Destroyer of Light by Rachel Alexander Page A

here, he was able to escape. And since the Olympians barely keep to the old ways, he’s been able to do this right under their noses!”
    “But why would he purposefully get caught, come down here and steal the Chains?”
    “It was all in what he said…all I dismissed as delusion. He means to overthrow Olympus. He had the last Book of Tantalus, for Fates’ sake… Seeking immortality, seeking the means to bind the gods themselves…” he brushed his hand back through his hair and began pacing again. “He sees himself as a damned hero…”
    “But he wouldn’t have been able to do any of this if my mother weren’t…”
    Aidon thinned his lips and looked down.
    “Aidoneus, we have to do something. You and I—”
    “How? We have no say over the world above. Zeus will speak to Dem—”
    “My father isn’t going to convince her of anything!” she said, wrinkling her brow.
    “You didn’t know them together as I knew them. She will listen to him.”
    “She will not! You don’t know them now , Aidon. Zeus was the one who consented to give me to you in marriage. If she was going to bend to his will, she already would have. Do you honestly think Zeus has the power to convince her to do anything?”
    He put his head in his hands, his fingers pulling back through his hair. Aidoneus shook his head. “Then what should I do?”
    They will look to you, Aristi Chthonia, for guidance…
    “Are you looking for advice?” she said cautiously. “Or are you just curious about my opinion, as you were with the fate of mortals who had led good lives?”
    “No, Persephone. I am legitimately seeking your counsel. I’m lost,” he said. Lines appeared on his forehead, and he met her eyes again, his expression filled with pain and uncertainty. She knew he would never allow anyone else to see him like this. Persephone wanted to wrap her arms around him, but she fought to stay where she was and listen without distraction. His voice wavered. “What Demeter wants is untenable. This world needs you too much. I need you. I cannot give her what she desires. I’m lost. I didn’t ask for the weight of this to fall on us.”
    Persephone nodded. “I must go, Aidon.”
    He looked up and felt his heart nearly stop. He had always sworn to himself that he would let Persephone go if she asked it of him. And now the fate of the world hung over their heads. It was the rational thing to do; a decision Aidoneus would have made himself— before she had awakened everything within him. He tried to speak around the lump in his throat, to calm himself. Showing his distress would only make it harder for her. “Back to Demeter…”
    Persephone watched him heroically try to mask his panic, but she could sense what he feared— that she was about to leave him forever for the sake of the mortals. “Not back to her, Aidoneus. I need to tell her that I’ve made my choice. That it’s mine to make,” she said, and saw faint hope flicker in his eyes.
    “If you do this, it cannot seem as though I’m exerting any influence over you.”
    “Then I need to go to her alone.” Tell him .
    “What will you say?”
    “I will tell her that this has gone too far, that too many have suffered. I’ll say that she can come visit us whenever she chooses, and I can see her when it doesn’t interfere with my duties as Queen.” It’s time , Persephone thought. “I’ll say that I need her acceptance. I am married. I am Queen of the Underworld. She needs to understand that you are my husband.” Tell him . “That it’s not just duty that keeps me, but that I choose to stay with you .”
    He stared at her as she took a deep breath, her heart beating out of her chest.
    “And I choose to stay with you because… I love you.”
    “You—”
    “I love you, Aidoneus.”
    Aidon expected to feel a change once he finally heard her say it. Perhaps he did— a sensation of everything clicking into place, a sweeping sense of rightness and peace pervading his being.