Page 56 of Curse the Flame

Okay. I mean, I don’t know what I expected. The pomegranate has been such a weight on my mind since I saw it on that dish all those months ago, but… I don’t know. I thought something would happen⁠—

Oh.

Oh.

It does.

It happens with a pop. If it wasn’t for how quiet and peaceful the garden is, I don’t know if I would’ve even noticed it. I barely hear it, and when I second-guess myself that there was anything at all, I turn just in time to see a shimmering patch in front of me.

It’s rectangle-shaped. About two feet wide and five feet tall. I’ve seen something like this before. Right after I followed Sir into the Other, I saw a smaller patch than this, but I never got the chance to look at it before it was gone.

Now? I look.

Peering closely, I squint until I see… I see…

Whoa.

That’s my condo. My condo, and my room. I see my phone on the floor. My sneakers on their sides in front of my bed from where I tossed them before I changed into my house slippers. There’s my bed, my dresser, the edge of the closet…

It’s my bedroom, only everything is reversed from how I remember it.

Well, duh, Willow. Of course it is. Because I… I think I’m looking through the mirror from the other side.

Suddenly, I know exactly what this is. It’s a portal. It popped into existence the moment I finished the pomegranate, and as though that is all it took to finally finish retelling the legend of Hades and Persephone, the magic was satisfied and the portal finally appeared.

Behind me, someone inhales sharply.

Forgetting the portal in an instant, I whirl around.

Aiden stands at the entrance to the garden.

His gaze drops to the empty pomegranate rind in my hands, then lifts to the portal glowing beside me.

“Blossom…” His voice cracks. It cracks. “What have you done?”

CHAPTER 15

FINALLY

WILLOW

At first, I don’t even know how to answer that. I mean, he sees the pomegranate. He sees the portal. I’m pretty sure that he somehow sensed what happened—why else did he appear in the garden right as the portal did?—but he watches me as though he’s sure I’m already halfway home.

Home…

For months, I’ve dreamed about seeing it again. Maybe I stopped dreaming of returning to it, but I did want to check in with Daphne. I wanted to make sure she knew I was okay if that was possible, and hope that no one thought I vanished into thin air. But then… then I would’ve come back. I mean, the mirror would’ve let me, right? I’m still carrying the goddess of Persephone inside of me⁠—

I nudge her. Right?

Yes, yes. I’m still here. But this is your legend now, Willow. This is your Hades. If you want him, claim him. That’s all you can do now.

You know what? For once? The goddess has a point.

It’s a shame that, right when I’m about to tell Aiden that, his features twist. Handsome as ever, only there’s something… cold about him. Rather than look at me like I’m the sunshine in his life, he closes off his expression, making it clear that he couldn’t care less that I ate the pomegranate and conjured a portal.

You think he would. At the very least, he’s learned over the years that, when a story is told, depending on what sort of Ancient Greek soul we carry inside of us, those of us who choose to stay in the Other can either lean into their Greek identities or cling to their mortal “shells” while also tapping into their immortal side as necessary.

He could either become Hades completely or shove the cranky god down where Aiden can be in control for the most part. Hades got what he wanted; he got to relive his time with Persephone. But I thought… I thought Aiden wanted me to stay with him even after their story was told.