Persephone’s eyes were soft, filled with an inner glow. “That I actually agree with. You’re a mess, and you’ll have to prove yourself to her. I wouldn’t push you to go after her if I didn’t believe you merit love. The thing is, she loves you, too. Everyone can see it. And you need to start accepting this is how it is. You may be able to turn yourself down, but it’s a crime to turn her away. Especially if she can see who you are through this horrible facade you put on for everyone.”
“But she has so many other gods to keep her busy,” I argued. “Even Poseidon, my own brother. I wouldn’t be surprised if she got in there with Heracles, too. But you know how he is, in love with only one.”
“Oh, for Zeus’s sake, Hades!” Persephone cried out. “Every time I think you can’t become more pathetic…I know I hurt you. I tried to make us work, I really did. I believed you deserved love when you’d been cursed, and I tried to give it to you. It’s on me that I failed. But don’t let that stop you from loving again. And stop lying to yourself. You’ll do Elyse good if you just go and help her. Be a hero for once.”
I met her gaze. Her eyes were dark and deep and serious. She sat on my couch, telling me how I should be, telling me to man up and do what I needed to do. And she was right. I hated admitting it about my ex, but Persephone knew exactly what she was talking about.
I opened my mouth to say something in return, but she disappeared. She’d said her piece and had no reason to stick around.
But she was right.
I had to stop this fight before it was too late. The darkness grew, the gods were losing, and Elyse was weakening. She wasn’t in control of her power and X was suffocating her with his energy, which had already taken root inside her after her three deaths. The bite mark he’d left on her weeks ago, which had spread and left black marks on her flesh, connected with his energy; it gave him a foundation to hook into her. The bastard knew what he was doing.
I’d fucked around too long, too scared to make a decision, but it felt crystal clear in my head now. My heart pounded for Elyse, to bring her the joy she deserved. And for me to man up already.
The moment I decided to help her, I was there, in my palace in the Underworld. A shiver curled over my nape as it always did when I returned home. But I had no time to focus on how much I loathed the place. I faced X. The others stood behind me, Elyse driven to her knees.
“Oh, look who came to join the party,” X gibed with a smug smile, his fangs exposed.
“Leave them alone,” I said to him. “You have no right to do this.”
I attacked X before he had a chance to answer. And immediately, the darkness shattered around us, as if it had been fragile all along. I knew what was happening—X lost the moment I determined to accept how I felt about Elyse. I wasn’t ready to lose her. I’d deal with the repercussions of that decision later. Right now, Elyse needed saving.
The moment the others sensed X’s power slipping, they ran to my side.
“I’m glad you could join us,” Poseidon commented next to me. He had an expression on his face I didn’t quite understand. “Thank you for coming, brother.”
I couldn’t remember the last time Poseidon had called me “brother.” It was as if he really cared. I wasn’t sure what had changed his mind about me. And with it came a light-hearted feeling that maybe all wasn’t lost between us.
