Page 66 of Curse the Flame

I’m hoping that, when I enter the megaron, I’m not interrupting anything. I’m even more hopeful that it’s Aiden lounging on his throne⁠—

It’s not.

It takes two seconds for me to enter the megaron and know instantly that Hades is in control if only because of the way he holds himself. He’s seated upon the black metal throne at the far end of the room, perched beside the empty one meant for me. One elbow is resting against the arm of his throne, fingers pressed thoughtfully against his mouth.

And if I didn’t already know better, the bright glow in his suddenly pale eyes tells me which half of my husband is listening to the person in front of him.

She stands several feet ahead of the dais with her back to me, the same dark cloak I saw the woman on the ferry wearing draped over narrow shoulders. Wild curls spill over her shoulders and partly down her back. There’s no fire today, but when I catch a glimpse of her dark skin and her striking profile, I realize that I know her, too.

“Cassandra?” I ask.

Both the prophetess and the god of the Underworld turn toward me.

Despite the amount of fire in the Underworld, there’s always a chill. It’s worse when Hades in charge, but as the air becomes more welcoming, I know that Aiden has pushed past his god, returning to the forefront of consciousness. At the same, shadows fill the corners of the megaron, as though they’re welcoming me back, too.

“Blossom,” my husband calls out. “You know the witch?”

Oh. Did I forget to mention that she was the one who warned me against eating any food from the Underworld?

Whoops.

“We’ve met,” I say, leaving it at that.

He gestures for me to join him. I give my head a short shake. I don’t know what was going on here, but if he’s doing his duty, I’d rather hang out away from the throne until he’s done with Cassandra. I mean, I still move closer to him, standing near his side of the dais, though I leave Persephone’s throne empty for now.

Just having me near is enough for Aiden. He relaxes into his seat, turning back to Cassandra.

Only the witch is still looking at me. Then, with a faraway look on her face, as though she’s seeing more than just me and my crown of fire, she says, “I suppose I always knew this is where we’d meet again.”

I look at her in return. “You’re not dead.”

“No. It’s not time for me to say goodbye. Not yet. Not while I must make amends for the wrongs I’ve done.” She shifts slightly, giving Aiden her attention. “As I was explaining to Death here, that’s why I took the ride on Charon’s ferry.”

“How did you pay for your fare?” asks Aiden.

The dead pay for their ride on the River Styx with a coin. Called an obol, it’s usually placed on the dead’s eyes or in their mouth. In the Other, Charon will look the other way if they don’t have one, but only for the dead. For the living to hitch a ride, they either need to bring a coin, or pay with⁠—

“A truth,” answers Cassandra.

That’s how Daphne arrived in the Underworld before Aiden gave her the charmed ruby on my behalf. My stubborn cousin—who was refusing to admit that she was falling for her sun god—was asked one question: Who do you love most in the world? She said me, which while true at the time, didn’t really make Alex feel that great. Luckily, Daphne realized how thick-headed and stubborn she was being, Alex learned that there’s a difference between romantic love and familial love, and I got to know that my cousin had arrived to the Other and was going to stay.

What kind of question did Charon ask Cassandra?

I figure it’s too personal to ask the witch, but Aiden… that’s exactly what he does. “What truth was so valuable that my ferryman allowed you to bypass all the shades and come straight to see me?”

The way the curls around her hair begin to swirl as she focus on my husband… yeah. Maybe he shouldn’t have.

And then, in a soft voice, she says two words: “I know.”

What?

Her voice deepens. “I know,” she says again. “I know why Poseidon is not here to fight on the side of the Twelve. I know why his soul is still waiting to be reborn in the mortal world so that he can finally find his way to Olympus. I know… I know what Aodhán Murphy did to Mickey Soter. Just like I can see how he chased Narcissus to this realm and never, ever left it again.”

I go absolutely still.

So does Aiden.

Cassandra knows about my husband’s past. She knows about what Aiden did when he was working for Teddy Thanos, and how he ended up finding his way through the mirror.