"You say she is not in her chamber?" Hades snapped at the daimon.
"No, Lord. The Goddess is gone."
"And Eurydice does not know where she is?"
"No, Lord. Eurydice has been busy with the paintings she is to show her Goddess later today." Hades paced. Persephone had told him that she needed to soak in a hot bath and then take a nap. Yes, she had appeared distracted, but he had told himself that the Goddess was just tired. He had given her time to herself while he had presided, in an unusual y distracted manner, over that day's petitions of the dead. Most of them had come to see Persephone, and were visibly disappointed that the Goddess did not appear. His jaw tightened. He did not blame them; he wanted nothing more than to see her as wel . He could stil smel her scent on his skin, and when his mind wandered, he could feel her soft heat against him.
Where had she gone? And why hadn't she told him? What was she thinking? He raked his hand through his hair. After eons of solitary existence, his desire had been too fierce; he had been too rough with her. Perhaps he had hurt her. Or perhaps his lovemaking had not satisfied her. Had she compared him to her other immortal lovers and found him wanting? He clenched his fists. Just the thought of another god touching her caused him to feel il .
"Find her, Iapis," Hades growled.
The daimon bowed and disappeared.
Okay, Lina admitted to herself, she was worried. She chewed her bottom lip.
" Merda! Why does it have to be so complicated?" Orion's ears tilted back to catch her words and he whickered in soft response.
"I do love him," she said aloud. "So now what are we going to do?" She knew what she had to do, which was why she'd evaded Hades and snuck off with Orion.
"I think my cover story was excel ent, though," she told Orion. "And I'm sure Iapis wil only be a little annoyed when he finds out that the huge wineskin of ambrosia that Eurydice insisted he fil to the brim was for Cerberus."
At the mention of the three-headed dog, Orion snorted in disgust.
"Oh, he's not that bad. Perhaps a closet alcoholic, but at lease he's loveable. Anyway, you know I like you best." She patted the horse's glistening coat. Orion arched his neck and shifted from a trot into a rol ing canter. The dark road passed quickly beneath them. Lina's faithful bal of light hovered over her right shoulder, keeping pace with the stal ion. In the distance, she could see the milky outline of the grove of ghost trees.
She wondered if Hades had noticed her absence yet. She hoped not, but if he looked for her, Eurydice would tel him that Persephone had wanted to bring Cerberus the treat she had promised, and the stablemen would report that she had taken Orion for a ride. Hades shouldn't worry. She didn't want him to. She didn't want to cause him any pain. Their night together had been a new experience for her. Hades had awakened feelings in her that had, until then, just been wisps of dreams and fantasies. And it wasn't just about the sex. Lina sighed. That would have been easy to deal with. She could have a torrid, steamy affair with him, and then be satiated and pleased with herself when it was time for her to leave. No, it hadn't just been the sex.
The memory of the soul mates haunted her, as did the look on Hades' face when he had declared his love for her. She had wanted to respond with the same words, but she wasn't free to pledge herself to him - not yet - not until she dealt with Demeter. And it had broken her heart. Lina hadn't meant to love him. She had gone to the Underworld with the best intentions; she'd had a job to do. Period. She hadn't been interested in romance or love or sex. And, quite frankly, the Underworld was the last place she had expected to find any of those things. Merda! Demeter had described Hades as an asexual bore. Lina had been total y unprepared for the truth. She twirled a strand of Orion's satiny mane around her finger as the stal ion navigated quickly through the grove of ghost trees. She was definitely in the middle of a mess. She loved him - that Lina was sure of - but a nagging thought wouldn't leave her alone. While she was with him, while she could touch him and look into his eyes, it was easy to believe that he loved her, too. Her -
Carolina Francesca Santoro - and not some flighty young goddess. And hadn't he been the one to point out that true love had more to do with the soul than the body? So why should it make any difference to him that her real body was that of a forty-three-year-old mortal? In theory it shouldn't.
Orion shot through the dark tunnel toward the broadening speck of light spil ing from the world above.
It was undeniable that she had been lying to Hades. Even though she hadn't meant to deceive him into loving her, would he believe that when he learned the truth? Would he understand?
And, most importantly, would he stil love her?
Orion gal oped out of the tunnel and into the soft light of a cool early morning. She pulled the stal ion to a halt, got her bearings and then guided him toward the marble basin which held Demeter's bal -shaped oracle. She slid from his back.
"Just hang around and be good. Hopeful y, this won't take too long."
"She has ridden Orion to feed a treat to Cerberus?"
The daimon nodded, looking slightly annoyed. "I fil ed the wineskin myself. She brought that great brute ambrosia!"
At any other time that would have made Hades laugh. Now doubts stabbed him in the heart. "But she told me she was exhausted. She was going to bathe and rest. Why would she go for a ride instead?"
