“I couldn’t tell,” she replied, shivering.
“I’ve wanted to pleasure you in this room, on this desk, since I met you. It will be the most productive thing that happens here.”
His words were flames and they ignited her. She swallowed thickly.
“You have glass walls, Hades.”
“Are you trying to deter me?”
She narrowed her eyes and teased. “Exhibitionist?”
“Hardly.” He leaned a little closer, and she felt his breath on her lips. “Do you really think I would let them see you? I am too selfish. Smoke and mirrors, Persephone.”
She leaned into his heat, “Then take me,” she whispered.
Hades’ growled and snaked an arm around her waist when someone cleared their throat. They turned to find Lexa standing in the doorway.
“Hey, Hades,” she said with a smile on her face. “Hope you don’t mind. I brought Persephone for a tour.”
“Hi Lexa,” he said, smirking. “No, I don’t mind at all.”
Persephone gave a small laugh and stepped away from Hades’ warmth.
“I have to get back to work,” she said, meeting Lexa at the door of Hades’ office. She turned to look at him. He was power, standing behind that desk, silhouetted by that beautiful glass. “I’ll see you tonight?”
He nodded once.
As they returned to the first floor, Lexa said, “I know you’ll go to the Underworld on Friday for the weekend, but don’t forget we’re helping Sybil move Friday.”
“Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” she said.
The two hugged at the door.
“Thanks for everything, Lex. I’m sorry you couldn’t give me the tour yourself.”
“I won’t lie. It was weird seeing people fall all over themselves in your presence.”
The two laughed together at that. It was strange, even to Persephone, but then Lexa said something that made Persephone’s blood run cold.
“Imagine when they find out you’re a goddess.”
Persephone walked back to the Acropolis. This time she begrudgingly made her way to the entrance between screaming fans who were kept at bay by a makeshift barrier security had put in place.
“Persephone! Persephone look over here!”
“How long have you been dating Hades?”
“Will you write about other gods?”
She kept her head down and didn’t answer any questions. By the time she made it inside, her body was vibrating, her magic awakened from the surge of anxiety she’d felt being at the center of the crowd. She made a beeline for the elevators, all the while thinking about Lexa’s last words before they’d parted at Alexandria Tower.
Imagine when they find out you’re a goddess.
She knew what that really meant:
Imagine when you can no longer exist as you once did.
Suddenly, the elevator seemed too small and just when she thought she couldn’t take another breath, the doors opened. Helen popped up from behind her desk, smiling, oblivious to Persephone’s internal battle.
“Welcome back, Persephone.”
“Thanks, Helen,” she said without much of a look in her direction. Despite this, Helen followed Persephone to her desk. As she stored her things, she found a white rose sitting on her laptop. Persephone picked it up, careful to avoid the thorns.
“Where did this come from?” she asked.
“I don’t know,” Helen said, frowning. “I didn’t accept anything for you this morning.”
Persephone’s brows knitted together. A red ribbon was tied around the stem but there was no card attached. Maybe Hades had left it for her, she reasoned, and set it aside.
“Do I have any messages?”
Persephone assumed that was why Helen had escorted her back to her desk.
“No,” Helen said.
That was unlikely. Persephone waited.
“They can wait,” Helen added. “Besides, they’re all leads for other stories, and I know you’re working on that exclusive—”
Persephone’s eyes must have flashed because Helen stopped speaking.
“How do you know about that?” Persephone’s mood dampened.
“I…”
She’d never seen Helen stumble over her words before, but all of a sudden, the girl couldn’t speak, and she looked close to tears.
“Who else knows?” Persephone asked.
“N-no one,” Helen finally managed. “I overheard. I’m sorry. I thought it was exciting. I didn’t realize—”
“If you overheard, you’d know it wasn’t exciting. Not for me.”
There was silence, and Persephone looked at Helen. “I’m sorry, Persephone.”
She sighed and sat in her chair. “It’s okay, Helen. Just...don’t tell anyone, okay? It...might not happen.”
She hoped.
Helen looked panicked. So she had heard a lot more than she was letting on.
“But...you’ll be fired!” she whispered fiercely.
Persephone sighed. “Helen, I really need to get to work and I think you do, too.”
Helen paled. “Of course. I’m so—”
“Stop apologizing, Helen,” Persephone said, and then added as gently as she could. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”
The blonde smiled. “I hope things get better, Persephone. I really do.”
After Helen returned to her desk, Persephone started research on Apollo and his many lovers. She realized she’d promised Hades she wouldn’t write about the God of Music, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t start a file on him and there was no lack of information, especially from antiquity.
Almost all the stories about Apollo and his relationships ended tragically for the other person involved. Of all his lovers, there were a few who stood out and illustrated his heinous behavior, in particular the stories of Daphne and Cassandra.
Daphne was a nymph and swore to remain pure her whole life. Despite this, Apollo pursued her relentlessly, declaring his love for her as if that might sway her to change her mind. Left with no other options, and fearing Apollo, she asked her father, the river god Peneus, to free her from Apollo’s relentless pursuit. Her father granted her request and turned her into a laurel tree.
Laurel was one of Apollo’s symbols and now Persephone realized why.
Gross.
Cassandra, a Princess of Troy, was given the power to see the future by Apollo, who hoped the gift would persuade her to fall in love with him, but Cassandra wasn’t interested. Enraged, Apollo cursed her, allowing her to retain the power to see the future, but making it so that no one would believe her predictions. Later, Cassandra would foresee the fall of her people, but no one would listen.
There were other ancient lovers—Coronis, Okyrrhoe, Sinope, Amphissa, Koronis, and Sibylla, and newer, modern lovers—Acacia, Chara, Io, Lamia, Tessa, and Zita. The research wasn’t easy. From what Persephone understood, many of these women had tried to speak out against Apollo via social media, blogs, even going so far as to tell their story to journalists. The problem was no one was listening.
She was so consumed by her research, a knock on her desk made her jump. Persephone found Demetri standing in front of her.
“How’s the article coming?” he asked.