Lexa sat across from Persephone outside The Yellow Daffodil. They’d walked to the bistro from their apartment to have breakfast before they went their separate ways—Persephone to the Library of Artemis and Lexa to Talaria Stadium to meet Adonis and his friends for a day of Trials.
Stay away from him. Hades voice echoed in her head, as if his mouth were against her ear. She shivered. Despite Hades warning, Persephone would have gone with Lexa, but she had a god to research, a garden to plant, and a bargain to win. Still, she wondered why Hades disapproved of Adonis? Did the King of the Underworld know his warning would only make her more curious?
“Your lips are bruised,” Lexa said.
Persephone covered her mouth with her fingers. She’d tried to cover the discoloration with foundation and lipstick.
“Who did you kiss?”
“Why do you think I kissed someone?” Persephone asked.
“I don’t know that you kissed anyone. Maybe someone kissed you.”
Persephone flushed—someone had kissed her, but not for the reasons Lexa was thinking. He was just bestowing favor, Persephone reminded herself. He would do just about anything to ensure you don’t disturb him again. That included offering her a shortcut to his realm.
She wouldn’t let herself romanticize the God of the Dead.
Hades is the enemy, she reminded herself. He is your enemy. He tricked you into a contract. He challenged you to use powers you don’t have. He will imprison you if you fail to create life in the Underworld.
“I’m just guessing since you left the apartment at ten last night and didn’t come home until like five this morning.”
“H…how did you know that?”
Lexa smiled, but Persephone could tell her friend was a little hurt by her sneakiness.
“I guess we both have secrets,” she said and admitted, “I was up talking to Adonis. I heard you come in.”
What she’d heard was Persephone tiptoeing into the kitchen for water after Hades had teleported to her bedroom.
“Oh. You and Adonis are talking?”
It was Lexa’s turn to blush, and Persephone was glad she could redirect this conversation, even if she wasn’t sure how to feel about her best friend dating her co-worker. Plus, she had yet to figure out why Hades disliked him. Was it simply that she had brought him to Nevernight or something more?
“It doesn’t mean anything,” she said, and knew Lexa was just trying to keep her expectations low. It had been a long time since she had been interested in someone. She’d had fallen hard and fast for her first college boyfriend, a wrestler named Alec. He had been incredibly handsome and charming…until he wasn’t. What Lexa had at first thought was protectiveness, soon became controlling. Things escalated until one night he yelled at her for going out with Persephone and accused her of cheating on him. At that point, she decided things had to end.
It was only after things ended that Lexa learned Alec hadn’t been faithful to her at all.
The whole thing had broken her heart, and there was a time when Persephone wasn’t sure Lexa would ever recover.
“We were making plans for today and just…kept talking,” Lexa continued. “He’s so interesting.”
Persephone thought that was funny. She felt like Lexa was the most interesting person she’d ever met. The girl was a beauty queen with a sleeve of tattoos. She was also a witch and a gamer. She had an obsession with makeup, fashion, and the gods.
“Did you know he was adopted? It’s why he became a journalist. He wants to find his biological parents.”
Persephone shook her head. She didn’t know anything about Adonis except that he worked at New Athens News, and had regular access to Nevernight, which was ironic considering Hades really didn’t seem to like the mortal.
“I can’t imagine what that’s like,” Lexa said absently. “To exist in the world without really knowing who you are.”
She couldn’t know how painful her words were. The bargain Hades had forced upon her had reminded Persephone just how she didn’t belong.
Persephone took a coffee to go and then headed to the Library of Artemis. There were several beautiful reading rooms named after the Nine Greek Muses. Persephone liked all of them, but she had always been drawn to the Melpomene Room, which she entered now. Persephone wasn’t sure why it was named after the Muse of Tragedy, except that a statue of the goddess stood at the center of the oval room. Light streamed through a glass ceiling, pouring over several long tables and study areas.
She’d come here in search of a book, and as she looked, she trailed her fingers over leather binding and gold lettering. Finally, she found what she was looking for: The Divine: Powers and Symbols.
