Page 254 of Hekate: The Witch (Goddesses of the Underworld #1)

Aftermath

It was strange to stand again upon rubble that was once a palace.

I had known the wreckage of palaces well.

I was once a child who ran through a crumbling home, learning about a world beyond its walls that was covered in golden blood.

I now knew what made the floors of this place gold and it invoked a bitterness in me.

The sweet-burned smell of ichor was so pungent, I could not wait to return to the Underworld.

But first I helped Ares recover his mother, Hera, from the edge of Olympus, distracting her captors with my torches as she freed herself from their chains.

Thanatos went to find Hephaestus, locating him in the bowels of his mountain forge, locked away in a box they had forced him to craft.

Hermes aided Apollo and Artemis in their return to the mountain, but not before they had sliced through the ankles of enough giants still climbing the mountainside and sent them tumbling.

And Zeus helped Athena recover what was left of the altars for rebuilding.

My army was back with me, thousands covering the mountaintop, nearly spilling over its edges.

In the end, we stood upon the smoking ruins as all the Olympians assembled.

They were beautiful, as all the legends said.

Arrogant and powerful and yet… yet they had needed help from me.

It was Zeus who spoke first. ‘Hekate, daughter of Asteria and Perses. Your efforts have served us well. For this, we will give you anything you ask.’