Page 52 of Spring's Descent
“You didn’t want to know,” one argued. Icy dread slid down my spine as I slowly turned toward the sound of Willow’s voice. Her rich brown eyes were now glazed over, opaque and unseeing, but she appeared to stare right into my soul. Her chest was split open, ribs and sternum cracked in three parts. It looked like she exploded from the inside out, the splintered ends of white bone angled toward me.
“Powerless little Korae, so desperate for mommy’s approval. She didn’t see what was happening right in front of her.” Bloodtrickled from the hole in her chest as Willow’s mangled corpse took a disjointed step toward me. “You were supposed to be our next High Matriarch, ourqueen, but what type of queen runs away?”
“Cyrus was going to kill me?—”
“Then you would have died like the rest of us!”
Willow lunged forward, the skin along her fingers lashing out, splitting the muscle over my chest to grind into my ribs. A scream ripped through my chest, scraping the back of my throat as the world turned.
There, at the edge of my blurry gaze was a man towering over me, cloaked in darkness.
“Time to wake up, Persephone.”
My chest heaved,the thin cotton shift was matted to my body and slick with sweat. Reflexively, my hand wrapped around my chest, still feeling the sting of Willow’s phantom claws.
Blinking the last dregs of terror from my eyes, I looked up. I must have been brought to a different room because everything had changed. The dark walls were illuminated by the morning light shining through high arching windows stretching on either side of the massive bed I was tucked into. The room opened, the obsidian stone floors warmed by spiraling rugs and embroidered furniture. Bookshelves lined the far wall with a large chair set before it. There was a dip worn into the cushion, as if the owner indulged in reading often, and a dark tunic tossed over the back of it. This must be Aidoneus’s room.
No, not Aidoneus—Hades.
“What did you dream about?”
Glancing to the left, I found Hecate stilling in an ornate wooden chair. A large volume of what appeared to be spells was open on the table before her, but her deep green eyes were fixed on mine.
“Willow.” I swallowed against the burn of bile coating my throat as I peeled the remaining sheets off me. “She was dead but not, and she was angry. So angry with me.”
“Splintered spirits tend to be angry,” Hecate sighed as if the notion was something she was used to. “What you experienced was an echo. Her spirit was abused, and her life thread cut short. The ones responsible for her suffering are still in The Realm of the Living. You were the closest spirit she could reach. I took her to the Lethe as soon as she was stable enough, but I should have known pieces of her soul were wandering.”
“Pieces of her soul?”
Hecate offered me an indulging smile that seemed to say, ‘one step at a time’, before coming to the edge of the bed.
“Let’s get you dressed and ready for the day. Hades thought it best for the two of you to have some space, and I thought it would be nice to show you around.”
Hades.
My stomach flipped as the events of yesterday returned. He’d lied to me.
“No,” Hecate said, cutting off the track of my thoughts. “He didn’t lie to you, only omitted the truth.”
“Same thing,” I muttered as I pushed from the sheets that still smelled of Hades’s sweet frost and shadows. I swung my feet to the edge of the bed, the soft fluff of the carpet warming my toes as I stood. My legs wobbled, but Hecate was there to steady me.
“It is and it isn’t. Would you have continued through The Underworld with him if you knew he was Hades?”
“Absolutely not. He’s murdered thousands of people. Killed entire villages.”
“Exactly why he didn’t clarify who he was when you assumed he was just another demon.” A frown settled across my lips as I let Hecate led me to the large armoire. “Your strength will return slowly over the next few days. You really pushed the limits of magic for an unawakened witch, but you’ll be able to wield far greater power in just under two weeks.”
I blinked, coming to a standstill, only half paying attention as Hecate rummaged through swaths of the finest gowns.
“Two weeks? My birthday isn’t until next month.”
Hecate plucked a floral gown out from the others. The sweetheart neckline was covered in lace flowers that cascaded down the floor length skirt. Dark vines with silver barbs wove through the rich green fabric, creating a gown that looked both casual enough for the day while still commanding attention.
“Your birthday is in thirteen days on Ostara.” Hecate held the dress up to me, cocking her head to the side. “This will be perfect.”
“Perfect for what? And how do you know my birthday?”
“I know you were born on the spring equinox just as I know you are the strongest earth witch to wield life magic in centuries. Yes, even stronger than your mother.”