Page 191 of A Touch of Chaos

“Do not act as if you do not know,” the woman said. “As if youalldo not know that this goddess has killed the Great Mother!”

The woman looked about wildly as if she might find support here, within Persephone’s territory.

But no one spoke. They all just stared.

“Cora,” her husband said, placing a commanding hand on her shoulder, but it was Persephone’s turn to speak. She took a step forward. The man and woman cowered, but the child held her gaze.

“Mortal woman, I will grant you more mercy than I showed my mother,” said Persephone. “But if you insult me again—with a simple thought or a spoken word—one day, you will beg for death, and she will never find you.”

“She will never speak ill upon your name again,” said the man. “I swear it.”

Persephone’s eyes shifted to his, and she saw within him a virtue his wife did not possess. As much as he would try to honor her, his wife would not. She was surprised by the thought, though she felt deeply that it was true and wondered if this was how Hades felt when he looked at souls.

“I will not hold you to a promise she should make,” said Persephone, and then her eyes fell to the little boy. “You are welcome to play. I only wished to know that you were okay.”

“We are grateful, my lady,” said the man as he pulled his wife and child away.

Persephone stared after them. She did not mean to, but she could not look away.

She would not say that she could see their souls, but she understood them—the man was hardworking and honest, but his wife carried hatred in her heart, and it had made her angry and bitter. Inherently, she was not bad, but she sought someone to blame for her pain.

In the end, she would curse her name.

“Are you all right, Sephy?” Hermes asked as he approached.

“Yes,” she lied, but that was easier than the truth, which felt complicated and confused, swirling inside her like a terrible storm. “Did you come through the tunnels?”

“I did,” he said, and Persephone knew by his expression that it was as they feared. “It’s not good, Sephy.”

Her stomach twisted violently. “You don’t think…they aren’t all dead?”

“I don’t know. Hades is still investigating,” said Hermes, and he paused for a moment. “Dionysus will be devastated.”

She did not know the god very well, but she had learned more about him since meeting Ariadne. She knew that he had spent a lot of his years helping women escape horrible situations only to now have them die a terrible death at the hands of Theseus.

“I hate him, Hermes,” Persephone said.

“So do I, Sephy,” he said. “So do I.”

Ilias was the last to arrive with only a handful of people.

“Is this everyone?” Persephone asked, only confused because every other group had been far larger.

“No,” he said. “Quite a few refused to leave.”

“Refused?” Persephone repeated.

“I told them what would happen tomorrow, what Theseus was planning,” said Ilias. “But they did not wish to abandon Athena.”

“It’s hertemple, not the goddess herself,” said Persephone, immediately frustrated.

“I won’t pretend to understand it,” said the satyr. “But it complicates things for tomorrow.”

“Fuck.”

Battle should serve a purpose beyond bloodshed, Athena had said the last time Persephone had seen her outside Thebes. That was before the Olympians had battled, and neither she nor Hestia had participated. Persephonewondered now if the goddess would change her mind, especially if it meant her followers would face needless and violent deaths.

“What do we do?” Persephone asked.

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