In the Arms of Hades: A Sinful, Twisted Retelling Read online

  In the Arms of Hades

  A Sinful, Twisted Retelling

  Dani René

  Edited by

  Candice Royer

  Contents

  Also by Dani René

  Foreword

  Playlist

  1. Hades

  2. Persephone

  3. Hades

  4. Persephone

  5. Hades

  6. Persephone

  7. Hades

  8. Persephone

  9. Hades

  10. Persephone

  Epilogue

  Stalk Links

  About the Author

  Copyright © 2019 by Dani René

  Published by Dani René

  Cover Design by Jay Aheer, Simply Defined Art

  Edited by Candice Royer

  Proofed by Illuminate Author Services

  All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever.

  The following story contains mature themes, strong language, and sexual situations. It is intended for adult readers.

  No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your enjoyment only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in the work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owner.

  Also by Dani René

  Stand Alones

  Choosing the Hart

  Love Beyond Words

  Cuffed

  Fragile Innocence

  Perfectly Flawed

  Black Light: Obsessed

  Among Ash and Ember

  Within Me (Limited Time)

  Cursed in Love (collaboration with Cora Kenborn)

  Beautifully Brutal (Cavalieri Della Morte)

  Taboo Novellas

  Sunshine and the Stalker (collaboration with K Webster)

  His Temptation

  Austin’s Christmas Shortcake

  Crime and Punishment (Newsletter Exclusive)

  Malignus (Inferno World Novella)

  Virulent (collaboration with Yolanda Olson)

  Tempting Grayson

  Gilded Sovereign Series

  Cruel War (Book #1)

  Sins of Seven Series

  Kneel (Book #1)

  Obey (Book #2)

  Indulge (Book #3)

  Ruthless (Book #4)

  Bound (Book #5)

  Envy (Book #6)

  Vice (Book #7)

  The Taken Series

  Stolen

  Severed

  Four Fathers Series

  Kingston

  Four Sons Series

  Brock

  Carina Press Novellas

  Pierced Ink

  Madd Ink

  Broken Series

  Broken by Desire

  Shattered by Love

  The Backstage Series

  Callum

  Liam

  Ryan

  Forbidden Series

  From the Ashes - A Prequel

  Crave (Book #1)

  Covet (Book #2)

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  To the ladies who like their heroes just a little darker than most. I hope you enjoy Hades and his queen.

  Mad love xo

  Dani

  Foreword

  This is a short, sinful retelling of the infamous story of Hades and Persephone. I’ve put my own little twist on it. I hope you enjoy!

  Happy Halloween!

  Playlist

  The Night We Met - Lord Huron

  I Know You - Skylar Grey

  Silhouette - Aquilo

  Heal - Tom Odell

  Not About Angels - Birdie

  Hurts Like Hell - Fleurie

  In My Veins - Andrew Belle

  All We Do - Oh Wonder

  Breathe Me - Sia

  Ghosts - BANNERS

  Find the playlist here

  1

  Hades

  Darkness settles around me—in my sanctuary, where I’ve spent most of my life. I rule the darkness, devour the sins of the evil, and I revel in it. But no matter how much I enjoy the souls of the fallen, I am alone.

  Since my brothers and I chose our kingdoms, I’ve become drenched in the immoral, corrupt, and damned. My riches are infinite, and the pleasure I find in those souls sent to me is what satisfies me.

  Hades, God of the Underworld.

  Stalking through the dark hallways, I glance around, finding the doors where each soul resides locked and guarded. Most people think of a fiery pit when my home is mentioned, but it’s so much more than that. The mansion has endless rooms. Each person sent here has their own private Hell created, and in there, they spend eternity.

  I thrive from their pain. I bask in their cries of mercy, of which I have none. Perhaps my soul has turned black since my poor choice of the three worlds to guard. My brothers each got their lot, but after years of living in the darkness, I find my soul no longer yearns to be aboveground. I no longer crave the sunlight, because, in this Hell, I found my solace.

  There’ve been times I wondered how I’d ever survived. But with time, my heart has hardened. My mind has become a map of horrors I bestow on the dead. I revel in the pain and suffering I can inflict on those not worthy of Heaven. It’s the only time I find true happiness.

  “Master.” One of the demons of Hell strolls up to me. “You mentioned you’d like to go to the surface for a while. We’ve ensured that your passage is open.”

  Nodding, I place a hand on his shoulder. “Thank you. I’ll be leaving tonight, perhaps early evening, when the sun is just setting. It’s been years since I’ve seen the beauty that the other world has to offer. Ensure Cerberus is at the door while I’m away. He’s not to leave his post under any circumstances.”

