She gasped. “You're not a snake!”
The otter barked at her again, kicking the water with his adorably webbed paws.
Lina hurried to join Hades. She crouched next to him, leaning in against his side. “I think it's the cutest thing I've ever seen.”
“Don't tell Orion,” Hades said. “He believes that he is your favorite.”
Lina pushed her shoulder against his before she reached across the water to tickle the otter's belly. “Orion is my favorite horse. This little guy can be my favorite otter.”
At her touch, the otter went into a frenzy of puppyish yips and snuffling sounds, wriggling so much that he sprayed water all over before swimming to the ledge and disappearing down the little waterfall.
“I didn't mean to scare him.”
Hades smiled at the goddess's disappointed expression and wiped beads of water from her cheek.
“You did not scare him, sweet one. The otters of Elysia are notoriously shy. Even I have never before seen one this close. I certainly have never touched one.”
Lina looked wistfully after the cute creature. “Can't you get him to come back? You are a god.”
Hades laughed. “As a wise god, I know when it is best not to tamper with the natural order of things. And you would have more luck than I at charming the little beast. You are the animal sorceress, not I.”
“I'm not really a sorceress,” Lina said. “I just like animals, and they like me, too.”
“Mammals,” Hades corrected her, brushing a long strand of hair back from her face.
Lina tilted her head so that her cheek nuzzled his hand.
“Perhaps it is only me you have bespelled, sorceress.” Hades rubbed his thumb across her full bottom lip.
“There's no one I'd rather work magic on,” Lina heard herself say as she leaned forward to meet his kiss.
When something butted her in the back, she didn't jerk around in surprise or scream. She simply reached up and patted Orion's muzzle.
“You know, the uninformed would believe that the Underworld would be the perfect place to find peace and quiet.”
Hades scowled at the stallion. “They would be incorrect.”
Orion snorted and tossed his head at the god, then he nuzzled Lina again, breathing warm, horsy breath on her neck and making her giggle. Lina grabbed a handful of silky mane, and Orion raised his head, pulling her to her feet.
Lina looked down at the god, who was still glaring at the horse. She bent down and took his hand and tugged at him until he rose reluctantly to his feet.
“Would you like to see more of Elysia?” Hades asked.
Lina raised up on her tiptoes and brushed his cheek with a kiss. “I would love to see more of your realm.”
Her words brought Hades a surge of happiness and he bent to kiss her swiftly and possessively before he lifted her to Orion's back.
CHAPTER TWENTY
THE day passed delightfully. Elysia was an endless adventure where beauty and harmony had been melded perfectly together. And everywhere they went, souls of the dead responded to Persephone's presence. She was moved beyond words by the happiness that she saw on the faces of the spirits as word passed throughout the Underworld that there was a goddess abiding among them.
Hades stayed close to her side, often guiding Dorado close enough so that he could touch her. The reaction of the spirits to Persephone's presence filled him with a bittersweet pleasure. The dead respected and feared him. Some were even intensely loyal to him, but he had never evoked within them the love and joy Persephone's presence did. He did not feel envious of the goddess's effect on his realm. He understood it. How could he not? She had awakened the same feelings within him. Again, he wondered how he had existed so long without her. He could not bear to think what would happen to him or to his realm if she chose not to remain.
Daylight had faded and the night sky was beginning to twinkle with the souls of the Hyades when they finally neared the rear grounds of the palace. Hades nudged Dorado close to Orion and reached over to take Persephone's hand. She smiled at him. Hades' hand felt warm and strong, and she was content to lace her fingers through his and daydream about the wonders of the day as they entered the familiar pine forest. When they reached the bottom tier of the gardens, Hades pulled Dorado to a halt, causing Orion to snort and stop short.
“There is one last thing that I would like to show you today, if you are willing.”
“Of course,” she said.
“We must walk,” he pretended to whisper.
