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Chapter

Eight

Hades

“I’m pregnant.”

Her words explode in my mind. Happiness ruptures my heart. My soul implodes with bliss.

I am overjoyed the like I have never known. This is all that I have ever wanted. It is all that I have ever dreamed. That this woman—this goddess—would one day carry my child.

And now she is.

She is carrying my child.

I have spent an eternity hoping for this, trying for this.

My seed is not dead, after all.

I grab her face between my hands, kissing her deeply. A sound spills from the depths of me. It is unfamiliar.

It is laughter. Pure joy and hope.

The God of Death inside me quivers with feeling. We have wanted nothing but this, but her, but a family of our own for so long.

I kiss her again, dragging my lips over hers. They tremble, and I realize as sick coils in my gut that she tastes like grief.

I pull back in time to see Hydra land on the balcony, her silhouette large through the sheer curtains.

“You are not happy.” The words nearly get stuck in my throat.

Her blink is heavy. Her words raw. “I was.”

“Was?” I ask.

“I—”

“Persephone, what is wrong?” I’m afraid to ask, but I need to know. The fear is a boulder in my throat I struggle to swallow down. “What did you see on the cave wall?”

“Hades.” She shakes her head. My name is a sob that falls like a curse between us, consuming the happiness of this moment. Tainting it.Poisoning it.

I pull her to me, crushing her body that now trembles against my chest. I inhale the sweet floral scent of her, strong again now that the overwhelming scent of her arousal is less.

“Whatever it is, I'll make it right,” I vow to her. I vow to our child that is inside her.

She shakes her head, her fingers curling into my chest. “You can't. It's written…” She gulps in air. “It's prophesied, and itwillcome to pass. I know it will. I know it, Hades.”

She's crying now, and I feel as though every tear that leaks from her eyes is the thread that unspools me. I hold her tighter, as though my arms might keep the threads of us together, might keep them from fraying.

“Talk to me, Persephone. Tell me what you saw.”

It takes a moment for her to gather herself enough to speak the truth that threatens to ruin us.

“You tried in my past life to make me pregnant, didn't you?” Before I can answer, she presses on. “You wanted it. You've always wanted it. I know that now. I don't know how I know that,but I do. I know.” When she looks up at me, those green eyes misted over with grief, I can do nothing but nod.

I am raw.

Outside, I hear Hydra huff. I can hear the heavy emotion in that single sound. I don’t know why it frightens me as it does. But it does. So much.