Page 177 of The Games Gods Play
Fine. He’ll be fine. More than fine. In his own version of paradise. So will the others.
“What about their loved ones?” I ask. “They shouldn’t be alone here.”
“I can arrange that, too.” Amusement filters through his voice.
“Can the souls here interact with one another?”
Hades sort of pauses. “Yes.”
“How, if they’re in their own versions of paradise?”
“If someone else has a similar or same paradise. There are whole families here together. Lovers, friends.”
But only if it’s the same paradise? So I might never see Boone’s face again, and he knows it. He knew it when he visited me as his spectral self.
“You and Persephone made this place as incredible as I’ve ever seen,” I say, still looking out. “And as lonely.” That tells me a lot about both of them.
Hades goes still beside me. Did I hurt his feelings? Offend him?
“What do you see?” I ask again.
His shoulders ease slightly. “Maybe I’ll show you one day.”
But not today. He doesn’t have to say it.
“Can we go back?” I ask.
“Of course.” Immediately, we blink away, and when we arrive at his home, we’re standing in the garden near one of the grottos. The small waterfall that hides the grotto fills the night with a soft gurgle. I’ve always loved the sound of running water.
I glance toward the lights of the house. Why’d he bring us here instead of there?
“I thought seeing Elysium would make you feel better.” He’s searching my face, or the side of it he can see.
“It does.” I may not get to see him ever again, but Boone will be okay either way. That makes it…easier. I frown. “What if Boone doesn’t want to leave there?”
It’s paradise, after all. And he’s more than just safe. He’s well cared for. Why would he want to return to our world—
“I asked him.”
“You…asked him.” Slowly pivoting, I stare at Hades. I know I’m parroting his words, but they don’t quite make sense.
Hades lets go of my fingers and shoves his hands in his pockets, and I can tell it’s supposed to be a casual move. It’s anything but. “When I brought him to you while you were sick, I asked him if he wanted to stay in Elysium or gain immortality as a god if that option became possible.”
He asked him. Hades asked Boone, who he doesn’t like very much, what he wanted. He offered to make him an immortal god if he wanted, if he could.
“Why did you ask?”
A shrug. “No soul should be forced into something they don’t want or didn’t earn. Especially if it has permanent consequences.” He glances away with a muttered, “After all this time, I learned that the hard way.”
Is he talking about…me?
I’m still hung up on the fact that he asked Boone at all.
He asked for me. And maybe it’s incredibly conceited to assume, and I’m sure the whole no-forcing-a-soul thing is also a reason, but he did this for me. Unlike his helping Samuel heal, this time I know that thought isn’t silly. I’m sure of it. He did this because I was hurting. And yet, he wanted to make sure that my selfish pain didn’t override what Boone would choose for himself.
Hades is still trying to play it casual, but I can see the way his hands are fisting in his pockets.
An earthquake of tenderness for this god shakes my very foundations.
