Page 112 of Hekate: The Witch (Goddesses of the Underworld #1)

‘What Are the Moirai?’

I asked this out of fear

and because I had never seen

Charon so serious.

Our friendship was made of

laughter and stories,

and to see him like this…

He reached across the table

and grasped my hand.

‘The Fates are dangerous,

Hekate. They answer to no one.

Promise me that you will never

talk to them again.’

His hand gripped mine hard

and I frowned at his words.

‘But what are they?’

‘They control the divine order.

Who lives, who dies.

They spin the threads

of all our lives.’

I was surprised by this,

‘Even the Gods?’

He nodded. ‘Even the Gods.

Even Ferryman Gods like me.’

Mentions of his divinity

always made him uncomfortable,

so he continued as though

he had not mentioned

his divine role at all.

‘They are above Gods,

men and monsters alike.

They sit next to Hades

in his palace so he can

keep a watchful eye on them.’

My frown deepened.

‘So because they answer to no one

they are dangerous?’

Charon shook his head.

‘They are more so

… unpredictable.’

Something about his words

made me draw my hand back.

It seemed to me

that anything unpredictable

was named dangerous

by Gods and men alike.

But the word ‘unpredictable’

seemed reserved

for women alone.

‘A woman they cannot control,

whether Goddess or mortal,

is a dangerous woman.’

My mother once told me this.

I was beginning to understand precisely

what she meant by those words.

But there was something else.

Something within Charon’s words.

If the Moirai were above Gods,

would they know every God

and mortal’s destiny

and what they were here for?