“I was hoping you’d never meet Leuce,” Hades said. “She wasn’t supposed to be around this long. I agreed to help her get on her feet in the modern world. Normally, I’d pass the responsibility on to Minthe, but seeing as how she’s indisposed—” He glanced at the ivy on the walls. “It’s taken me longer to find someone suitable to mentor her.”

Persephone stopped pacing and faced Hades. “You weren’t planning to tell me about her?”

Hades shrugged. “I saw no need until now.”

“No need?” Persephone echoed, and the ivy on the walls thickened and bloomed. The room felt infinitely smaller.

“You gave this woman a place to stay, you gave her a job, and you used to fuck her—”

“Stop saying that,” Hades said through his teeth.

“I deserved to know about her, Hades!”

“Do you doubt my loyalty?”

“You’re supposed to say you’re sorry,” she snapped.

“You’re supposed to trust me.”

“And you’re supposed to communicate with me.” That’s what he had asked of her, why shouldn’t he be held to the same standard?

There was silence and Persephone took a breath, feeling the need to brace herself for this question.

“Do you still love her?”

“No, Persephone.” Hades’ response was immediate, but he sounded annoyed that she would even ask.

Persephone wasn’t sure where to go from here. She was angry and she didn’t understand why Hades had chosen to hide his previous lover from her. It wasn’t that she believed he had been unfaithful; it was that this was just one of several things that had taken her off-guard this week when it came to Hades’ life.

She was starting to feel like she truly knew nothing about him.

After another minute of tense silence, Hades sighed and suddenly looked exhausted. He came around the table and reached for her, his fingers twined into her hair at the base of her head.

“I hoped to keep all of this from you,” he said. “Not to protect Leuce, but to protect you from my past.”

“I don’t want to be protected from you,” Persephone whispered. The air between them growing thick with a different kind of tension. “I want to know you—all of you, from the inside out.”

He offered a small smile and cupped her face, the pad of his thumb brushing her lips.