Page 16 of Love and Death (Tempting the Fates #4)

CERBERUS

S tanding in the middle of the empty arena, my jaw hardens as I once again scan the dusty floor.

I have scoured the halls, the rooms, the stands, and even the surrounding streets. Hell, I must have retraced my steps a dozen times, but still, I cannot seem to find any evidence that Hazel’s father was ever here.

Even his scent eludes me.

I do not know what I was expecting to find here, but I certainly did not expect to find nothing.

I snort, and a puff of dust escapes my nose in frustration as I take a step back. Something crunches softly beneath my foot, and I immediately freeze.

Crouching, I brush away a layer of dirt to reveal a torn bit of crumpled paper. I turn it over in my hand before lifting it to my nose and taking a deep breath in.

Hazel’s scent is unmistakable. Warm and bright, like a soft summer’s day .

This must be part of the note I gave her just before the trial started … But if this still carries her scent, then why can I find nothing of her father’s presence ever having been here?

Now that I think of it, I have yet to find evidence of anyone else having been here either. It is as if someone has tried to have the whole place scrubbed clean.

Strange.

My lips press into a thin line as I rise to turn in a slow circle, as if some new evidence might suddenly materialize in answer. I do not have time to scour the entire Underworld for this mortal, no matter how much I may wish to do so for the girl’s sake.

Raking my hair back from my forehead, I take in another deep breath before exhaling it slowly in an attempt to re-center myself.

Hell, it would feel so good to shift right now, to lose myself to the beast, but gods know that is the last thing I should do right now … if only for the little lamb’s sake.

For that is what she would become, a sacrifice.

Though my blood still boils just beneath the surface of my skin, knowing what a shift might mean for the girl is enough for me to keep the monster at bay.

At least, for now.

The paper crinkles in my hand as it tightens into a fist, drawing my attention back to the present.

I wonder what happened to the rest of the note. No sooner than I think this do I push the thought aside.

There are far more important things to worry about right now than a scrap of paper. Shoving the bit that I have into my pocket, I turn to leave the arena just as my whole body suddenly stiffens.

Lifting my nose to the air, I sniff. Immediately, the hairs at the nape of my neck bristle at the faint but still familiar scent.

“Persephone, show yourself,” I shout, but only silence is given in answer.

I wait a few more seconds before letting out a grunt of annoyance. I do not have time for her games.

I start to leave again, only for something to draw my attention, a flicker of movement, just too quick for me to pinpoint, at the edge of my vision. I jerk my head toward it, but there is only empty space as far as I can see.

“Persephone,” I shout again, this time in warning, “You cannot hide your presence from me. What do you want?”

My voice is still echoing through the arena when the scent of her hits me—heady, cloying, and so thick it coats the back of my tongue.

I was wrong. This is not familiar to me.

The soft scents of spring have been replaced by bloom on the edge of rot. She no longer tastes of life, but of wilt and decay.

“I want to help,” she all but whispers in my ear.

“Help,” I scoff, whirling toward her voice but finding only empty air. “Help with what?”

“The mortal.”

“Have you not done enough harm already?”

“Harm? If we are speaking of harm , then I have certainly done no worse than you,” Persephone calls out, her words twisting my stomach with guilt .

“No worse than me?” I say with a bitter laugh. “Is that so? Then, when were you going to tell me about the mortal’s role here?”

“Her role?”

“Yes, do not play coy with me,” I snarl. “So, I ask again, when were you going to tell me her role in Hades’ deal?!”

A pause.

“I was only doing what I thought had to be done.”

“What you thought had to be done—”

“Yes,” the goddess cuts me off, her soft voice suddenly sharper than a blade.

“If you had been here … if you had seen what Hades has put us through, then perhaps you would understand. Perhaps, you would have finally acted as the guardian you were meant to be, and none of this would have ever been necessary.”

My lip curls up over my fangs in disgust, my eyes narrowing as I scan the arena for any sign of where she might be.

“You know that was not possible.”

“Are you truly so blinded by your loyalty to my husband to believe that?”

“Loyalty,” I snort, the word like bile on my tongue. “Do you honestly think that I act out of loyalty to him?”

“Do you not?”

A wry smile pulls at the corners of my mouth.

“No. Loyalty denotes choice,” I say coldly. “Despite what others say. Despite what I let them think. I am not loyal to Hades … I am enslaved to him, a fate I believe you understand all too well.”

The air around me begins to shimmer and thicken, and I feel the goddess’ presence glistening like a heavy dew upon my skin.

I sense her hesitation as the atmosphere trembles, a tense moment of silence briefly filling the space, before she suddenly materializes a few feet in front of me amidst a burst of petals.

Persephone steps closer, her long hair cascading down over her shoulders in soft waves as she peers up at me with searching eyes, and I am surprised by the fear I see within them.

“You should not say such things aloud,” she says, her voice calm but wary.

I raise an eyebrow at her warning, my gaze hardening.

“Why? I only speak the truth, and I do not fear Hades’ wrath.”

“Oh, but you should,” she whispers. “He may not be able to kill you, but that is not a luxury afforded too many. Be careful, Cerberus. Even something as seemingly harmless as a few words can bring about the destruction of a kingdom.”

There is something about the way she says this that sets me on edge. “What are you trying to tell me?”

“The mortal was never part of Hades’ deal with the Fates.”

“But I was told—"

“She is part of mine.”

I stare at Persephone in stunned silence as I try to gather my thoughts, and for the first time, I see more than meets the eye .

I see the bruised darkness beneath her eyes, the weary strain of her flesh, the desperation that clings to her bones. Her beauty, once so full of new life, now more like a blossom damaged by frost.

If I were a lesser creature, I might take pity on her, but thousands of years spent among the gods cautions me against it.

