a single strand out of place. “I know she’s just a child, Byze. And yet he’s still more interested in her. Do you know he hasn’t come to visit me since she’s been here?”
Was this Minthe a previous lover of Hades? She should have known he wouldn’t have been celibate in the centuries of his life. But if he hadn’t visited her since Kore had come to the Underworld, that meant he had been visiting the naiad while he was still talking to Kore.
Anger burned in her chest, so hot it rivaled the light of the tree. She wanted to drop onto the ground and... well. She didn’t know what she would do once she stood in front of the other woman. Fighting the naiad would be a foolish decision. It wasn’t Minthe’s fault that she’d caught Hades’ gaze. And it wasn’t her fault he’d decided Kore was more interesting.
But it still hurt. More than Kore was prepared for.
Wrapping her arms around her waist, she stared up into the branches of the tree and tried to not focus on the words they were saying. But she could still hear them, as if the naiads were standing right beside her.
“Everyone says she’s just a little girl,” the first one said. “You aren’t a child, Minthe. He’ll tire of her innocence and come back to you. What man wants to lay with a child?”
“I know you’re right, but I still think it would be best if I met the queen.” Minthe paused for dramatic effect. “After all, once she gets a good look at me, the little country bumpkin will go running back to her mother. Can you imagine? Seeing me as the last woman Hades has slept with. Touched. Held in the middle of the night and made him moan like a common mortal. Hades won’t fall for a girl like her. He’s mine.”
They both laughed and the sound made her feel like someone had torn open her stomach and laid it out before her.
So they had been intimate. She didn’t know why that made her heart pang, but it did.
The naiad was right. Minthe was more beautiful than Kore. She was lovely and lithe. Sharper than a sword and far more intelligent. Minthe was worldly and knew what men wanted. The naiad wouldn’t be afraid to kiss Hades or ask him what it would be like to stay the night. Not a single fiber of her being would be afraid when they lay together.
Kore was the little girl they claimed her to be. Or at least, she felt like it at that moment. Just a child.
Disappointing.
Would he feel the same way? She had no way of knowing if that’s what Hades would think. So far, he hadn’t given her any reason to question his intent.
But now, she heard the words of these other women, and she wondered if she just hadn’t noticed the signs. Maybe he was tired of her. Maybe that was why Hermes had come to her today and not Hades himself.
Shaking for another reason now, Kore tried very hard to still the wild anger inside her chest, but some of it still spilled over. The tree glowed brighter and the two women paused in their conversation.
“What’s the weed doing?” Minthe snapped.
“I don’t know. I’ve never seen it do that before.”
Stop, she told herself. They’re going to see you are here. They’re going to know you heard everything and then you’ll ruin everything.
She couldn’t stop. No matter how many times Kore berated herself, the anger boiled underneath her skin until she could think of nothing else. The heat seared through her soul and burned behind her eyes. The dark part of her soul whispered, “Let it out.”
Kore didn’t know what would happen if she released these dark thoughts. She didn’t know if the power inside her would trade their lives for another just because she was jealous, and she couldn’t do that. Not again. Not when she’d already killed mortals because they had desecrated the temple of a goddess she had thought of as a friend.
Squeezing her fingers in her lap, she tried to control herself. To convince herself this was wrong. It wasn’t right to be so angry. She needed to do something. Anything.
Why couldn’t she get control over herself?
“What are you two doing down here?” The voice was familiar, snapping and filled with sarcasm.
Hecate?
The short naiad stammered, but Minthe apparently had no issues arguing with Hecate. “We’re allowed to breathe sometimes. My life isn’t just dealing