“I want to be very clear with you, Thor. This is one of those moments you'll never be able to take back.”
The memory continued. I could feel my own cold response settling in. I had known what Thor would say, but I needed to hear him say it so that I could move on.
“If we end this here, we're over for good. You told me just days ago that you'd love me no matter what tried to hinder our love. If you turn that into a lie, I will never forgive you. No second chances this time, no dream visits. I will block my connection to you like I did with Blue. You and I will never be together again. So, I'm only going to ask you this once. Are we done?”
“Yes,” Thor whispered; it was a bare breath of sound over the thin slash of his lips, but it sounded loud and clear in my ears.
I let the memory go with a sigh; my heart heavy with the burden of Thor's choice, even though he hadn't chosen it in this life. Simply knowing that he could leave me—in any circumstance—was heartbreaking. I had thought that nothing could tear us apart, but it seemed as if I were wrong. If Thor could do that to me in one life; he could do it to me in this one. I glanced at him with suspicion for the first time since we'd become a couple.
And I hated myself for it.
Before I could think on it further, the sound of voices distracted me. We were approaching Hades' bedroom, and the voices were loud enough to filter through his massive double doors. We didn't bother knocking; it was doubtful that they would have heard us over their argument anyway. We just walked in to find Demeter—Persephone's mother—facing off with Hades.
“This is indisputable proof!” Demeter shouted.
“A human camera picking up a black mist?” Hades shouted back. “That could be anything.”
“That's not the only evidence,” Demeter said. “Persephone had been drugged with Net.”
“What?” I growled.
Both Demeter and Hades turned to me.
“Vervain,” Demeter snatched my hand and drew me forward. “I found Persephone's murderer.”
“Who?” I went still and focused on Demeter. “Who killed her, Demeter?”
“Nyx; she's the Goddess of Night. A Primordial—” Demeter's voice faded away as soon as I heard the name.
Nyx; that was the goddess Al had said I needed to find.
And now you know why, Al said. Aion wanted to harm you, but Nyx set out to hurt Hades. Demeter's right; Nyx murdered Persephone.
“She's a dead woman,” I said calmly.
Demeter paused her long explanation to smile wickedly at me. “Now, there's the reaction that I was expecting from you, Hades.” She waved to me as she spoke to Hades. “Instead, you question me.”
“I don't doubt that you believe Nyx is guilty,” Hades said. “But when I kill Persephone's murderer, I will be certain of their guilt. I can see no reason for Nyx to kill Persephone, and there must at least be a motive.”
“We can't just let this go; we've been chasing leads for years and now, we finally have a promising one,” I pointed out. “If you don't want to attack Nyx outright, let's confront her with this accusation and see what she says.”
Hades settled down and set his fiery eyes on me. He usually covered his eyes with sunglasses, but the Lord of the Underworld was in his home and in mourning. So, not only were his frightening eyes out on display—the fires of Tartarus burning behind his whiskey irises—they were sunken and emphasized by dark circles. Hades looked like Hell; pun intended. His hair was matted, his clothes haphazard, and, frankly, he stank. Bottles of wine littered the carpet; he'd obviously been on another bender. But reason was taking a hold of him fast.
“All right,” Hades agreed. “We can speak to her, but Nyx is a Primordial; we'll have to tread carefully.”
“Clean yourself up, Hades,” Demeter said coldly. “Then meet us in the garden. Come along, Godhunter; I want to talk to you privately.”
I nodded and followed Demeter even though a part of me wanted to claw her eyes out. I frowned at that. I'd never liked Demeter, but I didn't hate her either; what was with this sudden animosity? We left the bedroom, along with the Squad, but then continued further down the hallway as they went to wait in the garden. Thor sent a questioning look my way, but I shook my head at him to let him know I'd be okay. When Demeter and I were far enough away from the others to not be overheard, Demeter turned to me and her expression became one of terror.
“Vervain,” Demeter whispered. “I intended to kill you, not Odin; never the Allfather. It was an accident; I'm so sorry.”
“I don't care if you're sorry,” I said gently, and her eyes widened further. “I don't care about anything you have to say. This time you're not going to escape justice.”
I inhaled sharply as the memory played out, and I saw myself lean forward to kiss Demeter; except it wasn't an affectionate kiss. It was literally the kiss of death; I breathed fire into her mouth and burned Demeter alive.
“What the fuck?” I whispered.
“Exactly,” the present Demeter said crisply. “What is wrong with that man? I hand him my daughter's murderer, and he wants more proof.”
“Yeah.” I tried to go with it. “I don't need any more proof. I know it's Nyx; I can feel it.”
“Me too.” Demeter gave me a look of shocked approval. “I never liked you much, Vervain, and so it comes as a great surprise to me
