“This is going to hurt,” I warned her.
She sighed. “What else is new?”
Chapter XLII
Aphrodite
I breathed a sigh of relief when Hades reappeared in the board room. Finally!
“Now,” he commanded.
“This isn’t going to work,” Athena objected. “I understand why you’d want to filter the power and save her, but you must know it won’t be enough.”
I rolled my eyes. “Nothing is certain until you try, right? Zeus won’t be expecting this, so maybe that’s enough of an advantage.” I smiled at Hades. “I swear fealty to Persephone.” With a thought, I pushed as much of my power to her as I could and still live through it.
Athena sighed. “Fine. But if it doesn’t work, you have to—”
“I know, Athena,” Hades snapped. “Are you in, or would you rather try to fight Zeus by yourself?”
She pursed her lips. “I swear fealty to Persephone.”
Ares bowed his head and closed his eyes, the words of fealty leaving his lips in a whisper. His voice was joined by Hephaestus’ gruff utterance. Then Artemis’ breathy announcement. Soon the room was ringing with the oath. The hair on my arms stood on end at the power flowing from this room. All directed to one little goddess.
Please let this work, I thought.
But I knew Athena was right. With Hades filtering the power, it would never be enough. Would he realize that before it was too late? Would he be willing to sacrifice Persephone to save us all? I had my doubts.
Chapter XLIII
Persephone
The sun sparkled through the glass ceiling. I was on a big white fluffy bed. When I noticed the thick shield surrounding the room, I closed my eyes. Shields. How had I been stupid enough to believe I’d escaped?
I gave myself a second to take inventory, amazed that after all I’d been through I was still in one piece. Even my clothes looked as clean and new as the day I’d bought them. Just like when I woke up in the Underworld.
I tried to get up but was jerked to a stop. Twisting to see behind me, I stared in disbelief at the handcuffs that bound my hands to the bedrail. Had I spent a single minute conscious since Zeus knocked me out in the park? Or were the handcuffs a new addition to Zeus’ security measures?
I think it was the handcuffs that did it. A wave of fury washed through me so strong I felt Hades respond to it with surprise.
All this time. All this time I’d thought I was free, and I’d been bound to a bed with fricken handcuffs? I’d been helpless, and I was over being helpless. I thought over the last year. Pirithous grabbing my arm and trying to take me out of the flower shop. Boreas dragging me through the snow. Melissa hunched over with an icicle in her chest. Rachel’s dead body in a crumbled heap outside my school. Aphrodite bound to obey Zeus’ every word. Thanatos’ eyes, wide with charm. Months of torment from the Reapers. Everything that had happened in the last year was because of Zeus. All the pain—oh, who was I kidding?—all the agony. All the frustration and hurt and fear. The paralyzing fear. It had been him. It had all been him.
I thought of the things I’d done that I didn’t really remember. Each kiss he’d charmed from me under the guise of Joel. Zeus trying to use me to charm Hades, the torture, the lightning, the dreams, and Triton’s face twisted in a grimace of agony. It was a never-ending litany of wrongs, and I was done.
“You’re awake.” Zeus’ soft exclamation of surprise from the doorway had me jerking up, rigid with rage.
The handcuffs shattered, and I was off the bed and across the room in an instant. I tore through the shield like it wasn’t there and knocked him off his feet, landing on top of him with enough force to knock the breath from my body.
“Where is Triton?” I didn’t consider the possibility that Zeus pretended to be Triton in the dreamscape. Zeus was good, but he still couldn’t lie. He’d called Poseidon his father, spoken of a million things that were only true for the prepubescent deity. Triton had been in my head, which meant he was here somewhere.
Zeus laughed. “What is this? I always figured you were feisty, but—”
My fist met his face with a satisfying crunch. The powers of over a dozen deities were at my disposal, but I ignored them, too blind with rage to want to do much more than hit something. So I did. I hit him over and over again, unable to stop myself. Zeus’ face lost its amused expression. He reached up and blocked my next hit, hands wrapping around my wrists with a painful jolt of electricity.
