Page 67 of Curse the Flame

She knows, and I’m supposed to be the only one—apart from Aiden and Zeus, that is—who knows that.

I shouldn’t be surprised. She’s a seer. She foresaw my arrival in the Other. Though Alex has told me that Cassandra arrived in the Other after Aiden did, time works differently here. Maybe her ability to see the future does, too. Maybe she can see the past.

One thing for sure, she’s right.

For a moment, Aiden doesn’t react. I know it hurts him. Eighty years later, he still carries a mortal’s remorse for what he did while he was still mirrorside. But he won’t show that weakness to anyone other than me, and after a moment, he straightens in his seat.

“Very well. I don’t think you’ve come all this way just to prove you’re still a seer. So, tell me, Cassandra… why have you come?”

“I came because I was wrong.”

“Wrong?” echoes Aiden.

“Yes. I thought I was helping.” She pauses. “No. Now that this Apollo has removed his dreaded curse, I can’t even lie to myself. I knew what I was doing. I wanted to make the sun god pay… I wanted to make Zeus pay. For what they did to me while I was still Poppy… for making me spend so long as Cassandra… they both needed to pay. But I was wrong. I didn’t change the magic. I let the magic change me, and I nearly sacrificed the entire Other because of my own failings.”

Okay. I’m lost.

And then she says, “I thought if Kronos returned⁠—”

Aiden grips the arm of his chair. “Kronos? What about Kronos?”

“He wants to destroy the worlds,” she says, and I want to scream: we know. Daphne and Alex have been telling us that for weeks now. “And I thought he might be right. But then I realized… no. We need balance. One day, I might be the Cassandra that everyone believes from the start. I have to know that the worlds will endure, and I tried to stop him. I tried to call Ares off. But he won’t stop until he claims Aphrodite, and Kronos… he will use the god of war to feed the chaos he needs to upset the balance to the point that none of us will ever be reborn.

“You asked me why I’ve come? To pay my fare, I offered a truth that would catch your attention. Not Hades. Hades wouldn’t understand what I meant if I told him that Kronos… Kronos is not a recent threat.”

“I know that,” Aiden tells her. “Kronos escaped Tartarus centuries ago.”

She nods. “And he’s been plotting for just as long. Through the years, he’s sown distrust and orchestrated chaos and he manipulated those he could… and he’s done it all with a deceptively charming air and his ruined eyes.” Just as Cassandra says that, her own eyes turn completely black… just like the time I saw that happen before she made some sort of premonition for me. “Think, Aodhán. Do you remember the black shades that hid the fractured gaze of a titan? With power? With certainty? Do you remember… the man who set you on the hunt, telling you who to kill? Do you remember Kronos, known by another name, known by a hundred names, but only one that means anything to you. Do you⁠—”

She chokes. I don’t know exactly what happened. One second, her voice is getting louder, the wind whipping around her face causing her hair to fly all over. The next? She’s gasping, clutching her throat.

“Cassandra?” I ask, moving toward her to see if I can help.

She shakes her head, holding her hands up, warding me off as she gets herself under control. Aiden is frozen to his throne, expression completely shut down while I look from my husband to the witch, unsure of what I should do.

Eventually, Cassandra straightens. “I’m sorry,” she says, and her voice is now raw. “I’ve said too much.”

“You said enough.”

She nods at Aiden. “I know. And I risked a lot to do so. Remember that. When the time comes and my shade stands before you, remember that, in the end, I tried to make amends.” With a rough swallow, she adds, “Remember that I warned you that he… he’s where you would last expect him. That’s how chaos wins. You never expect it until you’re too wrapped up inside of it to see the forest for the trees.”

“Do you need a portal home?” Aiden asks, and I’m so confused at the pleasant comment that I just gape at him.

“No. I apprenticed under Hecate herself.” She gestures with her arm beneath her cloak. A portal appears right in front of her. “There isn’t any part of the Other that is closed off to me now.”

I can’t help it. “Then why did you take the ferry over? Why didn’t you just pop in?”

A sad smile tugs on her lips. “Because I needed to make sure that he would believe me. That, in spite of all I’ve done, I can be trusted. I paid with a truth, and I offered another. Here’s one more. He’s already here.”

What?

Aiden surges to his feet. I open my mouth to say something—what the heck, most likely—but, in an instant, Cassandra is walking through the portal she conjured, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

I hurry over to Aiden. At the same time, he strides down from the dais, wrapping me up in his arms as though he has to assure himself that I’m okay.

I cling to him. “Here?” I ask. “What do you think she means, he’s here? Who? Kronos?”

Aiden’s lips move. I swear I hear him say “Thanos” under his breath, but before I can ask him, I hear footsteps… heavy footsteps… heading toward the megaron. Aiden tightens his hold on me, waiting to see who is approaching without his obvious permission.