“We’re out of time,” he says.
“No.” We can’t be. Even if Hermes is here it will still take him time to pay Charon and cross the Styx.
I try to draw him closer, but he pulls away from me, sitting on the edge of the bed. “Hermes got here before I came to your room. He’ll be blasting through that door any minute.”
“He knows where my room is?”
“He knows where every room in the palace is. He’s been here millions of times. He has the layout memorized.”
“What about your plan?” I ask perking up. “You said you had one. What is it?”
Hades shakes his head and stares off. “Forget it,” he mutters as he runs one of his hands through his midnight locks.
“Tell me,” I demand.
He reaches into the pocket of his cloak and pulls out a red, round pomegranate. He spins the fruit around and stares at it intensely. “You haven’t eaten since you’ve been here.” He palms the fruit and shoves it back into his pocket. “Before I came in here I thought about tricking you into eating somehow,” he admits. “But I can’t.” He places his hand against my cheek then lets out a soft tortured laugh. “You mean too much to me and now I know that I can’t make you eat it. Especially if you don’t want to.”
“I mean too much to you,” I repeat softly as an explosion of delight thunders in my chest. “I—I.” I can’t find words to describe the way hearing him say that makes me feel.
“You mean everything to me,” he announces. “I love you. I have loved you for centruries and centuries. Why do you think I’ve chased you for all this time?”
In one swift motion, I reach across his chest and snatch the pomegranate from his pocket. “I love you too.” I bite into the fruit and chew slowly savoring the sweet juice and bitter skin. “And I can’t imagine an eternity without you.”
He lunges for my mouth and trails his tongue along my lips licking up some of the dripping pomegranate juice. “Do you know how long I’ve waited to hear that?” he asks with a smile.
I laugh and take another bit of the fruit. “Practically forever,” I say with a mouthful.
More juice drips down my chin and Hades wipes it away with one finger before putting his finger in his mouth. “It’s sweet. Like you.”
I laugh again and swallow the chewed up fruit in my mouth then take another huge bite. After swallowing what I’ve got in my mouth the door flies open and Hermes stands in the open doorway. He’s all limbs, long arms and legs and his syrup colored eyes are filled with panic. He stares at the half-eaten pomegranate in my hand and at my juice stained lips. “No,” he gasps, inching closer. “No.”
Hades and I both stand and Hades shoves me behind him. His spine tenses and he lets out a protective growl. “Back off Hermes. You can’t take her!”
“I can and I will,” the messenger boasts. “Hand her over, now.”
Fury builds inside of Hades and I watch his fists as they turn red and start shaking. “No!” he booms the lowers his voice. “She’s eaten the fruit of the dead, Hermes. She’s not going anywhere.”
Hermes peers around Hades and narrows his eyes as I take another huge bite. He starts toward me, pushes Hades out of the way, grabs my face, squeezing firmly as the pomegranate drops from my hands and rolls on the floor. “How much have you eaten?” Hermes shrieks. I try to swallow the mouthful of fruit, but Hermes grip on my jaw tightens. “Spit it out!”
Hades plows into Hermes, knocking him to the side and the might messenger stumbles, but smiles devilishly when he notices the pomegranate on the floor. “She’s coming with me,” he says confidently.
“No she’s not,” Hades snarls. “I already told you Hermes—.”
Hermes cuts him off, “You sure did, but you left out one tiny part.”
“What?” Hades barks.
“She’s only eaten half.” Hades eyes shift to the floor; the half-eaten piece of fruit fills his gaze and with that tiny distraction, Hermes charges forward encircling my waist with an arm, reaches into his back pocket, and pulls out a vile of some kind of elixir. I clamp my mouth shut, but Hermes is stronger than me and manages to pry it open, spilling the elixir onto my tongue. I try to spit it out, but it’s too late and some sneaks down the back of my throat.
Hades starts for me, arms outstretched, a pained look in his eye. “Noo!”
But before he can reach me, Hermes jumps up, the wings on his shoes fluttering and blasts through the ceiling, but not before I can stretch my arms and reach for him, screaming out, “HADES”, one last time.
Persephone
Warmth surges through me. There’s no more coldness. There’s no more darkness. As I open my eyes the sunlight shines brightly and I realize I’m not beneath the earth’s core anymore. I’m on top of it. I’m back on earth, laying ten feet away from the tree where the asphodel was planted. That elixir Hermes made me drink must have made me throw up because next to my face lies six seeds, the pomegranate seeds I’d consumed and I scramble to pick them up and swallow them all over again. I have to. Swallowing them is the only way. It’s the only way I’ll get back to him. And never being able to see him again is not an option.
I scoop the seeds up quickly and bring them to my lips, but just as I open my mouth to eat them, a gust of wind sweeps through the trees and carries them away. “No!” I cry in a panic and try to chase after them. But as soon as the wind knocks them from my palm they burst into a million tiny particles. They’re dust.