Page 55 of Thorn & Ash
Darkness crowded her vision again, and she felt her mind slipping away. She was out of time.
And she couldn’t help Cyrus without her magic.
I’m sorry, she thought to him. I’m so sorry. But I swear on my life, I will come for you and I’ll do anything to bring you back. We will be bound together once more.
Prue snatched the necklace around her neck and tugged until the chain snapped. The enchanted pomegranate fell to the floor with a clatter. In a burst of white light, energy exploded within her, burning her flesh and boiling her blood. Her bones quivered from the sheer intensity of it, and she cried out, her throat now free of Aidoneus’s assault.
Her magic swelled within her, so powerful it brought tears to her eyes. A heavy weight had been lifted from her chest, and she could finally breathe. Goddess above, she could feel everything. The pungent smell of alcohol filled her nose, along with Aidoneus’s dark and smoky magic. She could see the wisps of black power surrounding him, a dark aura of death magic.
He has it, too, she thought in horror. He has a piece of Kronos’s magic. And he has no idea.
With a thrust of her hands, she sent her vines forward, snaring around Aidoneus’s ankles and rooting him to the floor. He yelped, struggling to free himself to no avail. Prue’s vines trapped his wrists behind his back, then snaked around his mouth to gag him. He stared at her in part fury, part shock.
“Here’s what I think,” Prue seethed, her throat still raw from his attack. “I think you’re a sad, pitiful man who’s too much of a coward to do anything while his realm slowly dies. My bond grants me access to Cyrus’s death magic, which is lethal to everyone, even gods. I could end you, right here and now, without a drop of remorse. If that’s your greatest wish, I will oblige. But not before you give me the information I seek.”
Aidoneus growled something unintelligible, and Prue released the vines on his mouth. “Foul witch,” he spat.
Prue flexed her fingers, and Aidoneus howled in pain as her vines tightened around his hands and legs. “I can bring you pain, or end your suffering,” she said. “It’s your choice.”
“How?” Aidoneus groaned, his voice strained. “How can you possess this much power? The only way—“ He faltered, clarity burning in his eyes as he stared at her in horror. “It can’t be.”
No, Prue thought, her mind spiraling into a panicked haze. He knows. He knows I’m Gaia’s daughter.
“Tell me how to defeat Kronos,” Prue commanded, trying to ignore the flicker of fear in her chest.
Aidoneus started laughing again, but it sounded manic and uncontrollable, like he was losing his sanity. “What the hell has my son brought here, in my domain? Gods, this realm truly is doomed with you here. Your efforts are wasted. This place is already lost.” He shook his head, his eyes crinkling with amusement. “Even the darkest of curses in Tartarus wouldn’t be able to keep out your power. I wish I’d met you sooner; together, we could end this place far quicker than I could on my own.”
Even the darkest of curses in Tartarus. So… Tartarus had its own magic? Was this Kronos’s magic, too?
Was that how Kronos was imprisoned before: through a curse?
“Why is Kronos afraid of Tartarus?” Prue asked.
“Go ahead and venture down there, little witch,” Aidoneus said, choking on his laughter. “See what happens when you open it. I’d love to see the look on your face when you unlock the darkness waiting for you down there.”
Prue snarled in frustration before curling her hands into fists. The vines tightened, and Aidoneus wheezed as the breath was squeezed out of him.
Prue waved her fingers in the air, tying the vines around the pillars supporting the ceiling. “Stay here and rot for all I care,” she growled before turning on her heel and leaving him there, struggling against her vines.
FORGOTTEN
EVANDER
Evander sensed the moment she entered the realm. The air quivered from the intensity of her aura, her essence. His soul was so tethered to hers that he would recognize her presence anywhere.
Mona, the beast inside him rumbled, and Evander nodded his assent. After checking to ensure Cocytus was flowing normally, Evander spread his wings and took off into the sky, allowing his bestial senses to take over as he tracked the witch he had been waiting for.
In Mona’s absence, he had busied himself with investigating the information his brothers had given him. But Tartarus yielded no clues, and Evander had faced dead end after dead end. Whatever had been unleashed from Tartarus was too well-hidden for even Typhon’s senses to pick up on.
Besides, the Underworld was still broken from the devastation of Vasileios’s death. Whatever chaos he’d caused in the mortal realm had reflected in the Underworld as well, and it had never recovered. Sections of the realm were empty of all magic, and Aidoneus’s powerful enchantments weren’t working.
Evander steered clear of those areas. Each time he ventured near one, a chill snaked across his body, making it difficult for him to breathe. The rocky gray nothingness of the sky and the absence of trees and grass created this numbing void of nothingness that made Evander want to tear his brains out.
He couldn’t stand it.
Everything here was an illusion, yes, but he needed that illusion for a sense of normalcy. Without it, he’d go mad.
Those empty spaces weren’t the only repercussions of the incident in the mortal realm. Evander didn’t know exactly what happened with Cyrus in the human world, and he was too afraid to ask. Cyrus had trusted him to watch over the Underworld, and he’d failed.