Persephone’s eyes narrow as she stares at me for a long moment. Then, she rises without a word.
Crossing the room, I watch her open the doors and speak with several of her guards. The other women glance nervously at each other as she re-enters the room, closing the doors behind her.
“We shall see,” she says as she returns to stand nearby.
The seconds seem to pass all too slowly as the room around us grows still. An icy chill rolls off of Persephone, her arms crossed over her chest and her gaze locked on the double doors.
I do my best to remain motionless where I am, worried that any movement might cause her to unleash her anger on me.
After what feels like an eternity, the doors finally open and two massive guards step into the room, dragging Eros between them. I can’t help the gasp that escapes me as I take in the gag in Eros’s mouth and the chains around his wrists and ankles.
“It would appear that you were telling the truth,” Persephone says, her eyes moving over Eros who is being all but dragged toward us.
My heart aches as I find my own gaze fixed on the pale god. He still looks as beautiful as ever, though the grime of the dungeons seems to cling to nearly every inch of him, and his long white hair hangs down around him in a tangled mess.
It’s clear that he’s been tortured.
Fresh blood has yet to dry as it mixes with the dirt that stains his usually pristinely-white clothing. Bruises have blossomed into horrid patches of blue and purple across his otherwise colorless face.
“Come,” she says. “Bring him over here.”
Leading the guards and Eros, Persephone motions toward me.
They stop before me, the guards forcing Eros to his knees, and he lets out a sound that wounds me as his face twists in pain.
“Eros,” I breathe, and in an instant his white eyes are on me, his own agony momentarily forgotten.
“Mortal … are you okay?” he asks, but my answer is cut off by Persephone moving between us, her gaze settling on me with a challenge in her eyes.
“Prove it,” she says, her tone flat and emotionless.
“Prove what?” I ask
“That you are in love with him.”
Eros looks as confused as I feel, his brow furrowing as his eyes shift between us. I don’t know what to say or do that would be enough to convince her that I love him.
“How can I prove it to you?” I ask, looking up at her.
“Lie with him.”
My heart stops at her words, my mind racing as I try to come up with a way out of this.
“Here?”
“Yes.”
With a wave of her hand, a beautiful bed of intertwined branches and thick moss rises from the floor, curtained by hanging vines covered in tiny white flowers. I suppose I should be grateful that she’s offering some privacy to us, but that does nothing to stop the heat that rises within my cheeks.
“I-I can’t,” I stutter, shaking my head. “Not here.”
“Then you are lying,” Persephone states, her voice sharp. “Guards, seize her, and return Eros to the dungeons.”
“Wait,” I cry out, and she holds up a hand to her men.
“Well,” she prompts as I remain frozen.
“I’ll do it.”
