Fifteen minutes later, I've wrestled my hair into a messy side plait and changed into my trusty penguin pyjamas — which I'd refused to let Zola destroy, despite her many attempts to throw them out when she thought I wasn't looking. I'd found that I had grown sentimentally attached to them over the last few months; they were a nice reminder of all the changes that had happened since I came down to the Underworld all those months ago.

Hades looks up when I quietly shut the door, a small smile curling up his lips. A smile immediately ricochets across my face in response. It hadn't even been an hour since I'd pledged to remain in the Underworld, and already I was seeing a change in him. He was smiling more, acting more comfortable around me, and had even 'changed' out of his formal attire; his suit jacket was carefully draped over the back of the couch, and he'd casually rolled the sleeves of his black shirt up over his elbows.

I'd be lying if I said seeing him like that didn't render me utterly speechless for a second. It takes me several moments to compose myself.

"What's that look for?" I finally ask, sitting down on the bed next to him.

"I am surprised that you still have those." Hades replies bemusedly, pushing himself up onto his elbows. "I assumed that Zola had thrown them out."

"She tried." I shrug. I smirk cheekily. "I just got very, very good at hiding them from her."

Hades chuckles. Then he falls silent, his gaze lowering. I frown, turning to face him head on. A chill shivers down my spine when I notice how empty his expression is.

"Hey." I say softly, nudging him. He looks up at me, his expression unchanged. "What's wrong? I was just getting used to happy Hades."

"I am just trying to figure out where to start."

My heart sinks. "Hades, I'm sorry, I—"

"No." He stops me. He sighs. "I promised to tell you the truth, and I do not break my promises. It is just hard to identify where to begin when there is so much to encapsulate."

I move closer and place my hand over his. "Start at the beginning."

"Very well." I know he probably doesn't think I notice it, but his fingers curl over mine ever so slightly. "Do you understand the initial myth of how Persephone came to live down here?"

I nod. He grimaces.

"I admit now that I am not proud of my actions. I was a very different person at that point in time, and I would like to hope that I have changed since then. Many do not realise what hundreds of years of solitude will do to one's state of mind, and spending all those years down here governing over the Underworld did not help. That solitude impacted me in ways I shudder to think about, and I detest to think of the man I was for those first few centuries. It was not until I met her that I..."

Hades cuts himself off, trepidation twisting up his features. I nudge him again, raising my eyebrows when he glances over at me.

"That you what?"

"Are you sure you want to hear this, Evie? I understand your desire for the truth, but I worry that—"

"You loved her." I state plainly. Abrupt shock wavers through his expression. I shrug. "Hades, I'm not stupid. It's as plain as the nose on your face that you loved her. I can't change that; I can't hope to change that."

Hades sighs and nods defeatedly.

"Yes, I did. That is where many renditions of my 'kidnapping' her go wrong. For many years, it was an unrequited love. I had stolen her away from everything that she loved and held dear, and I suspect that she never forgave me for that. I was an empty man when I kidnapped her; I did not fully comprehend the importance of love in one's life, how resolutely it dictates one's feelings and actions. When I first saw Persephone, I was blindly taken by her beauty, and the way that made me feel was so unpredictably alien to me that I had to know more. That is why I made the foolish decision to kidnap her and bring her down to the Underworld. But then I got to know her more, and discovered how beautiful she truly was, both in appearance and personality. Before I really knew what had happened, I loved her so completely that it scared me."

Hades was right. The more he talked about her, the more I saw his face light up as he remembered his first love, the more my heart sank and cracked and begged for him to stop. The crevices in my heart grow, and I struggle to keep my feelings from showing on my face. I glance down at my hands, tears pricking the corners of my eyes. I was never going to live up to that. How could I possibly compare myself to his unconditional love for a real goddess, who he'd known since the dawn of time, when I was just a normal, boring old human he met three months ago? No matter how much I tried to convince myself that my feelings were requited, a small part of me knew that Hades would never love me as wholly as he did Persephone. And as hard as I tried to ignore it, that realisation killed a small part of me.

"But that love was my own downfall." Hades continues, not noticing my change in expression. "I was so blinded by it that I did not realise how unhappy she was, until it was too late. For a while, Persephone did come to care for me, of that I am certain. But she could not forget the way she had been forced into living in the Underworld, nor could she forget the fact that despite the compromise that we made, she did not completely have her freedom. Persephone was the daughter of spring and summer, and she desperately missed the world she loved whenever she returned to rule by my side. So, even though she did come to care for me, she despised me more for forcing her into living a life she did not want."

His tone changes, and I knew that he was nearing the event that had caused him the most pain. I swallow hard and squeeze his fingers, ignoring my own emotional turmoil.

"Her hatred quickly overcame any love she had for me, and she reached her breaking point on what was supposed to be the happiest day in our lives. By my own folly, I stumbled across her organising to escape on the day we were due to be wed. Though I was shocked and heartbroken, I found that I couldn't stop her from leaving. Despite what she thought, all I wanted was her happiness, and knowing that I had tortured her so much that she felt she had to sneak away on our wedding day elicited more pain in me than I knew I could feel. It was my own selfishness that had caused her pain, and that caused me to look the other way. So, with the aid of Dionysus, she fled without looking back, and I never saw her again."

