Her brows arched, the silence between them swelling. ‘Hades gave you orders, did he not?’
Thanatos’ focus wandered to the far end of the corridor, to the tall, looming doors of the main hall. Beyond them, Hades surely waited, patient, calculating.
‘Hedid.’
‘And you always obey Hades.’ Her tone sharpened, a blade cloaked in silk. ‘Don’t you?’
He swallowed, barely, but she noticed. He nodded once.
‘Well then.’ She stepped closer, reaching for his other hand, her grip tightening around it like a shackle. ‘What is it you’re hiding, Thanatos? What truth lies buried behind those eyes this time?’
He turned his face from her, jaw clenched, unwilling to speak.
A coward’s silence.
Mal exhaled, the sound thick with frustration. She dropped his hands and stepped away, cold resolve rising to shroud her disappointment.
‘If you won’t tell me, so be it,’ she said, her voice turning to ice. ‘Keep your rot-infested secrets. But do as you're told.’
And with the sweep of her dress and a heart that burnt beneath her breastbone, she turned and walked away, not looking back.
…
‘Back so soon?’ Hades purred, lounging with feline ease as he swung his boots onto the obsidian table. A grin unfurled across his face, revealing sharp teeth that glinted like ivory daggers in the gloom.
Mal sank into one of the stone-carved chairs across from him, the weight of exhaustion cloaked in poise. She reached for a goblet of deep crimson wine and brought it to her lips, sipping slowly, deliberately, as her attention never left her father. Beside her, the great white wolf settled, its thick fur brushing her arm, a silent vow that she was no longer alone amidst these shadows.
‘I have the witch,’ she said calmly, glancing over her shoulder towards the doors through which Thanatos had not followed. Now, only silence remained.
Hades cast his eyes to his nails, something gleaming with interest in the pit of his stare. ‘And what did you surrender in return?’
‘Who says I surrendered anything?’
His grin widened like a wound. ‘Because that’s Hell, darling. Nothing there is given freely. The kings of Hell never release a soul without payment. There is always a price to be paid.’ He leaned back, his tongue tracing his teeth. ‘So, what did you offer?’
‘Your daughter,’ Mal said, her purple eyes locked onto his, daring him to flinch. She didn’t know what reaction she expected. Anguish, perhaps. Amusement, more likely. From Hades, neither sorrow nor joy would have surprised her.
He glanced into his wine, swirling it idly, then nodded. ‘I’m surprised you were willing.’
‘Why wouldn’t I be?’ she replied, her voice like frost. ‘I barely know her.’
‘Mm.’ A thoughtful sound. ‘But you always did have a soft heart, Melinoe.’
Her brow creased at that. But before she could ask, he cleared his throat, raised his goblet once more, that wolfish smile returning. ‘To the beginning of endings.’
Mal raised hers in reply, her stare sharp as honed steel. Whatever game he played, he knew not her true hand. Not yet.
‘To ending it all,’ she whispered, her voice a thread of defiance, as her eyes caught the flash of surprise in his.
I was not born a Seer. I became one through blood magic, dark and binding.
And through the visions, I have glimpsed what awaits us. The future laid bare. The truth behind all things.
The truth of who I truly am.
And what I did.
Tabitha Wysteria
