Prologue
“The Furies have fallen, my lord. It won’t be long before Cronos charges through the gates,” Metheus declared, his tone laced with a concern that never before had been witnessed by another being; living or dead.
Hades cursed and turned away from the window, his black robes billowing behind him. The Grey Sisters had long foreseen that this night would come. Hades was able to find a way out, and while it had been a last resort, it was still a chance. He would take any chance necessary if it meant he could save Persephone from his father’s wrath.
“What do you wish me to do now, my lord?” Metheus glanced out the window to where the Gates of Erebus were being destroyed in the near distance.
Hades faced his old friend and clapped him on the shoulder. “Flee while you still can.”
The seer’s white eyebrows lifted in alarm and defiance. “I cannot leave you here.”
“Take my chariot and flee. There is nothing more to be done here. You have served me well, my old friend. Make haste before it is too late.”
He turned before Metheus could protest and entered his chamber. Persephone, draped in a sheer pink gown that flowed at her feet, paced on the balcony. The ground shook as Cronos finally broke through the gates.
“It is time,” Hades softly informed her.
Persephone paused in her tracks and looked up at him. “But…” Her hand fell to her swollen stomach. “Our children.”
Hades took her hand in his and lifted her gaze with his other. “They will one day be reborn in the next life with us.”
Tears slipped from her lashes. “Yes. We must do this for our future and for our children. There is no other way.”
Indeed, there was not. This was the only way they could be together without Cronos and his followers trying to kill Hades now that he had escaped Tartarus. The Titan was determined to kill his firstborn one way or another, and none of the other gods dared help because they were too occupied with their own realms.
“I am frightened, my love,” Persephone whispered, closing her eyes.
“Do not fear the darkness that is to come.” Hades reached into his robe and withdrew two crystal vials. “For I will be there to guide the way through.” He opened one of the vials and ran the lid along Persephone’s bowed lips. Slowly, she opened, and he reached for the back of her neck, then poured the liquid onto her tongue. Persephone swallowed the contents while tears streamed down her cheeks. “I will love you for eternity, my ílios, in this life, and the thousands after it.”
Persephone opened her eyes and took the second vial from him. “And I love you, my astéri, until the last breath of our last life together.” She poured the liquid into his mouth. “Nothing in all the realms will keep us apart. Not Cronos. Not Gaia. No one, no thing.” She pressed her lips to his, her heart clenching with despair.
Hades wrapped his arms around her waist and held her close. “Do not forget me.”
“Never, my love.”
And then they leapt, falling to their deaths.
Chapter One
“Why do villains get punished for having fun?” I sit down on the beach next to my sister and glance up at the blinding sunlight. “One tiny hiccup and now we’re stuck at the Academy for Villains for three whole months. It’s so unfair.”
“You turned a guy’s dick into stone and snapped it like a glow stick.” Murie side-eyes me with an amused grin sliding over her lips. “What did you think would happen?”
I give a casual shrug. “He touched my butt, so I broke his dick. No touchy, no hurty.” Tossing my long pink hair over my shoulders, I follow her gaze. The sun has nearly touched the horizon. That means the ship will be here soon, and my stomach clenches at the thought. “Anyway, it was my hair that turned him into stone, not me.”
She snorts under her breath. “Blame it on your half Gorgon side like you always do.”
“Hey, it’s a legit excuse. I’m cursed!”
Murie drapes her arm over my shoulders, her feet buried in the water lapping at the shore. “And I’m cursed too, Zara. This academy is the only place for people like us.”
“Those who are fucked up and not all there in the head?”
She laughs and playfully shoves my shoulder. “Bad-ass women who don’t need a knight in shining armour to save them.”
“I’d probably just break his dick off anyway,” I grumble. “Maybe by accident this time. Maybe. Unless he turns out to be another jerk, in which case I will happily turn his dick into stone and snap it like a glow stick.” I stand and brush the sand off my green plaid skirt. “Unfortunately, I doubt the academy will let us use magic.”
Murie pauses, brushing her silver hair behind her pointed ears. “Probably not but it’s worth a try.”
“Have I taught you nothing?”
Our mother’s voice carries on the ocean breeze. We turn to see her emerging from the sea; the waves lapping at her waist. Her purple tentacles vanish and a long, flowing gown of dark seaweed covers her now human body. Her silver hair and lilac complexion are the same as Murie’s.
My pale skin, pink eyes and hair are the complete opposite. I’m also part Gorgon and can’t breathe underwater. It doesn’t take a genius to see that I’m the adopted one.
“Rules are meant to be broken.” My mother dips her toes into the white sand, a smile dancing over her lips. “Be proud of who you are and show no fear.”
I grin at her. “Fear? I laugh in the face of fear.”
As if on cue, the sand beneath my boots trembles. The sun has touched the horizon at long last and it stains the clouds with streaks of crimson and gold. In the far distance, a shadow eclipses the setting sun. I shield my gaze from the blinding rays and watch as a monstrous dragon-shaped ship with black sails glides towards us. It should take some time for the ship to reach the shore, but it arrives only minutes later.
My heart picks up its pace as I watch the anchor plunge into the sea. A gangway is dropped down, but at first, nobody disembarks. The dragon wings slowly curl inward and then I see it, the cloud of dark energy seeping down the ramp. A hooded man materialises from the smoke, the shadows licking around his tall frame.
“Captain Nemo.” He inclines his head curtly and then looks between me and Murie. His eyes cut into us like sharpened sea glass, the same ocean-blue as the turban wrapped around his head. “Are you the Eyre sisters?”
“Depends. You here to take us to our doom?” I ask, crossing my arms. “Also, Nemo? As in the fish?”
Murie nudges me with her elbow. “Yes, we are the Eyre sisters.”
Rolling my eyes, I give the ship an assessing once over. The deck looks empty from where I’m standing. Surely, we’re not the first ones to get picked up? As I push up onto my tiptoes, the captain snaps his fingers, and something sharp pricks me on the side of the neck. It’s like a mosquito bite, only sharper.
“What’s that for?” I rub where he struck, my irritated pulse fluttering under my fingers.
“A precaution.”
“For what?”
He doesn’t answer me. After doing the same to Murie, he says, “Say your farewells. It is time to set sail.”