A Touch of Malice (Hades X Persephone #3)

by Scarlett St. Clair

“I am not sure who you think I am,” she said. “But let me be clear—I am Persephone, future Queen of the Underworld, Lady of Your Fate. May you come to dread my presence.”

“You should have known I would find you once you took your clothes off. It is a sixth sense.”

“But…he is the Lord of the Underworld.” “We’re all aware,” Hermes said. “Look at him—he’s the only goth in the room.”

For the briefest second, Persephone saw fury flash in Apollo’s eyes. “This woman is Hades’s betrothed, the future Queen of the Underworld. Kneel before her or face my wrath.”

“Darling, every time I fuck you, it’s a fantasy.”

“It seems I am not the only one who can’t help staring at you, my love,” she said. “I think the whole room is enthralled.” Hades chuckled. “Oh, my darling. They are staring at you.”

“Hades and Persephone,” the oracle repeated. Their voice was clear, cold, and ancient. “A powerful union—a marriage that will produce a god more powerful than Zeus himself.”

“I have seen love—all forms and degrees—but there is something dear about this love—the kind you two share. It is desperate and fierce and passionate.” She paused to laugh—and so did everyone behind them. Persephone blushed, but Hades remained passive. “And perhaps it is because I know you, but it is my favorite kind of love to watch. It blossoms and blazes, challenges and teases, hurts and heals. There are no two souls better matched. Apart, you are light and dark, life and death, a beginning and an end. Together, you are a foundation that will weave an empire, unite a people, and weld worlds together. You are a cycle that never ends—eternal and infinite. Hades.”

“You are my everything,” he said. “My first love, my wife, the first and last Queen of the Underworld.” The words struck her, each one a part of her identity—an identity she had created from the ashes of her past. It was beautiful and breathtaking. Her heavy eyes closed with those words on repeat: Goddess. Wife. Queen.

Zeus’s eyes darkened. “I should have never allowed you to leave that temple. That prophecy was not about your children. It was about you.”