Series: Willow Winters
Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 74198 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 371(@200wpm)___ 297(@250wpm)___ 247(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74198 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 371(@200wpm)___ 297(@250wpm)___ 247(@300wpm)
“I had to send Minox. I could not take her myself, as you know.” The admission stings. “There was no time to summon you and—”
“Was there not?”
My jaw ticks as her face morphs into the crone and then back. She is a knowing Titan. “There may have been time to summon you,” I admit. “But it was not the new moon, or even close to it. You would not have been able to come.”
“You are mistaken.” Hecate leans back in her chair and it creaks with her movement, her wine drawn close to her chest. “It is not only at the time of the new moon that I may move between the realms as I will it.”
“But you are bound—”
“I am bound to return to the Underworld at the crescent before the new moon. I may travel between the realms when I wish. There is no other binding, and you are aware of such things.”
With a deep breath I steady myself. My instincts war with me and my muscles coil. I want to knock the dishes off the table. I want to hurl my glass of wine at the wall and watch it shatter. I don’t; I restrain myself. Something it appears I’ve been doing more often lately.
“It was not my intention to betray you,” I say, when my vision clears. “I was mistaken and for that you have my apologies.”
“You might have asked, Hades.” Her tone is gentle but even still, it enrages me.
There is no reply to that beyond a scream of frustration. Surely she knows what was at stake. The Titan is the oldest god. She’s walked through fires that burned centuries before I was conceived.
The respect I have for her is only outweighed by the knowledge that she is the key to Olympus that I need. I do not let my rage out. I stare across the table at Hecate instead.
And Hecate, for all she is willing to sit here at this table with me—for all she did come to the Underworld at my request—will not understand what it is like to ask a question of your own mind and get a twisted answer back, then come to believe it when there are no other voices and no other people.
“I wanted her and I did what I had to in order to take her,” I admit coolly.
“Who opened the realm?” she questions.
“Aphrodite, at my offer to reunite a demon soul with his fated love. I took advantage. I implore you not to disclose this indiscretion.” I answer her honestly, praying that she will be willing to forgive all if only I am honest.
“I suppose you thought that you could not wait,” she muses, as if she can see into my mind. “I suppose you questioned whether I would betray you to Zeus the moment I left Persephone with you. I suppose you thought there was truly no other choice.”
I give her a nod of agreement and do not utter a single word. That is all I can do. To open my mouth and explain is entirely too dangerous. Once I started, I might not stop, and then Hecate would be privileged to have knowledge about me that she would never forget.
“Yet,” she continues, “you have asked me to meet with you, because part of you hopes that I may be able to offer you passage to Olympus.”
Her guess is correct. “That seems to be something you are able to do,” I force out. “If there is to be a meeting of the gods and goddesses, I wish to be there too.”
Her gaze drops and then rises again with a heavy breath. “You wish to be there with your queen,” Hecate says quietly.
“Yes.”
A smile curves her lips. “Persephone has changed you after all. You would not have come to me before you had her as your queen.”
I swallow thickly. Yet again I am at the mercy of others and I loathe it.
“Love changes a man,” Hecate says, as if she is only thinking of it now. “Even if he does not know it himself.”
Straightening in my seat, I clear my throat. Hecate has had her conversation. She has seen too much of me, and it is knowledge I cannot take back from her. I’m not willing to give her more—not until I am by Persephone’s side.
If I can be at her side, then I will give Hecate anything she asks.
Given the satisfaction echoed in her eyes, I think she knows it.
“I am asking you to grant me access to Olympus so that I may attend this meeting along with all the other gods and goddesses. Will you allow it?”
Hecate places her wine glass on the table and stands with a flourish. She holds out her hand, still wearing that unsettling smile, as if she was the one who set all this in motion. As if she was the one to guide my fate.