Page 51 of Spring's Descent
“As High Matriarch, Demeter will be gifted with the witch’s magic first, and trusted to return it to the coven and the earth.”
“And if she chose to keep that power for herself?”
“It would create a great imbalance, one only worsened when she chose to hide the earth witch intended to return life to The Underworld.”
“Oh gods,” Persephone breathed, shaking her head just before her legs buckled.
Persephone
Aidoneus’s armswere around me before I even came close to hitting the floor. He cradled me against the hard planes of his chest as he carried me back to the bed. My body was exhausted, my mind as well. It felt like I was a candle burning through the night only to discover my wick had been cut short. But even as he arranged the blankets and pillows around me just how I liked, I couldn’t allow myself the reprieve of darkness just yet.
I’d know mother was selfish, her reputation and power coveted, but I’d wanted to believe she had protected me. That some small part of her had kept me safe formysake… but it had all been for hers.
“I really was raised for the slaughter,” I breathed. “Like a bird with its wings clipped, kept docile and caged until my death served a greater purpose than my life.”
“No.” The unwavering strength in Aidoneus’s voice snapped my gaze to his. “You are not broken, Persephone.”
“Aren’t I?” A sob shook my chest as tears pricked my eyes. I hadn’t meant to speak the thought out loud, but Aidoneus’s eyes blazed, his pupils expanding until there was only a sliver of his sapphire irises.
“You escaped their cage, little witch. Your powers have already started to manifest on your own, but together, we’ll be unstoppable.”
The deep tenor of his voice soothed the storm of betrayal raging within my heart. He was right. I felt life magic humming in my veins, and Hecate herself had healed me. I was more powerful than I’d ever thought possible, and I hadn’t gone through my awakening yet. Once I did, I would use that power to free Lark and then?—
“Wait.” My brows furrowed as I pinned Aidoneus under my stare. I could hear the pounding of my heartbeat in my ears, my tired body already processing what my mind was rushing to connect. “What do you mean by ‘we’?”
He stood, spine stiff as the shadow of wings appeared at his back, but it was his eyes that demanded my attention—they were so dark. I couldn’t see any of the cerulean blue and it looked like even the whites had started to recede.
I’d meant to sit up, intending on standing to face him, but my body wouldn’t respond. It felt like I was weighed down, the last of my energy being sent to my racing thoughts.
Breaking our staring contest, my eyes darted from the bare walls surrounding me to the windows, most of their view blocked by heavy curtains. There was nothing personal, no items or decor to hint at where I was.
“Where are we?” The prickling sensation along the back of my neck warned me that I already knew the answer but didn’t want to believe it.
I glanced at his chest, to the place where I knew the upside down torch was branded on his skin. Aidoneus was powerful, to be sure, but he was just a demon. He had only ever been a demon following orders, but what if he wasn’t. What if he were someone else entirely…
At the hot springs—gods above. I’d offered him everything.Everything. Thinking I was making my own choice, claiming a morsel of control over my life, when really…
“Shh. Everything will be all right, little witch.”
Shaking my head against the truth, I dared to look up, needing to be wrong.
His eyes were entirely black now, his wickedly beautiful wings unfurling behind him. A disarming smile tilted his lips as I fought to remain conscious, captivatingly horrified as I watched great ram horns spiral into place.
He was the cause of my nightmares. The villain of my reality. The God of The Underworld. And I’d followed him right to my demise.
“Hades.”
He leaned forward as my eyelids closed, my body succumbing to unconsciousness. The intoxicating scent of him swirling around me as his lips pressed a gentle kiss to the top of my head.
“Don’t worry, Persephone. I’ve got you now, and I’m never letting you go.”
33
PERSEPHONE
Darkness shifted.I blinked as I appeared on a frigid lake with the bodies of witches from my coven frozen up to their necks in the ice surrounding me. Their cries created a cacophony of pain, rivulets of tears running down their cheeks to form small pillars of ice that had joined the larger block holding them in place. Others less fortunate were already below the ice, their bloodshot eyes darting frantically around with mouths frozen open in not so silent screams.
“I’m sorry,” I muttered as my own tears started, recognizing far too many of their faces. They were the witches who had been claimed. The ones murdered by my mother. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know what she was doing.”