Authors: Cindi Madsen
He lifted a hand to his chest, coughing and wheezing. Blood ran from the corner of his mouth. Those dark eyes, eyes she’d found comfort in so many times, glazed over. He took one last ragged breath and collapsed.
Persephone gasped, trying to regain the air that had been taken from her. Ice ran down her arms and legs, seizing her entire body. She fell to the ground, but the ground didn’t feel steady. It felt like she was going underwater, slowly being sucked down deeper and deeper. She knew she should try to fight, try to swim, but she no longer had a reason to live.
So she stopped fighting and let the exhaustion pull her under.
Mara and her friends had shown up to fight, along with other Warriors who must’ve gotten the call or instinctively known to come. All around Jax, people were fighting the demon army. But he couldn’t fight, couldn’t breathe—couldn’t even move. He’d felt the hot, sharp tip of the dagger on his skin, and had known Persephone was going to plunge it in.
But then her eyes had flashed back to gray, and in the next instant, Hades stood there with the dagger embedded in his chest.
Finally, Jax gained control of his limbs. He dropped next to Persephone, rolled her over, and looked at her face. Serene. Totally devoid of life. The black bled out of the tattoo on her neck, until only a hint of its outline remained on raised skin, paler than the rest.
“Persephone.”
No response.
He put his ear over her heart. Her skin was cold, but under her icy skin, he heard a thump. Faint, but there.
A puff of white breath escaped her bluish lips.
“Please be okay,” he whispered, struggling to keep control of his emotions. He lifted Persephone’s limp body into his arms and stared into her pretty face.
He’d promised to bring her back, but he didn’t know how. He didn’t even know why she’d fallen.
He gave her lips a gentle kiss, terrified by how cool they felt beneath his, and hugged her to him. For the first time ever, she seemed weak.
And it scared the hell out of him.
He wanted the stubborn girl back. Wanted her to wake up and tell him she didn’t need him.
“I’m so…” Her teeth chattered. “Cold.”
“Just hang on, and I’ll try to get you warmed up.” He stood, keeping her tight against him. Her arms encircled his neck. His heart swelled as her eyes lifted to his. They were still hooded and dazed, but there was life behind them.
Persephone lifted her hand and put it on his cheek. “I almost killed you.” Tears formed in her eyes. “I love you, and I almost killed you.”
“But you didn’t.” He rested his forehead against hers.
“Because of you. You brought me back.”
“Thanks for coming back.”
Jax started toward the dwindling battle. The demons were confused, lost without their leader. Most were fleeing; those remaining were being beat down by Warriors, Mara, and her people.
Persephone seemed better now—at least she was talking—but she still felt too cold, and he wanted to fix that as soon as possible.
Finding Mara, Jax strode toward her, thinking she’d know the best way to get Persephone warm.
“Jax, wait.” Persephone glanced over his shoulder. “The dagger.”
He spun back toward Hades. The dagger stuck out of his chest. Jax knew they shouldn’t leave it, yet he didn’t want Persephone to touch it again. Not when he’d seen what it had done to her.
She’d fought through, but the risk was still there, and she was so weak right now as it was.
A little bit of color had come back to her lips and cheeks. “I don’t want to touch it, but I can’t leave it. Guarding it is part of who I will always be, whether I like it or not.”
“He said I had some demon blood, too.”
“I did it to save you after Lamia attacked. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, but I didn’t know what else to do.”
“I’m pretty sure it saved my life again when I got to my old town and killed some demons. Tonight, too. Maybe I can touch the dagger now.”
She shook her head. “You don’t have near enough blood, and even if you did…Like I said, it’s my responsibility.”
Jax drew a deep breath, exhaled, and hesitantly carried her back to the body. He gently set her on the ground, moving his hands to her waist to steady her.
She glanced over her shoulder and her voice shook. “If things start to go bad again…”
He tightened his grip, reluctant to let her go. “Then I’ll be right here to bring you back.”
***
Persephone stared into Jax’s blue eyes. He was trying to sound firm, but she saw the glimmer of fear. The cold made it hard to think clearly, and now that Jax had put her down she felt it again. Intense cold, deep in her bones.
But like she’d been taught all her life, the dagger was her charge, and she was never supposed to let it out of her possession. She’d slipped on that tonight. Now she had to make it right. She reluctantly stepped out of Jax’s grasp and turned to Hades.
A wave of grief she wasn’t expecting crashed into her as she stared at his lifeless expression. He’d comforted her when she had no one else. She dropped to her knees, fighting tears.
She shouldn’t have any lingering feelings of love.
But she did. She’d loved him for years, and regardless of the lies, it didn’t just go away.
Persephone leaned over his body and kissed his cheek. “I’m sorry it ended this way.”
A couple of tears escaped, running in warm streams down her cheeks. She swiped at them, took a deep breath, and turned to the dagger.
