The Iron Queen (Daughters of Zeus) Read Online Free PDF

was nervous. The dead didn’t handle stress well.
    I took a deep breath to brace myself before asking my prophet the question that brought me down here. “Is she all right?”
    She hesitated, twirling a strand of dark hair between two long fingers. “It’s best I don’t tell you.”
    “That bad?”
    Her dark eyes met mine, begging me not to ask any more questions. “It will be.”
    Fury coursed through me, and I surged forward, opening my mouth to demand answers, then, with a herculean effort of will, swallowed my words. Cassandra didn’t hedge. If it would help in any way, she would tell me because the future wasn’t set in stone. I could still change it. But some prophecies had a tendency to self-fulfill. Sometimes the change that brought the vision about was the fact that someone knew about the prophecy in the first place. She’d been around long enough to know the difference.
    I watched her for a moment. She fiddled with a strand of her dark hair, twirling it back and forth between her forefinger and thumb. That was a new nervous gesture. Whatever she’d seen…I didn’t want to make it come true.
    “Sit.” I pushed aside my impatience and sat down, motioning for them to do the same. The chairs all faced the door. Damned inconvenient for speaking to one another. We didn’t meet in here for more than issues between souls, but I didn’t suggest we move to the dining room. Thanatos’ absence was somehow more noticeable there.
    Thanatos. My thoughts came to a screeching halt at the reminder of his betrayal. What could Zeus have offered him that made it worth turning his back on the Underworld? On us? Thanatos tricked Persephone into promising not to reveal he was working for Zeus and then tortured her for months, secure in the knowledge that she couldn’t come to me for help.
    Now Zeus had her. How had I failed so colossally at protecting her? I’m not supposed to be your responsibility. The memory of Persephone’s indignant voice echoed through my mind. She’d been right. Every time I stepped in, I made things worse. Rescuing her from Boreas painted an even bigger target on her back. I’d made Thanatos her guard. Then I’d all but hand-delivered her to Zeus when I encouraged her to see other people. Persephone would have been better off without my protection.
    What if Aphrodite was right? Instead of putting all my focus on rescuing her, what if I gave Persephone the tools she needed to have a fighting chance? There were ways to trigger maturity. If one of her parents were to swear fealty to her and give her every drop of his powers, Persephone would come into hers. But how? The sheer power Persephone would need to charm Zeus into swearing over could kill her. It wasn’t worth the risk.
    A hand on my shoulder startled me out of my reverie. “Hades?” Cassandra’s voice was gentle. “We’ve got this.”
    I blinked. “Right. I should…” I shifted, ready to stand, but Charon cleared his throat.
    “She’s lying, Hades, we’re drowning without Reapers. We need more. Zachary and I didn’t find that kid for…a while. We can’t keep up with all the souls by ourselves. You know I wouldn’t bring this up right now if the need wasn’t great.”
    My mind flashed to the child with the empty eyes. Poor kid. Until a soul was released by a Reaper, it was stuck in its dead body, completely aware and helpless.
    “Use the demigods.” Reapers and demigods were the only souls that could come and go in the Underworld, thus they were the only potential spies. If Zeus had infiltrated as high as Thanatos, then no telling how many sources he had among them. I could take away a Reaper’s power to cross between realms, but the ability was innate with demigods. If I couldn’t control their abilities, I might as well use them.
    “But Hades”—Moirae leaned forward, brown hair falling over her shoulders—“my visions are blind to demigods.”
    “Yes, thank you for stating the obvious.” My already frayed