A Touch of Ruin

Hecate brings Persephone breakfast. As she walks to the hospital, Persephone is recognized by passersby on the street. Hermes rescues her and warns her that she has to start acting like a goddess. Lexa’s parents describe the extent of her injuries, and to distract herself, Persephone reads about the other victims of Apollo who are coming forth. Green vines grow from her skin, and she tears them out. Jaison never believed that Hades would help, and that refusal shakes Persephone’s faith in Hades. She takes Leuce shopping at a boutique owned by Aphrodite. Over coffee, Leuce tells her about a place where they do magic that is considered illegal because it trespasses on territory claimed by the gods. The club is called Iniquity, “a den of wickedness and sin” (211). Persephone knows that Hades will be angry if she goes there.

Sybil questions what Persephone will destroy in trying to get Lexa back, and Persephone realizes, “All [she] wanted was for everything to go back to the way it was before Lexa’s accident” (213). Iniquity is in a plain brick building, but there is a password to enter, and Persephone understands that she is crossing a line. The floor of the club is full of people dancing, and Leuce is there working.

Persephone is directed to a room and finds Kal Stavros, the CEO of the newspaper she works for. Kal says that he will save Lexa from certain death if Persephone publishes details about her relationship with Hades. Hades materializes and tortures Stavros, and Persephone doesn’t stop him; she wants to hurt Stavros. Hades establishes that Persephone is the exception to his rules and admits that he created Iniquity so that he could watch the mortals in their criminal endeavors. He threatens to punish her, and they have sex. Hades asks Persephone to marry him, but she doesn’t accept. Instead, she asks to see more of Iniquity.

Persephone learns that Iniquity is essentially a hangout for crime lords and mafia bosses. Persephone recognizes that they are the rich and powerful of New Athens, but they have become so thanks to Hades. He asks if Persephone is afraid of him, but she isn’t. She goes home with Hades but can’t sleep, so she goes to the kitchen and makes a vanilla cake. Hades joins her.

Demetri points out that Persephone needs her job because it’s the only thing keeping her independent from Hades. She learns that Demetri used an illegal love potion on his lover. Persephone is reminded of her anonymous admirer and realizes that it isn’t Hades. Lexa’s parents debate taking her off the ventilator, and Persephone is heartbroken as she sits with Lexa. Demeter appears and asks how Persephone will be able to live beside the man who let her best friend die. She hints that Persephone, too, will be corrupted by having the power of a god.

Persephone is shaken when she sees Thanatos and fears that he’s come for Lexa. She shouts at him to leave and then is teleported to Hades’ throne room. Thorns erupt from her skin as she shouts at Hades for stealing her. He heals her wounds and tells her to accept Lexa’s fate. Persephone replies that Hades would act differently if it were Persephone’s life at stake; “You cannot tell me you wouldn’t break every Divine law in existence for me” (258), she tells him. She asks Sybil where to find Apollo.

Persephone goes to the pleasure district, which is full of brothels. The brothel keeper mistakes her for one of the workers, calls her Kore, and puts her up for auction for the night. Persephone announces that she is there for Apollo, and he has her sent to his suite, where he is taking a bath. She asks him to heal her friend; he agrees, but he wants Persephone to hang out with him. She gets angry and threatens him, and Apollo is surprised to realize that she is a goddess masquerading as a mortal. Apollo, unlike Hades, isn’t able to make her thorns vanish. Persephone accepts Apollo’s deal but is angry that he, too, questions whether Hades knows what she is doing. They go to Asclepius Hospital, named for Apollo’s son, who could bring people back from the dead. Apollo shoots his healing arrow at Lexa and says that she will wake up the next day. Persephone wonders what the consequences of her bargain will turn out to be.