The Iron Queen (Daughters of Zeus) - By Kaitlin Bevis Page 0,1

was her fear. The boy spoke in a harsh voice, grip tight on her arm. I rose from the picnic table, ready to relieve him of that limb, when his words filtered through her thoughts.

…Hades.

I blinked. How would he know my name?

A red sports car squealed into the parking lot, and I swore. Hate to interrupt, I directed the thought to Persephone.

The boy locked gazes with Persephone and seemed to look through her to me. I knew those eyes. Images and thought fragments flashed from Persephone’s mind to catch me up, but I already knew everything I needed to.

Persephone, run! I tore through the parking lot to reach the path.

Hades, it’s Joel! He’s Zeus!

The whole story passed through my mind accompanied by waves of fear and guilt. Persephone gripping Joel’s arm to teleport but nothing happening, followed by her realization that Joel wasn’t from this realm. Her shock and horror when his glamour melted away. Why wasn’t she running?

Get out of there, now!

I couldn’t keep the panic out of my thoughts. If Zeus hurt her…

Our plan, she protested.

She wouldn’t. Only a fool would risk going through with our plan now. We’d intended to trap Zeus by having him stand on an entrance to the Underworld so we could bring some of my realm up and around him. A little slice of Tartarus. It had worked to imprison some of the Titans before, and it could work with him. But not like this. Not with her alone and hopelessly overpowered.

But this was Persephone. The girl who fled the safety of the Underworld to confront Boreas with nothing but righteous indignation on her side. It was foolish of me to expect her to do anything else.

I swore and scrambled up the hill. Just teleport. Leave!

I can get him to the entrance. Hades, this is our best chance.

Her determination pounded through me coupled with her desperate need for this to be over. She wouldn’t run. If I couldn’t reach her in time…

A bright light seared my vision as I rounded the corner. She screamed, intense pain flashing through her and reverberating to me. I stumbled, blinded by her white-hot agony. Another flash. Pain flared through her, exploding within my mind in a cacophony of anguish. My vision cleared for a split second, and I saw the ground rush toward me. Then everything went black.

Chapter II

Aphrodite

Persephone’s anguished scream echoed through the park. I’d rushed over as soon as she called me for help, but knew I was too late. The air hummed with energy, setting my hair on end as I jumped out of the cherry red convertible I’d “borrowed” from some random guy.

I sloshed onto the wet pavement, twisting my ankle in my haste, and made a mental note not to wear heels next time Persephone needed me.

Not that she made a habit of calling me when she needed something. She must really be desperate. I hurried up the wooded running path and almost tripped over a crumpled shape. Hades. What could knock Hades out?

“Aphrodite.” A voice as smooth as silk sent shivers up my spine.

I cast a shield and jumped in front of Hades. Zeus emerged from a grove of trees holding Persephone like he was some knight out of a painting. Her limp, dangling arms swayed as he walked. Golden hair, so bright against her corpse-pale skin that it didn’t look real, cascaded in waves toward the ground. He strode toward me, strong and radiant. Like the sun had reached through him just to get a little closer to earth. The scene would have been breathtaking, like something out of a storybook, if it wasn’t for the sinister expression on his face.

Damn it, I’d hoped it would never come to this. She was my sister and my friend, and I’d stabbed her in the back by pretending “Joel” was anyone other than Zeus. Yes, he’d forced me to help him, but that was no excuse. I never wanted Zeus to win. But now he had Persephone and, with her, access to the Underworld and the living realm. We were all doomed.

“You said you wouldn’t hurt her.” I’d meant to sound defiant, angry, but it came out petulant and scared.

“I said I didn’t have to. There’s a difference.”

I closed my eyes. Of course there was. “You’re leaving me here, aren’t you?”

Zeus grinned. “I’m sure you’ll make yourself useful.”

I was surprised it still hurt. I’d known from the beginning I was no more than a pawn to Zeus. He’d created me from the