She carried the volume to one of the tables and sat down, opening the dusty book, turning the pages until she found his name in bold letters across the top of the page.
Hades, God of the Underworld.
Just seeing his name made her heart race. The entry included a sketch of the god’s profile, which Persephone traced, with the tips of her fingers. No one would recognize him in person from this picture because it was too dark, but she could see familiar features—the arch of his nose, the set of his jaw, the strands of his long hair falling to his shoulders.
Her eyes dropped to the information written on the rest of the page, which detailed how Hades became the God of the Underworld. After the defeat of the Titans, he and his two younger brothers drew lots—Hades was given the Underworld, Poseidon the Sea, and Zeus the Skies, with each given equal access over the Earth.
She often forgot that the three gods had equal power over the Earth, mostly because Hades and Poseidon did not often venture outside of their own realms. Zeus’s descent to the mortal world had been a reminder, and Hades and Poseidon were not going to stand by while their brother took control of a realm they all had access to. Still, Persephone had not considered what that meant for Hades’ powers. Did he share some of her mother’s abilities?
She continued reading and when she came to the list of Hades’ powers, her eyes widened, and she couldn’t tell if she was more afraid or awed by him.
Hades had many powers, but his primary and most powerful abilities were necromancy, including reincarnation, resurrection, transmigration, death sense, and soul removal. Because of his ownership of the earthly realm, he could also manipulate earth and its elements, and had the ability to draw precious metals and jewels from the ground.
Rich One, indeed.
Additional powers included charm—the ability to sway mortals and lesser gods to his will, as well as invisibility.
Invisibility?
That made Persephone very nervous. She was going to have to withdraw a promise from the god that he would never use that power with her.
She turned the page and found information on Hades’ symbols and the Underworld.
The narcissus are sacred to the Lord of the Dead. The flower, often in colors of white, yellow, or orange have a short, cup-shaped corona and grow in abundance in the Underworld. They are a symbol of rebirth. It is said Hades chose the flower to give the souls hope of what is to come as they are reincarnated.
Persephone sat back in her chair. This god did not seem like the god she’d met a few days ago. That god dangled hope before mortals in the form of riches. That god made a game out of pain. The one described in this passage sounded compassionate and kind. She wondered what had happened in the time since Hades had chosen his symbol.
I have had success, he’d said.
But what did that mean?
Persephone decided she had more questions for Hades.
When she was finished reading the passage on the Underworld, Persephone made a list of the flowers mentioned in the text—asphodels, aconite, polyanthus, narcissi—and then found a book on plant varieties which she used to take careful notes, making sure to include how to care for each flower and tree, grimacing when the instructions called for direct sunlight. Would Hades’ muted sky be enough? If she were her mother, the light
wouldn’t matter. She could make a rose grow in a snowstorm.
Then again, if she were her mother, a garden would already be growing in the Underworld.
When Persephone finished, she took her list to a flower shop and asked for seeds. When the clerk—an older man with wild, wispy hair and a long, white beard—came to the narcissus, he looked up at her and said, “We do not carry Hades’ symbol here.”
“Why not?” she asked, more curious than anything.
“My dear, few invoke the name of the King of the Dead, and when they do, they turn their heads.”
“It sounds like you have no wish to join the dead in Asphodel,” she said.
The shopkeeper paled, and Persephone left with a few extra flowers, a pair of gloves and a small shovel. She hoped the gloves would keep her touch from killing the seeds before she got them in the ground.
Soon after she left the shop, she found herself outside Nevernight for the third day in a row. It was early enough that no one was waiting outside to get into the club. As she approached, the doors opened, and once she was inside, she took a deep breath and snapped her fingers like Hades had shown her. The world shifted around her, and she found herself in the Underworld, in the same spot where Hades had kissed her.
