The Iron Queen Read online

  It wasn’t much. Whatever just happened to Persephone had left me shaken. Pain was not an experience I relished, especially hers. I pushed my hair out of my face and narrowed my eyes at Athena.

  “You need a haircut,” she observed.

  My attention snapped back to Persephone as she struggled to get out from under... who was that kid and what the hell did he think he was doing?

  CPR. An ally then.

  “You’re up.” Demeter walked into the room. Her face was pale and drawn with worry.

  I swung my feet over the couch and sat up. “We don’t have a lot of time.”

  “Is she okay?” Demeter demanded.

  The ocean, the kid chirped.

  Gee, that narrows it down. I stood, taking a deep breath to steady myself as the room shifted around me. “She seems to have escaped Zeus.”

  Athena’s expression became guarded, and I exchanged glances with Demeter. We all knew it wasn’t likely she’d escaped. Zeus was up to something.

  You’re Poseidon’s son, Persephone exclaimed.

  I swore. But how! How could he have known she’d find some random, unknown child of Poseidon?

  Unless...

  “Could Zeus have access to a prophet?” I asked while Persephone got worked up about Poseidon saying Triton was her age. You’re closer to his age than Poseidon’s. I didn’t add how relieved I was that Poseidon saw Persephone as a child. Or that I wondered what it said about me that I didn’t.

  You saved me, she said to the child-god.

  No, he didn’t, I objected. It was irrational to feel defensive, but that didn’t seem to matter. Twice now someone from Poseidon’s world had saved her when I couldn’t. It takes more than drowning to kill you.

  “... not aware of any living prophets, divine or otherwise.” Athena leaned back in her chair.

  I jerked my head up. “What?”

  She frowned at me. “Are you all right?”

  With effort, I turned my attention away from Persephone. She was safe. I was no good to her if I couldn’t focus. But when I opened my mouth, I realized I couldn’t answer Athena’s question because I wasn’t “all right.” I’d seen what Zeus had put her through, and it wasn’t over yet. “Can you repeat whatever you just said?”

  She let out a long breath, as though repeating herself was beneath her. “I am not aware of any living prophets.”

  Prophet gods were rare, even before Olympus fell. Knowing the future impacted the outcome, and gods, even minor ones, tended to be involved in events in a big way. Most gods born with the gift of prophecy passed it along to demigods eons ago. Humans rarely lived long enough to master it. It had taken Cassandra centuries to get to the point where she could understand her visions, much less communicate them to me in any meaningful way. It was unlikely Zeus had access to a prophet.

  But it made so much sense. Over the last year we’d been moved around like pawns until we were exactly where Zeus wanted us. I thought back to the day I’d rescued Persephone and brought her down to the Underworld. Could that have all been engineered by Zeus?

  He couldn’t have known how everything would end up, could he?

  “Demeter...” I paused, uncertain how to proceed. “Persephone is in Poseidon’s realm.”

  Demeter’s face went white.

  “He hasn’t found her yet, but—”

  Demeter grabbed my hand, and before I could blink, we were standing on a beach. She walked to the edge of the shoreline, picked up a shell, and tossed it into the ocean.

  “I can handle this.” I kept my eyes on the ocean and off her face, sensing that she needed a moment to compose herself. “You didn’t have to come.”

  “Yes, I did.” Demeter’s skirt and hair whipped around her in the wind. She looked so much like Persephone, but I never saw Persephone in her. I’d known Demeter too long, I supposed.

  “You ever think we were better off before we rebelled?” Demeter asked.

  “What do you mean?”

  She shrugged, eyes searching the waves. “Look at what’s become of us. All of us, estranged and half dead for want of worship. At least in the before, in the void, we had one another. We were happy sometimes, weren’t we?”

  Before Zeus. “Only because of you.” I sat down on the sand and draped my arm over my knee. “You held us together, kept us sane.”

  The sound of the surf crashing against the sand all but drowned out her next question. “You blame me, don’t you?”

