A Touch of Chaos (Hades x Persephone Saga, #4)
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Read between June 18 - June 25, 2025
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“You are my wife and my queen.” Hades’s voice echoed in her mind. It sent chills down her spine and cradled her heart. The sound brought tears to her eyes and made her chest feel tight, stealing the air from her lungs. “You are everything that makes me good,” he said. “And I am everything that makes you terrible.” She swallowed the thickness that had gathered in her throat. Before, she would have balked at those words, but now she understood the power in being feared. And she wanted to be dreaded.
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And there was pain. It radiated through her, a bone-deep sorrow that had become so much a part of her that it almost seemed normal. She could not remember who she was before the hollow ache of grief had carved a spot in her heart.
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Strange that life granted power in the face of loss, stranger yet that the person who would be most proud was not here to witness it.
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“She will be your ruin,” Hades said to the demigod, his chest tightening with the truth of those words. “You would burn this world for me? I will destroy it for you,” she had said right before she had torn his realm apart in the name of a love she thought she had lost. Theseus considered their love a weakness, but he would soon discover how wrong he was.
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“Find my husband, Hermes. Do whatever you must.” He studied her for a moment, his beautiful face somehow soft and severe at the same time. “Do you know what you are asking, Sephy?” She took a step closer, holding his golden gaze. “I want blood, Hermes. I will fill rivers with it until he is found.”
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“You do not like when beliefs are fueled by falsehoods. You see it as an injustice,”
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“It’s hard to know what evil exists in the world until it finds you.”
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But evil had no effect without a master, and in the last few hours, she had learned true evil. It did not look like her husband or even her mother. It was not darkness, and it was not death. It was the pleasure Theseus received from his cruelty, and she hated how it had invaded her life and would soon invade the world.
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“Do you want them dead or alive?” “Let them choose their fate,” she said. “Either way, they come to me.”
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He wanted her to take up every second of every day, to live in every part of his mind, to never leave his side. She was the dawn of his world, the warmth he carried in his heart, the light that kept him looking toward the future.
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“It is a symbol of your strength,” he said. “The blade is like you, unbreakable.” She met his gaze, and again her eyes burned with tears. She did not feel unbreakable, but it meant a lot that her people thought she was.
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“It is curious that death would choose life as a bride,” Hippolyta said. “It is like the sun falling in love with the moon.” “One cannot exist without the other,” Persephone said. “Just as honor cannot exist without shame.”
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“But does the promise of seeing anyone again ever ease grief?”
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Mourning was not just about the person. It was about the world one created around them, and when they ceased to exist, so did that world.
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“I suppose what you said is true. Death gives birth to life.” Then she narrowed her eyes. “What will you birth, Persephone?” “Rage,” she answered without a second thought.
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“It is not Persephone or Hades who are dangerous, Father,” she said. “It is their love. Tear them apart, and they will tear you apart.”
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“There are few things that survive war, Persephone,” she said. “Let your love be one of them.”
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She wasn’t sure she’d ever been ready. Not just for this but for anything that had come her way, yet she’d survived. She would survive this too.
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It had taken time, but Hades had been patient. He had brought her magic to life while showing her that divinity was more than power—it was kindness and compassion and fighting for the people you loved.
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“First, I’d curse you to always appear homely to any potential lover.” Hermes gasped. “Then, I would ensure you never find your rhythm again. That applies to dancing and sex.” “You wouldn’t,” Hermes said. “The sight of your penis would make everyone gag.” “You beast!” “Those aren’t even my favorites,” said Hades with a smirk. “My favorite is that every television series you start never finishes.” “No!” Hermes bellowed. “It is true what they say. You are a cruel god.”
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she would never give up. She would fight for Hades until the world ended, and when there was nothing left, only her rage would remain.
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“The point, Helen,” he said, gripping her hips, “is to deepen division. Have you forgotten the role of the media?”
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“The system is broken,” Tyche had said. “Something new must take its place.” But they didn’t just need something new. They needed something right. Otherwise, they would just trade one evil for another.
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There was no way he was coming back the same, but she would love him through it, no matter how many pieces she had to hold together.
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“Sometimes our love forces us to do extraordinary things.”
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“I have always held certain values,” she snapped. “Oh? And what are they? Dishonesty? Treachery? Desperation?” She glared. “You have no reason to accuse me of such things.” “Of course I do. You displayed each one when you abandoned your friends for me.” “I did not abandon anyone for you. I chose Triad.” “I am Triad.”
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“You are impossible,” she said. He smiled, bringing his mouth level with hers. “But you love me,” he said, letting his nose graze hers, his lips hovering over hers. “I hope that wasn’t a question,” she said. “You can answer it all the same,” he said. She wrapped her arms around his neck, drawing him close. “Yes,” she said. “Yes, I love you.”