I broke his grip and lashed out with a wave of power, throwing up a shield and inverting it around him, pinning him to the ground. “Where is he?”
“Neat trick. Thanks for showing it to me. It came in handy against your friends.”
I narrowed my eyes at him and wrapped a hand around his throat, breaking my own shield. Hades’ powers came to me unbidden. Black energy spread from my hands, turning Zeus’ veins black.
“Okay, that’s enough.” Zeus threw up a shield, binding me against him, then rolled over on top of me, hip bones digging painfully into my flesh. “I may not be able to kill you.” His breath was hot in my ear. “But that doesn’t mean I can’t make you scream.”
Electricity coursed from him to me, and I arched my back, crying out in pain. His hands wrapped around my neck. Straddling me, he looked straight in my eyes. “You can still end this.” He wasn’t talking to me. “You know what I want. And I’m willing to do anything to get it.”
Oh Gods, the lightning hadn’t stopped. It flowed from his hands around my neck, down my spine to every nerve ending. My vision wavered. Lifting a hand, I tried to push him off me, but he moved one hand off my neck and pinned my arms above my head. I couldn’t seem to call on any power while his coursed through me. He’d pinned me so tight I couldn’t move my arms or legs. His face was inches from mine. Zeus’ attention was on my hands as he struggled to keep them together. Lifting my head, I clamped my teeth into the skin of his neck, tearing them free when he let out a startled yelp.
Zeus swore and knocked my head into the floor with enough force to plant stars in my vision. “You stupid bitch!” He wrapped his hands around my throat. I pushed at them weakly, but his grip was iron tight.
“Where?” I gasped, drawing on as much power as I could.
“Dead, all right? I killed him.”
My mind went blank with shock. I stopped struggling. Went limp beneath him.
Zeus’ hands loosened a fraction. “A couple days before I captured you.” He smirked. “Stupid kid didn’t last an entire hour.”
Days before Zeus captured me? “How? I was just with him!”
“He gave me everything, his power, access to his realm, thoughts, memories, dreamscapes, everything. Everything he was is up here.” Zeus tapped his head. “I drained it all before I sent his empty shell of a soul to the Underworld.”
I felt a start of surprise from Hades and caught a glimpse of a mental image. Triton in the throne room, face blank with shock before Cassandra whisked him away.
He was dead. He was really dead. I thought of his smile. His voice cracking, face turning bright red with embarrassment.
“It’s all my fault. I shouldn’t have left the circle. But I wanted to know what it was like out there.” A sob broke through Triton’s voice. “It hurt. It hurt so bad.”
“You bastard!” I shrieked, lashing out with a wave of crackling energy encased in flame. “He was just a kid!”
Zeus deflected the blow, but his face tightened with pain. “You’ll be joining him soon enough.”
“I can’t swear fealty to you! My promise—”
“To never act with intent of harming Hades?” Zeus laughed and drew his hand back. “Kind of depends on you being sane enough to understand intent.” With that he slammed his fist into my gut, releasing wave after wave of lightning.
Chapter XLIV
Persephone
“Persephone…”
Stirring, my eyes fluttered open. “What?” I looked around, confu
sed at finding myself curled up on the grass beneath a weeping willow.
Mom sat against the trunk, fingers combing through my hair. “Wake up, sweetie.”
“How did I get here?” I sat up, looking around the picturesque landscape. Flowers bloomed everywhere. The sun shone bright in the sky, filtering through the green leaves of the weeping willow. Its trunk was just a little wider than Mom. That bugged me for some reason I couldn’t put my finger on.
“You’re dreaming, sweetheart.”
Of course I was. A fresh wave of pain tore through me. I doubled over, gasping in agony. “Mom, it hurts.”
She shushed me, voice soothing. “You’re going to be okay.”
“How can you say that?” I asked as another wave of pain washed over me.