  Demeter had all but disappeared into her realm after Zeus declared himself the god king. We’d been so happy to be free of the Titans. Then we’d discovered a tyrant far worse.

  “I blame him.” I scowled out at the water, remembering Zeus’ first offense on what would become a very long list.

  She shook her head. “I was the oldest, I should have seen what Zeus—”

  “We all should have known better. He fooled us all, Demeter.”

  “Did he? Or did he change after he killed Cronus? He never seemed unstable before their death, but afterward... he was manic at times.”

  The sun disappeared behind a cloud, casting us in shadow, and my thoughts went to Aphrodite’s plan. “We’re not going to let that happen to her. Demeter, I have an idea.”

  “I’ve heard, and I support it. But I have my own plan, and if things progress far enough that my plan becomes necessary, it won’t be me you need help from to implement yours.”

  Understanding dawned on me, and I slammed my mind closed around the realization before Persephone could follow my train of thought. “Demeter, no!”

  “She would never forgive us if we risked our realms to save her. This way she has a chance.”

  More than a chance. “But Demeter—”

  Her green eyes turned on me, boring through to my very soul. “You won’t tell her.”

  I didn’t keep things from Persephone. I was the only person in her life she could say that about, and I wasn’t going to change that now.

  Demeter seemed to see that and sighed. “It’s a last resort.”

  “Let’s not let things get that far.”

  The water rippled, then Poseidon, the shirtless wonder, appeared before us.

  “Demeter,” he breathed. He didn’t seem to notice me. I suppressed the urge to roll my eyes. Was the man ever fully clothed?

  “Where is she?” Demeter’s voice was low and dangerous.

  Poseidon looked at me, confused. “Demeter, I—”

  “Don’t!” Demeter charged forward, feet splashing in the surf as she lunged at Poseidon. “No equivocation, no double meanings. You know everything that goes on in your realm. I remember. Where is my daughter?”

  Poseidon looked stricken. “I’m so sorry. I thought she reached Hades in time. I tried to help, but she knew about... about us, and she wouldn’t trust me.”

  “You think she should trust you?” Demeter demanded, eyes blazing. The wind whipped her blond hair across her face, and she pushed it out of the way with an impatient flick of her wrist. “What do you mean you think she reached Hades in time? We know she’s in your realm. Take me to her immediately!”

  “She made an entrance to the Underworld—”

  “Demeter, he doesn’t know where she is.” I edged toward the shore. I wasn’t willing to set foot in Poseidon’s realm but was ready to grab Demeter if I had to.

  “He just said he saw her!”

  “He’s talking about something else.” I’d forgotten Poseidon had tried to help Persephone when Thanatos attacked her. She’d made an entrance to the Underworld and crashed in the library, battered and broken. The thought of her half dead in my arms...

  I shoved my hair out of my face and filled Poseidon in on everything that had happened since Persephone left his sight.

  “I’m no
t getting involved,” he declared.

  Demeter pursed her lips into a thin line. “If he takes over, it will affect your realm just as much as ours.”

  “Maybe for the better. He’s not going to be satisfied with the worship of dead souls. He’ll do something to make humans worship the gods again.”

  “Probably,” I agreed. “A cataclysm, a flood, or some other massive destructive force. People will die—”

  “What use are people to me unless they believe in us? I won’t hurt your wife, Hades, but I won’t help her either.” He looked at Demeter. “I’m sorry.”

  She glared at him. “I’ve thought you many things Poseidon but never a coward.”

  “Call me whatever you like, Demeter. I’m not dragging my realm into this.”

  “Then give us permission to enter your realm so we can find her,” I demanded. “You can still be neutral, though it won’t save you from Zeus.”

  “She’s always welcome in my realm.” Poseidon inclined his head toward Demeter. “Always has been, always will be. You? Not so much. Good luck. I hope you find her.” The water rippled around Poseidon as he vanished.

  Demeter stared at the spot where Poseidon had been standing. Then she got a look on her face I recognized. It was the same look Persephone had when she was about to do something stupid.

