Cyane flicked her eyes back to Cerberus to find his still on her—on her lips.
They belong to you, she wanted to say.Only you.
“Let’s not wait another moment,” Hades boomed. “Dionysus descends as we speak! Honor me with your compliance, and perhaps I’ll be inspired to use your tricks on our Queen.”
Guests cheered and raised their drinks, throwing their heads and cups back.
Luted, wild music began to play. Laughter followed.
The Day of Deviance.Her mind whirled with the implication. Each day so far had been literal. The idea of viewing another god, Dionysus most of all, sent a shiver down her spine. An excited shiver or not was yet to be discovered.
“Cerberus...what’s happening?” she asked.
He stepped away at her words.No!Her chest broke open. She reached for him, but he moved farther away, to the other side of Melinoe.
Confusion forced her to drop her hand. Boredom filled what she could see of his face, and he turned towards the dais, hiding his expression from her completely.
She didn’t have a choice but to follow his gaze. The sudden raucous of the guests vanished, everyone was watching the dais, too.
Several of Cerberus’s hounds howled as a woman with dark hair and a spiked crown strode towards the dais, holding a flaming torch aloft. Hades stood at her arrival. Cyane had seen the woman before, during the day of gifts, but didn’t know who she was.
A goddess.She had to be. The woman’s aura was powerful. More so than most, enough to nearly eclipsed Hades. Cyane could feel her presence consume everything.
She glanced at Cerberus. Her breath shortened with fear.Please look at me.
His focus was entirely on the woman who now regarded them studiously. Even Hermes had turned her way.
Cyane wasn’t afraid of the goddess staring out at them. She feared what was about to happen. Consequences for what happened between her and Hermes and the possibilities of more massacre were looming.
Why didn’t he stand next tome?
Then the goddess spoke, and Cyane realized who she was.
Hecate.
“Herein lies the day before last, the final celebration before our Queen Persephone descends to the farthest realm. Our great queen and dearly beloved mother of spring prepares for her departure. Today, this Day of Deviance, we honor her with the act of creating new life, even in this darkest of places.”
Hecate raised her torch and waved it once before her.
The ballroom changed before Cyane’s eyes. The candlelit obsidian walls faded, and in their place were giant, tangled trees. The pillars throughout became trunks, sprouting all kinds of flowers from their bark. An earthy, heady musk filled her nose, and the floor softened beneath her feet. Rich dirt, thick pale grass, and tiny white flowers rose up everywhere.
Streams of moonlight streaked down from an impenetrable ceiling of branches and flowers. The basins remained, but the drink inside them turned a deep red. She watched the liquid bubble and swirl as more trees grew out from the ground.
When it was done, she thought she’d been transported to a forest glade at midnight. Little ponds emerged throughout filled with lily pads and darting silver fish. She half expected to see little fairies flying about, but none appeared.
Tartarus itself fled. Everything disappeared, even the uncertainty and doubt that she’d harbored vanished. Déjà vu hit her so hard that tears threatened to emerge. For the first time in her entire life, and with a sensation she could barely understand, Cyane thought she was home.
Truly home.
In all her travels across Europe, she’d never seen anything so beautiful, so magical, a forest perfectly undisturbed by civilization.
This is what I’ve been searching for.She reached down and slipped off her sandals. This was more than her parents or the gods themselves, this washer. All her. Cyane eyed the ponds, her mouth watering.
“I depart now to meet Persephone above and lead her home,” Hecate declared.
The sound of her voice summoned her back, like she had never been alone. While the feeling ofhomedissipated, Cyane struggled to believe this was all an illusion.
The goddess stepped off the dais, now made of moss and stone, and walked calmly through the glade. The undying bowed and lowered their eyes at her passing. Her burning torch was a beacon in the shadows. She passed through the doors and was gone.