“Because I know it’s true. I am so sorry. I never wanted you to have this life. To make these decisions.” She studied me, tears brimming in her eyes. “You were so small. Just this warm little bundle cuddled in my arms and now…” She swept her arm up and down over me. “You’re all grown up.” She wrapped her arms around me in a hug, and I leaned against her, taking some small measure of comfort despite the searing pain.
“Mom, I can’t win.”
“You have enough power to win, if you use it all.”
“Hades is filtering—”
“Ask him to stop.”
“I’ll die.” I moved away from her. I wanted to move her away from the tree. Something about it bothered me.
“Not because of that. You’re about to come into your powers.”
“How?”
She smiled. “I know a way, that’s all. Come here.” She reached out for me, but I jerked away.
“You’re not telling me something.”
“You’re going to be fine.”
“No. Mom, no more secrets. You owe me.”
To my surprise, tears filled her eyes. “Will you trust me? Just this one last time. I promise, after this there will be no more secrets.”
“Mom…”
She shook her head and brushed the tears out of her eyes. “I’m just being over emotional. Now, we’d best hurry. If Zeus figures out what I’m doing, he’ll go underground, and you’ll spend your whole life wondering when he’s going to come at you again.”
I nodded, though I still felt uncertain. But I couldn’t focus because I was still trying to figure out what was bothering me about that damn willow tree. It’s hard to pay attention in dreams, but it’s foolish to overlook a symbol. Everything has meaning.
She knelt before me. “I swear fealty—”
“Mom,” I flushed and forgot the tree in my embarrassment. “You don’t have to do that. I can’t take your power—”
She hushed me and wrapped a hand around my wrist. “I’m giving you your best chance.” She narrowed her eyes at me and gave me her “don’t argue” look. Then softer, she said, “Your very best chance. I love you darling.”
Her power slammed into me like a boulder crashing down from the sky. I stumbled back, but her grip tightened on me like an iron vise.
Why can’t we plant a weeping willow? I’d asked.
“Mom! What are you doing? It’s too much!” But she wouldn’t let me go. Then all at once it was gone. Not her power, but that feeling of being bombarded, overwhelmed. Pain I hadn’t even realized I was feeling was gone. It was like something snapped into place within me. I felt full, complete. Alive.
Never plant a willow tree, she’d replied.
She smiled at me, looking frail and vulnerable. Smaller somehow. As I stared at her, she changed. Her hair and eyes brightened, all the little details that made up her appearance suddenly became more obvious, hyper-realistic.
Because as soon as the trunk grows wide enough—
“No,” I whimpered. “Mom, no.”
It becomes your coffin.
I was looking at her soul.
“I love you so much,” she whispered. Then she was gone.
I fell to the ground as her dreamscape faded around me. “No,” I whispered, broken. Tears chased each other down my cheeks, but I wasn’t given more than a second to mourn before I felt the power of all the other gods slam into me, unfiltered from Hades. I felt them tethered to me, alive. It wasn’t fair.
Your very best chance. Her voice whispered through my memory.
Chapter XLV
Hades
Persephone sat at the base of the weeping willow, sobbing.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered.
She sprang to her feet at the sound of my voice, whirling on me. “Bring her back!”
“I’m so sorry.” My voice was hoarse with grief. “I can’t.”
“I gave you Thanatos’ power! Use it!”
I shook my head. She was asking the impossible and she knew it.
Rage flashed in her eyes, and I felt her pull upon the power of the other gods. Maybe she even tried to use it on me, but her oath to never hurt me held.
“I wasn’t asking. Bring her back!”
“I can’t, Persephone.” I moved forward, arms encircling her, and she broke, folding into me. “I can’t,” I whispered. “I’m so sorry, I can’t.”
She drew back. “You knew she was going to do that?”
She knew. I didn’t need to answer but did anyway. “It was the only way to trigger you coming into your powers early. Persephone, it was your only chance.”
It was hard to watch her struggle with that. I was the only person in her life who had never once misled her. And now that was gone, along with her mother. “I offered my plan as an alternative, but she didn’t want to risk the rest of the world any more than you did.”
“What good is the rest of the world without her in it?” Her eyes glittered. “It needs her. I need her.”