Her head spun for a few moments. She had never teleported on her own, always using borrowed magic. This time, it was Hades’ magic that clung to her skin. It was unfamiliar but not unpleasant, lingering on her tongue, smooth and rich like his kiss. She flushed at the memory and quickly turned her attention to the barren land at her feet, making a plan for how she would plant.
She would start near the wall and plant the aconite first, the tallest flower which would bloom purple. Then she moved onto the asphodel, which would bloom white. The polyanthus were next, and would grow in clusters of red. Once she had a plan, she lowered to her knees and started to dig. She settled the first seed into the ground and covered it with the thin soil.
One down.
Several more to go.
Persephone worked until her arms and knees hurt. Perspiration beaded across her forehead, and she wiped it away with the back of her hand. When she finished, she sat back on her heels and surveyed her work. She couldn’t quite describe how she felt, staring at the grayish plot, except that something dark and uneasy edged its way into her thoughts.
What if she couldn’t do this? What if she failed to meet the terms of this contract? Would she really be stuck here in the Underworld forever? Would her mother, a powerful goddess in her own right, fight for her freedom when she discovered what Persephone had done?
She pushed those thoughts aside. This was going to work. She might not be able to grow a garden with magic, but nothing was preventing her from trying it the mortal way...except her deadly touch. She would have to wait a few weeks to find out if the gloves worked.
She picked up the watering can she had bought at the flower shop and looked around. There had to be a place to fill it nearby. Her gaze fell on the garden wall. It might give her enough height to locate a fountain or a river.
Careful not to disturb her freshly planted seeds, she managed to scale the wall. Like everything else Hades owned, it was obsidian and almost resembled a vicious volcanic eruption. She navigated the rough edges carefully, only falling once, but caught herself, cutting her palm.
She hissed at the stab of pain, closing her fingers on sticky blood, and finally made it to the top of the wall.
“Oh.”
Persephone had glimpsed the Underworld yesterday, and yet it still managed to surprise her. Beyond the wall was a field of tall green grass. It stretched on for what seemed like miles before ending in a forest of cypress trees. Cutting through the lengthy grass was a wide and rushing river. From this distance, she couldn’t quite make out the color of the water, but she knew it wasn’t black like the river Styx. She was aware that there were several rivers in the Underworld, but she was too unfamiliar with its geography to even guess which one might be in the field beyond.
Still, it didn’t really matter—water was water.
Persephone climbed down from the wall and started across the field, watering can in hand. The tall grass scraped across her bare arms and legs. Mingled with the grass were strange orange wildflowers she had never seen before. Now and then a breeze stirred the air. It smelled like fire, and while it wasn’t unpleasant, it was a reminder that, though she was surrounded by beauty, she was still in the Underworld.
As she waded through the grass, she came upon a bright red ball.
Strange, Persephone thought. It was a larger-than-normal ball, almost the size of her head, and as she bent to pick it up, she heard a low growl. When she looked up, a pair of black eyes stared back.
She screamed and stumbled back, ball in hand. One—no, three, black Dobermans stood before her. Then she noticed their gazes were focused on the red ball she held in her hand. Their growls turned into whines the longer she held it.
“Oh,” she said, looking at the ball. “You want to play fetch?”
The three dogs sat tall, tongues lolling out of their mouths. They were powerful looking animals with sleek, dark coats and cropped ears.
Persephone threw the ball and the three bolted. She laughed as she watched them fall over each other, racing to claim it. It wasn’t long before the three returned, the ball in the jowls of the one in the center. The dog dropped it at her feet and then the three sat back obediently, waiting for her to throw it again. She wondered who had trained them.
She tossed the ball again and continued until she reached the river. Unlike the Styx, the water in this river was clear and ran over rocks that looked like moonstones. It was beautiful, but just as she moved to draw water, a hand clamped down on her shoulder and drew her back. “No!”
Persephone fell and looked up into the face of a goddess.
“Do not draw water from the Lethe,” she said. Despite the command, her voice was warm. The goddess had long black hair, half of it was pulled back, and the rest fell over her shoulders, past her waist. She dressed in ancient clothing—a crimson peplos and a black cloak. At her temples, a set of short, black horns protruded from her head, and she wore a gold crown. She had a beautiful, but stern face—arched brows accentuated almond-shaped eyes set in a square face.
