Page 49 of Princess of Hell

“Tell them Caspian is here.”

I knew they were aware of my presence, but with The Fates, you never knew if they were busy with the past, the future, or in another spot of the present, busy with someone or something else.

“Caspian, my boy. Is that you?” a high-pitched voice made the Temple tremble.

“Yes, Clotho. I need to talk to you.”

“Sure, sure, sweet boy. Brock, my sweet boy, take Caspian into the drawing room.”

“Yeah, Brock, sweet boy.” My voice dripped with sarcasm. Carson remained outside. It was better that way. Bringing him in would confuse the situation even more.

I followed Brock, doing my best to stop myself from asking him to at least some put on pants. I was never into guys. The horizon of female beauty is my joy.

As I walked behind Brock, through endless corridors that all looked as if they belonged to different eras, I saw skeletons on the floor, half desiccated bodies with glassy eyes staring at me, and small holes in the continuum of time. Those poor souls entered the realm of The Fates uninvited and paid for it with their lives.

Brock opened a door for me, and I stepped into a shockingly modern room. A huge, flat-screen TV stood in front of two gaming chairs beside a small table loaded with snack food and pop. Clotho turned in one of the chairs, stopping in the middle of her game.

“Caspian, sweet boy. You can’t imagine how happy I am to see you.”

Clotho rose. Her face was difficult to watch. She had no eyes, only empty orbs that made her expression seem lost.

“Clotho.” I walked toward her. For lack of another term, she was almost like a pervy step-grandmother that always wanted to pinch my behind.

“You’re getting married,” she declared in a matter-of-fact tone.

“You knew that before I was born, I assume.”

“I found her for you, a girl with a spark, to keep you busy, my sweet boy.” She laughed, showing off her brown-stained teeth and cracked lips.

Clotho grabbed a handful of chips and stuffed them into her mouth.

“Is she here, with you?”

“Sweet boy, you know the answer to that. Why do you ask me such silly questions?”

I bit the inside of my cheek, allowing thick blood to touch my tongue. “Where is she? I have a right to know.”

“Let me see. I need to text the girls.”

Clotho brought out a new phone and started to text with the mad speed of a teenage girl and not that of an ancient mythical creature.

“We have a group chat now. This way, we don’t have to hang out together all the time.”

Clotho watched her screen, and I felt my insides knot together.

“Oh. That’s not good.”

“What is it?”

“Silver, your fiancé is in the human realm. And there’s a chance she may get killed.”

“Killed? What’s so bad about that? If she gets killed, she returns to her father.”

“No, not like that. Silver is not fully a Demon. There’s a way to kill her. You must travel to the human realm and save her.”

“Can you send me to her?”

Clotho scratched her long, white hair. Her scalp was visible. Her hair was so thin it looked like weeds growing from unfriendly soil.

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