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Theseus did not respond.

“Are you hopeful it will have the desired effect and spur Aphrodite into a rage?”

Theseus glanced out the window and then lookedback at Hades. “I do not think I need her rage to prove the wrath of the gods. Your future mother-in-law is illustrating the point perfectly well.”

They stared at one another for a moment, and Hades stiffened, sensing Persephone’s magic. In the next second, she appeared behind Theseus, looking almost dazed until her eyes met his and then slid to Theseus.

Hades fought the urge to go to her, to shield her from him. If he’d had his way, Theseus would never have met her.

“Darling,” Hades said, his tone both questioning and concerned.

Theseus turned to look at her, and Hades curled his fingers into fists.

“So you are the lovely Lady Persephone,” Theseus said, and a shock of rage heated Hades’s skin as the demigod looked her up and down.

“Theseus I think you should leave,” Hades said, his voice almost quaking, a hint at his fury.

“Of course,” the demigod said, nodding at Hades. “I am late for a meeting anyway.” As he exited, he stopped in front of Persephone and held out his hand. “Pleased to make your acquaintance, my lady.”

She did not move to place her hand in his, and Hades was glad for it. He was not certain what he would have done, and he did not trust any reason why Theseus might want to touch her. Could he clean thoughts, memories, perhaps even dreams with a simple touch? His powers were unknown to Hades.

Theseus dropped his hand and chuckled. “You are probably right to not shake my hand. Have a good day, my lady.”

As soon as he left, Hades came out from behind the desk.

“Are you well?” he asked immediately.

Persephone was looking at the door when she turned to meet his gaze. “Do you know that man?”

“As well as I know any enemy,” Hades said.

“Enemy?”

He nodded toward the closed door where the demigod had disappeared. “That man is the leader of Triad,” he said, but he did not wish to discuss Theseus now. She had obviously left work for a reason, and as soon as she had manifested in his office, he had known something was wrong. He tipped her head back. “Tell me.”

“The news,” she said. “There’s been a horrible accident.”

Hades swallowed hard. He had been waiting for this—for Demeter’s storm to cause the devastation that would lead Persephone to realize she couldn’t continue to be with him.

Was this it? Was this the end?

“Come,” he said and took her by the hand. “We will greet them at the gates.”

CHAPTER XXI

HADES

The gates were the only entrance by which the dead entered the Underworld. They were large and beautifully detailed with symbols of his realm, crafted by the cyclops who had also given Hades the Helm of Darkness.

They remained closed until Thanatos, Hermes, or another psychopomp led souls to the Underworld, at which point they opened to the Dreaming Tree and beyond to the Styx where Charon waited to ferry them across to the Field of Judgment.

He watched Persephone as she observed their surroundings, which were dark—even the sky overhead. Here, outside the gates, it was always night, and it was within this night that the deities of the Underworld resided.

“What clings to that tree?” Persephone asked, nodding toward the gates and at the tree beyond, which was several feet wide and nearly as tall as the gates. Its branches were thick with foliage and heavy with teardrop-shaped orbs of light.

“Dreams,” he replied, looking at her. “Those who enter the Underworld must leave them behind.”

Her expression did not change, but he could sense her sadness.