Lina dropped her voice to a conspirator's level. “What will we do with”âshe waggled her fingers at the two stallions who had their ears cocked back, obviously listeningâ“them.”
“Leave them to me.”
He dropped athletically from Dorado's back and then held his arms out to help her dismount Orion. She slid against his body, loving the erotic feel of having muscular horseflesh on one side of her, and a hard, hot god pressing against the other. Hades leaned down and nibbled the sensitive lobe of her ear before whispering, “I believe it is time to be rid of our chaperones.” Then he straightened and barked the command for them to return to the stables in a voice so powerful that the leaves on the trees surrounding them whipped wildly in response. Orion and Dorado reacted instantly by plunging into the palace grounds.
Lina raised her brows at him. “I'm impressed. I didn't think they'd go so easily.”
Hades lips twisted. “They were just surprised. I rarely command them to do anything. Actually, they are rather spoiled.”
“Then they'll be mad at you later.”
“Probably.” He laughed and linked his fingers with hers. “What I want to show you is this way.” He led her to a path that skirted the edge of the gardens. They walked beside rows of ornamental hedges trimmed into curling cones. Sleeping flowers shadowed the hedges, and Lina was careful not to let her fingers pass too close to any of the closed blossoms. When Hades stepped from the path and entered the line of cypress trees that ringed that side of the gardens, she couldn't contain her curiosity any longer.
“Where are we going?”
“Not far. To a field there.” He pointed ahead of them.
All Lina could see was more of the huge trees, but they were close enough to the palace that the land was still well-ordered. The ground beneath the trees was grassy and free from brambles and debris. The night forest had been emptied of the songbirds' trilling melodies, and Lina began to feel intimidated by the vast silence.
Speaking in a whisper she said, “What's in the field?”
Hades squeezed her hand. “You do not have to be quiet tonight.”
“Oh,” she said feeling a little embarrassed. Raising her voice to a normal level she repeated her question. “What's in the field?”
“Fireflies.”
“Fireflies?”
The god nodded.
The one last thing that he had to show her of the mysteries of the Underworld was fireflies? She'd seen fireflies before. Lots of them.
Reading her expression he grinned mischievously and said, “I believe that you will find these fireflies unique.”
Lina shrugged and kept her mouth shut. Maybe the real Persephone would have thought a field of fireflies was unique, but it would take a little more than summer bugs to raise the eyebrows of an Oklahoma girl, especially after the wonders she had already seen that day.
“Ah, here is the break in the trees. Watch your step, we must cross this small gully first.”
Lina's attention was focused on stepping across the little ditch, so she didn't look up until she was actually standing in the field. When she did her eyes widened with surprise.
The field was filled with light, but it wasn't the familiar butter-yellow firefly light she had grown up chasing. It was light the color of moonbeams, lace, and . . .
“Narcissus flowers!” She gasped.
“Misericordioso madre di Dio!
They're making narcissus flowers.”
Hades' soft chuckle sounded happily self-satisfied. “Few outside of the Underworld have witnessed their like. So, Goddess of Spring, do you approve?”
Lina stared at the field. What must have been thousands of fey fireflies were hard at work. And they were spinning flowers. From the middle of tufts of ordinary-looking green foliage a group of the tiny insects would swarm, then they would begin flying in a sparkling spiral, around and around until, like miniature comets, their glowing tails took on form and mass, leaving behind a perfect narcissus in full bloom.
“It's incredible. Is this how all of the narcissus are made?”
“All of them that exist in the Underworld. Occasionally, a group of fireflies will get confused and drift too close to the opening to the land of the mortals. Sometimes they create a flower in the world above, but I try to prevent that. As you may have noticed, the fragrance of my narcissus bloom is different than those in the World of the Living. Mortals find it too intoxicating.”
Lina remembered the night she had bent to breathe in the scent of a very unusual narcissus bloom.
“I can see how that might cause problems,” she said faintly.
