Please God, don’t let it slip and fall out.
She wasn’t fond of heights and she felt like a fool hiding out in this tree when people were possibly dying below, but if those monsters were here for her, she wasn’t stupid enough to hang out in the open.
Her hands burned as bark scraped her palms raw. She groaned at the ache in her arms as she climbed higher and told herself if she came through this alive—and Dr. Jill found a cure for whatever was wrong with her—she was definitely starting that workout program she’d been putting off for far too long. The sounds of the battle drifted up to her, but she blocked them out, tried not to listen for Theron’s voice. One thing, however, got through. A feral growling coming from the base of the tree.
She froze. Hoped she blended into the limbs. And prayed she was imagining things.
The growling grew louder. And then the entire tree began to shake.
Casey shrieked. Her fingers closed around a branch just as she lost her footing.
“There’s nowhere for you to go, half-breed,” the daemon below snarled. “Come down.”
Casey flailed out with her feet and finally found a thin branch that bent slightly under her weight. She pushed herself higher as her adrenaline spiked. A few more feet to that thicker branch above and she could let go with one hand and grab the knife.
“Come down!” the beast thundered.
“Fuck you!”
With a ferocious roar the daemon grabbed the trunk of the tree and shook violently. Casey screeched as the branch she’d been standing on snapped. Bark abraded her palms. Her fingernails dug into wood, sending slivers deep into her skin as she hung on with all her strength. Her body was thrown right and left as the tree bowed under the great force jerking it back and forth.
And then the unthinkable happened. The knife slipped out of its holster. Frantic, she tried to catch it with her shoe, but it was too late. Her only weapon fell free just as her hands slipped a fraction of an inch on the branch above.
The daemon saw her falter. And the SOB actually laughed.
Oh, shit.
Sweat broke out on her forehead. She was going to fall. She was sixty feet up, with no weapon and no one to save her. If, that is, she survived the drop.
Oh, shit, oh, shit, oh, shit.
“Theron!”
The branch she was holding snapped like a twig. And then all she felt was air.
Hades wasn’t alone. He’d know that damn flower scent anywhere.
His head jerked up, and he leapt off his throne so fast he nearly tripped down the five marble stone steps. He made it as far as the archway before the double wood doors were thrown open and Persephone flung herself into his arms.
“My sweet,” he crooned, gathering her close and kissing her hard. Her hands flew to his face, her mouth was possessive against his, warming the coldest space inside him. “Missed you…so.”
She groaned against him, frantic as her hands ran under his shirt and across his skin. “My, god.”
He chuckled and turned her around, pushing her back toward his throne and the solid stone table just to the left he knew she liked so very much. “I am. All yours. Now tell me how you got away from the wicked bitch of the west.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulled back and chuckled to herself while he kissed her throat. “Don’t talk about my mother like that. You know I don’t like it when you take that tone.”
Since she sounded anything but upset, he licked the column of her neck, slid his hands around to her ass and lifted her so he could get her to the table as fast as possible.
“Hades, wait. We have business first.”
“Business?” And that’s when he noticed the slight creature standing in the corner of the room, just inside the door. He dropped his queen to her feet and whirled back around. “She’s human.”
“Argolean,” Persephone said, placing one of her delicate hands on his chest. “Future Queen of Argolea, actually.”
Oh, now this was interesting.
He looked down at the slight gynaíka with her big brown eyes and nearly white hair. He could tell she was sick, but she held an air of authority that intrigued him. One he doubted she was even aware of. “Come in,” he barked.
She hesitated, then cautiously stepped forward.
In the light she wasn’t simply beautiful, she was magnificent, and he knew interest flared in his eyes before he could stop it. Persephone saw it too. She punched him hard in the stomach and glared at him. “Not her. And not when I’m standing here, you jackass, or I’ll make you both sorry.”
Hades coughed and rubbed a hand over his abdomen, then laughed when he saw the gynaíka’s frightened eyes dart between him and his queen. “She’s too small. I’m pretty sure I’d split her in two. Besides, I gave up virgins last year.” He looked back at his wife. “Really, Persephone, if you were going to bring me a treat—”