Page 166 of Hekate: The Witch (Goddesses of the Underworld #1)

‘ KRONOS! ’

It was the voice of a dozen gorgons,

thunderous with frightening fury.

It was the sound of a hundred sirens,

screaming against the ocean wind.

It was the cry of a thousand harpies,

screeching before they descended on prey.

So primordial was this sound

that the three I had split into

were jarred back together as one.

The raging pain pulsed through

my whole body as I felt the other

two versions of me stitch themselves

back into my body again,

and I felt myself burn and stretch

and return until there were

no others like me left.

Only one.

Just me.

And then the voice

filled the whole room again.

‘REMEMBER, TITAN,

WHERE YOU STAND.

YOUR OATH TO ME AND HADES

DEMANDS AN ANSWER.’

Kronos, who had been terrifying

to me, suddenly sounded very small.

‘F-forgive me, Goddess of the Dark.

I… I have simply been lonely.’

There was a terrible, cold silence

that followed and then the voice spoke.

‘LET THIS BE THE LAST TIME

YOU brEAK YOUR OATH,

FOR THE NEXT TIME,

IT IS TARTARUS

OR STYX’S WATER.

THE CHOICE IS YOURS.’

I could hear the warble in his voice

as he whispered, ‘I apologize.

I am so sorry.’ A shaking sob

escaped his chest.

And that was when the voice

turned its attentions to me.

‘HEKATE, CHILD OF ASTERIA

AND PERSES. YOU WILL BE

brOUGHT TO THE HALLS

OF NIGHT WHERE YOU WILL

EXPLAIN YOUR PURPOSE

FOR THIS INTRUSION.’

I winced at the word intrusion .

But before I could acknowledge

the message, a hurricane of darkness

swept me off my feet,

turning everything around me

into a swirling abyss.