Page 103 of The Cursed Chalice

I hear a retching sound. Deimos is pretending to vomit.

“I think it’s sweet. I like this, and then there are days I want someone to crack me like a crab and slurp my insides,” Hecate says casually.

“I’ve got to go.” I come out of Ares’s embrace and grab my bag and keys. “Remember, we have dinner today at 7 p.m.”

Hecate shakes her head. “I swear, by the fates, we will be here early.”

I look at Ares and wink, and then I am gone.

ARES

“So now until forever, huh?” Hecate teases me beside the coffeemaker. The coffee maker hisses, spitting out the last brew.

“Mind your business. What did you find out?” I pour a cup of coffee.

Deimos grabs a Red Bull from the fridge and leans on the counter. For once, he’s listening intently.

“I found out that Elias is a direct descendant of—brace yourself—King Orinon of Thrace.”

I almost drop my coffee from shock. “What?”

Hecate nods and swirls her wrist. A book appears on the island.

“It took me a while, but,” Her hands look like she was moving the pages. The book opens. “Right here.”

She points to a line from Thrace down to a David Weitman.

Her finger taps on Weitman’s name. “That is Elias’s great-grandfather. He is a descendant of Orinon.”

I had so many questions floating in my head. Where do I start?

Deimos steps closer to the counter and gazes at the book. “So, is Soraya descended from Talia?”

My lungs tighten with the thought of Talia and Soraya being related.

Hecate raises her hand and moves it back and forth over the book; the pages turn under her command. “Here.”

I hold my breath as her finger traces Soraya’s genealogy back to Talia, the forgotten queen.

“How do you feel about this?” Hecate asks.

I drag my hand down my face. “I don’t know.”

“Do you still love Soraya?” Hecate asks as she closes her fist and the book disappears.

“I do.”

Hecate smiles. “And that’s all that matters.”

Deimos scratches his neck. “That means this is more complex than we know.”

Hecate sighs. “There is more. Elias was also involved in the human trafficking ring that Nisa was involved in.

”Elias was also involved in the human trafficking ring that Nisa was involved in.”

The room drops quiet and cold. “I want to kill him all over again.”

“Agreed. So I sent a small message to Tartarus to make sure he is tortured…forever.” Hecate smiles.