Page 62 of Hekate: The Witch (Goddesses of the Underworld #1)

Secrets

I did not realize it until that moment: Styx’s avoidance of me, her brief visits only to ensure the essentials of feeding me ambrosia and nectar, was for reasons other than her river of oaths and death keeping her so preoccupied.

Hades making a promise to my mother regarding my safety and then disappearing was not just because he was otherwise engaged ruling the Underworld.

They were both hiding something from me.

My mother hid things from me too. She would not name who was chasing us until the very end, even though I knew it was two powerful Gods.

Everyone assumed that to protect children, they must be kept in the dark – no one understood those secrets haunted the same children they were so ardently trying to protect.

I was beginning to recognize that eternity was a very long time and if this was now my home, I would not abide any more secrets.

Not from those who were meant to take care of me.

So I took my hand back from Styx and told her and Hades, ‘If I am to live here, I want to know everything. Every secret. Every wound. Every truth.’