Behind her were the three Dobermans.
“You are a goddess,” Persephone said, getting to her feet and the woman smiled.
“Hecate,” she said, bowing her head.
Persephone knew a lot about Hecate because of Lexa. She was the Goddess of Witchcraft and Magic. She was also one of the few goddesses Demeter actually admired. Maybe that had something to do with the fact that she wasn’t an Olympian. In any case, Hecate was known as a protector of women and the oppressed—a nurturer in her own way, even though she preferred solidarity.
“I am—”
“Persephone,” she said, smiling. “I have been waiting to meet you.”
“You have?”
“Oh yes,” and then she offered a laugh, which seemed to make her glow. “Since you fell into the Styx and had Lord Hades in an uproar.”
Persephone blushed.
“I’m sorry I scared you, but, as I am sure you’ve learned, the rivers of the Underworld are dangerous, even to a goddess,” Hecate explained. “The Lethe will steal your memories. Hades should have told you that. I will scold him later.”
Persephone laughed at the thought of Hecate scolding Hades. “Can I watch?”
“Oh, I would only think to reprimand him in front of you, my dear.”
They smiled at each other and then Persephone said, “Um, but do you happen to know where I might find some water? I just planted a garden.”
“Come,” she said, and as she turned, she picked up the big, red ball and threw it. The three dogs took off through the grass. “I see you have met Hades’ dogs.”
“They are truly his?”
“Oh yes. He loves animals. He has the three dogs, Cerberus, Typhon and Orthrus and four
horses, Orphnaeus, Aethon, Nycteus, and Alastor.”
Hecate led Persephone to a fountain buried deep in Hades gardens.
As she filled the container she asked, “Do you live here?”
“I live in many places,” she said. “But this is my favorite.”
“Really?” Persephone was surprised by that.
“Yes.” Hecate smiled and looked out at the landscape. “I enjoy it here. The souls and the lost, they are my loves, and Hades is kind enough to have given me a cottage.”
“It is far more beautiful than I expected,” Persephone said.
“It is to all who come here.” Hecate smiled. “Let’s water your garden, shall we?”
Hecate and Persephone returned to the garden and watered the seeds. Hecate pointed to several of the markers Persephone had used to remember what and where she had planted. The goddess wanted to know the colors and names. When she pointed to the anemone and asked Persephone why she had chosen that flower in that color she responded, “Hades wore one in his suit the night I met him.”
Then she blushed at having admitted something so…personal.
Persephone gathered her tools, and Hecate showed her where to store the items—in a small alcove near the palace.
After, Hecate took Persephone on a tour of the grounds beyond Hades’ obsidian home. They walked along a slate path among tall shoots of grass.
“Asphodel!” Persephone exclaimed, recognizing the flowers mixed among the grass. They had long stems and a spike of white flowers. Persephone loved them, and the farther they walked, the more abundant they became.
“Yes, we are close to Asphodel,” Hecate said.
Hecate held out her hand, as if to stop Persephone from moving too far forward. When she looked down, she stood at the edge of a steep canyon. The asphodel grew right up to the edge of the incline, making the chasm almost impossible to see as they approached.
Persephone wasn’t sure what she expected from Asphodel, but she guessed she’d always thought of death as a sort of aimless existence—a time where souls occupied space but had no purpose. At the bottom of this canyon, however, there was life.
A field of green stretched for miles, flanked by sloping hills in the distance. Scattered over the emerald plane were several small homes. She was surprised to observe they all appeared to be slightly different—some were crafted of wood and others of obsidian brick. Smoke rose from some chimneys, flowers bloomed in a few window boxes, and warm light illuminated windows. A wide path cut right through the center of the field, and it was crowded with souls and colorful tents.
A Touch of Darkness (Hades & Persephone #1) Page 10