My breath catches in my throat. Spencer helped her escape?

Hades lets out a heavy sigh, finally meeting my gaze. It physically pains me to see the torment that flickers in the depths of his eyes as he finishes his story.

"I do not have any inkling of where she is now, nor do I ever want to. She has made it perfectly clear that she cannot, and will not, ever forgive me for my misdeed, and I respect that enough to leave her be."

"Is that why you and Spencer are always arguing?" I ask, and he nods. "Because he betrayed you?"

"He did not betray me. I understand now why he acted the way he did, particularly considering that he was close friends with Persephone, and sympathised with her fate. But a small part of me will still never forgive him for what he did, despite how noble his actions were from Persephone's perspective."

I let out a long breath, the truth hanging heavily in the air between us. A cloud of silence descends upon us, neither one of us daring, or even knowing how, to break through the thick fog. My heart races as I try to process everything and push through the hurt my obsession with the truth had caused. After what feels like an eternity, I look up at Hades, and lock eyes with him. Sympathy rushes through me.

"I'm sorry."

"You do not need to apologise, Evie." Hades replies softly. He shoots me a sad smile. "I should be the one apologising to you. I was not the most amicable person when you first arrived, and I regret that every day. I was so used to living with the knowledge that my actions, and my behaviour, had caused another such pain that their heart had shattered, and I did not want to cause another soul to live through the same ordeal. I felt it was better to be alone than to be the reason another shimmering light had been forever dimmed."

"It's never better being alone, you twat." I chide, shaking my head. "That's why Zeus made the deal, isn't it? He didn't want you to be alone."

"Yes." Hades nods. "But that was not the only reason."

"What was the other reason?"

"Zeus approached me with a prophecy. One that the Moirai had predicted themselves." Hades pauses, looking me deep in the eye. "A prophecy about you."

My whole body freezes. I stare at him. "A what? About me? What about me?"

"It was about you..." Hades pauses. For the first time since I'd known him, he looks a touch embarrassed. "Well, in essence, about you growing to care for me."

I'm so genuinely bewildered by his statement that I laugh. Uproariously. I sober up when I catch a glimpse of his expression, though.

"Can you tell me what it said?"

Hades grimaces slightly, but obliges all the same. His stature straightens as he recites the prophecy.

"Hair of autumn, eyes of green, she is a treasure the world has not yet seen. For four months and not one day longer, your heart of ice this mortal must try conquer. Upon the 120th day, should she decide to stay, this hardened resilience to love will melt away."

I stare at him, bafflement catching my tongue. His words echo between us as silence, once again, dominates the air between us.

"Well." I finally say. "I'll give the Moirai this: they sure love to rhyme."

Hades smiles slightly, but it doesn't reach his eyes. "I have a feeling that is not the only thing you are thinking."

"No, you're right." I sigh. After a moment's hesitation, I ask hesitantly, "How did you know it was me?"

"That is not a question I can answer with logicality, Evie."

"Knowing you, I find that difficult to believe." I reply sardonically. "There must be millions of girls with auburn hair in the world, and even more with green eyes. I'm certainly not a treasure, so how did you really know it was me?"

"Evie, look at me." Hades makes a small noise of exasperation when my gaze only flickers up briefly, and tilts my chin up with his finger. "Think back to when you first came down here, and how indifferent I was towards you. Even though I treated you poorly, you still tried your best to get to know me, to break past the walls I had built around myself and understand the person behind them. You put up with all the emotional stress of staying down here, and you proved that you could withstand the challenges of being around me. Nobody, and I mean nobody, has ever had as much of an impact on me than you have over the past few months. You were willing to put up with me, and somehow still found it in yourself to care for me. To me, that doesn't just make you a treasure, Evie. It makes you extraordinary."

Despite it all, I can't help the small smile that spreads across my lips. His hand comes up to cup my cheek, and he smiles back at me.

"Does that answer your question?"

"You know I can't say no to that." I reply dryly, pursing my lips in an attempt to stop my smile from spreading. "How do I know you're telling the truth, though? How can I be sure you're not lying about all this to butter me up?"

A part of me is joking when I ask that, but Hades' expression softens into sincerity. He sits up straighter.

"Look me in the eye, Evie. Study me for a moment." He instructs. "Do you feel that I am lying to you?"

I hesitate, but follow his directions. An unfamiliar feeling courses through me, like a tiny lightning bolt zapping my forehead. Suddenly, I'm certain. "No. I don't."

Hades nods. "Then I am telling the truth."

My brows furrow. "But how did I suddenly know that?"

"It is one of your abilities." Hades tells me, chuckling when my jaw drops. "Now that you are the Queen of the Underworld, you will always be able to tell when someone is lying to you. Including myself."

"Hang on a moment. Did you just say abilities?"

