The God & The Shadow

Chapter 61

LORE

"Persephone..."

I stared at her, dumbfounded. She looked so effortlessly beautiful, so divine. It took everything in me to not gawk.

"You look beautiful." Fucking perfection fit her more, but it would sound too strong, too familiar. I had to remind myself that the woman in front of me wasn't Veronica, but Persephone.

Her lips tilted upwards at the compliment. "Thank you, Hades."

Taking a deep breath, I moved my hand from where it hid behind my back to reveal the single white rose. I'd asked Hermes what were some of the things I had to do tonight, to which he replied that when I picked her up, I must not come empty-handed.

"Oh, I can't–"

"Don't worry," I interrupted. "you can hold it."

Her eyebrows raised vehemently, but she listened anyway. Slowly, her fingers wrapped around the stem of the flower. She waited for a second, five, ten, and when nothing happened she took it and smiled.

"How?" She asked as she examined it.

I shrugged. "A man never tells."

I plucked it myself from the greenhouse and handed it to Olivia earlier, asking if she could somehow do something to it so it would be protected from her magic. It took nearly five hours for her to complete it, along with the high risk of it not even working.

But the relief that passed through me when she smiled told me enough. That all the trouble was worth it.

I extended my hand to her, willing it to not shake in her presence. "Shall we?"

Her violet eyes locked with mine, then down to my hand. Did she know just how much power she carried in her stare? What it did to me whenever she chooses to look at me?

Tentatively, her fingers wrapped around mine. I did my best not to sigh when I saw it was free from that damned ring as her lips graced a smile once more.

"Let's go."

《♤》

We stood in front of the house, Persephone looking at it with an open mouth and wide eyes. It seemed that tonight was going to be one of the most difficult battles I'd have to fight in, with my own emotions the enemy.

"You– You built this?" Her head whipped to me as her face grew with curiosity.

I nodded. "Five months ago, I started building it."

It started out as a test at first. To see if I could do something beyond my powers. Then, I started building. It was modeled out as one of the traditional European houses I'd spotted in the mortal realm, improved to fit the furnishings and fixtures similar to the ones in the castle.

The house had always been veiled from the public eye, but today I was showing it for the first time. To her.

"And this," her hand waved all over the front of the house. "it was all you."

"Is it so hard to believe?"

She answered in a heartbeat. "Yes."