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“I think he has your nose,” Dionysus called after her. She paused, and when she turned to look at him, he added, “And your eyes.” “You can’t know that,” she said. “He’s just a baby.” “I would know your eyes anywhere,” he said.
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“You are so fucking beautiful,” he said. A small smile curved her lips, and she leaned forward, her mouth moving over his as she teased. “And you didn’t want me.” “I always want you,” he said. “Even when you don’t want me.”
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“When I chose you, I chose everything, Hades—your people, your realm, your enemies,” she said. “The only thing I fear is not having you at my side.”
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“You asked me what I would fight for on the battlefield,” he said. “It is this. It is to have you look at me with these eyes. You worship me with these eyes.”
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“You are a romantic, my king,” she said. “I am in love,” he said. “There is a difference.”
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“You do not have to hide from me,” he said. “I want all of you, even your pain.”
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“I don’t know what you want from me.” He swallowed hard and then drew back to look into her eyes as he answered, “I just want more of you.” Once the words were spoken, he couldn’t take them back, and the only reason he would want to was that it had just now occurred to him that maybe she had nothing more to give at this very moment. If that was the case, he would accept anything, take anything.
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It was the fear that one day, she would wake up in a new world, one where Hades no longer lived, just like the day she arose without Lexa.
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She smiled as he kissed her, ignoring the dread that seeped into her stomach when he vanished, unable to keep from worrying that he might not return. The thought frustrated her, but she knew it would be a long time before that fear ever went away, given the horror of the labyrinth.
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He had brought her into this world, and he had not prepared her, believing that he could protect her from every evil thing, but in the end, he had saved her from nothing. In the end, she had saved him from everything.
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“What I know about our wives is that they will do what they want despite our wishes,” said Hades, though it had taken him too long to realize that. “I’d rather walk in Persephone’s shadow, ready to save her at the first sign of a threat, than have her keep secrets. I know you feel the same.”
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“Please be safe,” she said, and he heard what she was really saying—please don’t leave me. He tilted her head back. “If you are here waiting for me, I will always come back.”
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“What are you doing?” She whirled to find him standing close. Warmth radiated off his skin. She wanted it, leaned into it, as her eyes found his. “Trying to chase away the darkness,” she said. “You will only feed it,” he said, taking the glass.
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“It feels wrong,” she said. “To…attempt this normalcy when so many are suffering.” Hades’s thumb stroked across her upper arm. She focused on the feel of his touch, distracting her from the static anxiety in her chest. “If we do nothing, we cease to live,” Hades said. “And if we cease to live, Theseus wins.”
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“Nothing is the same. Not even us.” Hades’s brows lowered. “What do you mean?” “I can usually lose myself in you,” she said. “But I don’t think even you can chase away this darkness.” “I’m not trying to chase it away,” Hades said. “I just want to help you live with it.” “It has changed me. I am not the same, Hades.” “I do not expect you to be,” he said. “But you are not so different that I do not recognize you.” “You say that now,” she said. “But there are parts of me that I do not even know. Thoughts I think that are not even mine.” He studied her for a few moments and then brushed a strand ...more
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“I will not give Theseus the benefit of seeing me run,” she said, though she had to admit, she wasn’t sure she was ready to see the demigod again. When she thought about it, her heart felt like it was going to jump out of her chest. “That is what he wants.”
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“Today we honor those whose lives were cut short by Triad, whose volatile actions only prove they have the freedom and free will they so often demand.” Her words were met with guttural boos and angry shouts. “It is evident to me that fairness has escaped you,” she continued, her voice rising above the noise. “For if such a thing existed, none who had a hand in these deaths would breathe the free air.”
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His gaze shifted to the souls and gods gathered to welcome Apollo, and he wondered how he had come to care for so many people, but one look at Persephone and he knew—it was her. She was the thread that bound them, the one who had brought them all together, and now he would do anything to protect them.
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“I always have found a way to deal with my pain,” he said. “After the Titanomachy, I was isolated, and now I am numb. I coped with the first by being cruel, and now I drink. So what does it mean if I don’t?” She held his gaze and pressed her hand to his heart. “Do you feel numb now?” “No,” he said. “Not with you so near.” She curled her fingers into his shirt, her breath dancing over his lips. “Then maybe you have already found another vice.”
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“Grief smells a lot like fear,” she said.
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“Where are you?” he asked, brushing damp strands of her hair from her face. She held his gaze, and he bent to kiss her, whispering against her lips. “Live in this moment with me.” “Don’t say that,” she said. Her chest ached. “It is what you said when you weren’t real.” “I am real now,” he said. “I am here now.” She wept. “I’m not worried about now,” she whispered. “I am worried about after.” Hades cupped her face, brushing away her tears. “I will be here,” he promised. “So do not leave me now.”
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“I heard your heart stop beating,” she said. He held her tighter. “So long as you live, it will never cease,” he said.
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“It is unfortunate that those who do not appreciate children are able to have them while those who desire them cannot,” said Hades.
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