“Someone’s taught you well,” he said.
“I won’t sleep with you. I won’t hurt people for you. I won’t use my powers for you, either.”
“Anything else?”
“If your healing fails to work, the deal is off.”
Apollo seemed to think that was particularly funny. “If my healing works? Little goddess, do you know how many healers I have fathered?”
“I don’t want to know anything about that part of your life, Apollo.”
“Is that the end of your requests?”
“Six months,” Persephone said. “I’ll only do this for six months.”
The god was silent as he considered her proposal. Finally, he said, “Deal.”
“Deal?”
She couldn’t help it, she had to ask. She hadn’t expected him to be so accepting of the timeline.
Apollo chuckled. “Is it so unbelievable that I would help?”
“You aren’t helping out of the goodness of your heart,” Persephone countered. “You’re helping because it benefits you. In some weird way.”
Apollo sulked. “Don’t insult me—I can rescind my offer.”
“No!” she said quickly, and her face grew hot. Not from embarrassment, but anger. “I’m sorry.”
The god stared at her. “You really care for your friend. But I must ask—what’s so bad about her death? You are Hades’ lover. It isn’t like you can’t see her in the Underworld.”
Persephone hesitated to speak, and Apollo started to laugh.
“Uncertain about your relationships with the Rich One, huh?”
“I just,” she stammered, uncertain of how to acknowledge what Apollo was saying. She thought of her mother’s words—you should consider, given the circumstances, can a daughter of spring truly be death’s bride? It was a question she couldn’t answer. Could she exist beside Hades, the god who would let her best friend die? Could she rule a world that was r
esponsible for the unbearable pain she felt? “There is no way I can be the goddess he wants.”
Apollo snorted.
Persephone glared. “What?”
The god raised his brows. “It just sounds like you think he wants something other than you, which is not what I witnessed when I came to punish you in the Underworld.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “What would you know about it, Apollo?”
She didn’t like how serious he suddenly looked. “More than you could ever imagine, little goddess.”
She felt the truth of those words. She wanted to ask more questions—what exactly did you witness when you came to the Underworld, but she didn’t want Apollo to know she was curious.
“Just…heal my friend, Apollo.”
“As you wish, goddess.” He held out his hand. “Where are we going?”
“Asclepius,” she said. “Second floor, ICU.”
“Oh, yes—my son’s namesake. Did you know Hades complained of his skill so much my father killed him?”