Gods of Myth

Hades: The story the world knows today is only a fraction of our truth. I took her, yes. I schemed and deceived to keep her. I loved her wholly and completely. She loved me. Lore tells the tale of an eternity of love, and it's not wrong. Betrayed in the worst way, my wife was stolen from me. The Underworld suffers in her absence. I suffer. Now she is back. Just in time for an Olympian war. The clock is ticking. Her human body makes her vulnerable to vengeful Gods. I must find a way to possess her heart so that I may protect her eternal soul. But the more time I spend with her, the more I come to think there is a darker truth to the story of our past. More to the story of her end. For there are some secrets that are worth killing for. Persephone: Since as far back as I can remember, I've heard a voice in my mind. A man's voice. The doctors threatened a personality disorder while my parents eyed me with horror. I learned to hide the voice, to fit in. For years, I've kept the secret of the man who screams my name from everyone in my life. With a name like Persephone, it's no surprise I'm attracted to Greek lore, or to a career in unearthing the secrets of an ancient past. It's because of this attraction that I'm on my way to Greece now. Or am I chasing a voice only I can hear across the globe? Contains mature themes.

Persephone: A love of ancient Greek lore, and a passion for archaeology brought me to Greece. I should have known better than to work for Hades Pluton. He is magnetic, and dark, and dangerous. He is a painter of torment, and his touch promises the most delicious sin. He is everything my mother warned me about men. And yet my heart is a prisoner to his. Ancient lore brought me here, but my love for him threatens to keep me. If I could trust my slipping mind, I might not fight it so hard-this love. But my mind is slipping. It's been fragile since I was a child, but now that I'm seeing things, visions, dreams-none of it is real. I can't help but question the reality of us, too. He doesn't deserve someone like me. Someone who sees things that aren't there . . . So, I'll leave him. Eventually. But I'll love him first. Hades: I am trying to do it right this time. Her and I. The story of Hades and Persephone. I vowed I would not steal her. Would not plunder her body, her heart, her mind. Vowed I would not force her loyalty. I will earn her love. I will worship the body she gifts me, and protect the soul she offers me to keep. I am trying to maintain patience, to honor my vows-but there are darker forces at play. The story of love is rarely told without tragedy. And this is ours. For the war has already begun. Contains mature themes.

Hades The mistakes we make can last a lifetime. In my case, that's been centuries. Millennia. I vowed I would never again steal her away to the Underworld. I broke that vow. She is here in my realm. My house. My bed . . . And she says she forgives me. But there is still so much she doesn't know. Persephone The Underworld is a dream. Fantastical and wild. But we're at the mercy of something far older than even our ancient past. There is a hunger deep in my womb . . . a hunger we cannot sate. A hunger that grows the longer I am here. With every ancient memory that is revealed, a new question is born. But the deeper we dig, the more dangerous the secrets we reveal are. And the truth of my lineage is enough to shake the foundations of the entire Underworld. This war began eons ago. But we're going to finish it. Contains mature themes.

Persephone: All my life, I've had questions, holes-gaps in my mind. Now, too much is clear. Everything I thought I knew about the world crumbles around me as a truth I can no longer deny takes its place with a violence that leaves me trembling. Reality distorts to make room for a fate I wish we didn't have to face. Grief is a burden that weighs heavy on my heart, but for them-for life-I will fight. Even if it takes my very last breath. Even if it costs the final beat of my ravaged heart. Hades: Sacrifice has always been the name of my game. But now that I must sacrifice her-them-I'm no longer certain I wish to save the realms. For once, I consider falling to the monster that myth has painted me. Instead, I find myself bound by a fate I can't begin to fight. I may be the God of the Underworld, but I am still a pawn in this game we play, bound by rules far more ancient than me. The cost is high. It grows every day she is away from me. Still, I search for a way to break the binds of the ancient deal I struck long ago. To bring her home, unharmed, from the Gods who keep her-a prisoner of a blood deal-in the dangerous realm of Olympus. But Persephone has a plan, my cunning little goddess. A plan to destroy those who sought to ruin us. It's the last chance to save the realms. If we fail . . . Contains mature themes.