A Touch of Darkness

Persephone’s anxiety grows as she and Lexa wait outside Nevernight. They watch a mortal man try to fight his way past the ogre guards, desperate to reach the Underworld and find his dead lover. The women enter and order drinks, which an attractive man purchases for them. He introduces himself as Adonis and invites them to his booth, where they meet his friends. Among them is Sybil, an oracle who will serve one of the gods.

Persephone catches the eye of a handsome, dark-haired man to whom she is immediately drawn. She is distracted when a woman touches him, refocusing on her companions and learning about Hades’s private lounge, where he engages in dark deals with desperate mortals. Hades makes bets with them. Then, when they lose, he gives them impossible tasks; if they don’t succeed, they will lose their soul to him. Lexa takes Persephone to the bathroom, expressing her interest in Adonis. The two become separated, and Persephone meets a woman who gives her the password to the private lounge. Outside the room, a gorgon recognizes Persephone’s divinity, jarring her as she enters. She encounters the dark-haired man she saw earlier, and he offers to teach her poker. They play and question each other. When Persephone realizes the man is Hades, she flees.

The next morning, Persephone notices black dots on her wrist that she cannot wash off. She believes that Hades put the mark there, and she hides it with a bracelet, intending to visit him after her internship. Demeter arrives and changes Persephone’s glamour to make her look more like her. The two argue about Persephone’s internship, as Demeter wants her to return home and forsake the mortal realm. After Demeter departs, Persephone returns her appearance to normal. She feels conflicting desire and disgust toward Hades as she walks to work. At New Athens News, she talks with Demetri, her new boss, and he gives her creative freedom to pursue her own projects. She then runs into Adonis and discovers that he is a senior reporter.

Outside Nevernight, Persephone knocks on the door until an ogre answers. They have an altercation, during which he grabs her by her throat. She drops her glamour, and Hades appears with his attractive assistant, Minthe. Hades promises to punish the ogre and escorts her to his office. She ignores his questions about why she is not using her own magic; instead, she focuses on her marked wrist. He reminds her that those who gamble with him are held under contract should they lose; to be free of her contract, she must create life in the Underworld within six months. He agrees to wipe the ogre’s memory of her divine form in exchange for a future favor. Hades kisses her forehead to grant her entrance into Nevernight whenever she desires. Hades once again asks why she is using Demeter’s magic, and Persephone touches the flower in his lapel, causing it to wilt.

Persephone is driven home by Hades’s driver, who speaks highly of Hades and contradicts Persephone’s preconceptions of him. Back at their apartment, Lexa sees Persephone exit the car, and Persephone pretends that she was asked to interview Hades for work. Lexa teases her about having a crush on Hades. Persephone resolves to write an exposé about Hades as revenge for their contract. As she walks to class, she grapples with the ways that the portrayal of Hades in the media, her mother’s perspective on him, and his staff’s behavior intersect. Demeter appears and questions Persephone about her whereabouts the day before. She reveals that she tracked Persephone to Nevernight and forbids her from seeing Hades again.

After class, Lexa accompanies Persephone to her internship. Adonis invites them out that weekend. He then helps Persephone do background research on Hades in exchange for reading her article before she publishes it. Persephone reads the accounts of people who entered into dangerous bargains with Hades and lost. She takes Adonis with her to Nevernight, intending to interview Hades. They enter the club using Hades’s blessing, but Minthe stops them. Persephone demands to meet with Hades, and the two are taken to his office. There, she begins an aggressive line of questioning about the bargains he makes and “the lives you destroy,” and many of Hades’s answers also refer to the contract she has with him (83). Hades magically makes Adonis fall unconscious so he can speak plainly with Persephone. Then, he tells her there will be consequences if she writes a news article about him. Adonis wakes, and Hades sends them away, reminding Persephone to return that night.

Persephone returns to Nevernight that evening, and a satyr takes her to his office. He speaks highly of Hades, insisting that the god is protective of his people and his realm. When she is left alone, Persephone snoops, falling through a magical portion of the wall and into the Underworld. She finds the land filled with beautiful flowers and greenery. She walks until she reaches the River Styx, slipping into the water. A corpse that is hidden underwater grabs her ankle. She is dragged down and attacked by corpses but fights her way back to the surface, where the god Hermes pulls her to freedom. He teases her, but Hades magically knocks him away as he arrives to the scene. Persephone tries to defend Hermes but collapses from her wounds. Hades teleports them to his palace.