Hades nods. "The moment you were crowned as my consort, you became a goddess, namely a deity of the Underworld. By becoming a deity of the Underworld, you were bequeathed the abilities you would need to effectively govern alongside me. Did you really think Zeus would throw you in the deep end with no help at all?"

"Well, no." My nose crinkles up at the amusement I detect in his tone, and I resist the childish urge to poke my tongue out at him. "What are these abilities, then? Will I be able to shoot lightning from my fingers? Ooh, or summon an army of elephants?"

Hades chuckles and shakes his head. "It is likely that they will not all be obvious to you to begin with, and it will take some training to help you discover your full capabilities. There are some, such as the ability to tell when one is lying, that Persephone also had, and there are others unique to you that you will discover in time. They will echo who you are as a person and compliment your role in the universe."

I try not to grimace at his words. Great. Even if I do have the ability to summon an army of elephants, there will always be some part of me that will remind him of Persephone. I'll always be in her shadow, even if Hades doesn't realise it.

The cracks in my heart grow into a gaping hole. It shudders in my chest, sucking up all elation I had felt at his revelation. My fingers slowly clench into fists at my side.

"Well." I let out a long breath, slowly falling back against the post of my bed. My mind races, reeling at everything he's just told me. "That is a lot of impossible information to process in one night."

Hades watches me silently, his expression staying carefully impassive. The truth was finally out, and suddenly the events of the past few months made a lot more sense. I couldn't help but feel for Hades and everything he had been forced to endure, either by his own hand or another's. Despite that though, I couldn't ignore the cracks throbbing painfully in my heart, nor could I ignore what had put them there in the first place. My stomach drops through the floor as the sickening realisation hits me. I squeeze my eyes shut, my head thudding back against the post of the bed.

"Evie." I feel Hades lean forward, his fingers ghosting across my wrist. "Tell me what you are thinking. Silence, particularly coming from you, does not bode well."

I swallow back the golf ball lodged in my throat and reluctantly open my eyes. "I need to ask you something. And I need you to hear me out before you assume the worst."

Hades nods slowly, wariness edging into his gaze. "Very well."

"I want to go, Hades. Up to the surface." I whisper. Hades stiffens, his expression smoothing over. I can practically see him rebuilding his walls of ice. Tears well up in the corners of my eyes as desperation surges through me. "No Hades, not like that. Hear me out, please. I am not saying that I want to leave forever, okay? I made you a promise, and I'm not going to abandon you like Persephone did; I don't want to abandon you. This is just... it's a lot of information to take in, and I don't know how to process it all. I don't even know where to begin. I don't have the experience to deal with all the impossibilities of the universe like you do. It's all you've known, but for me, it still feels like the stuff of fiction, and suddenly I'm expected to understand it all, enough to help you rule the Underworld? You have to understand that it's going to take me time to process it all. I just need a moment to clear my head, to come to terms with the fact that my life has been completely turned on its head."

Silence. I reach for his hand, but he pulls back and stands up. My hand falls limply to my lap. Heartbreak starts to sting my cheeks. I brusquely brush the tears away and swallow again.

"Please don't do this." My voice trembles. "Please understand Hades, I only need the time to clear my head. A few days is all I need, a week at most. I'll come back; I want to come back. I don't want to be anywhere else. You understand that, right?"

"I understand." His tone is subdued, quiet, and completely devoid of emotion. "You wish to leave, you have made that very clear. You will have one month up on the surface, as per our agreement."

"I don't want to go for a month, Hades. You must know that." I leap to my feet and step forward. Hades steps back again, avoiding my gaze. "Hades, please look at me. I—"

He's gone before I can finish my sentence.

My heart shatters.

"Oh ,you frustrating, infuriating, maddening—" I throw a cushion at the door, a scream welling up in my throat. Pluto hisses and leaps up in the air as the cushion flies past him, giving me the worst look I've seen in a long time. I completely ignore him and throw several more cushions at the door, my emotions rendering me completely irrational. It's only when I reach back and discover that my bed has run out of throwable ammunition that I finally do pause, and the gravity of the situation crashes over me like a tonne of bricks. My knees buckle, and I collapse against the foot of my bed. I bury my face in my arms and scream, the folds of my dress muffling the sound and soaking up my tears.

I thought I'd broken past the point where he would leave so abruptly, where he would behave like an unsolvable puzzle in order to protect himself from me. I thought that we had reached the point where he would finally trust in me, instead of assuming the worst of me. It was obvious that Persephone had destroyed his confidence in other people and left him desperate for the love of someone who cared for him with all of their heart, and up until now, I I had foolishly thought that I could be that someone.

But I couldn't be that someone if he didn't give me a chance and trust me. And how was I supposed to show him that he could trust me if he kept running away every time he thought a situation had the chance to hurt him?

Oh god. Have I just destroyed this before it even began?

"Evie?" A trembling hand touches my wrist, and I lift my head to see Calla standing in front of me. Her face is distraught as she stares down at me. "You're leaving?"

"Hi Calla." I wipe away my tears and flick her a bitter smile. My voice wavers. "It looks like I am."