A Touch of Ruin (Hades & Persephone, #2)

by Scarlett St. Clair

a mixture of spice and chlorine.

seems like an odd combo, but sure

“Gifts don’t require payment, Hades.”

“It’s weird, I admit, but … she’s a victim. I want to help her.”

“I haven’t lived long enough to be jaded like the rest of you,” she said. “Perhaps I’ll end up like the others before long.” “Or perhaps you will change the rest of us.”

“Fuck privacy. I needed you, needed to know you still wanted me despite … everything.”

“My dear, I would love nothing more than to help you stand up to your mother.”

“Conjuring the living is no different from conjuring the dead,” Hecate explained. “In both cases you are summoning the soul, so the spell is the same.”

“Obsidian for protection,” she said. “And quartz for power.”

“Am I too hopeful? Have you summoned me to beg my forgiveness?” Persephone wanted to laugh. If anyone should beg forgiveness, it was Demeter. She was the one who had kept Persephone a prisoner most of her life, and even when she’d released her, it had been on a long leash. “No, I have summoned you to tell you to stop interfering with my life.”

“I hope you’re using protection,” Demeter said. “That’s all you need—to be tied to the God of the Dead for the rest of your life.” “That’s a given,” Persephone said. “You’re the only one who seems to think it isn’t.”

You fear what you don’t know.”

Did you really think you could challenge The Fates and win? You criticize other gods for their arrogance yet you are the worst.”

The Fates punish, even gods.”

Do you know the Fates named you? Persephone. I didn’t understand then how my precious, sweet flower could be given such a name. Destroyer. But that is what you are—a destroyer of dreams, of happiness, of lives.”

“It’s strange, the things you fear when you’re a tree.”

Suddenly she wondered if this was the start of Apollo’s revenge.

“The descent into Hell is easy.” ― Virgil, The Aeneid

They said she was crossing the street and someone hit her.”

“She was crossing the street. The driver claims he didn’t see her. Guess he didn’t see that fucking red light either. He was probably texting.”

The gods are merciful that way. I do not carry the burden of knowing my friends’ fates.”

You must give her soul time to decide.” “Decide? What do you mean?” Hades sighed, and he pinched the bridge of his nose, as if he dreaded the coming conversation. “Lexa’s in limbo.” “Then you can bring her back.”

“It’s the price I pay for every life I’ve taken by bargaining with the Fates,” he said. “I carry them with me. These are their life-threads, burned into my skin. Is this what you want on your conscience, Persephone?”

Hades had spoken of balance before, but this had him chained. He was one of the most powerful Olympian Gods, and yet his power was limited.

“Lexa isn’t gone yet,” Hades said. “And yet you mourn her. She may recover.”

“Do not fill your thoughts with the possibilities of tomorrow,” he said as he placed her in bed. He pressed a kiss to her forehead, and everything went dark.

“I’ll take coffee if you have it,” she told Hecate as she prepared to head out. “That is not sustenance.” “Yes, it is—it’s caffeine.”

“That would be a lie,” she argued. “No, it’s not. He knows what breakfast means for me.”

Persephone wasn’t interested in giving up the things that tied her to the mortal world. They were what she’d formed her identity around when she’d come to New Athens, and now it seemed like all of that was being taken away. Everyone wanted her to be someone she wasn’t.

“I freak out? Excuse me for being concerned for my best friend, Jaison.” “Yeah, well, she’s my girlfriend.”

There was no protecting herself from her lover. The air between them was raw. Even if she had wanted to, there was nothing she could do against the God of the Dead.

I know you want to save Lexa, but what will you destroy to get there?”

“You don’t make promises, and oracles speak in riddles.”

“Parabasis,” she said. The word shivered through her whole body, its meaning shaking her foundation. To intentionally cross a line.

He was Kal Stavros. He looked exactly like his pictures in the tabloids. He had a perfect, square face, a swath of thick, black hair, and blue eyes. She hated his face.

“These are the rules of Iniquity. Once you enter the chamber of a dealer, you don’t leave until a bargain is struck.” That isn’t what Leuce had said.

Persephone suddenly understood. “You want to blackmail Hades?” “Well, he is the Rich One.” “But you’re rich,” Persephone argued. “Not like him,” Kal said. “But that’s what you’re going to help me with, and in exchange, you get to save your friend from certain death.”

could she really give up the details of her relationship with Hades in exchange for her best friend’s life?

it's literally like hades fucked your brains out! no rational thinking person would ever be this stupid - to save a friend's life or not. it's straight-up moronic.

“Anyone who belongs to me is an exception to the rules of this club.”

“You would give up our private life—something you cherish most—in exchange for something that will only condemn your friend?”

you tell her hades!

“I created a world where I could watch them.” “Watch them do what? Break the law? Hurt people?” “Yes,” he answered, his voice gritty.

“Marry me.” Persephone sat back. Hades was still hard inside her, and the movement made his eyes glitter like coals. “What?” There was no way’d she heard him correctly. “Marry me, Persephone. Be my queen. Say you’ll stand by my side … forever.” He was serious, and she was … confused. Not about her love for Hades—but so many other things. “Hades … I …” She couldn’t figure out what to say. “You were just angry with me.” He shrugged. “And now I am not.”

Hades dipped his chin, eyes narrowed. “Persephone, I have lived forever. There will always be things you learn about me, and you should know you won’t like some of them.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” “Because I was afraid,”

“I wanted time to think about how to show you my sins. To explain their roots. Instead, it seems, everyone wishes to do it for me.”

“Will you show me more of this place?” she asked, rubbing at her face to erase the tears. “More of Iniquity?” “Yes.” He groaned. “Do I have a choice?” “If I am ever to be your queen? No.”

with an ancient coin called an obol.

I suppose you are the exception to that rule?” she asked, lifting a brow. He had tortured Kal. “I am always the exception, Persephone.”

“I don’t understand. How can you be concerned with saving souls from a terrible existence in the afterlife when you offer these … criminals a place to assemble?”

I know I cannot save every soul, but at least Iniquity ensures that those who operate in the underbelly of society follow a code of conduct.”

“We cannot all be good, but if we must be bad, it should serve a purpose.”