short time before I died. The child was in her teens, from what her mother said, and Hecate had created a distraction, when she realized they couldn’t both escape. Hecate said that it was the best and worst day of her life. That Em, as she called her, was finally free, and that filled her with joy, but that she’d lost the bright spot in her life.
I want this child to bring her that same kind of joy. I had thought, whether my brother came in time or not, that she and the child would be okay for a time. But it seems that Hades is determined that she is nothing more than an incubator, and my daughter nothing more than a slave to house her magic. I hate him. I hate him with every fiber of my being.
But even more so, I hate him because now I can’t wait for my brother’s help. We have to escape before the baby comes. Before it is too late.
Someone bumps into me, and I feel something being stuffed into my hand. I catch a glimpse of one of Persephone’s maids beneath a dark hood before she’s gone. Frowning, I look down at my hand. There’s nothing more than herbs. Berries maybe? Why did the woman given me such things?
For a second I consider tossing them off the wall, but then I realize that plants from the surface are rare and beautiful things down here. The least I could do is give them to my Hecate.
I walk down the wall and come to the door to the prison cells. A skeletal guard unlocks and opens the door at my approach. Moving down the hall, door after door opens before me until at last I come to Hecate’s cell. Pulling the keys from my belt, I unlock the door and open it. Inside I see all the touches that Hades had decided to give her now that she’s carrying something precious to him. There is a small bed in one corner, with a mattress, sheets, and a blanket. There is a small fire pit that burns brightly with blue flames, flames that never go out. She has clothes folded neatly in a chest near her bed, and a rug to warm the stone.
As I stare at her new room, my chest aches. I’m glad she has these small comforts. I just wish it wasn’t because the man running this place planned to murder her and steal our child.
She rises from the bed and smiles, setting the book in her hands down. Hopping off the bed, she shoves her feet into little slippers and runs to me.
Despite all my doubts, I fold her into my arms and breathe in the scent of roses.
“Can you believe it? The doctor actually convinced him I need all this to restore my powers.”
My muscles tense. Should I tell her?
She pulls back from me and smiles, but her smile wavers. “What’s wrong?”
“We need to go,” I say, the words tumbling from my lips.
She frowns. “Go?”
I nod, then step away from her to stare in both directions down the hall. Seeing no one, I close the door and go to her, lifting her in my arms and setting her onto the bed. She gives a little cry of surprise and is back to smiling at me when I sit down next to her on the bed.
“Go,” I say again, softer this time. “We can’t wait any longer for my brother. I’m going to come up with another plan to get out of here.”
She gives me that humoring look, the one that says she doesn’t believe any of this will happen, then looks down at my hands. “What do you have there?”
I’d completely forgotten the plants, which had now been a little crushed in my hand. I open my hand to show her, and her entire body freezes. Then, carefully, she picks up the stick with white bark, the leaves, and the little red berry as carefully as someone might pick up something glass and delicate.
“Where did you get these?”
I shrug. “Persephone’s woman slipped them to me.”
“Do you know what this is?” she asks excitedly.
I shake my head.
“It’ll allow me to communicate with someone on the surface. It’s the exact components to the spell!”
For the first time, hope really blossoms inside of me. “Good. We can contact my brother and see how close he is to rescuing us.”
Her expression falters. “I thought I could speak to my daughter.”
My heart hurts to hear