“Yours?” I repeat. “What in all of Hell’s names do you mean by that?”

“My deal with the Fates.”

“Continue ...”

Persephone looks down at her hands as she chews her bottom lip in thought.

“I said, speak!” I snap, my hands fisting at my sides when I can bear her silence no longer.

She startles before quickly saying, “I did not know Hazel when I struck the deal. It was made so long ago now, even her grandparents had yet to be born.”

“I do not need the backstory to your guilt. I need facts , Persephone.”

“I made an appeal out of desperation. You are not alone in your bondage here,” she says, her voice suddenly edged with hatred.

“Hades’ deal was only ever meant for greater power, for Death, but mine?

I wanted a new beginning. To breathe life into a realm growing so cold under Hades’ ever-expanding reach, and that is what I was offered. ”

“But at what price? What did you promise them?”

“A mortal soul ... an innocent, driven into Hades’ arms, and taken by force to replace me as queen.”

I see red .

I see blood .

I see Persephone gurgling as her life pours out to quench the thirst of the dust around me. I see the Underworld burning down in my wake.

I see—

“Forgive me, Cerberus,” she implores, dropping to her knees before me. “I did not know … I was desperate to be rid of him. Desperate to live again. I -I thought—”

“You thought what? ” I say, my voice so low that a shout would hold less terror. “To inflict the same torment, the same cycle of pain on another? You would do to Hazel …”

I pause, my jaw clenching as I have to swallow back disgust at my next words.

“You would willingly subject her to the same torment that you, a goddess, could not endure? You would continue the cycle of Hades’ cruelty with your own?”

“I was wrong. I see that now. It is not too late.”

“Only now? You only see that now?”

“When I saw that it was Death who followed her, who fought for her soul—who held her in his heart—I thought she could be saved ... We could all be saved.”

Again, I have to fight the rage that threatens to overtake me. This time over the reminder of Death and his love for Hazel.

My fated mate.

“Death is gone,” I bite.

“Yes, I know. I realized too late that I was mistaken. Hades has done what the Fates asked of him. He will get what he wants, and Hazel will be forced to become his queen, if we do not work together to stop him. ”

The very thought of him claiming her makes me want to tear my hair out, the beast within me howling to be released, but I am stopped by something she has said.

“What do you mean Hades has done as the Fates asked?”

“You were told his deal required a mortal soul, were you not?”

“Yes, but—”

“ Mortal. One extra word, and somehow, just enough to destroy a kingdom.”

“A soul powerful enough to bring about the birth of new kingdoms or raze the very Underworld to the ground in its wake,” I mutter beneath my breath. “Hades’ deal never required a mortal soul ... It was Death’s soul he needed.”

The spring goddess nods solemnly.

“Then why not say as much?”

“It was not a lie that they were bound to secrecy, or that a soul was required,” she says. “Even I could not tell them outright that it was Death that Hades really wanted. So, I used it to my advantage and simply had them believe it was a mortal soul instead.”

“And the restrictions on power that were put in place? Why?”

“To weaken Death and steal unwitting power in the guise of the king’s protection.”

“Why … How are you telling me this now?”

“Is it not obvious? Death’s soul has been relinquished. Hades has paid the price.”

“Hades has never paid the price,” I spit .

“Then now is our chance,” she begs, grabbing fistfuls of my shirt as she gets to her feet and searches my face with hopeful eyes. “I want to help you … help Hazel get what you most desire. What we all most desire. Please, I want to make amends for what I have done.”

I watch her for a long moment, my expression hard and unreadable.

“No.”

I turn on my heel to walk away, tossing her from me in the process. I should have known better than to hear her out. I will not waste another precious second on her.

“I know why you came here! I know who you are looking for,” she calls out behind me.

“Is that so,” I say with a cold laugh, continuing on toward the exit without so much as a glance back. I refuse to let her make a fool of me any longer. “And? What of it?”

“I can help you. I know where he is.”

I stop in my tracks, the disgusted sneer distorting my face slipping away as I slowly turn to face her again.

“And just who, exactly , do you think I am looking for?”

“The mortal’s father.”

I utter a curse under my breath, my jaw hardening as my mind races to try to understand her angle.

“Why should I believe you, let alone trust you?”

“Because I know what it is like to make a mistake and have to live with it—pay for it—for an eternity,” Persephone says, rising slowly from the arena floor, her eyes pleading with me to listen.

“Because I know what it means to be caught between love and duty … to make choices that tear you to bits, piece by piece, for the sake of the realm. I know that what I have done cannot be undone, but I can do everything in my power to help make things right.”

“How? How can any of this be made right?”

“I do not know, but give me time, and I will prove my worth. I will prove that—”

“You ask for something I do not have! Time has run its course, and I will not be fool enough to trust you at your word alone.”

“I can give you time,” Persephone says. “I have given you time.”

“What?”

“Unbeknownst to him, I have already slowed Hades’ progress through the forest. According to my sources, he has been walking in a circle for the better part of two hours now.”

I narrow my eyes on the small goddess, studying every angle and line of her face.

Despite my best efforts, I cannot tell if she is speaking the truth or not …

but if there is even a chance that she is telling the truth.

That she can give me more time to find Eros and come up with a plan, then I have no choice but to accept her help.

For now.

“Fine, you can start by taking me to the mortal’s father,” I relent through gritted teeth. “But, if you so much as breathe the wrong way, I swear to all the gods that you will regret ever having crossed my path.”

Persephone nods, a small smile of relief dancing at the corners of her eyes. “Of course, I would expect nothing less of a true guardian. Now, come, we must hurry.”

With that, the goddess sets off to lead me back through the twisting streets of the city.