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I feel the tug of it as I felt the tug in my core to mate with Hades in his Gods’ Form. I felt a similar tug to sneak away to the sinkhole, to Hydra. And now, I feel it pulling me to the black mountain. To the Moirai. Without Hades.

“We can’t ignore them,” I say, though the words tremble.

“Yes, we can.”She tries to shift away from the mountain, but instead soars in a circle not far now from the mouth that beckons us closer.

“Hydra.” I stroke her scales. “You will be with me.”

“I fear I will not be able to protect you from them, my Persephone.”

“No one can. If Atropos wanted to cut the thread of my life, she has the shears to do it whether I am standing in her presence or not.”

My words must make sense, because Hydra stops fighting the pull I know tugs at her, too. We’re no longer soaring down toward the Palace where I know Hades waits, where I know he watches.

Now, we soar straight for the black mountain and the mouth of the cave that only widens further to accept us.

As we land on the stone, I hear Hades’ roar from his Gods’ Form. “No!”

And then the stone behind us simply closes, sealing us in thick darkness.

“Don’t move,”Hydra’s command is a whisper even in my mind.“Don’t breathe.”

“They won’t hurt us.” I soothe her with another stroke.

“They wanted you without Hades.”

“They must have a good reason.” With wide eyes, I try to search the darkness for any source of light. Anything to direct us to where we are supposed to go. “Can you see?”

“Only shadows.”

“Better than me. I can’t see a thing.”

Hydra huffs, but the stone around us begins to sing with the grinding of movement. It’s chilling, calling gooseflesh to the surface of my skin. I make to slide from Hydra’s back, but her voice in my mind is firm.“Stay.”

Settling in for the ride, we begin to move through the tunnel of shifting black stone. There is caution in every step Hydra takes.

Inside me, fear and curiosity stand in equal measure.

But the darkness doesn’t last long, and both the fear and curiosity are quickly fed as the stone begins to pull back to expose the same room in which I stood with Hades. Only a few weeks have passed, and it’s not like the memory of this place has faded, and yet I can’t deny the awe that climbs inside me.

The three Moirai already stand at the cauldron of souls, gripping the edge. A collage of ages and appearances move through their bodies before they finally settle. One youthful, one middle age, and one who has lived a long life.

Together, they speak into our minds.“The Dark Prince of Golden Gods comes. He brings with him a dark storm of rage and war. The rage and war bound to him by the hatred from which he was birthed.”All three heads twist to face us. I manage not to cringe at the absence of their mouths nor under the eerie sharpness of their knowing eyes.“You will go with him, Persephone.”

Hydra stiffens beneath me.

I’m about to refuse, when the Moirai speak again.“He holds the power of an ancient deal not yet broken.”

“You speak in riddles,” I say as Hydra gasps in my mind,“The deal of the seasons.”

The Moirai speak again inside our minds. Only, it’s not just inside our minds now. Their voices are everywhere, echoing inside my mind and out as though their words are spilled from between the shimmering veins that surge power inside this ancient black mountain.

The cauldron of souls quivers, as though the souls inside feel the power that is this trio of ancient, otherworldly beings.

“The ancient deal between Gods stands true. The soul of the Goddess Persephone lives inside you, but it is the same soul tethered to the bargain of the past. A blood bargain.”

“A blood bargain?”

“The deal stands as the blood of the bound lives in the God of the Underworld. The deal to avoid a war of Gods that would see the end of humanity, to share your soul with those he believed loved you too much to lose you. The deal that became known as the deal of the seasons.”The Moirai pause as I shiver where I stand close to Hydra’s chest.“It is the deal in which you would move between the realms. Now, the Dark Prince of Golden Gods comes to collect that which, rightfully, is owed them.”