  He scurries off, and I’m once again alone. Even after all the years I’ve spent down here, the loneliness still seeps from the walls. It’s held me prisoner for so long, hence my decision to leave. My world will be safe while I wander around on Earth. Perhaps I can visit my brother Zeus to see how he fairs.

  As I reach the chambers where the scrolls of the dead are slotted into their respective years, I glance from the window and notice the workers down below. The souls are in agony, and it makes me smile. To watch the destruction that plagues my world has become something of a hobby.

  Even down here, they take on their earthly forms. The bodies allow them to experience the physical torment, while their minds allow me to enter and taunt them from within.

  It’s not easy. I’ve not always been this dark force, but when you’re only shown darkness, it becomes a pa
rt of you. I’ve now drenched myself in the vile ways of the souls who surround me. Everything that lurks below the surface, I dredge up. I've grown to love and revel in the sinful thoughts they all attempt to hide.

  The door opens, and I turn to find one of my army standing in the doorway with a limp form of a man. I recognize him. I know them all.

  “What is this?” I question, strolling toward the stricken form before me.

  “He’s just been sent here, Sire,” I’m told by the solider holding the man whose future is to live through eternity in the fires of Hell.

  “Well,” I start, trailing a finger over the man’s chest. He shudders in fear. I smile. It is so beautiful . . . the tremble of a fearful body. “You’re my last one before I leave for a little while. Aren’t you lucky?” I taunt, allowing the long silver blade to appear from the sleeve of my shirt.

  “Please, I— I didn’t mean—”

  “That’s what they all say.” Pressing the tip of the blade into his chest, I gently push until I feel the skin rip from the sharp metal. His screams echo around the large room. Twisting the knife, I edge it in farther, the blood he no longer needs dripping to the ground.

  Red, crimson, metallic.

  Like a fine wine.

  His screams are music, beautiful, incandescent, and almost ethereal.

  “Take him to his room where he’ll face his torment. I will be visiting my brother for a while,” I inform the soldier. Once he’s gone, I lift the blade and place it on my tongue. The thick liquid is harsh but delicious in every way. I can taste his vile sins, his disgusting thoughts. It seeps from the flavor of his lifeforce. Once I’ve had enough, my blade finds its home within the confines of my sleeve, and I make my way out the door.

  It’s time to surface. After far too long, I will soon see the sun.

  2

  Persephone

  The scent of the pomegranates floats in the air, and I can’t help smiling. The pink blossoms of my mother’s garden are in full bloom, beautiful and ornate, reminding me of the beauty of spring.

  Trailing my fingers over the petals, I allow my mind to drift further away. When I’m alone, I dream of the day I find someone to share moments with. Like my mother and father, I watch how they seem to connect in ways that two souls should — halves of a whole. Passion and affection run rife through our home, but I’ve never felt it. Never experienced anything like that.

  Each day, I come out to the gardens and think. My mother keeps me away from any suitor who knocks on our door. My heart aches to be loved, but she turns away each god, requesting my hand, I’m almost certain Mother would keep me locked up forever.

  A fair maiden. One to keep pure until her final breath. Even though I love my mother, there’s a tension between us I can’t explain. Surely, she should be proud of me, wanting me to have a marriage worthy of the heavens.

  A soft wind billows from the sky, causing the clouds to darken and the soft gray pillows shift together as if an impending storm is almost upon us. Turning, I make my way back toward the palace. The long columns of concrete rise from the ground, shooting into the sky.

  “Miss.” A castle guard nods as I pass, and I offer him a smile. Upon entering the house, silence greets me, and I know everyone is in the living room on the west wing of the mansion.

  Lifting the skirts of my dress, I race up the stairs. The doors are all shut. Silence hangs heavy in the air as I’m about to reach my bedroom. Rounding the corner, I slam into a hard, warm surface. Snapping my gaze up, I find the dark eyes of a man who is shrouded in shadows.

  A gasp falls from my lips as I take him in with slow precision. His hair is as black as night, disheveled as if he’d just been running his fingers through it. The clothes he wears are the color of a crow’s feathers. When my eyes finally rise to his face, I notice his strong jaw with a hint of salt and pepper stubble. Full lips give way to a smirk so devious I want to look away, but find that I can’t.

  It’s the smile he gifts me that causes my heart to thud wildly against my ribs. The corner kicking up, making his lips turn into something dark and sinful. I know him. My mind niggles, taunting me with the memory of seeing his face, but I don’t know where.

