Hades and Persephone: A Fated Love Book 2

Dolos Part 2

When he grabbed me, I fought him hard. But Dolos was too strong. This wasn't anything like Pirithous and Perseus. With them, I could have torn them to pieces or burned them alive only by a fraction of my power. I only let Hades intervene because I wanted to see it myself. And perhaps because I was too scared to handle them and the violence that came with it.

But this wasn't a game. Dolos clamped Thanatos's iron fetters around my ankles before looping the snare around my wrists, another of his stolen tools. I screamed, as if anyone would hear me over the misery of Tartarus. But it was useless; Dolos already warned me they wouldn't.

"Quiet, pet," Dolos grunted and yanked the chain so I was suspended several feet in the air. My arms jerked above my head and I dangled by the full weight of my body. "The sound of screaming is very grating. It's why I tried to deceive you. It would make this easier, yes?"

I cried out as the metal dug into my wrists so hard I knew it would bruise but he merely grabbed my face and made me look at him. His eyes were the sickliest color of green, just like rotting glass.

"Hades is going to skin you alive," I hissed.

"Hades doesn't know I'm here," he said, holding up the helm he'd stolen as well as a vial of water. "And you're not going to remember a thing."

The Lethe. I hung my head as furious tears welled in my eyes. I forced Hades to do things my way, even though he knew this world better than I ever would. He told me this would happen, and I didn't believe him. Now, I was going to pay for it.

"Stop playing games then. Just do it." I seethed.

Dolos chuckled darkly and the space filled with the grating swish of metal on metal. He tucked the point of a blade beneath my chin and forced my gaze back to his.

"No. I'm in control, now. We play the games I want, how I want them. And first, you're going to ask me how I want them."

"No."

He dragged the edge of the knife across the skin of my jaw, but I didn't answer him. Not even at the searing pain that came with what I knew to be his infamous dagger of deception. Instead, I clenched my jaw and glared as hot blood spilled down the stretch of my neck.

"For time's sake, I'll pretend you want to know. And anyway, the answer is that I'm not sure yet," He trailed his hands along my body. I kicked, but my toes barely brushed the floor. "It depends if you are as wild as they say. I might have my way once, I might take my time."

I screamed for Hades, wishing this were all just a lie. That he could hear, and that if I could get free, the door wouldn't be locked. I surely would listen from now on. I would never come here again if I could only survive this mistake.

"Oh, calm down. You're no blushing virgin anymore," Dolos tsked and trailed a hand down my cheek. "When I give you Lethe water, I'm sure you'll think the child we'll sire is his. You might even be happy."

I bit his hand so hard that I tasted blood. I spat it back in his face but he only chuckled and wiped it away, unconcerned with the drops still pouring down his hand.

"Don't feel like this is out of spite. After, I'm going to call upon Amphitrite under the guise of Poseidon. Unlike you, I doubt she will ever spot the difference," he said. "And neither will Hera, when I come to her as the god of the skies."

"You're disgusting."

"I'm building an empire. Do you have any idea how strong a child of guile can be?" he asked. "I have to admit, I am most eager about you. I have heard rumors of a dark power in the goddess of spring, which is the greatest trickery of all. Our heir is going to be exceptional."

He lowered the blade in his hand, the knife that was rumored to have such power mortals would go mad from a small cut. I thrashed against the chains as he stepped forward to saw at my gown.

"Persephone," he chided as the blade slashed the skin of my arm.

When he touched me again, my anger was white hot and a cracking sound filled the air, deafening like a broken ribcage. Then, the ground of Tartarus itself broke open. At first, I expected Thanatos to spring out, or Hades to rush in. Surely someone had come to my aid. Someone powerful enough to break the grounds of hell itself.

But the only person standing against Dolos was me.

I growled and leaned into the energy, pushing harder than I ever had into the divine part of myself. A creature of wind sprung forth from the ground, ripping through our hair and howling with a scream so shrill I couldn't hear his next words or the suffering around us. Then, as if chasing after it's brother, a bird devised entirely of earth molded from the same space and soared towards Dolos without sentiment. The power surged through me so violently that my head fell back with the force.

Dolos slashed the bird I conjured with his knife and it crumbled around the blade before beating down on him with its massive wings of rock. I pushed forward, too desperate to think about what this might mean for him. For me.

"Persephone!" he cried.

This time, my name on his lips was a lot less snide. The earth and wind closed around him and he watched them in shock and horror. I did too.I screamed through my teeth and even the fetters of Death itself couldn't hold me anymore.

I don't think they wanted to, as they fell open and slithered away. I collapsed onto my knees and rose with a newfound fury, wrapping the chains around my fist as I approached Dolos, suffocating in the wind. I was master now.

He looked at me as if I were Hades himself. Or, to my satisfaction, something worse.

"Come here," I commanded. He didn't move, but the creatures of the elements corralled him closer.

I hurled the fetters in his direction and they subdued their new captive, wrapping tightly around him again and again until clamping shut at his ankles. I yanked the chain and this time he was suspended, dangling headfirst in the pit of Tartarus right above the crack I had created. I had created that.

I picked up the helm of Hades and tossed the vial of Lethe water into the void of darkness. Slowly, I met him so we were face to face, although his was still upside down.

"You have no idea what you're doing or the vengeance I will enact with my heirs and my kingdom," he snarled with such venom I had to wipe away the spit from my battered face.

"You should stay here for awhile," I told him and reached for the knife that had clattered to the ground below him. He fought viciously against Death's restraints, but he wasn't it's master. Not anymore. "Get to know my heirs." I continued as the groans of suffering echoed into infinity around us. I swear fear flashed in his eyes. Especially as I said,

"My kingdom."

And for the first time, I realized I had the true power to be its queen.