Page 48 of Hekate: The Witch (Goddesses of the Underworld #1)

A Conversation with Charon

We were sitting at the window again,

playing a game of dice,

when I asked him about his parents.

‘What was your father like?’

He paused the game and frowned.

‘My father is Erebus, the darkness.

I have only met him a few times

in my mother’s palace. She raised me.’

It’s odd how much is revealed

about a parent from three lines.

Most of us were fathered by Gods

we did not know well at all.

‘And your mother?’ I asked quietly,

picking up the dice to restart the game.

He looked down contemplatively,

then steepled his fingers.

‘Nyx is the Night itself,’

he said finally. His voice sounded

strange and strangled.

‘She is powerful. So powerful

that even those new Gods on

Olympus are fearful of her.’

This caught my attention

and I looked at his face sharply.

But he wasn’t looking at me.

He was focused on the game.

‘Growing up in the Realm of Night

is less growth, more survival.

My brothers and sisters and I,

you can say we had an interesting

upbringing, and that is why

we are interesting Gods.’

I was perplexed. ‘Are you certain

you are not a God of Oracles?’

His bushy eyebrows furrowed.

‘What makes you say that?’

I triumphantly tossed down

a perfect hand as I answered,

‘You speak in riddles better

than most of my mother’s Oracles did.’

Charon’s face cleared

and he threw his head back,

his deep laughter echoing across

the halls of my palace.