  “Don’t.” I stepped forward and grabbed her arm. The waves crept closer to us, so I pulled her farther up the shore. “You’re not going into his realm.”

  Demeter’s face hardened, and she looked up at me, squinting in the bright sunlight. “She needs me.”

  “No, she doesn’t.”

  Demeter narrowed her eyes.

  I continued, speaking fast. “He’s promised not to interfere. He won’t hurt her, he won’t turn her over to Zeus—”

  “There are other dangers!” Demeter strained toward the ocean, and I knew she’d be off in a second if I let her go.

  “Damn it!” I tightened my grip, and pulled her closer to me. “Think about it for a minute! Zeus can’t get to her in Poseidon’s realm. Can you say the same for yours?”

  Demeter shook her head, still pulling away from me. But I knew she was listening, otherwise I’d have a tree growing through me right now. Unless she was conserving all her power to help her daughter and didn’t consider me a threat yet. I kept an eye on the ground, scanning for any random plant growth.

  Demeter’s lips pressed together in a frown. “She’ll be safer in your realm.”

  That’s why she hadn’t lashed out. She needed me to keep Persephone safe. “If she’s lost, they can’t ask her to fight Zeus.”

  Comprehension dawned on her face. A small army of gods waited in Demeter’s living room for one purpose. To kill Zeus. It had to happen. Otherwise Persephone, and pretty much the rest of the world, would never be safe. But it wouldn’t be an easy fight.

  Persephone didn’t have to get caught up in all that.

  “There are other dangers,” Demeter repeated.

  “She can handle them.” That wasn’t easy to say. My impulse was to protect Persephone from everything, but every time I’d tried to shield her in the past, I’d ended up shoving her into more danger than before. When she faced Boreas alone she’d returned unscathed. She’d gone up against Thanatos and turned every one of his Reapers against him. And she’d survived Zeus. Persephone wasn’t helpless. I had to trust she’d find her way back to me.

  Was I making the wrong choice? What if this was what Cassandra hadn’t been able to tell me about? If she’d seen something bad, then I shouldn’t go with my first impulse because that would be the outcome she’d see. Or would it? No. I couldn’t think about prophecy too much or it might self-fulfill.

  I’ll be fine. Just take care of my mom.

  Persephone’s voice snapped me out of my thoughts. I’d forgotten she could hear me.

  She could take care of herself. I had to trust that or I’d drive myself crazy.

  Chapter XXVIII

  Persephone

  I COULDN’T DO IT anymore. I’d put up with a lot in the last year. The gods were real. Sure, I could accept that. The fact that I was one of them was a bit tougher to swallow, but why not? I’d been stalked by a season. Weird, but hey, these things happen. I became Queen of the Underworld. Whatever, the closet alone was worth it. But I’d finally hit my absolute limit. The thing I couldn’t believe no matter what else I knew was possible. This was too much to swallow.

  I remembered my first thought when I’d met Hades in the Underworld, and I thought I was in a coma or something. That Melissa and I were in a car crash on our way to the Orpheus concert. Everything made sense before that trip. Reality hadn’t yet broken down.

  That was it. It had to be it. If I could just make myself wake up, life would go back to normal.

  I hoped my car was okay.

  “You’ve been awfully quiet.” The water stirred where Triton swam alongside the carriage, pushing against the bubble that kept me breathing.

  I didn’t look at him. I didn’t look at anything other than my own hands folded in my lap. He wasn’t real. Mermaids were not real. Neither was the dolphin pulling me along under the water in a fricken carriage. Or the bubble that protected me from the pressure of the ocean and provided air so I could breathe.

  Nope. I didn’t believe it. Not for a second. I was in the hospital or a mental ward. Either one. I just needed to snap out of it and go back to reality.

  Was a reality without Hades worth going back to?

  “I can go back to human legs if you want,” Triton offered. “It’s just easier to swim this way.”

  “Of course it is.” I forced myself to smile, but I still couldn’t turn to look at him. “’Cause you’re a mermaid.”