As if the sound of her voice had just registered on their small consciousness, several of the closest groups of fireflies paused in their flower building. Then, like they all had the same thought, in one glowing flock they flew to Lina. They hovered in front of her spinning in sparkling circles and making strange little chirping noises that Lina thought sounded a lot like soprano-singing crickets.
“What do they want?” Lina whispered out of the side of her mouth to Hades.
The god tilted his head and then smiled. “They want you to create flowers with them.”
“Really?” she said, undecided about what to do.
“Really,” he said. Hades let go of her hand. “Go to them. I will wait for you.”
She pretty much had to. She was supposed to be Goddess of Spring. Building flowers would definitely be a part of her job description. And, as she stood there pondering what she should do, she realized that she wanted to join them, very much.
Just touch them and wish the blossom into being. They will bloom.
Her internal monitor told her.
Lina stepped into the field. The long grass swayed softly against her calves. The fireflies danced in dizzying circles around her, chirping happily. Lina approached a clump of green that wasn't grass and wasn't flower. Hesitantly, she stroked the wide, flat leaves with her fingertips, thinking about how much she would like it to bloom. In a burst of bright light that reminded her of a fireworks display, a brilliant white blossom exploded from the center of the plant.
She bent and inhaled the unique fragrance. Lina laughed aloud. She had created that beautiful flower. The joy of youth and new beginnings filled her. Without thinking, she followed the lead of her body and did a graceful pirouette and a little leap step to the next cluster of greenery. The fireflies haloed her body as she caressed the flower alive and then danced to another bloom.
Hades stood at the edge of the field and filled his eyes with her. How could anyone be so lovely? He felt a ferocious desire to have her, and through that act to finally gain true belongingâthe kind of belonging that he had born witness to so many times as he had watched it reflected in the eyes of soul mates.
She spun and danced and called the narcissus flowers alive. And wasn't she doing the same to him? The Lord of the Dead, the god who had considered himself immune to love, had fallen in love with the Goddess of Spring. No matter how ridiculous or ironic it seemed, it had happened. And he didn't want it to end. The decision was made. He wanted to do more than to watch the ghosts of loveâhe wanted to experience love for himself.
He rubbed his chest automatically, anticipating the burning, but it didn't come. Even though Persephone made his body ache and his blood pound, she did not make his choler flare. His hand stilled and he tried to remember the last time he had felt the burning in his chest. Hades blinked in surprise. It had been the night he had offended her and walked out of dinner. Not since then. He smiled. She was not only the breath of spring; she was also balm for a weary soul. Perhaps his loneliness had truly come to an end.
Lina felt his eyes on her and as another narcissus burst into blossom, she looked back to where he waited. He stood at the edge of the meadow, tall and dark and silent, watching her with an intensity that sent a thrill through her blood.
But why must he always just watch? Suddenly she wanted more for him. A wonderful thought came to her. She'd been frolicking with maidens and nymphs since she'd arrived. It was definitely Hades' turn. Smiling happily, she danced up to him, trailing a mist of glittering fireflies in her wake. She grabbed his hand.
“Come on! Make flowers with me.”
His eyes were shadowed with sadness. “I am the God of the Dead. I cannot create life.”
“You can if I help you,” she said with more confidence than she felt and tugged at his hand.
“No, I . . .” He sighed. “Persephone, I can refuse you nothing.” Reluctantly, he allowed her to pull him into the meadow.
Surrounded by the sparkling fog of fireflies, Lina led Hades to a clump of not-yet-narcissus. She motioned for Hades to stand behind her, then she reached back and slid her hands down the underside of his arms until his hands enveloped hers and his arms encased her. She splayed her fingers wide, as if she had just thrown a ball.
“Lace your fingers beside mine.” His nearness caused her voice to be a husky purr. “And think about how much you would like to make the narcissus blossom.”
Lost in her, Hades let her guide his hands. He did wish he could make the narcissus bloom, but even more he wished that he could make this goddess his own, that she would stay beside him and relieve his loneliness for an eternity.