“Only a god can teach another god to control their magic. So you need his help.”
I slumped back on the couch and stared up at the ceiling. Damn it. “What about the pomegranate potion? Anything you can do there?”
“No way. Even if I could, it’s too risky for me.”
I nodded, understanding. Hades would kill her if he knew she’d helped me escape. I’d hoped she’d know a way I could fix it, but if not, I’d just have to accept it. Pushing it would be a real jerk move.
“But…” Her voice was soft.
My head swiveled to look at her. “What?”
“If you can give one of the pomegranates from the tree that poisoned you to a potion master on the outside, maybe they’d have a chance.”
Eve.
She hadn’t been able to do anything before, but she hadn’t had a pomegranate from the tree that had poisoned me.
Too bad I’d torn it out of the ground.
That doesn’t mean it’s gone.
I sat upright. “I need to go.”
She nodded. “The tree is in the far corner of the garden. There’s some pieces that haven’t been pulverized.”
I swallowed hard, remembering the rage that had overtaken me. I definitely had to get that under control.
I gulped the last of my wine—it wasn’t a lot, and a girl needed all the courage she could get—and stood. “Thank you, Alia. I really appreciate it.”
She nodded. “Anytime. And be safe out there.”
“Sure.” There was nothing safe about what was happening in the underworld, but there was nothing else I could say.
I left Alia’s place and stepped back out into my garden. It was terrible and beautiful all at once. Even though the plants were meant to be the embodiment of darkness, they were still gorgeous.
As I walked through the garden, headed toward the back where the fallen pomegranate was supposed to be, the vines seemed to sway toward me. I tried to ignore them, but it was impossible. They were part of me, and just being near them lit up something inside my soul. I’d been hiding from my magic for so long that it was all trying to rush to the surface.
“Get it together,” I muttered, shoving aside the thought.
Echo swooped in front of my face, no doubt drawn by my voice. I looked up at him. “Didn’t realize you were following.”
He made a soft chattering noise.
“You’ve got a good view from up there. Can you lead me to the pomegranate tree that I destroyed?”
He chattered, then swooped away. I followed, hurrying through the garden, wanting to get the pomegranate seed before Hades saw me.
A few moments later, Echo flew low over the ground. I found him sitting on a broken branch. Pulverized wood chips were scattered around, and tiny black lizards were feasting on the remains of the smashed pomegranates.
Crap! I waved at them. “Shoo! Go away!”
Echo gave a delighted little screech and swooped after them, driving them away.
“Thanks, buddy.” I stood amongst the wreckage I had created and felt a streak of guilt.
I’d done this.
I’d been pissed, but that was no reason to destroy a beautiful tree like this.
I knelt and ran a hand over the bark. “I’m sorry.”
Nothing happened, of course.
I shook my head and searched for an intact pomegranate. They’d all been crushed, but I did find a handful of the seeds. These were messy from the juicy red flesh, but beggars couldn’t be choosers.
Quickly, I drew a little knife from my pocket and flipped it open. Before I’d met Hades, I hadn’t carried a weapon, and I wasn’t the sort to carry a big one. But I’d started carrying this one around as soon as I’d returned to Guild City.
I lifted up my sweater and cut off a small square of fabric from my undershirt, then tucked the seeds inside it and folded the fabric closed.
“Echo?” I looked around for him, then spotted him swooping down toward me. I held the seeds up. “Can you hide these for me? I’ll need them when I’m able to leave here.”
He took the tiny pouch from my hands and gripped it in his feet. I didn’t know when I’d have a chance to get to Eve, but I’d make sure it was soon. In the meantime, I didn’t want anyone finding me with pomegranate seeds on my person.
Finished, I stood and wiped my juice-stained hands on my jeans. It made me shudder just to have the stuff on my skin, but I hadn’t ingested it, so no harm done.
Mind buzzing, I walked back through the garden. The