Page 83 of Spring's Descent
“You will never summon me, Cyrus. You may hold a title once we are through, but the power will remain with me as the High Matriarch. I can’t take any chances after what happened to Ruby.”
“I thought she would have returned when Perseph—Korae—did. I didn’t realize...”
“Of course you didn’t,” Demeter snapped.
The sounds of her heavy footfalls vibrated across the stone floor, louder than the shifting slippers behind her. I dared to open my eyes, looking between thick lashes to glimpse the two witches at her back. Both were clad in olive-colored tunics with light features—green witches. Regardless of Cyrus being head of their coven, they looked ready to carry out whatever command Demeter issued.
“Hypnos will be furious that Ruby’s soul is lost.”
“Forgive me High Matriarch,” Lark said, her voice alone causing my stomach to twist. “But perhaps it’s a good thing Ruby didn’t return. She believed she was next in line for your position as head of our coven, and though she was loyal to you, even the most patient person has their limit.”
“True,” Demeter mused, and I could practically hear an evil grin tilting her lips. “Astral-projection always has its risks, doesn’t it?”
“Always,” Lark said, matching her tone.
Lark had betrayed me.Compelledme. Just like Ruby. Just like the woman I’d called a mother for twenty years. I’d wanted to believe I wasn’t alone in this life. That Ruby had really been my friend once-upon-a-time, or that Lark and I would’ve managed to escape the coven all together. I needed to believe someone cared… And maybe I was hoping for someone to rescue me, to see my struggles and take it upon themselves to fix my world. For someoneelseto fight my battles.
But I realized that I didn’t need anyone.
Hades would always love me. I believed that to my core. He was probably on his way right now to slaughter all of them, and while that soothed the edges of my battered heart, I knew thatIhad all the power I would ever need to rescue myself.
I was my own savior. Wife to Lord Hades. Goddess of The Underworld.Iwas the key to restoring balance between our realms. The strongest earth witch in centuries. It was time to show them who Queen Persephone really was.
I let Hades’s magic gather at the tips of my fingers, felt the swell of power accumulate as I feigned sleep, listening to the three of them talk.
“You’ve proven useful, Larkspur,” Demeter said. “You need only compel my daughter to pledge her magic to The Earth Coven when the clock strikes midnight, and your sister will be free.”
“Then, Korae will be mine,” Cyrus added as the temperature dropped around me. Frost grew on the stones beneath my cheek, webbing out from my hands.
“Yes, yes,” Demeter said. “Korae will be yours to use however you like in a matter of minutes. As soon as Larkspur secures her magic.”
I’ll never be used by anyone again, I thought as I rolled to my knees and aimed all my gathered magic through the bars toward the woman who dared to call me ‘daughter’.
The shadows struck right above her chest, gnawing away at a barrier surrounding her. The rest of the shadows ricocheted, splintering off to hit the two witches behind her.
“No,” I breathed, my head spinning as I watched death magic claim them. I didn’t feel bad for ending their lives, only for the power that it had cost me.
Their skin thinned, burning away in great, gaping swaths. Deafening screams erupted from the witches as muscle and fat were exposed, giving way to tendons and bone beneath. Death magic continued eating away at them, obliterating every fiber of their being, until their cries of agony subsided. And only dust remained.
Demeter had used them as a shield, their energy deflecting the brunt of my magic. I’d failed and lost the element of surprise. A cold sweat coated my brow as my vision spotted. That strike had taken everything from me.
I panted for breath on my hands and knees, searching for any remaining tendrils of magic that I could use. Reaching foranythingthat might save me from Demeter’s wrath. But only smoke remained.
A few hours more and I would’ve been awakened with a vast well of power at my fingertips. My life thread would have been sealed to Hades; my soul tethered to his in every possible way. I would’ve been immortal.
But midnight had not yet come. I was weak and powerless before Demeter. Just as I’d always been.
“You dare wield filthy death magic againstme? After everything I’ve done for you. Everything I’ve sacrificed.” Fury sparked in Demeter’s eyes, the flames of hatred growing wildered as they flicked across the crown shimmering atop my head. Her vicious gaze locked with mine as the buzz of her power grew. The fine hairs on my arms rose as electricity pricked.
“Get her,” Cyrus growled. Each word dripped with promised revenge, causing my stomach to twist. He would punish me for killing the green witches, but I couldn’t think about that, now. Not when Demeter looked like she might finish me off before he got the chance.
Lark’s gaze bounced between us, and I could have sworn there was genuine worry in her eyes. “High Matriarch, please let me?—”
Demeter threw her hands out, the force of her spell colliding with the metal bars of my cell. The wall cracked and fissured along the edge, until the bars fell forward with a loud clang.
“I always knew you were a whore, Persephone,” Demeter seethed as she took another step forward.
“Please,” Lark said, stepping before her with a low bow. “Don’t trouble yourself with retrieving her. Allow me.”