Persephone had remained quiet during Muses’ entrance, but she could not go forever that way. Once Drew disappeared, Muses had eyes only for her.
“It’s been a long time,” he said, a longing in his eyes that made me wonder.
I climbed off her to allow her to stand. But my blade and my wrath were never far. Hades made a move to join her, but Oz stopped him short.
“It has indeed, Muses. Tell me, are things better for you now, or are you still stuck in Sean’s shadow?” Her eyes drifted to me when she spoke of my twin, then back to Muses. Had it not been for the tension in his shoulders, I would not have realized how much her question had affected him. Judging by the smile on her face, the change in his body was not lost on her.
“Careful there, Queenie. I wouldn’t go pissing off the guy capable of rummaging around in your head just for shits and giggles,” Oz warned. “You never know what information he might force you to disclose…”
Persephone’s amusement fell away. “Some ground rules must be set before we begin,” she said as though she were in charge—as if we were still in the Underworld where she had reigned.
“The ground rules are simple,” I replied. “Muses will do whatever is necessary to convince me that you are not lying to us about your intentions. Anything short of that will result in your immediate death.”
Her lips pursed with irritation. “I wonder how your father will feel about that—”
“My father,” I said, not allowing Hades to speak, “will not be alive to care if your intention is to harm him or have others do it in your stead. So you see, Sister, I care not what he would think of your death at my hands. I would rather live for eternity in exile from the Underworld than know that my carelessness led to his demise.”
Whether it was the set of my gaze, the contempt in my voice, or the absolute lack of concern for how my actions could damage my relationship with my father, I did not know; but I did know that it was fear I saw in Persephone’s eyes, thinly veiled with anger. She was worried about what Muses could uncover in her mind.
Her life hung in the balance.
“Well, Khara,” Muses said, “before I can unleash you on the Queen of the Damned, I will need to know a few things about the information you need.” I looked back at him, and he gestured toward the kitchen. “After you, Sister…”
“Do not let her move,” I said to Oz as I passed. He moved to follow, and I wheeled on him, blocking his path.
“I can keep an eye on her from the kitchen,” he said simply.
“I do not need a babysitter anymore—”
“You so sure about that?” he asked, his gaze darting to where Muses waited. “Do not let him touch you, new girl. He can’t see what’s in your mind without contact.”
“Giving away my secrets, Oz? How very unsporting of you…”
“Can it, Muses. You lay a hand on her and we’ll have ourselves a problem,” Oz threatened. “We both know you don’t want that.”
“Do we?” Muses replied as he approached. “That would mean close proximity, would it not? To be in arm’s reach? And I think we both know you don’t want that.” It was Oz’s turn to go rigid. Muses smiled with wicked delight. “What secrets could I unearth in that time, I wonder…?” His gaze fell upon me as he moved closer. “What details of her life you wouldn’t want to expose—”
“Enough,” Oz growled. “Just do what you fucking came here to do and leave, Muses.”
“Ah, yes. There’s the warm welcome I’m used to receiving. Now, Khara, if you would be so kind…” He motioned for me to join him and I walked over, leaving Oz behind to brood alone. Muses’ taunt about my past had done nothing to affect me, but it had clearly rattled Oz. He walked back into the living room and loomed over Persephone—once he removed my father from his path. Silence filled the space in no time at all.
“So, Sister, do tell…what am I to learn from the queen?”
“The motives behind her actions in the Underworld are in question, most specifically her using me as a vessel to hold the souls of the Oudeis—whether she conspired with Zeus beforehand. Whether she meant for him to escape the Underworld.”
His eyebrow quirked with curiosity. “Anything else?”
“Yes. Whether she wanted to usurp Hades.”
“All right—”
“And if she loves my father or wishes him dead. If she wishes to reign alone.”
“You are wise to distrust her,” Muses said, dark eyes assessing me. “She is a wicked, wicked being.”
“That she is. But whatever your history with her, do not let it cloud your judgment or your focus. No matter how hard she baits you.”
“How sweet,” he replied, cocking his head to mock me. “My sister acts as though she cares about me. But you see, Khara,” he said, leaning in closer, almost close enough to touch, “no one in our family actually gives a shit about me—they want me for my gifts and nothing more. Do not fool yourself into thinking you are anything more than a weapon to them. Even Sean…”
He was so near me that all he needed to do was reach forward and my hand would have been his. I took a step back.
“I am perfectly capable of discerning the intentions of my brothers,” I said, retreating another step.
“So I see,” he replied, dark amusement flashing in his eyes. Then it disappeared. “Now, shall we harass the queen?”
Not awaiting my response, he headed toward the living room and sat down next to Persephone. The shift of her body away from him was almost imperceptible.
“Must you practically sit in my lap?” she asked, her annoyance plain.
He leaned in closer. “You used to love to sit in mine…”
Her cheeks flushed with anger or embarrassment; I could not be certain. She flashed Hades a sympathetic look, then turned to Muses, sitting up tall as though she were perched on her throne.
“Be done with this then be gone, Muses.”