  “I’m sorry,” I utter the words, sounding like a little girl.

  He doesn’t respond. Instead, his hand lifts to my face. With a gentle touch, he sweeps a lock of my hair, placing it behind my ear. The heat of his touch, the way he pierces me with his raven-colored eyes, makes me nervous, yet excited at the same time.

  “I’m Persephone.” My mouth moves of its own volition. I want to cringe at the immaturity of my actions, but something about this man turns me into a teenage girl.

  “Oh, sweet one, I know who you are. A blossom in the deathliest winter. Sunshine piercing the darkest night.” His voice is low, almost humming the words.

  My mind reels with a dizzy need I’ve only felt in the confines of my bedroom. The same twinge tightens my stomach, causing my thighs to clench tightly to ease the ache. That’s what a few words from this man, made of darkness, does to me.

  3

  Hades

  Her perfume invades my senses.

  The beauty she possesses is otherworldly.

  A delicate flower. Beautiful, poised, tempting.

  After years in darkness, surrounding myself in the filth of the Underworld—blood, gore, and immorality—she’s a breath of fresh air. Her big brown eyes meet my dark ones with curiosity.

  “And you are?” she questions with a smile so slight, yet so utterly intoxicating, I feel as if I’m still a man. Not the God of the Underworld, but a human with the chance at her hand in marriage, perhaps.

  Her pink lips part. They’re plump, glistening with either her sweet saliva or some sort of gloss she’s put on. Maybe she has a suitor. The thought turns me livid.

  Jealousy.

  “Hades,” I tell her. Trailing my fingertips over her smooth, porcelain skin, I revel in the soft shudder that races through her body. “And you, my sweet girl, should be a queen. My queen, perhaps?”

  My words earn me a gentle smile, which has a small dimple appearing in her cheek — a picture of innocence and beauty. Far too young for me, but I’ve never been one for rules.

  “Hades,” she utters my name, rolling it on her tongue like a flavor she’d like to get used to. “You are the God of the Underworld.” Her words are sure. Of course, she knows me. Her parents would’ve told her about me.

  “Indeed, I am.” I offer her a nod.

  Her gaze penetrates me as if she sees through me down to the very depths of my blackened soul. I never thought I’d want a queen. Someone to share in the world I will forever rule over, but there’s something about her. Those pretty brown eyes flicker with something I recognize in myself. A volatile need.

  “Why are you in my home?” she questions, tipping her head to the side.

  I can’t help myself from lifting my hand to cup her cheek. Then gently, ever so slowly, I trail it down to her neck. My fingers grip the slender shape of her, needing to see her fear, perhaps a yearning for what I can offer. I want to strike her like a match and watch her burn with desire.

  “I asked you a question,” she bites out as I squeeze, stealing her breath.

  “Are you afraid, my queen?” My question earns me a smile. As delicate as the petals of a cherry blossom tree, her cheeks darken with a hue of pastel pink.

  “It’s not your darkness, I fear, my king,” she responds easily.

  Her words render me speechless, and my mind is awash with images of us ruling the Underworld together. Side by side in the depths of Hell. The gentle slope of her neck makes my mouth water. She swallows; her tongue darts out and wets her plump lips, causing them to shimmer. I allow silence to saturate us with its promise of what’s to come.

  Leaning in, I brush my mouth over the shell of her ear, reveling in her trembles. “You are a seductive temptation, young Persephone,” I utter, allowing the words to whisper over her ear.

 
“As are you, Hades.” Her response is a raspy whisper.

  Persephone is mine.

  She will be my queen.

  I’ll ensure it happens.

  4

  Persephone

  I’ve never met him before.

  This moment in time, with his grip on my neck, my eyes flutter closed. I revel in the heated, scorching touch of the man who wants to make me his queen. Only moments ago, while I was out in the garden, I wondered about my life. Where would I be years from now? But as his lips brush over my cheek, I decide he’ll be the one to take me.

  “You’re as beautiful in the dark as you are in the sunlight,” he utters, allowing the warmth of his breath to tickle my ear.

  “What do you mean?” My question causes him to step back, releasing me from his hold.

  “I saw you outside, in the gardens,” he says. Stalking by me, I watch his retreating back before following to catch up. “When I rose from the Underworld, you were in the fields, amongst the blossoms.” His words are wistful as if he remembers the moment with affection. Perhaps even desire.

  His hair has a smattering of silver strands between the black. I know he’s far older than me, but I don’t care. When he turns to look at me once more, my heart patters wildly in its cage, wanting to leap into his hands.