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“She does not belong to your son.”

“I think we both know that isn’t true.”

“What are you saying, Poseidon?”

“I’m saying I do not think you wish to go to war over a woman again. It did not end well for you last time.”

Last time, Dionysus had had Zeus’s help, and given Poseidon’s support of Theseus, he did not think the God of the Sky would be so willing to intervene this time.

“I did not come here to discuss Ariadne,” said Dionysus.

“Right. You came to see what I knew about Medusa,” Poseidon said. “I fucked her and left her. I don’t know what happened after. Perhaps she begged Hades to die. Pity, though. If I had known the value of her beautiful head, I’d have cut it off where she lay.”

Dionysus glared, his nails biting into his palms.

Poseidon leaned forward, his elbows on his knees, hands clasped. “Tell me you knew. They say she can turn men to stone, but only after her head is separated from her body.” He paused and offered a horrible smirk. “Just like a woman, isn’t it?” he continued. “To be useful only after she’s dead.”

CHAPTER XIX

HADES

Hades woke because Persephone jerked beside him.

“Persephone?” he asked, twisting toward her as he sat up.

She writhed, her fingers fisted into the sheets, her back arching.

“Persephone,” he said, placing his hand on her belly in an attempt to ease her back onto the bed, but she wrenched away, a low moan on her lips.

He shook her.

“Persephone, wake up.”

He didn’t know what else to do to draw her from this nightmare, but it seemed to have its claws buried deep, because she would not rouse.

Fuck.

He shifted onto his knees and tried to hold her still.

“Persephone!”

This time, her eyes opened, but she still did not seem to be awake. She thrashed, and he could barelyhold her still, his knees shifting close to her body as he straddled her.

“Persephone, it’s me! Shh!”

It was when her nails dug into his skin that he knew this was a losing battle, but he did not know how else to wake her, and he would be damned if he left her to face the horror of this nightmare. But as he tried to settle back, her knee came up and hit him square in the face.

Hades fell, catching himself before he landed on his back as Persephone pushed herself away, hitting the headboard as if he’d cornered her.

“Persephone.” He started toward her, but she screamed, and all of a sudden, a horrifying tearing sound followed as vines and thorns burst from her skin. He could smell the blood as it mixed with her magic, which he usually found overwhelmingly sweet but now just tasted sour.

He was going to vomit.

“Persephone.”

This time when he said her name, it was painful.

He summoned a fire to the hearth, and in that horrible light, he could see the mess she’d made of herself.