Page 41 of Spring's Descent
“Is this your coat?”
“It was the only way I could stop you from shivering,” he said, unable to look me in the eyes.
“But what about you?” I asked. “How are you not frozen?”
Vast sheets of ice coated the surface of the slow moving river composed of brilliant blue stones. Endless snow and rough paths woven through barren trees made up the rest of the landscape, spiraling downward toward a pit at the valley’s center. Stumbling, lost souls all headed in the same direction. We’d reached Cocytus.
Distraught souls wailed endlessly, their infinite tears running down the expanse of their decrepit bodies to join the valley of ice around them. Some looked much the same as those in The Realm of the Living, but others were little more than ghosts. Shades destined to wander these cursed shores forever.
“I am a part of The Underworld,” Aidoneus said with a shrug, the simple gesture somehow softening his sharp features. “The cold doesn’t bother me.”
“Is it a demon thing?” I asked, my gaze falling to the tattoo over his heart once more. It must have been spelled, because I wanted to press my palms flat against his chest and feel the beating of his heart again. I craved to taste him, to lick the edges of the very tattoos meant as a warning to stay far away from him.
Gods above, what was happening to me?
“As much as I enjoy your touch, it’s best if you keep your hands to yourself. At least until you can master control over yourgifts. When life magic is extended beyond your stores, it will pull from your own thread.”
My eyes widened. “The only magic I’ve displayed was when your fingers were inside of me.”
Aidoneus’s lips quirked in a cocky grin as my cheeks heated.
“That was a beautiful start to our adventures together, but your power far outshines the boundaries of release magic.”
“I’m not awakened,” I said, refusing to believe it despite the evidence before me. “This can’t be my power.”
“Many witches display low level power before their awakening, as you know. The stronger the witch, the earlier the magic will be present.”
My mother’s voice echoed in my ear, never letting me forget she was only ten years old when the first rose bush bloomed under her touch. But there were never any signs of my own magic.
Aidoneus’s eyes narrowed, his brows furrowing as he studied my face. “To wield magic that powerful before your awakening, you must have been young when your magic first manifested.”
“No,” I whispered, but the word didn’t feel quite right. Flashes of the nightmare from the bridge on Tartarus flitted through my mind, each one more confusing than the last. “The nightmare Kampe forced me to see… I think it was a memory. At least, part of it.”
“What was it?”
“I was able to do magic in the dream—nightmare from Kampe. I must have been eight or nine years old, but I brought an entire field of dandelions back to life after it had been decimated by death magic.”
Aidoneus’s grip tightened around me, tugging me closer. It was the support I didn’t realize I needed and would’ve never thought to ask for, but it soothed the churning of my mind enough to continue.
“Mother knew.” I swallowed against the dryness of my throat, my stomach clenching. “I thought she’d be proud, but she was so angry.”
“She was threatened,” Aidoneus corrected, his voice taking on a hard edge. “And desperate.”
“For what?” I countered. “I’ve always been an embarrassment, the weak, useless daughter of the great Demeter. Having magic would have fixed all of that.”
“Or it would’ve stripped Demeter of her chance to discredit you. A witch of your power could easily sway the coven, usurping her position.”
“I never would’ve done that,” I muttered.
“Demeter isn’t one to leave her power up to chance,” Aidoneus said, the words dripping with hatred.
“How could I not know I had access to magic?” I asked, watching his face for a response. I wasn’t sure what I was hoping for. For him to be deceiving me? For this all to have been a ploy by a wicked demon to claim what little life magic I could impart?
But then why save me from the Lethe? Why go through all of this if I was just another witch destined to die on her awakening unless Aidoneus had been telling the truth from the beginning.
“There are ways for a witch’s powers to be suppressed. The bigger issue is getting you to The Dark Palace in time for the bonding ceremony and making sure you have access to your powers.”
My eyes snapped to his, disbelief coating my words. “You still intend for me to wed Hades?”