“If you insist, your highness.” None too gently, he grabbed her face in his hands and pulled her to him. “Tell me about the night you released the souls of the Oudeis,” he said, staring into her eyes. Her body went slack, melting against his. She looked as though she had been drugged and could not have enjoyed it more. She stroked Muses’ face as he held hers.
Hades went rigid beside me.
“I could not let them hurt him,” she said softly. “The veils were weakening, and I had my suspicions that Khara was a vessel—a being capable of taking them in—so I placed them inside her.”
“Did you mean for Zeus to escape?”
“No…”
“Do you love Hades?”
“So much…”
“Do you want to reign without Hades at your side?” Muses asked, gripping her face tighter. She winced from the pain, then smiled.
“All women of power wish to reign alone. It is our dream…”
“Would you kill Hades or order him killed to make that happen?”
“No,” she said, her eyes fluttering closed. “He loves me. He understands me. My needs…”
Muses looked to me for direction, but I had none to give. His eyes fell upon the queen again and he asked one final question.
“Have you ever tried to kill Khara?” For a moment, Persephone seemed to emerge from the sensual haze she had been lost in. Her eyes went wide and sharp, and fear creased her brow. When she didn’t answer, Muses yanked her to him by her head. “Tell me…” he said, voice teeming with warning. “Have you ever tried to kill Khara, either by your own hand or your order?” Her body began to shake like her mother’s, convulsing as Muses tried to pry the answer from her by force.
“Stop this at once!” Hades shouted, pushing past me, only to be stopped by Oz.
“You will tell me what I want to know, or I will take it from you,” Muses crooned as he stroked her face. “And you have already seen how unpleasant that will be.”
“Muses—” I cautioned, but he ignored me entirely.
“Tell me!” he shouted, launching
to his feet to tower above her, her head still clamped viciously in his grip.
“Yes!” she cried before her eyes slammed shut and she collapsed against the couch.
Hades rushed to her side. The second he felt how limp she’d gone, he raged at Muses like a man possessed.
“What have you done?” he roared, lunging for him. Before he could grab Muses, Oz jumped in his path, his wings shooting out to block Hades’ approach.
“What needed to be done,” Oz replied. “Or were you not listening?”
“For the last time, Persephone poses no threat to me! She is not responsible for what happened.”
“You are right, Father,” I said, ducking under Oz’s wing to see him. “She is not. I was wrong about her intent, and for that I apologize, but I will not apologize for my methods, nor my need to be certain she can be trusted.”
The harsh set of his features softened slightly at my words. “I know you did it to protect me—that everything you have done was to keep me safe—but you must trust my judgment too, my princess. She is my wife.”
“And Khara is your daughter, is she not? If not by blood, by bond?” Muses asked, walking around Oz’s wings so he could stare my father down. “Maybe your judgment regarding your wife has left you blind to other matters, especially where Khara is concerned.”
Just as Hades opened his mouth to respond, the front door opened. Kierson, Pierson, and Casey flooded the living room, undoubtedly having heard the arguing from outside. Weapons drawn, they filled the space in an instant, prepared to fight whomever they deemed the threat. Between Oz, Muses, my father, and Persephone, they had a selection to choose from.
“I’m saying that however precious or harmless you think your wife to be, that does not negate the fact that she just admitted to trying to kill Khara, or at least cause her death.”
“What are you talking about, Muses?” Kierson asked, his normally playful expression murderous.
“After a considerable amount of resistance,” Oz said, “Persephone disclosed the fact that she has attempted to kill Khara or have her killed.”
Not a body in the room moved except Persephone, who stirred on the couch, still dead to the world around her for the time being. Given what was about to go down, it was for the best.
“Say that again,” Casey growled, moving toward Persephone.
“The Dark One speaks the truth,” Muses added. “When asked if she had tried or ordered someone else to kill Khara, she said yes.”
“I’ll fucking flay her,” Casey muttered under his breath. He reached behind him and withdrew a thin crescent-shaped blade.
“You will back away from her or meet your end,” Hades said, pushing past Oz, who allowed him by.
“That bitch just admitted to trying to kill your daughter, and you’re defending her?” Casey asked, staring at Hades with hatred in his dead eyes. But hidden deep within them was also bewilderment, a lack of understanding for how someone who claimed to love me so much could so easily dismiss what Persephone had done. Casey did not know the depths of my father’s near-obsession with his wife; how it held him prisoner from reason. All bets were off when it came to her.
“I will hear her out on the matter before I decide anything for myself.”
Casey seemed to have lost his voice as his mind spiraled, but Kierson had not.
“Get. Out.” His words were little more than a snarl. The blind hatred I found in his stare made the hair on my neck stand up. “You don’t deserve Khara. You don’t deserve what she’s done for you. And I’m sure as fuck not going to continue to protect someone willing to forgive Persephone for what she just admitted to doing.”
“Kierson—” my father said, only to be cut off at the knees.
“There is nothing you can say to change my mind. Maybe you don’t love Khara like you should, but I do,” he said, looking to Pierson, then Casey. “We all do. She’s our family, not yours. Now get out!”
