Page 86 of A Crown of Hopes and Sorrows

“What is it?” I said as I accepted it and looped it over my head.

“It’s a ghost light. I’ve created it for you, and only you’ll see its illumination. It will fade at sunrise.”

“Thank you.”

Hecate’s voice lowered to a whisper, and she leaned in closer to me. Her floral scent, rich with deep plummy notes, filled the air. “I once loved someone enough to take on a mission as foolish as this, as well.”

I kept her gaze, the dark intensity of her eyes. “You see me as an idiot.”

“No. I admire pure devotion as I see in your heart. And, regardless of the heartbreak, I don’t regret experiencing it myself.”

I nodded but didn’t know what to say in response.

“Time to go,” she said.

Persephone walked over to me and pressed her fingertips against my cheek, her dark eyes locking onto mine. I struggled not to jerk away, and my body trembled. She had to feel it, but her expression didn’t change as she released a breath, her glowing diminishing. I lifted my arms, but nothing seemed different. I wasn’t sure if it had worked, but Persephone groaned and dropped onto a bench, rubbing her temples with her fingers. Hecate lowered beside her, tucking an arm around her shoulder.

Atara eased up beside me and gestured to a panther. “Stay with Troshon. He’ll see you safe.”

“Thank you,” I said.

We exited the boat. I looked back once. Temi frowned at me from her seat next to Persephone, her shoulders pulling down, the silver glowing along her skin giving her an ethereal appearance, like a spirit. I knew she wished she could be the one going. But the plan was for them to sit back and wait. I shifted and followed the panthers and Atara, who remained in his human form.

Their massive paws crunched against sand. The wind whistled and clattered against ebony rocks that sliced up the side of the island. Something in the distance screeched, a howl that sounded like nothing earthly. I draped my fingers over the only weapon I carried, a blade on my thigh. I wasn’t excellent with a knife like Temi, but it would have to do if the time came that I needed it. Not that a weapon would do anything against gods or immortal creatures.

I sighed, and the panther at my side—Troshon—shifted his glowing eyes towards me before pressing forward again.

Atara stopped walking at the mouth of a massive cave and kneeled, dropping his head to the sand. “Hera, I request an audience with you.”

For a moment, only the cool breath of the sea, the growling and screeching sounds of some distant creatures, and the rustling of plants echoed around.

Then a sparkle seared across the sky, and a goddess with thick, golden locks and ivory skin stood before us. She frowned. For a heartbeat I thought she perceived me, but then her bright eyes brushed right past me, as though I didn’t exist. My blood ran cold at how close I stood to her, but a spark of hope flickered inside me. Maybe this would work.

Atara stood and straightened his shoulders. “You have disrespected my patroness by harming a guest of hers. We have an agreement.”

Hera clicked her tongue. “An informal one. Your patroness”—she spat the word out—“lives at the mercy of the gods. She should be grateful for how little we interfere with her island.”

Atara’s expression didn’t change. “Release the princess to us at once.”

“Tell Artemis to have an audience with me, and you may have her.”

Fog rolled in over the coast. It might look natural if I hadn’t known Hecate created it, the dark wispy vapors sweeping across the shore. The panther beside me nodded towards the cave. I clenched my teeth but stepped in its direction. Troshon turned into a shadow, his footsteps silent, his sleek black body curling into the edges of the cliff. But I felt like a beacon of illumination crunching through the sand, the ghost light sending an eerie blue glow over everything.

As I passed Hera, so close that she could touch me, she jerked her face in my direction. I froze, my heart thundering hard enough to ache my teeth. It hadn’t worked. She could see me. But her gaze flowed over me again, though her brow furrowed.

“Return the princess to us, Hera,” Atara said more firmly.

“Do your friends truly wish to turn the ire of my husband upon them?”

“Threats aren’t necessary. We just want our guest returned to us.”

Troshon stepped out of a shadow, his tail flicking. I nodded even though terror coursed through me and eased alongside him into the cave. The volume of the screeching increased, causing the hair on the back of my neck to rise.

The ghost light in the tighter space of the cavern seemed brighter, strange shadows flickering over the crags of the rocks, claw marks scarring the walls, chunks missing in sections like vengeful gods had destroyed portions.

Anything could be in this cave. Just because we suspected Epiphany was here didn’t mean that was true. And what if—

We turned around a column, and the eerie light flooded over the form of a woman, her arms suspended above her, her dress tattered and stained, her head lolling.