“Apollo, you cannot be serious!” Persephone reached for him, and the god shoved her aside.
“Hubris is the downfall of humanity and should be punished,” he said. “I will be the punisher.”
“He is a child!” she argued. “If he is guilty of Hubris, you are, too. Is your pride too wounded to let him live?”
Apollo clenched his fists. “His death is on your hands, Persephone.”
The goddess jumped in front of him, blocking Marsyas from view.
“You will not touch him. You will not hurt him!” She was desperate, and she feared she might lose control. She could feel her magic pulsing, making her flesh tingle and her hair rise.
Apollo laughed. “And how will you stop me?”
Apollo’s magic surrounding her, suffocating her with the smell of laurel. She glared at him.
“Now,” he turned back to Marsyas. “Let the skinning begin.”
Persephone felt nauseous.
This can’t be happening.
Apollo summoned a blade from thin air, its edges gleamed beneath the burning lights.
Persephone struggled to free herself, but the more she resisted, the heavier Apollo’s magic felt.
She watched, wide-eyed and terrified as Apollo knelt before the satyr, and pressed the blade to his cheek.
When she saw blood drip down his face, she lost control.
“Stop!” she screamed at the top of her lungs. Her magic fled from her body. It was an unusual feeling, like it was coming out of all her pores and her mouth and her eyes. It burned as if it were tearing skin and blinded as if it were pure light.
When the feeling faded, she was shocked to find everyone frozen: Apollo, his men, the crowd, everyone except Marsyas.
The satyr stared at Persephone, face pale and stained with crimson from the wound Apollo had made.
“Y-you’re a goddess.”
Persephone rushed to him and tried to pry the man’s fingers from the satyr’s arm, but they were wrapped too tightly. Frantic, she looked for another option. She didn’t know how long her magic would hold. She wasn’t even sure how she’d managed to freeze the whole room.
Then her eyes fell to the knife Apollo held inches from Marsyas’ face. She reached for it, and the slick handle slipping from his grasp. She took a few deep breaths before cutting into the man’s fingers so that Marsyas could free himself.
“Run,” she said.
“He will find me!” he argued, rubbing his arm.
“I promise you he won’t come after you again,” she said. “Go!”
The satyr obeyed.
She waited until he was out of sight to turn to Apollo and kick him hard in the balls.
The release of aggression was enough, and the whole room came to life again.
“Motherfucker!” the man behind her roared clutching his hand to his chest while Apollo collapsed to the ground, groveling.
Persephone loomed over him.
“Don’t you ever put me in that situation again,” Persephone’s voice shook with anger. Apollo breathed heavily, glaring up at her. “We might have an agreement, but I will not be used. Fuck you.”
She left the building with a smile on her face.
CHAPTER XXI - A TOUCH OF BETRAYAL
When Persephone returned home, she found Sybil, Zofie, and Antoni in her living room.
“Oh, thank the gods!” Sybil said, rushing to embrace her. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” Persephone said. Truthfully, she hadn’t felt this good in a while.
“Where were you?” Zofie demanded.
“The Lyre. Apollo decided today was the day he would take advantage of our bargain,” Persephone said.
Zofie’s eyes widened. “You have a bargain with Apollo?”
She didn’t respond and moved into the living room to sit on the couch, suddenly exhausted. The three followed her. “Did you tell Hades I was abducted?”
Antoni rubbed the back of his neck and turned a little pink. He didn’t need to answer, she knew the cyclops had.
Persephone sighed. “Someone should let him know I’m okay so he doesn’t destroy the world.”
Antoni and Zofie exchanged a look.
“I’ll do it,” Antoni said. “I’m glad you’re okay, Persephone.”
She smiled at the cyclops. Once he was gone, Sybil sat beside Persephone.
“What did Apollo make you do?”
Persephone told Sybil and Zofie what had happened, leaving out how she managed to freeze everyone in the whole room and that she’d cut someone’s fingers off. She decided she did want them to know she had kicked Apollo in the balls, though. Sybil laughed. Zofie tried to hide her amusement, probably because she feared retaliation.
“I don’t think he’ll force me to judge another competition any time soon,” she said. “Or abduct me from the street.”
There was silence for a long moment.
“Any updates on Lexa?” Persephone asked Sybil.
The oracle shook her head. “She was still asleep when I visited.”
More silence. There was a strange kind of exhaustion that seemed to settle upon them all at once and Persephone sighed.
“I’m going to bed. See you guys tomorrow.”
They said goodnight, and Persephone made her way to her room. She paused as she opened the door, overwhelmed by Hades’ scent. Her heart beat faster in her chest and her skin was hot. She felt silly, both excited and anxious at the possibility of seeing and speaking to him.
She closed the door and said, “How long have you been here?”
“Not long.” His voice came from the darkness. There was a rough undercurrent to his tone. She knew he was trying to keep a cap on his emotions. She could feel them raging around her, anger and fear and lust and longing.
She would take them all if it meant being close to him.
“You know what happened?” she asked.
“I overheard, yes.”
“Are you angry?” She whispered the words and found that she feared his response.
“Yes,” he said. “But not with you.”
He had kept his distance until that point, and then she felt him, his energy reached for hers. His hands found her arms, her shoulders, and then her face. She inhaled sharply at his touch.
“I couldn’t sense you,” he said. “I couldn’t find you.”
Persephone placed her hands over his. “I’m here, Hades. I’m fine.”
She thought he might kiss her, but instead he let go and turned on her light. It burned her eyes.
“You will never know how difficult this is for me.”
“I imagine as difficult as it’s been for me to deal with Minthe and Leuce.” Hades eyes darkened. “Except that Apollo has never been my lover.”
He scowled. She was provoking him, but she needed to see his emotion, to see that he cared.
“You have not been to the Underworld.”
Persephone folded her arms over her chest.
“I’ve been busy,” she said—and angry and afraid.
“The souls miss you, Persephone,” Hades said at last. She looked at him, unsure where he was going with this. Did he miss her? “Do not punish them because you are angry with me.”
“Don’t lecture me, Hades. You have no idea what I’ve been dealing with.”