"Only Persephone can answer that, Lord."
The growing sense of unease that had been gnawing at him since that morning blossomed. He must have hurt her. Had he frightened her? Or had he declared his love for her too soon? His chest tightened. She had not proclaimed her love in return. He remembered her tears. Silently cursing himself for his inexperience, he turned to the daimon.
"Bring me the Helmet of Invisibility!" he commanded.
Lina studied the oracle. It rested, stil and benign, a simple milky-colored glass bal . But it was a conduit to a Goddess who had the power to shape her future. Lina closed her eyes, admitting to herself that she wasn't just worried, she was scared. How could it work? She was a mortal, from another time and place. He was an ancient God. She felt tears of frustration wel in her closed eyes.
Stop it! Pul yourself together! She had to tel Demeter everything. She couldn't avoid it any longer.
Persephone wasn't with the dog, although Cerberus had been happily licking at the wel -mauled wineskin she'd fed him. She hadn't passed him returning to the palace, so Hades continued down the road. When he reached the boatman, Charon reported that he had ferried the goddess and her steed across Styx.
Hades admitted the worst to himself. Persephone was definitely returning to the Land of the Living. Hades felt a familiar burning begin in his chest. She was leaving him without saying goodbye? He did not want to believe it. He wouldn't believe it until he confronted her and she told him herself. With the speed of a god, Hades fol owed the dark path that would lead him to the world above and the Goddess of Spring.
Lina took a deep breath, and opened her eyes. Concentrating on the Goddess, she passed her hands three times over the oracle.
"Demeter, we need to talk," she said.
The orb began to swirl and almost instantly Demeter's handsome features swam into focus.
"When a daughter cal s upon her mother, the tone of her voice should be more welcoming than grim," Demeter said, softening the reprimand with a smal , motherly smile.
"I didn't mean any disrespect, but I do feel rather grim," Lina said. Demeter frowned. "What is troubling you, Daughter? I have heard only positive reports about your work. The spirits are pleased that the Goddess of Spring is sojourning in the Underworld." And that was quite true. Since the arrival of the goddess everyone believed to be Persephone in the Underworld, the unceasing, annoying petitions to Demeter from relatives of the dead had ended. Instead, sacrifices of thanksgiving had increased. The mortal must be making her presence known and doing an excel ent job of impersonating a goddess. Demeter couldn't imagine what could be bothering her.
"Things have taken an unexpected turn."
Demeter's frown deepened. "Do not tel me you have been discovered."
"No! Everyone stil thinks that I'm Persephone." Lina paused, chewing on her bottom lip. "But my problem does have to do with that."
"Explain yourself," Demeter said.
"I've fal en in love with Hades, and he loves me too, and I need to tel him who I real y am and figure out how to fix this mess," Lina said in a rush.
Demeter's eyes turned to stone. "This is not some kind of mortal jest you make?" Lina signed. "No, this is absolutely not funny."
"You are truly tel ing me that you and Hades have become lovers?"
"Yes."
"Then a god had dal ied with your affections," Demeter shook her head sadly. "I am to blame for this. I exposed a mortal to the whims of a god. Forgive me, Carolina Francesca Santoro, my intention was not to cause you pain."
"No," Lina protested. "It's not like that. He wasn't taking advantage of me. We fel in love - with each other."
"Fel in love? With each other?" Demeter's voice went hard. "How could that be? Hades believes that you are Persephone, Goddess of Spring. He has no idea that he has been making love to a mortal woman. Think, Carolina! How could you believe that it is you he loves?" She made a rude noise and her handsome face twisted. "Love! Are you real y so naive? Immortals love differently than mortals. Surely even in your world you have heard tales of the excesses of immortal love." Lina lifted her chin and narrowed her eyes. "I am not a child. Do not talk to me like I have the fickle emotions of an inexperienced girl. I know the difference between love and lust. I know when a man is using me, just as I know when he is treating me honestly. The lessons were hard, but experience taught me the difference."
"Then you should know better," Demeter said.
Lina's face burned as if Demeter's softly spoken words had struck her. "You don't know him. He's not like the rest of you."
"Not like the rest of the immortals? This is naive nonsense. He is a God. The only difference between Hades and the rest of the gods is that he is reclusive and has chosen to place the dead above the living."
"And that's part of what makes him so different." Lina took a deep breath; she didn't want to betray Hades' confidence, but she had to convince Demeter. "I am the only Goddess he's loved." Demeter's eyes narrowed. "Is that what he told you? Then here is your first lesson in immortal love. Never believe anything a god says when he is trying to gain access to the bed of a goddess. What he told you was only what he thought you needed to hear so that you would give yourself to him."
Refusing to believe Demeter's words Lina shook her head from side to side, but the Goddess ignored her and continued her barrage.
