Page 54 of Spring's Descent
He let out a low whistle as his eyes widened. “Hecate was right. Persephone really has gotten to you.”
I glared.
“Not that it’s your fault,” he clarified. “She’s powerful and the fates have woven her destiny with yours.”
“I told her of her place at my side, and still she stabbed me.”
“No,” Thanatos laughed. “Really?”
“Yes,” I practically growled. “With an icicle in Cocytus before jumping into a snow bank. She would rather sacrifice both our realms than bind her life to mine.”
“Did shesaythat, or did you assume?”
My teeth clenched. “Her actions made it pretty clear.”
“Maybe,” Thanatos shrugged, the feathers of his wings rustling the leaves of the nearest tree. “But there could be things you’re not seeing. When I collect souls from her realm, there are so many secrets between the living and the dead. Dozens of missed opportunities to reconcile. Times when a simple miscommunication set two souls on different paths when they could’ve carved out a happier one together if they’d only set pride aside and spoke to each other.”
I drew my own leathery wings in close, fists clenching as I silently forced myself to consider his point. Persephone hadn’t realized I was her fated partner because I’d purposely been evasive. Things may have started out different, but Persephone deserved more. She deserved everything.
“Gods below,” Thanatos whispered, his light blue eyes peering into mine and seeing far more than I wanted him to. “You…care. She not only healed your physical heart, but Persephone has managed to bring back your ability to feel. I thought death magic had obliterated everything but your ruthlessness and temper. Hecate always said that love and hate were separated by a single conversation, but it’s been centuries?—”
“I’m aware,” I snapped, hating thevulnerabilityof it all.
Thanatos’s brows lifted at my rebuke, and I swear I saw the faint traces of a grin, but he had his features schooled into a neutral mask in the next heartbeat.
“Right, we’ll circle back around tothat. For now, we need to focus on our immediate problems. Another three souls have turned into wraiths, one of which followed you and Persephone through the tunnels and nearly reached The Asphodel Plains.”
“Following Persephone’s scent?” I asked as my magic rose to the surface. The dark power hummed beneath my fingertips, ready to feed. It was always hungry, ravenous in its need for destruction, but my little witch’s power had tempered it some. It didn’t feel as wild—still primal and not the least bit subdued, but harnessed.
Thanatos nodded. “It’s driving the spirits crazy. She smells like…”
“Hope,” I answered grimly, and gods below did I understand how that could drive a soul to the verge of breaking.
“They need to be taken to the Lethe before others turn. Without crossing the Lethe and traveling to the shores of Oceanus, the souls can’t be reborn. They will be forced to wander The Underworld forever unless?—”
“Unless we cross into Hypnos’s territory.” The pads of my fingers rubbed my temple as I searched for another way, butthere wasn’t one. “We’ll have to risk it. My magic should be strong enough for the journey after spending time here.”
Thanatos was skeptically silent.
“We don’t have another choice. Letting wraiths wander would practically be announcing my control over death magic is fading. Hypnos has already succeeded in binding my magic once. We can’t risk him realizing it. If you and Hecate hadn’t been here to deflect, there wouldn’t have been a Dark Palace for Persephone and me to return to.”
“At least bring a few warriors with you. Morpheus has been spotted in nightmares.”
My eyes snapped to him. “Morpheus hasn’t had anything to do with his father’s meddling before. What’s changed?”
Thanatos shook his head, lips pressing into a grim line. “Those who have seen him deny any intervention. It could be he’s merely curious about how his father’s magic works, or…”
“Or he could sense the shift in power and is capitalizing on my weakness.” I ran a hand through my hair, the longer curls drifting down over my forehead. “Invite them to the palace.”
“To The Dark Palace?”
“What other palace would I mean?” I bit back.
“Only checking,” Thanatos said, raising his hands in a sign of surrender.
With a sigh, I stared through overgrown branches of the pomegranate trees to the golden spires in the distance. Persephone was getting ready right now, waking up tangled in my sheets. She would take a shower next, hot water cascading over the curves of her body as she used my bath oils to wash and knead…
“Would it not be better to metaphorically draw lines in the sand?” Thanatos asked. “Hypnos has all but declared war. Though Morpheus hasn’t acted against us, we must assume he’ll follow in his father’s footsteps.”