“Though I am inclined to agree with my twin,” Pierson said, “we cannot afford for the Soul Keeper to meet his end. We will honor our commitment to seeing him upon his throne once more, but once that is done, he will never return here again.” The quiet one’s shrewd eyes cut across the room to Hades. “There will be consequences if he does.”
Hades turned his worried gaze to me. “Khara…you know I love you…”
“I do, Father—”
“What would you have me do? How can I make this right?”
“You cannot,” I said, looking up at him. “I have always been a distant second where Persephone is involved. Nothing has changed. Nothing ever will. Our relationship is as it has always been…”
He looked at me as though I had struck him. “And what is that?” he dared ask.
“You are the warden I call my father. I am the ward you call your daughter. You love me, but I am not yours—not of your creation. And if the pact had never been, you could have had the one you truly wanted with you at all times.”
“No, Khara,” he said, swallowing hard. “That is not—”
“It is, Father. It always has been, and that is all right with me. I have always seen our relationship for what it truly is.”
Hades jaw clenched and his eyes grew glassy. “I never wanted to have to choose between you…”
“Then let me release you of your burden. Let me return you to your throne alongside your wife and be gone. I will be fine above.”
Without a word, he pulled me to him, his arms wrapped tightly around me. He held me until a heavy sensation tugged at my heart, the discomfort growing greater by the second. It cast a net around my chest and cinched it closed until I could barely breathe. I pushed away from Hades and excused myself, headed upstairs. Though I tried to remain calm, the pressure beneath my ribs made it nearly impossible. By the time I reached the rooftop, I felt as though I would burst.
I ran to the edge and collapsed to my knees by the ledge. A scream like the one I’d once let loose in the Underworld flew out of me, scattering a murder of crows nearby. But unlike in the Underworld, something else escaped. My cheeks grew wet as tears poured from my eyes. I pawed at them in disgust, trying to erase the stain they left behind, to no avail. Any thought of what had just occurred only brought more.
The crunch of gravel underfoot rescued me from my outburst, and I turned to find Oz staring at me across the expanse of roof.
“First time?” he asked, taking in my state. Without invitation, he made his way over and perched himself on the ledge.
“I do not understand this,” I said, wiping my face again.
He sat in silence, looking at me with careful consideration. “No,” he said quietly, “I bet you don’t.” Then, in a movement so gentle it was hard to comprehend, Oz reached over and wiped the last of my confounding tears away. “I think you’re becoming more susceptible to emotions than you would like to admit, Khara. If I’m right, you’re in for a wild ride until you get a handle on them.”
“If this is what sadness is, then I should like to avoid it in the future.”
“No. Not sadness,” he corrected. “Disappointment. Betrayal.”
“Whatever you choose to name it, it does not sit well with me.” A gust of wind blew across my face, helping to dry my cheeks. With a deep breath of resignation, I stood and looked at Oz. “I have always known that a day such as this would come—understood where I placed in Hades’ priorities—so explain to me why now, after all this time, it should have this effect?”
“Because, Khara,” he said, standing to join me, “knowing in your head and knowing in your heart are two very different things. Logic and feeling do not play for the same team. And logic, with very few exceptions, never wins.”
“I prefer feeling nothing to this,” I said under my breath.
Oz looked at me, his expression a mix of anger and pity. “No you don’t. You just don’t like the ramifications of emotional investment.”
“And what would you know of it?” I asked, squaring my shoulders to face him. My
moment of weakness was long gone, and I needed to remind both him and myself of who I really was. Khara the unshakable. Khara the fearless.
“My reprieve from them is over now,” he said, hovering above me. “Thanks for that, by the way. I really appreciate it.”
He strode toward the window that led to his old room, leaving me alone to weigh his words. At first, they made no sense. Making him Dark should have deadened him inside, not the opposite. But what if it was not his change that had awakened him again? What if it was something else? Someone else?
I looked to that window and stared as though the answer were written on the clear glass pane, though in truth, I did not need it to be. It was plain that Oz blamed me for ruining his emotional fortitude.
I alone had unmade him in so many ways.
10
“You okay, Khara?” Kierson asked as I descended the stairs.
“Of course. I just needed some space. Learning that my adoptive sister conspired to kill me appears to have that effect on me,” I replied, rounding the newel post to the living room. “What have you learned of this attempt in my absence?”
“Khara,” Persephone called. She stood, a trio of my brothers surrounding her, poised to cut her down if she made one wrong move—or perhaps none at all. “Please…I need you to understand…”
“What is there that could be misunderstood?” I asked, staring at her across the room. “You wished me dead.”
“Yes, I did, but it was not personal. I did it to be rid of my mother—to secure my time away from her in the Underworld.”
“But that makes no sense,” Pierson said, assessing her with narrowed eyes. “Every tale ever told—every document written about Demeter and you—says that you adored your time above with her.”
Persephone turned her gaze to him, the fire in her stare enough to set the room ablaze.
“Because all stories and texts are accurate?” she asked. Her acerbic tone made the rhetorical nature of the question clear. “My mother is a disease—a parasite. My time with her was torture. Feel free to have Muses rummage around in my mind to corroborate my story if you like. He’ll find it to be true.”
Unspoken (Unborn Book 3) Page 7