Book Blitz - Excerpt & Giveaway - Hades by Felicity Heaton
The fate of our world rests in their hands.
Hades, god-king of the Underworld, has uncovered the mastermind behind the uprising destined to set his realm and the mortal world on a collision course. But his enemy has gone to ground and finding them is proving impossible, and the longer they elude his grasp, the stronger the darkness within him grows, slowly stealing control.
Persephone, god-queen of the Underworld, can only watch as a storm gathers on the horizon—a deadly war that threatens to strip her beloved family from her. As Hades fights his own battles against their enemy, she fights to keep the darkness within him at bay, never more aware of the danger he would be if she failed to keep it tamed.
But when their enemy strikes out at them from the shadows, dealing a blow that changes the course of the war and incites Hades’s wrath, the leash on the monster within him snaps and he is plunged into the darkness.
And saving this world might no longer be an option.
—
EXCERPT:
Relief was swift to pour through Persephone to lighten the weight on her heart when she spotted the crimson cloak draped over the wooden fence of the paddock and the discarded pieces of armour set on the grass below it.
“Hades,” she breathed, her heart beating more steadily for the first time that day.
Her husband had taken Cerberus out for a walk, something he often did when he was troubled.
Persephone hurried past the stable, sure he was out there in the fields or the forest.
She stilled when she heard his deep voice behind her.
“I do not think Eris knows anything,” Hades muttered in hushed tones and then sighed. “But what other leads do we have?”
She pivoted to face the stable and smiled slowly when she spotted him standing with his bare back to her. He stroked the great black three-headed hound’s front right leg, sweeping a brush down it.
He murmured, “How do you get so dirty when we were only in the field?”
Hades angled his head upwards, turning his noble profile to her, and all three of Cerberus’s heads swivelled towards him, his ears pricking. The gargantuan wolf-like beast stood at least twice as tall as Hades, was fierce and powerful, and had torn many foes apart in the past. It was vicious towards most people.
But the look in its glowing blue eyes was pure adoration as it gazed at Hades.
Persephone remained very still, wanting to absorb this moment. Hades would bolt if she revealed her presence. He never had been good at showing his softer side, not even to her at times. She supposed it made sense. He ruled an entire realm and had a reputation to maintain, one that helped him keep the peace in his lands and kept his subjects loyal and obedient.
For the most part, anyway.
There would always be those who thought they could take his crown.
She pushed those thoughts aside and focused on him instead.
He wasn’t a god-king as he stood there brushing Cerberus down, talking to him in hushed tones.
He was a man.
One who made her blood heat and pulse race.
His bare back and arms were all sinful perfection, corded muscles that shifted in a delightful symphony beneath his pale skin. The black cloth trousers he still wore were tight against his firm buttocks and thighs, revealing them to her hungry eyes. And his black hair was wild and tousled around the pointed spikes of his onyx crown that rose in height from the smallest above his temples to the largest above the line of his spine.
He turned his profile to her again, his pale blue eyes fixed on his work. While he stroked Cerberus’s flank, her gaze stroked the elegant line of his straight nose to his wicked lips and the strong angle of his jaw.
That heat flared hotter.
His hand paused, his dark eyebrows knitting hard, and then he slowly turned his head towards her. The moment he spotted her, his hand lowered and he twisted fully to face her.
“My love?” His deep voice rolled over her, concern tinging it, and his blue gaze seared her as he searched her eyes.
He discarded the brush and came to her, his bare feet devouring the distance between them in only a handful of strides. Rather than waiting for her to respond, he swept her into his arms, and her hands landed against the hard muscles of his bare chest as he crushed her against him.
“You feel worried. Is something wrong?” he murmured roughly into her ear.
Persephone closed her eyes, wrapped her arms around his waist, and feathered her fingers along his spine, warmth curling through her. “I was worried about you.”
He unfurled his arms, gripped her by her upper arms and eased her back. His blue gaze held hers, glittering with need—not a physical desire but an emotional one. There was that look she had been aching to see on his face, one that eclipsed the way Thanatos had gazed at Calindria.
It warmed Persephone right down to her marrow, until not a trace of the cold that had plagued her the last few days remained.
Whenever he looked at her like this, as if she was the centre of his universe, as if she was as vital as the breath in his lungs or the beat in his chest, she fell in love with him all over again.
Her beautiful, dark god.
She reached her hands up and framed his face with her palms, needing to keep those eyes on hers. She couldn’t remember the last time they had been alone like this, or he had let her see beyond the veil to his true feelings. His blue irises took on a troubled edge, red sparks igniting in them, and she could sense he wanted to look away from her. She held firm, not letting him.
“Talk to me about it, Hades,” she whispered, filling her voice with how deeply she desired that so he would hear it as well as see it in her eyes. When she was sure he wouldn’t look away, she dropped her hands to his shoulders and skimmed them down his bare arms. His skin was cool beneath her touch and the feel of it and the contours of his firm muscles sent a shiver through her, a ripple of pleasure she tried to ignore as she focused on making him understand something. “I am part of this. I want to share this burden with you. You have been so very distant… and I don’t want you to shut me out.”
His expression grew fierce and she tensed as his hands were suddenly on her face, cupping her cheeks. He bent his head towards her and pressed their foreheads together, and husked, “Never. I would never shut you out. I cannot. As you well know. You are my heart, Persephone. My soul.”
She framed his face again and leaned towards him as she closed her eyes, feeling the truth of his words. “As you are mine, Hades.”
He pushed her back and stared at her, emotions swirling in his eyes, flickers of warmth and light, and love that stole her breath.
On a low growl, he swept her back into his arms and claimed her mouth.
Author Bio:
I'm a NEW YORK TIMES, USA TODAY and International Best-Selling Author writing passionate paranormal romance books and series for adults.
I love to create detailed worlds, twisting plots, mind-blowing action, intense emotion and heart-stopping romances with leading men that vary from dark deadly vampires to sexy shifters and wicked werewolves, to sinful angels and hot demons! All of them alpha as you would expect in paranormal romance, and every book with a guaranteed HAPPILY FOREVER AFTER!
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