Page 267 of Hekate: The Witch (Goddesses of the Underworld #1)

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Thanatos was waiting for me

when I returned.

He was sitting with Hecuba

on the stairs of my home,

his hand gently stroking her head

as it lay in his lap.

I looked at him and a sharp pain

erupted in my heart.

He smiled at me when he saw me,

but when I did not smile back,

he frowned and asked,

‘What ails you?’

If I had it in me to cry,

I would have wept in this moment.

But instead, I took a breath and

I told him of what Zeus had asked.

He listened to my words carefully,

then walked towards me,

and took my face in his hands.

I closed my eyes at the warmth of his touch.

‘We are Titans. Fuck Zeus. Fuck his customs.

Fuck his marriages and Olympus.

We are not governed by them.

We will do exactly what we please.’

I looked into his eyes

and just like that,

a resolve formed in my mind.

He was right. We answered to no one,

not even God-Kings.

I had already defied Hades.

I would defy Zeus too.

I would defy the world

if it meant I could be with Thanatos.

It occurred to me with a jolt then:

I loved him. I truly loved him.

I lifted my head from his hands

and it was then that I realized

that our lips were so close.

This was the closest we had ever been.

I moved first. Or maybe he did.

My lips touched his gently,

and like a long-held promise,

his mouth yielded to mine

and suddenly it was as though

a thousand stars were born,

every river, every ocean in the world

stopped flowing for a second for us,

even the moon in all her glory

stopped her glow to stare at us.

And when we finally parted for air,

The world, the universe, everything

made sense. And then he smiled at me

and my heart melted. I smiled back.

It was Hecuba’s bark

that broke our gaze.

Thanatos laughed.

Then he took my hand.

‘Come inside. Styx and Pallas

and Charon are all waiting.’

There is, of course,

more to the story.

But that is a tale

For another time.

As of now, we must part.

You see, my family awaits me.