"What did you believe? That you and he would be together for eternity? Forget that you are a mortal. Forget that you are from another world. Even if you were truly the Goddess of Spring, did you honestly believe that Hades and Persephone would be mated, that their names would be linked for eternity? The idea is absurd! How could Spring exist in the Land of the Dead?"
"Then Spring doesn't have to exist there. I wil . Me - the mortal, Carolina Francesca Santoro. I'l stay in the Underworld and love its God. Just re-exchange me. Give me back my body and return this" - she gestured at herself - "to your daughter."
"I cannot. You are not of this world, Carolina." The anger drained from Demeter's face. "You knew your time there was temporary. I did not pretend otherwise."
"There has to be a way."
"There is not. Both of us must abide by the oaths we have given."
"Can't I even tel him who I am?" Lina asked hopelessly.
"Use your mind, Carolina, not your heart. What would the Lord of the Dead do if he knew he had wooed, not the Goddess of Spring, but a middle-aged baker from the mortal world? Would he open his arms to your deceit?" Demeter held up a hand to silence Lina's protests. "It matters little that you did not intend to deceive him. You say that I do not know Hades, but al immortals know this much of him: the Lord of the Dead values truth above al things. How would he react to your lie?"
"But he loves me."
"If Hades loves, it is Persephone, Goddess of Spring, who has won his affection," Demeter said with finality. "And consider for a moment how the spirits of the Underworld would feel if they learned that the goddess who has brought them such joy is only a mortal in disguise." Lina flinched. "It would hurt them."
"Yes, it would."
"I cannot tel anyone."
"No, Daughter, you cannot." Lina closed her eyes and Demeter watched the woman in her daughter's body struggle to accept the pain of her words. "Remember this, when you have returned to your rightful place, Persephone wil just consider Hades another god with whom she dal ied. And no matter what you believe has passed between you and he, Hades wil eventual y feel the same. Listen to the voice that is within you and you wil remember that this is simply the way of immortals."
When Lina opened her eyes, her gaze was resolute.
"I'l return to the Underworld and finish my job. You said my time is almost over?" Demeter nodded.
"Good. I'l be ready to go when you say so."
"I knew I made a wise choice in you." The goddess's image began to fade. "Return with my blessing, Daughter," she said, and she was gone.
Lina turned away from the oracle. Her eyes passed over the beauty of Lake Avernus without actual y seeing. She didn't cry. She held herself very stil , as if the lack of movement could protect her against further pain.
Cloaked in invisibility, Hades had, at first, stayed within the mouth of the tunnel. His initial reaction to finding Persephone had been relief. She wasn't leaving him. She was only speaking to her mother's oracle. He could not hear what she was saying, but as he watched, his relief was rapidly replaced by concern. Persephone was visibly upset, she almost looked frightened. Was that why she hadn't told him she meant to speak with Demeter? Was she afraid of her mother's reaction to their love? Had she been trying to protect him? Surely, she was aware that he was a powerful God in his own right. But perhaps she wasn't. Persephone was very young - she behaved with such maturity that it was easy for him to forget just how young - and he had kept himself separated from the rest of the immortals for a very long time. Did she believe that he only wielded power in his own realm?
He watched as her face paled. Demeter was wounding her. Anger surged through him. Stil wearing the Helmet of Invisibility, he strode toward his beloved.
Demeter's hard voice drifted to him from the oracle.
"Remember this, when you have returned to your rightful place, Persephone wil just consider Hades another god with whom she dal ied. And no matter what you believe has passed between you and he, eventual y Hades wil feel the same. Listen to the voice that is within you and you wil remember that this is simply the way of the immortals."
Hades stopped short. Had he heard her correctly? He was just another god with whom she had dal ied? Incredulous, he listened to Persephone's reply.
"I'l return to the Underworld and finish my job. You said my time is almost over?" He had only been a job to her?
"Good. I'l be ready to go when you say so."
She wanted to leave him. Invisible to her, Hades watched the Goddess he loved turn from her mother's oracle and stare off into the distance. Her eyes were dry. Her face was stone. She, looked like a stranger.
No! He wouldn't believe it. He had heard only part of their conversation. He must have misunderstood. He knew Persephone. His Persephone could not deceive him. As his hand lifted to remove the Helmet of Invisibility, a sound drew his attention. Together, he and Persephone turned to face the god who strode from the path that curled around Lake Avernus. Apol o's handsome face was alight with pleasure. His lips curved in a warm smile of welcome.
"Ah, Persephone, it pleases me that you accepted my invitation. We al knew that too much time in the Underworld would cause the Rower of Spring to yearn for the sun again." With a growing sense of numbness, Hades watched as Apol o took Persephone's unresisting body in his arms.
Unable to continue watching, the Lord of the Underworld turned his back on the two lovers and silently returned to the realm of the dead.