Page 219 of Hekate: The Witch (Goddesses of the Underworld #1)

But His Eyes Narrowed

‘You forget your place,’

he growled at me.

I should have been afraid,

but his words made me laugh.

‘I have never had a place.

What do you think it is

that gives me my courage?’

He turned away from me.

Of course he did,

he had no answer.

As he looked at some

invisible thing,

he said,

‘I will not return Kore.

She is destined to be my queen.

And her father gave me permission.’

Kore. Daughter of Demeter,

the Goddess of the Harvest.

So that was who he had stolen.

A child of flowers and innocence.

‘Hades.’ I softened my tone.

‘Think of her mother.

This will destroy her.’

Demeter adored her daughter.

And Kore had never been

without her mother’s tenderness.

‘Do you not see, she is a spring Goddess

and you have brought her to where nothing grows?’

The more it unravelled in my mind,

the more my heart broke.

‘Things do grow here.’

Hades touched a black apple.

‘From dead soil and dead bones.

You produce fruit that

no one can eat.’

My hands shook.

‘You are taking from her

the very life force she needs.’

But it was no use.

His stubbornness was legendary.

He turned away from me

and walked towards his home.

I glared at his retreating back.

I would see no more daughters

separated from their mothers

on the whims of callous Gods.

If I was to help Kore,

I would have to defy him

and all of his realms.

So be it.

So be it.