Hello, loves! Sorry this has taken so long. I know I was very motivated at first but I had a completely different idea for this chapter and then that seemed wrong after the last chapter. Also, I've been distracted by studying and other writing projects. Then when I started writing I began to obsess over whether I was getting a little too dark with this chapter but I decided you could handle it. With all that nonsense as a preface, I do hope you like it and…

As always, PLEASE REVIEW!

Much love, Cat

xxxxx

Oh, and I'm still dropping hints about his identity.

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She felt like a caged bird, alternately seething with anger or sunken in resigned despair, occasionally flapping her wings futilely. Her throat was dry and her mouth tasted like the bottom of a well. When they had arrived home, Demeter had given into her pleas for a reprieve but had pressed one of her sleeping draughts into her hands. Too tired, and honestly too susceptible to allure of a dreamless sleep, she had let the slightly sweet, smoky liquid slide down her throat as her mother watched. She tilted her head slightly to look out the window. From the position of the sun, it was mid-afternoon. She had almost slept the entire day away and even now she could feel herself beginning to drift off again. Her mother was making her potions stronger.

Persephone was shocked at how little she cared. He was right. She was becoming too complacent. Too compliant. Too complicit in a plot she wanted no part of. She closed her eyes and pictured his face, gentle blue eyes filled with love…and concern. She willed herself to get out of bed and walk over to her bookshelf. Instead of reaching up to take one of the calfskin-bound volumes off the shelves she gave the room a cursory glance and then knelt down, lifting the carpet and running her hands along the wooden floor until she felt the familiar grooves. She carefully lifted up the board to reveal a small hidden space under the floor boards. She let her fingers brush past the stack of love letters, the paper fragile from frequent handling, and took an unassuming leather-bound book. It wasn't a diary. She wasn't foolish enough to leave a record of her thoughts when there was even the slightest chance of discovery. No, it was a book she had borrowed from Athena. And hopefully the answer to her problems.

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He had to see her. It was actually physically painful to be unable to see her. He had pursued women before, but never like this. Never while knowing the object of his affections was desperate to be with him as well. These moments were the worst, the times when he was angry with her for not loving him enough to fight harder. And yet, he wasn't fighting either. At her request, true, but he could have fought if he wanted to, if he wasn't so afraid of the repercussions. Of losing her.

He closed his eyes and lay back against the pillows. Almost instantly, he recalled her lovely face, warm and adoring, but also harboring strength she had never been taught to cultivate. In his weakest moments, he considered leaving. But luckily, he was not completely unredeemable. As soon as the thought crossed his mind, he promptly squelched it, feeling embarrassment flood through him for even considering the cowardly action. But he might have. Before her. She saw the good in him, the salvageable parts. He needed her.

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Hope you're liking it so far. I'm kind of scattered without a beta. Or a plot outline. But that means I can get out updates faster. I don't know. Let me know what you think.

As always, PLEASE REVIEW!

Much love, Cat