Page 72 of Shattered & Returned

I combed through crumbling texts, each version contradicting the last. Yet between faded lines and careful omissions, a pattern emerged: Persephone hadn’t remained Hades’s captive. She’d become his ally, his true queen by choice, standing by him when he challenged Olympus. She’d hated him in the beginning, yes, but she’d eventually fallen in love with him.

Of course, the king of the city of gods would bury that truth. History belongs to the tyrants who write it. Yet the forgotten tale still rippled through time, reaching me, calling to me with uncomfortable intimacy. Each parchment felt like rememberingrather than learning, but the crucial missing piece remained just beyond reach, like a name forgotten upon waking.

You won’t find their truth within these walls.A whisper slid between shelves, pulling me out of my trance. I spun toward the sound just as a tendril of shadow vanished into the stacks.Look outside the box. Only true seekers and brave souls.The voice frayed into silence.

Brave soul? Hardly. My hands shook as I searched for illustrations of Hades and Persephone but found none. Then a passage leapt out:“…the Queen’s flame-colored hair…”My pulse stuttered.

Persephone’s gift mirrored my own. Where she walked, midnight blossoms unfurled from barren soil. Just as ivy twined up my bedroom walls when I dreamed.

Coincidence couldn’t explain this strange pull. Somewhere in my blood lived echoes of her power.

“Time’s up.” Mabel reappeared. “My shift ends soon. You need to go now. If they catch first-years in the restricted section, I’ll lose more than my position.”

I reluctantly thudded shut the book. Sindy and I retreated to our table by the bay window and looked out.

Beyond the gates, the world had vanished. Thick fog pressed against the academy walls like a hungry creature. It hadn’t been this dense yesterday. The fog hadn’t shrouded the spires as I arrived.

“It’s new,” Sindy murmured, tracing a pattern in the condensation on the glass. “The strange fog passed the wards three nights ago.”

The fog thinned for a second, driven by a sudden gust of wind. Were those dark shapes darting in the mist? I squinted, but they moved too fast to identify.

Then the wind died, and the screams and battle cries began.

Horses shrieking. Men roaring. Steel ringing against something that shouldn’t exist.

The sounds swelled from the valley below, climbing the hill toward us.

My ribs locked around my breath. What the hell was this school?

“Did you hear that?” My voice echoed in the library’s vastness.

Sindy and I exchanged fearful looks. Her face drained of color. The battle sounds grew louder. Tearing noises followed by guttural howls.

Mabel appeared behind us, her nonchalant manner gone. “I heard that they’ve been trying to breach the wards all week.”

“What’s out there?” My voice cracked. “Could it be demons?”

Mabel shook her head, the trio of feathers in her pointed hat quivering. “Nothing that belongs in this world, but demons don’t come to the surface anymore. Not for centuries.”

I bit my tongue, not wanting to mention that I’d seen a demon chasing me on my first day. An ugly, vicious thing with glowing crimson eyes. I had enough shit going on in my life already.

I nodded to encourage the witch librarian to tell more.

“They’re…” She darted her hazel gaze around, and I followed her line of sight, nodding again to confirm that no one was within earshot. “Monsters from other realms.” Her voice dipped lower. “Interdimensional bounty hunters.”

Sindy’s chair scraped as she leaned in. “Huntingwho?”

“I only caught fragments. Headmistress Stardust was arguing near the restricted alcove yesterday.” Mabel gave us a warning look. “Don’t repeat this.”

Sindy and I made sealing-our-lips gestures.

My heart raced, my pulse hammering against my wrists like a trapped bird.

I prayed that I was wrong, but coincidences didn’t cluster like this. The redhead murders. Angelina’s death. The professors’ erratic behavior. The sudden arrival of bounty hunters. All sinceI’darrived.

Sindy shook her auburn curls, worry in her eyes. “Is the academy compromised?”

“The wards should hold, right?” I asked, equally anxious.

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