Page 28 of Hekate: The Witch (Goddesses of the Underworld #1)

A Ferocious Rage Emerged

I wrenched myself free of his grasp

and glared at Charon

with burning hot fire in my body.

I wanted to scream

And scream

And scream.

‘They know where my mother is!

None of you are helping me!

They want to help me!’

Charon sighed. ‘They do not, child.

The spirits lie. That is what they do.

Did no one tell you this?’

I stared at him as though

he had three heads.

‘What is a lie?’

Charon rubbed his forehead

and then sat down on the riverbed,

patting the ground to show

he wanted me to sit

down next to him.

I wanted to hold my anger longer,

but my curiosity won

and instead, I sat down.

Charon told me gently,

‘You are now a child

of the Underworld.

There are rules here, Hekate.

All things here have a purpose.

Not every purpose is good.’

He took my hand and said kindly,

‘Promise me you will not

listen to the spirits again.’

My rage turned into a tearful lump

inside my throat at his kindness.

I nodded, unable to speak.

But what he said about purpose…

It reminded me I had none.

Neither good nor bad.

It was true, after all.

A God without a purpose

has no uses in any realm.

That was why it was so essential

to know why we existed,

to know what we were made for.