Chapter 5

Persephone’s eyes narrowed as she studied the man in front of her. Tall and broad with muscle, she couldn’t make out much more than that from several steps back.

Raising her chin defiantly, she asked, “You’re the reason I’m here?” She was pleased the words came out steadily.

At first, he didn’t speak. She felt more than saw his intense stare but stood her ground, spine straight and worthless eyes fix on his face. If he was mad, surprised, enraged, or merely bored she didn’t know. Not having her glasses was almost a bonus because she could face him without facing his reaction to hostility.

She raised her chin a fraction of an inch higher and waited. Beside her, Thanatos’s hand eased on her elbow and he leaned back slightly.

The tension that had built since they entered broke suddenly.

“She is as strong willed as you reported, Thanatos,” said a deep bass voice. “It’s good to see. We might just survive this yet.”

Persephone stepped back as the large man came out from behind the desk. Thanatos put a hand at the small of her back, lightly holding her in place. She shot him a look but his helmet blocked his expression and the armor he wore masked any other hints his body language might have given her.

A silence stretched briefly.

“It’s rude not to shake someone’s hand when it’s offered,” Hades’ deep voice rumbled.

Persephone’s blurry gaze dropped, finally seeing the hand he held out. She reached forward, bumping it once before he grasped her hand in his. His warm hand, thick and marked with calluses engulfed hers.

There was another brief silence as he held her hand. Persephone felt an odd tension rising as Hades held her hand and Thanatos still had one hand on the small of her back. It was broken when Hades dropped her hand but rose to new heights when he stepped in even closer and cupped her chin, tilting her face up to his.

He was massive. Easily the tallest man she’d ever met and almost twice her width at the shoulders. This close she could finally make out his facial features. Golden brown eyes looked down at her from beneath dark lashed and thick dark eyebrows. Set against his pale skin, they were the only warm thing about his face; gold against marble flesh. His golden brown eyes studied her intently, searching her face.

“Thanatos,” he said, finally taking his eyes from her to look at the man beside her, “you didn’t tell me she was blind.”

Thanatos’s helmet turned towards her sharply. “She’s not–”

“I’m not blind. You lot kidnapped me and didn’t bother taking my glasses,” she cut in over Thanatos.

Something behind Hades’ eyes hardened. “You have not been,” he frowned, “kidnapped.”

Persephone arched a single brown eyebrow at him. “Oh, yes, I supposed I came here willingly, knowingly, and having been given my consent to travel?”

“It would be trite to say ‘this is for your own good,’ so I won’t. But, there are forces at play here that you don’t understand yet.”

“Then tell me,” she said and stamped a foot in frustration. “I have a life. A job. I have experiments that will need my attention soon.”

She watched his eyes flick to Thanatos and back. “That is gone. I’m sorry to be blunt, but that life is gone. Everything you knew is gone or will be in a matter of days to hours.”

“No. I’m not staying here. You can’t hold me and I need to go home.”

“You are and I can. I am sorry,” he said with genuine sorrow in his deep voice. He held up a hand to halt her outburst. “I will have better proof than a patronizing ‘because I said so,’ in a day, maybe less. Until then, we need to get you settled.”

Persephone bit back and angry retort. Raising her chin to meet his eyes, “Fine. Tell me what ‘blessed’ means.”

Hades rocked back slightly and Thanatos leaned away from her once more. “You didn’t tell her?”

“I didn’t have time,” Thanatos said. If Persephone could have seen his face, she would assume his jaw was clenched. Hard.

“The Judges explained the three levels, yes?” Hades asked, voice brisk.