Ariagne by Ekaterine Xia

Author:Ekaterine Xia
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: coming of age, persephone, myth retelling, hades and persephone, hades as hero
Publisher: Ekaterine Xia

CHAPTER NINE

Aidoneus raked his fingers through his hair, resisting the urge to go and find Ariagne. He hadn’t seen her in days, not since they’d arrived and she’d dove head first into her plans for terraforming.

A muttered curse slipped from the depths of his throat, more growl than sentence.

Her doors remained closed, but at least the plates he’d sent in came back empty. Relief hovered just out of reach despite that. He’d programmed the meal selections based on his memories of what she ate aboard the ship, but he had no way of knowing if it was sufficient for her needs.

Rising to his feet, Aidoneus pressed his hand against the windows of the temporary station and looked out at Elysion. There wasn’t much to see except the absolute dark of space, pinpointed with faraway stars, with only the lights of the miner housing to bring some relief to the endless quiet. They were caught on the momentary cusp when all three moons had disappeared below the horizon and the sun hadn’t risen yet.

He cared too much about Ariagne and he couldn’t seem to stop himself from falling deeper and deeper into fascination. A short laugh escaped him, bitter and wondering. Was it some ability the Aristisoteiras had, to induce obsession? Was this how Ceres felt, as if they were an irresistible drug that could lead you to the stars and hurl you into the deepest pits?

Part of him was rabid to keep her safe and sheltered in his domain, to tear apart anyone that would dare take her from him.

Another part wanted to stuff her into a shuttle and send her into orbit to be picked up by the ships that Ceres had parked just outside of his jurisdiction. The hold she had on him filled him with terror and joy in turn.

It’d been drummed into him since he had memory of how he was too cold, too practical to love.

Ari proved them all wrong and at times he was frantic to discover that they weren’t all wrong after all.

“Aidoneus?”

His traitorous heart leapt at her soft voice. He turned, hiding clenched fists in the long sleeves of his robes. “My blossom.”

Her cheeks were flushed with excitement and she’d never been more beautiful to him than at that moment, pink with excitement and shy pride, her eyes vivid with life. “I’ve finished the plans. Do you want to see?”

Ariagne came up to him and he clenched his hands tighter to keep from pulling her into his arms and burying his face in the soft fragrance of her hair.

Ariagne faltered at his silence, confusion dimming those brilliant eyes. “Aidoneus?”

“Yes, my blossom?” His voice was husky, betraying his need for her.

“Are you angry? With me?”

“No. Why would you think so?”

“You don’t look too happy.”

The Justiciar gave her the partial truth. “I missed you.”

She blinked. “You missed me?”

“Yes.”

“But we saw each other yesterday.”

Aidoneus arched a brow, incredulity bubbling up through the even tones of his voice. “No, we did not.”

“We had dinner together after we arrived on Elysion.

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