I nodded. “That will be fine.”
“Thanks. Let’s get inside first.” She pushed open the door to the library, and we left the icy world behind.
I could feel the souls trapped in their houses, frozen, but I didn’t mention it to Seraphia. She wouldn’t like it.
The interior of the library was much the same as we’d left it. Dark and shadowed, but unfrozen. Seraphia pulled her phone from her pocket and typed a message into the little device. Once she was done, she looked up at me. “Okay, let’s get out of here.”
I nodded, pleased to be going back to my realm. We’d need to start the next phase of our journey, and we’d need to leave from there.
Quickly, I strode through the library. As we passed through the main atrium with its high domed ceiling, I couldn’t help but search the library for clues about Seraphia. She had spent much of her time here before I’d taken her. It was important to her.
“What are you looking for?” she asked.
“Nothing.”
“Not true.”
“I’m interested in you.” I stopped in front of the portal to my realm. “And this place is important to you.”
“You’re just interested in me because you need me,” she said.
I drew a deep breath, staring forward. “That is not true.”
I wanted to say more, but I didn’t know how.
She said nothing, though I imagined there were words on the tip of her tongue. Wishful thinking. We needed to get back to my realm. I stepped toward the portal, then gestured for her to proceed me. I didn’t want her to be the last in this frozen realm and possibly get caught by the ice.
She didn’t look at me as she stepped through the portal. I followed, emerging into my own library. It was silent here, the space lifeless in a way that her library was not. The dark shelves were deeply shadowed, the books hidden behind the spiders that protected them.
It was all so dark and dreary. I’d never noticed it before—I hadn't even had a concept of a warmer world than this one. But meeting her had changed that.
My realm was so different than hers.
Worried, I looked at her. Did she hate it here? Could she be happy here?
Frustration seethed through me. Why did I care? I shouldn’t. I needed her at my side to defeat Chronos.
I wanted her as my queen. For my people. For myself.
I was growing weak around her, and I did not know how to stop it.
She strode from the library, not bothering to look back. As she crossed the dark space, she almost glowed with light. Watching her walk away from me made my heart race in the strangest way. I rubbed a hand against my chest, trying to get it to settle down.
When she pushed open the main doors of the library and stepped onto the steps, I strode after her. I didn’t want her out of my sight for reasons I couldn’t entirely explain.
As I neared the exit, I heard her gasp. “It’s so different.”
I joined her, looking out over the city. My fortress loomed on the other side of town. Though we couldn’t see it from here, I knew that black roses climbed up the walls. Deep emerald grass grew at the base.
At the library stairs where we stood, massive vines climbed upward. Plants spilled out of the courtyard to the side of the building, though she couldn’t see it from here. Nor could she see the other places she’d secretly planted things, places that had also run riot.
“I can feel them,” she said. “This place feels more alive.”
“Because of you.”
“Well, it’s about to change even more.” She hurried down the stairs to the main street, then knelt.
Magic vibrated around her as she touched the ground.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
She ignored me, and her magic thrummed in the air, smelling of green grass and flowers and feeling like a cool breeze. I wanted it to flow through me so I could feel her better. It made the light inside of me hum, rising to the surface. It brought with it the usual pain, but I welcomed it even as I loathed it.
The vines that climbed up the stairs around me retreated. I blinked, surprised. Was she killing the plants she’d put here?
Panic flared. I hadn’t liked it at first when she’d put them here, but I’d grown used to it. I liked seeing evidence of her.
Now she was destroying it?
But no. The vines were just growing in a more orderly fashion. And small trees popped up in the barren spaces along the roads. Tiny beds of flowers appeared. They weren't bright like the ones back on Earth, but they were lovely enough.
And then there were the changes I couldn’t see. I could feel them, though. The forests outside the city were reviving, life flowing back through the trees and bushes. Fields grew as well, grasses and crops.
“Why are you changing my realm?” I asked.
“It must happen. It’s how I am supposed to fully embrace my power.”
“By changing my realm?”
“It’s our realm, isn’t it?”
Shock lanced me, followed by joy.
She looked up, meeting my gaze. “That doesn’t mean I’m on your side in this horrible plan of yours. But the Underworld is important to me, too.”
She turned back to her work, and I felt the change roll through my realm. People came out of their houses and looked around, wide-eyed.
Even the sky began to lighten. The sun didn’t go so far as to come out, but it looked brighter and more welcoming. The trees were a deep shade of green, and the small flowers were various shades of white and cream against their softer green leaves.
As my realm grew brighter, so did she. Her skin glowed, and her power seemed to rest more easily inside her. She was fully coming into her magic. It was intoxicating to watch.
It even made me feel different. Lighter, almost.
“See,” she said. “Change is okay. It doesn’t have to be all butterflies and rainbows. It’s still the Underworld. But it’s not quite so miserable now.”
She was right. It wasn’t quite so miserable. But then, anywhere with her was pleasant.
“Nothing stops you, does it?” I asked.
“I don’t know about that. But this had to happen.” She stood and looked at me, and I stepped toward her, unable to help myself.
With Seraphia, nothing was as it seemed. Possibilities seemed endless. Because of her.
Perhaps everything wasn’t the way I thought it was. I’d never considered that the Underworld should change. That it even could. And yet, she’d made it happen.
Doubt tugged at me. Were other things not as they seemed? Were my goals…off?
No. They couldn’t be.
The light inside me seemed to pulse, and I rubbed my chest. What if I let it take over? What if I joined her?
But it was impossible.
Lachesis had been clear. To save Seraphia from the curse of Tartarus, I had to take the Crown of Destiny.
“Hades?” Concern shadowed Seraphia’s voice. “Are you all right?”
“Of course.”
“Whoa.” A feminine voice sounded from the top of the library stairs, catching my attention.
I turned. Her allies, Eve, Beatrix, and Mac, stood on the steps above us.
12
Seraphia
I turned around, spotting my three friends standing at the top of the library stairs. I grinned and called up, “Thank fates you’re here.”