  “Merman,” he corrected for the hundredth time. If he heard the hysterical edge to my voice, he didn’t seem to notice. “I’m no maid. Look, see. No sea shells.” There was laughter in his voice. “I promise not to let any of the fish sing around you if that helps.”

  I kept my eyes on my hands, refusing to take in my surroundings. I was done. Finished. I’d played the goddess game long enough. It’d been a nice dream... sort of, but I was ready to wake up now.

  Wake up, I commanded myself. Now.

  You’re not dreaming. Hades sounded tired of this train of thought.

  Says the voice in my head. How reassuring.

  Hades sighed and fell silent, leaving me alone with my muddled thoughts.

  “You think I’m a freak, don’t you?” Triton slipped into my bubble, dropping into the seat beside me with a thud. He’d shifted back to regular legs. Thank the gods.

  “What?” I turned to look at him, forcing myself to tune into my surroundings. Coma or not, there was no reason to hurt anyone’s feelings. “Sorry, it’s not you.” And it wasn’t. Technically if he was a manifestation of my inner psychosis, then it was completely me. “I’m just feeling a bit... overwhelmed. It’s been a long day.” I’d jumped out of a castle in the sky and landed smack dab in the middle of a Disney cartoon. Long day didn’t even begin to cover it.

  Triton studied me for a minute, and I marveled at how much he looked like his father. Was this how people who knew my mom felt when they looked at me? “So...” I ventured, setting aside my convictions that I was in a coma for a minute. The knowledge wasn’t helping me. I wasn’t waking up. Since I was stuck, I had to play this out. “What’s it like living down here? It must be pretty lonely.”

  “Nah, there’s tons of us.” Triton brightened at the chance to talk. “Mostly old men, but there are nymphs too.”

  “You still have nymphs down here?” I slid my necklace back and forth on the chain. “They mostly died out on the surface.”

  “The fall of Olympus didn’t hurt us as much as it did you. The residents of my dad’s realm still b
elieve in everyone, you know?”

  I nodded. It had worked out the same way in the Underworld. Hades lost a chunk of power with the fall of the gods, and some of the lesser known deities of the Underworld had died, but the souls living in the Underworld who walked and talked with the gods every day believed enough to keep it running pretty much the same.

  Worship from the dead wasn’t as strong as worship from the living, but it didn’t have an expiration date. That was why Zeus wanted to take over the Underworld so badly. It was a land that wouldn’t die.

  I braved a look out of the carriage. The ocean passed by in a whir of motion. It was dim, but not as dark as I thought it would be. The sunlight filtered down and reflected off the white sand. Coral forests lined both sides of the road we were traveling, but here and there I could peek through the reef and see what looked like small domes with various kinds of creatures swimming to and fro.

  If this were set up like the Underworld, I’d say we were in the suburbs. I hadn’t seen anyone else on this road other than us, but the path seemed well traveled.

  It was kind of pretty down here. As long as the bubble around me stayed right where it was. I shuddered at the thought of drowning. I’d never liked swimming, much less the ocean. The fear was instinctual. This wasn’t my realm. The entire atmosphere made it known I wasn’t welcome. My stomach had been twisted in knots ever since I’d woken up down here, and I suspected it was going to remain that way until I left.

  “It’s boring though.” Triton fidgeted in his seat. “My dad’s so strict. He won’t even let me leave the circle—”

  “Circle?”

  Triton chattered away, not seeming to notice my question. “And not even just me. He’s super bossy to everyone. It’s like we’re in North Korea or something and you have to hang up a picture of your leader. I mean what is—oh, yeah, the circle? You’ll see when we surface. It’s like a safe zone for sentient residents. Anyway, so my dad... “

  I blinked, trying to keep up with the rapid pace of conversation, but he’d lost me at North Korea.

  “I mean, it’s like throwing an egg at a house and expecting the house to crack. Who does that? And he expects me to be all, ‘Yes sir, and no sir,’ but I’m a god too, so shouldn’t he be treating me with some respect?”