With Hades dead, she wanted to believe it would always be safe. Her instincts—instincts she was really starting to resent—told her otherwise.
Evil never stopped.
That’s why good never could either.
She pulled up her skirt so she could sheath the dagger as quickly as possible. Slowly, she reached for the handle. Deep breath in. Blow it out. And—
The sucking noise it made when she yanked it out sent her stomach rolling. Fire traveled up her arm, and the heat she craved filled her body. Her hand shook as she tried to guide the dagger into its hilt. It didn’t want to be put away. It wanted to be used.
A hand gripped her shoulder. “Persephone. You’re strong. Now, fight. Fight like you know you need to.”
The warmth in Jax’s voice centered her. Real, truthful love held a power nothing else could compete with.
Persephone stuck the dagger into the cuff at her thigh. She looked up at Jax. His blond waves were tousled and his body was covered in wounds. A grin hit his lips, though, and she smiled back.
We made it. Somehow, we actually made it.
He held his hand out. When she took it, he pulled her into his arms, and pressed his lips to hers.
And with his kiss, he chased away the last of the coolness.
Persephone stared at the last few boxes left in her now-empty house. The house she used to live in with Gran and Turtle, then just Turtle, then Turtle and Jax. A lot of her time here, even when Gran was alive, she’d been lonely, but she still felt sad at the thought of leaving.
Dean walked through the open door and wiped his forehead with his arm. “Dang, I didn’t realize you had so much crap.”
She frowned at him. “It’s not crap.”
He nudged her with his elbow. “Just giving you a hard time.” He reached for the box near the door.
Persephone put her hand on the box, holding it down. “Not this one. It’s…I need to keep it with me.”
It made her nervous enough just transporting Hades Dagger a couple miles. That’s why no one got to handle the box but her. Jax had tried to touch the dagger, to see if he could share some of the burden, but his skin blistered before he even made contact with the handle. It would’ve been nice, but it was nicer to know he’d never have to fight the pull. And that he’d be around to help her protect it, no matter what.
Persephone motioned to the box next to the dagger’s box. “That one can go.”
Dean picked it off the floor and walked outside.
A week and a half had passed since the battle in Jackson Square. After the demons fled, and Persephone and Jax talked over the events of the night with Mara, her friends, and the Warriors, Persephone, Jax, and Mara had gone to figure out what to do with the body of Hades.
Only it wasn’t there anymore. A pool of silvery crimson marked the spot where he’d fallen, and there were drops of blood trailing a path to a mangled oak tree. A tree that looked hauntingly familiar.
There the blood, footprints—everything—disappeared.
It was possible the demons had carried him away.
Yet something in Persephone whispered Hades was still out there. And as disappointed as she wanted to be about that, her feelings were still mixed. She automatically ran a finger down the raised skin on her neck—the reminder of what had been there and the connection they’d once shared. She hated herself for having the tiniest bit of hope that Hades had lived, but she didn’t think she could deal with the guilt of killing Adrastos, her first love, even if he wasn’t who he said he was. Even if he was the Lord of the Underworld.
Out there or not, the Underworld had been damaged, and Earth and the Order should have peace. For a while anyway.
In the days that followed the battle, Persephone met Jax’s mom and several Warriors—some who’d shown up to help days after the fight. Danielle and Dean got filled in on parts of the Order and the progress they’d made against the demons. It was a rush of people and stories and a visit from Mrs. Lewis. The school counselor didn’t get the truth or stories, but Jax’s mom stepped in to help.
Momma Warrior—as Persephone referred to her in her head and whispered to Danielle only, of course—would be Persephone’s legal guardian until she turned eighteen. Not adoptive, though. Because that would mean she and Jax were—yeah, just no.
Momma Warrior wasn’t too happy about the prior sleeping arrangements, even though Jax had left out the whole sleeping-in-the-same-bed part of the story and explained he was only staying at her house for her safety. No matter how tough you were, a Warrior woman’s anger was nothing to scoff at.
So Persephone, Jax, his mom, his dad—who’d arrived day before yesterday—his two brothers, and a couple of recently orphaned Warrior kids were settling into a big house not too far from this house. Mara was already prepped and ready to put on the necessary wards.
Persephone was hoping Mara also knew a spell to keep her sane while living with that many people.
Footsteps echoed through the empty room. Danielle draped her arm over Persephone’s shoulders. “So, I’m assuming you and that other guy are completely kaput, because I think it’d be pretty awkward if he came to visit while you’re full-on living with Jax.”
A dull ache radiated from Persephone’s heart as the mixed emotions she wished she didn’t feel hit her again. She forced a smile to her lips. “No chance of that.”
“I know I never met the other guy, but you made the right choice. I get a sense about these kinds of things.”
This time, Persephone didn’t have to force the smile. “I think I did, too.”
“You ready, babe?” Jax’s voice came from behind them.
Persephone twisted to face him, and he shot her a mischievous smile that sent her pulse racing.