Chapter 75

                                    

                                          
VERONICA
                          
I inserted my gloved hands into the pockets of the coat wrapped around my body. The Cathedral at the center of the Twelfth Realm was nothing more than an abandoned building now, its structure slowly deteriorating undoubtedly caused by Lore.
                          
I navigated through the sundered pews and cracked tiles with effortless ease. When the dais was before me, I ascended the stairs step by step and stopped by the very spot I stood on where I was supposed to marry Nixon.
                          
To this day, I still wonder what would have happened if I didn't let Lore inside my head and accepted his offer to take me away. 
                          
"I didn't expect you to actually come, Persephone." A voice echoed from behind me. I turned and stared at the haughty expression painted all over his face, "But then again, everyone is afraid of death. Even when your lover's the God of death itself."
                          
I snickered. "Death? I am not afraid of it. I court it everyday, seduce it in every move I make. I'm only doing this for the greater good, Nixon."
                          
Nixon nodded, then materialized immediately inches before me. He laughed when I didn't show any sign of shock from what he did and backed away a few steps. "You think I'll go easy on you because you surrendered?" He started pacing around me, prowling as if he were the predator and I the prey. "Before, maybe I would have. But I am their King now, Persephone. They are desperate for their Queen to bring them the retribution they deserve. Are you so selfish to rob them of that fate?"
                          
"Yes, I am." A small smile played on my lips when he froze in place from my reply. He turned to me with scrunched eyebrows, and I nodded in confirmation.
                          
I drew in a sharp breath when he approached me with unfathomable speed and gripped my neck. "Do not humor me, Persephone. You think I won't kill you?"
                          
"No, not really because for starters, you need me. And Demeter will have your head on a stake the moment you lay a finger on me." 
                          
"Maybe, but once I have you, and I will," he ran a finger down my cheek and kissed my forehead. It took only an iron will to not rip his beating heart out of his chest. "I'm going to do things you've never even heard of when you become my wife. You'll be begging for me on your knees in no time."
                          
"Is that a threat or a promise?" I asked with a smile as he kept his hand wrapped around my neck.
                          
A growl ripped out of him and he pulled me closer to him. Nixon held me close like a lover before pushing me back and walked to where Demeter stood by the dais of a throne room I'd never seen before. My mother's face held no emotions as she took me in.
                          
"Persephone. You came." She started.
                          
Don't laugh. Don't laugh. Don't laugh. "I had no choice left in the matter, did I?" I said with a stable voice willed by some impossible miracle.
                          
Demeter sighed, as if I were merely an inconvenience to her, and moved closer to me. She tucked a strand behind my ear and held my chin with a gentle hand, "You tricked me last time. I thought... I thought you were truly gone when you disappeared next to me."
                          
"Well, if you need proof that I'm truly here, just ask." I said with a smirk I knew she hated.
                          
"She's real, Demeter." Nixon chimed in.