Page 265 of Hekate: The Witch (Goddesses of the Underworld #1)

A Mother’s Love

I cannot remember how we reached Demeter’s cottage.

Only that the miles fell away quickly beneath our feet.

She was sitting where I left her, heartbroken and staring at frozen hands she refused to warm up.

Before we had even reached the footpath, Kore had broken into a run.

‘Mama!’ she shouted, and I watched as Demeter looked up, as though she was in a dream.

Her face held everything. Shock, then relief and then the boundless beauty of joy.

She got up from her stoop and as she did, it was as though the whole of winter fled.

Gone was the icy wind with each footstep to her daughter.

Gone was the snow with each of her smiles.

Gone was the chill and the cold replaced with the warmth of spring, a thousand plants bursting out of the ice-covered ground as mother and daughter met and held each other.

It was as though the world reset before my eyes.

Bluebirds were singing, a gentle doe sprinted across the fields and behind me the forest was full of insects and lush green trees and the scent of a thousand flowers again.

I stayed for a few moments. Stayed to watch Demeter and Kore’s happiness at being reunited.

At last, a mother and daughter who had not been forced apart forever.

I took in a deep breath of this joy, a joy that would never be mine.

And as I was about to turn and leave, Demeter’s voice came to me like flowers upon the breeze. ‘Thank you, Hekate.’