Page 169

They were on a burning battlefield, and he lay at Persephone’s feet, speared by her magic.

It reminded him of Katerina’s vision, the one that would come true if the ophiotaurus was slain.

“Hades,” Persephone said, her voice shaking. She fell to her knees beside him as if she had been struck.

“I thought…I thought I’d never see you again,” he whispered, and he lifted a trembling hand to her face.

She pressed his palm flat against her cheek. “I’m here,” she whispered and closed her eyes against his touch, until his hand fell away. “Hades!”

“Hmm?”

“Stay with me,” she begged through her tears, taking his face between her hands.

“I cannot,” he said.

“What do you mean you can’t? You can heal yourself. Heal!”

“Persephone,” he whispered. “It’s over.”

“No,” she said, her mouth quivering.

“Persephone, look at me,” he said, desperate for her to see, to hear his final words. “You were my only love—my heart and my soul. My world began and ended with you, my sun, stars, and sky. I will never forget you but I will forgive you.”

“Forgive me?”

It was then she realized what Hades already knew—that she had raged against him and destroyed the Underworld. She had destroyed him.

Was this why she refused to harness her magic? Because she feared this potential? This reality?

Hades had to be honest. He feared this too, and it only got worse as Persephone tried to undo her magic, as she begged Hades to stay.

“No, please. Hades, I didn’t mean—”

“I know,” he said slowly. “I love you.”

“Don’t,” she begged. “You said you wouldn’t leave. Youpromised.”

Persephone’s screams rang in his ears as her visions went dark. Her body went still and then she fell.

Hades hurried to catch her and held her close. She was not out long when her eyes blinked open and met his, glistening as they filled with tears.

“You did well.”

She covered her mouth and then her eyes as she sobbed, her body shaking in his arms.

“It’s okay,” he soothed. “I’m here.”

But she only seemed to cry harder. He hated that he could not calm her, and he felt worse when she pulled away and got to her feet.

“Persephone—”

“That was cruel,” she said, standing over him. “Whatever that was, it was cruel.”

“It was necessary. You must learn—”

“You could have warned me. Do you even know what I saw?”

She acted as if it was easy for him to witness too.