She said his name like a curse and Persephone flinched.
“Mother, I have to do this. It’s my job.”
“Then you will quit.”
“No.”
Demeter looked stunned, and Persephone was sure that in all her twenty-four years she’d never told her mother no.
“What did you say?”
“I like my life, mother. I’ve worked hard to get where I am.”
“Persephone, you do not need to live this mortal life. It is...changing you.”
“Good. That’s what I want. I want to be me, whatever that is and you are going to have to accept that.”
Demeter’s face was stone cold, and Persephone knew what she was thinking—I do not have to accept anything but what I want.
“I have heeded your warnings about the gods, especially Hades. What are you afraid of? That I will allow him to seduce me? Have more faith in me.”
Demeter paled and hissed, “This is serious, Persephone.”
“I am being serious, mother.” She checked her watch. “I have go. I will be late for class.”
Persephone sidestepped her mother and left the garden. She could feel Demeter’s gaze burning her back as she went.
She would regret standing up for herself, she was sure of it.
Question was, what punishment would the Goddess of Harvest choose?
***
Class went by in a blur of furious notes and droning lectures. Normally Persephone was attentive, but she had a lot on her mind. Her conversation with her mother was gnawing away at her insides. Though Persephone was proud she stood up for herself, she knew Demeter could whisk her away with a snap of her fingers, back to the glass greenhouse. She was also thinking about her conversation with Lexa, and how she could start research for her article. She knew an interview would be essential, but she wasn’t eager to be in an enclosed space with him again.
She was still feeling off at lunch, and Lexa noticed.
“What’s wrong?”
She considered how to tell her friend her mother was spying on her. Finally, she said, “I found out my mom’s been tracking me,” she said. “She...sorta found out about Nevernight.”
Lexa rolled her eyes. “Doesn’t she realize you’re an adult?”
“I don’t think my mother has ever seen me as an adult.”
And she didn’t think her mother ever would, evident by her use of the nickname Kore.
“Don’t let her make you feel bad for having fun, Persephone. Definitely don’t let her keep you from doing what you want.”
But it was harder than that. Obeying meant she could stay in the mortal world and that’s what Persephone wanted, even if it wasn’t as fun.
After lunch, Lexa came with Persephone to the Acropolis. She claimed it was to see where she worked, but Persephone suspected she wanted a glimpse of Adonis and she got one, because he intercepted them as they passed the front desk.
“Hey,” he said, smiling. “Lexa, right? It’s good to see you again.”
Gods. She couldn’t blame Lexa one bit for falling under Adonis’ spell. This man was charming, and it helped that he was remarkably handsome.
Lexa grinned. “I couldn’t believe it when Persephone told me she worked with you. What a coincidence.”
He looked at Persephone. “It was definitely a pleasant surprise. You know what they say, small world, huh?”
“Adonis, a moment?” Demetri called from his doorway. They all looked in his direction.
“Coming!” Adonis called, and looked back at Lexa. “Good to see you. Let’s all go out sometime.”
“Careful, we’ll hold you to that,” she warned.
“I hope you do.”
Adonis left then, and Lexa looked at Persephone. “Tell me—is he as handsome as Hades?”
Persephone didn’t mean to scoff, but there was no comparison. She also didn’t mean to offer a resounding, “No.”
But she did.
Lexa raised a brow and smiled. She leaned forward and pecked Persephone on the cheek. “I’ll see you tonight. Oh, and make sure you follow up with Adonis. He’s right—we should go out together.”
As Lexa left, Persephone deposited her belongs at her desk and went to make coffee. Post lunch, she was feeling tired, and she needed all her energy for what she was about to do.
When she returned to her desk, Adonis stepped out of Demetri’s office.
“So, about this weekend,” he said.
“This weekend?” She questioned.
“I thought we could go to the Trials,” he said. “You know, with Lexa. I’ll invite Aro, Xeres, and Sybil.”
The Trials were a series of competitions. Those who competed hoped to represent their territory in the upcoming Pentathlon. Persephone had never been, but she’d seen and read coverage in the past.
“Oh…well, actually, before we discuss that, I was hoping you might help me with something.”
Adonis brightened. “Sure, what’s up?
“Has anyone here ever written about the God of the Dead?”
Adonis laughed, and then he stopped himself. “Oh, you’re serious?”
“Very.”
“I mean, it’s kind of hard.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s not like Hades forces these humans into gambling with him. They do so willingly and then face the consequences.”
“That doesn’t mean the consequences are right or even fair,” Persephone argued.
“No, but no one wants to end up in Tartarus, Persephone,” he says.
That seemed to contradict what Demetri had to say on her first day—that New Athens News always sought truth. To say she was disappointed was an understatement, and Adonis must have noticed.
“Look …if you’re serious about this, I can send you what I have on him.”
“You’d do that?” she asked.
“Of course,” he said with a grin. “On one condition—you let me read the article you write.”
She had no problem sending Adonis her article, and welcomed feedback, so she said, “Deal.”
Adonis delivered.
Shortly after he returned to his desk, she received an email with notes and voice recordings detailing deals the god had made with several mortals. Not everyone who wrote or called were victims of Hades, some were families of victims whose lives had been cut short due to a lost bargain.
In total, she counted seventy-seven different cases. As she read and listened, a common thread emerged from interviews.
All the mortals who’d gone to Hades for help were in desperate need of something—money or health or love. Hades would agree to grant whatever the mortal ask for if they won against him at a game of his choice.
But if they lost, they were at his mercy.
And Hades seemed to delight in offering an impossible challenge.
An hour in, Adonis dropped by to check on her.
“Finding any of it useful?”
“I want to interview Hades,” she said. “Today, if possible.”
She felt impatient—the sooner she got this article out, the better.
Adonis paled. “You want to...what?”
“I’d like to give Hades a chance to offer his side of things,” she explained. Everything Adonis had on Hades was from the perspective of the mortal, and she was curious how the god saw bargains and mortals and their vices. “You know, before I write my article.”