But Persephone didn’t need Demeter. She hadn’t for a long time. And the world only needed Demeter’s power, which now resided in Persephone. But now wasn’t the time to lay the burden of the planet at her feet. Persephone had reached the last line of her defense. Questions. You can ask almost anything without lying.
There’s a reason there are seven stages of grief. It takes time for the mind to process tragedy. Grief, true grief, needs the cushion of denial and anger and blame to cope.
“Tell me I’m overreacting,” she begged. “Tell me I’ll see her in the Underworld every day, and that everything is going to be—”
I pulled her back to me, letting her sob into my shoulder. She’d seen Demeter’s soul vanish. Persephone knew what that meant. Demeter had given her everything, mind, body, and soul. There was nothing left of her. It wouldn’t have worked otherwise.
“I’m sorry,” I said again. Apologies were all I had left to offer. “I’m so sorry.”
Her thoughts went in endless circles while she tried to accept what had just happened. There was a glimmer of rationality, and then her mind latched on to someone she could feel angry at. Someone she could blame.
Zeus.
Chapter XLVI
Persephone
The dreamscape faded around me as I regained consciousness. I found Zeus still on top of me, still hitting me with wave after wave of lightning. It had probably only been seconds since I’d lost consciousness, but it felt like a lifetime.
I kept my eyes closed, concentrating on the power he kept pulsing through me. A ghost of a plan passed on from my mother rooted in my mind. Gathering a small shield around my hand, I channeled the power to it—my power, the power of the other gods, and his own lightning. When the shield stretched to the breaking point, my eyes flew open.
Zeus jerked back in surprise, but I was ready. I brought my hand up, slamming it into him, then through him as I pulled on Thanatos’ power to influence souls. My hand turned white as it wrapped around Zeus’ soul.
Zeus’ eyes widened as he realized I had the upper hand. I didn’t have to overpower him, I didn’t have to be stronger than he was. All I had to do was squeeze. My fist clenched and he sputtered in shock.
“No, no, don’t
! I’ll swear fealty. I’ll swear! I’ll give you every drop of my power. Just leave me enough to live.”
A smile curved on my lips, and I allowed myself one second to relish the feeling of being strong, powerful, in control. For once, I wasn’t the one quaking in fear. I loosened my grip. “Better get on with it then.”
Zeus’ mouth twisted in a snarl. “Oh, I’ll swear all right.” He chuckled. “I swear fealty.”
With that oath, his power slammed into me. Unprepared, I lost my grip and lurched backward. He pressed one hand to my chest, just above my heart, and let loose a torrent of power, bright and blinding like the sun, while his other hand wrapped around my throat. Again.
Gods, what was it with Zeus and chokeholds? I felt my flesh smoldering beneath his touch until my vocal cords withered and snapped under the pressure.
Give me teleportation rights, quick! Hades demanded.
Do what? I had no idea how to do what he was talking about.
Hades swore. I had the mental impression of being shoved aside. It reminded me of when I took too long to do something on the computer, and Melissa would snatch the keyboard and start typing away. Only in my head.
A pulse of power passed from me to Hades, followed by a long string of numbers I didn’t understand.
“You gotta get better with your wording, sweetheart,” Zeus sneered. “I gave you all my power. This is someone else’s.”
His fist drew back again. Words. He’d sworn fealty. I could order him to stop, but my scorched vocal cords couldn’t form words.
Hades’ hand shot out, intercepting Zeus’ fist. “That,” he grunted, lifting Zeus from me and throwing him against a wall, “is the last time you touch my wife.” His free hand smashed into Zeus’ face, and black veins spread across his skin.
Zeus let out an enraged roar, and the two exchanged blows, but it was obvious Hades had the upper hand. I gasped as my healing kicked in. Hades’ head jerked toward me at the sound, and Zeus surged forward, a flash of power emitting from his right hand in a bright blaze. Something shimmered in his left, something metal. Light fractured around it.
The Iron Queen (Daughters of Zeus) Page 16