Chapter 19 – Orion
ORION
As Hecate sleeps, sandwiched between Blaise and I, I let my thoughts turn over.
I had spent years upon years angry and desperate, searching for my brother.
Death is a difficult thing to handle when, as immortals, it’s not something we have to face often.
However, the mysterious circumstances of his death made it not just a hard thing, but an obsession to discover the truth.
And yet, it’s more than that. When he died, I lost all purpose. I lost all joy.
Being around Hecate is like stepping into the sunlight. It should’ve been a good thing, but instead I have the strangest desire to hide back in the shadows. It feels like I’m risking something more precious than my life by getting mixed up with her.
It’s true I’d never liked witchcraft. I’d heard too many stories about the awful things humans did when they acquired powers like that.
But if I’m honest with myself, that’s not the reason I was reluctant to let down my guard with her.
Yes, it was because I was a little hurt Andros had selected a mate without me.
But it was also because a tiny part of me thought that she would abandon us once she was free.
If she did so, I’d need to pull my brother together. Blaise and I would have to give him a purpose and fold him into our Brotherhood so that he didn’t fall into despair. But how could I do that if I was missing her too?
I glance down at her beautiful face, so innocent in sleep.
Damn it. I think it’s too late for me already.
I feel a breeze move over me and I stiffen.
Why the hell do I feel like my brother is encouraging me to care for Hecate?
Why the hell do I feel like he’s pushing us together?
It’s strange, but just the notion eases some of the tension inside of me.
I only wish I knew for certain that this woman is ours forever.
But, I guess, there are some things worth the risk. And falling in love with the woman my brother already loved? It was probably the least risky thing I’d done in years.
Even if it didn’t feel that way.
So I’d open my heart, at least a little, and hope that it lead to love and not heartache.
Time passes and Blaise and Hecate stir. Blaise covers her in his kisses and runs his hands over her body.
I’m uncertain what women want the morning after, or whatever the hell this is, but she touches me too, and then we all seem to be cuddled together.
No one wants to get up, but we know we have to.
We bathe again, eat another meal, clean up our camp, and head back to the tunnels.
Blaise leads this time. Hecate is between us, always between us from now on, I decide, and I follow.
It’s hard not to turn around. Not to look for my brother.
The monster and my brother had both said that he would be there, we just had to have faith, but I need his reassurance after too long without it.
And what’s more, I feel like I need my brother even more after the night with Hecate.
It feels as if whatever spell she had weaved is pulling at the wall around me, but I’m terrified to let them fully drop.
So even though Blaise and Hecate make conversation as we travel, I can’t seem to find anything to say. At least, I can’t decide on the right thing to say, so I don’t speak. They cast me the occasional glance, but all I can manage to do is try to hide my uncertainty behind a blank stare.
And listen. Listen to her musical voice. Listen to her laughter and her stories, and feel that aching place in my chest seem to hum. Is this what it is to fall in love?
I have no idea.
But I enjoy her company more than I ever imagined, while still being silent and awkward. And it’s nice that Blaise finally has someone to talk to about happy things, not just my obsessions. There’s no doubt in my mind that she’d bring a lot of joy into our lives, if we let her.
I think I’m ready to let her.
Time has little meaning in the depths of the tunnels, but there’s no resting place, long past the time I would’ve expected one, so we keep going. Hecate slows after a time, and we both match her pace, not wanting her to know that we could go faster.
At last, the tunnel leads into another big room.
But this one isn’t a dark cavern, it’s a massive garden.
We all step onto the level surface and stare in shock.
Huge butterflies fly overhead. Massive flowers rise above us.
And golden crystals cover the entire ceiling, glowing like the sun.
Even the air is sweet, and we hear the trickle of water.
“Beautiful,” Hecate says, and I look at her and see tears in her eyes.
I remember all the time she’s spent in Hades’s realm, all the time she spent as a prisoner, and I promise myself in that moment that she’ll be surrounded by light and beauty for the rest of her life, once we escape.
Unable to stop myself, I take her hand, then brush the tears away that fall onto her cheeks.
She looks at me then, and for the first time outside of sex with her, I feel like we’re staring into each other’s souls.
Damn it. She has me in the palm of her hand.
“This is another test, right?” Blaise asks, and the moment ends too soon as Hecate looks away.
Rubbing at my chest, I’m confused by the strangest emotion that seems to move through me. What is this feeling? I force myself to drop my hand. It doesn’t matter. I need to focus if I want to save us all.
“Everything here has to be a test, right?” Blaise repeats, lifting a brow as he looks in my direction.
I stare out at the garden again. Of course this is another test.
It’s strange that for one moment I’d only seen the good in this place. Is Hecate changing me? Or is it finding my brother? I’m not sure, but I’m indeed changing.
“Probably,” Hecate finally answers. “But I can’t decide if I appreciate a pretty test or not.”
“There’s some kind of plaque!” Blaise says, pointing.
I follow the direction of his finger. And, sure enough, there is a plaque.
We all move down the small path that weaves through the garden, and then Hecate reads the sign, “There’s a thin line between love and hate.”
“What does that mean?” Blaise says, frowning.
It’s confusing, but it probably means trouble.
I pull out my sword. “I don’t know, but we should be ready for anything.”
We’re all quiet as we slowly move down the wandering path. We pass benches carved into trees, trees with branches that reach nearly to the crystals far above us, mushrooms the size of houses, and bugs as big as we are, that move aimlessly through the huge garden.
After several minutes, we spot the exit, and our pace quickens.
But before we can reach it, something drops over us, and we’re suddenly in darkness.
Blaise alights his wings, and they blaze to life, illuminating the dark space.
We’re in something about the size of a large closet.
The walls seem to be made of...plant material, and there isn’t an exit.
“What the hell is this?” Blaise says, and I realize he’s holding his own sword.
A woman’s voice comes from somewhere outside of us. “You are currently inside a very deadly plant. Within the hour, it will devour you. Slowly and carefully. There is no escape. There is no way out. So accept your fate.”
“No!” Hecate looks horrified. “This isn’t right. We can’t have already failed this test.”
Above us is a pink stem of some kind. As I stare at it, it puffs out a cloud of pink, and we all start coughing. I use my blade to hack at the side of the plant. Blaise begins to do the same. Hecate murmurs strange words and launches balls of gold at the plant. But nothing we do matters.
The plant doesn’t even react.
My sword suddenly feels too heavy. The earth tilts, and I drop my sword and step away from the wall of the plant, confused. I look back at the others, and they look the way I feel: confused.
My gaze meets with Hecate’s, and I realize that if there’s no escape, at least I’m with her. So even though the world swims around me, I make my way to her. We kiss. We touch. We hold each other tight.
Blaise comes and wraps his arms around us. We cling to each other. Something within us won’t let us keep fighting, but something also won’t let us just crumble in that moment. We have this strange instinct to draw together. To live or die together.
And then the plant lifts, and the pink smoke drifts away.
We’re all just standing in the middle of the path, heads still swimming, feeling lost and confused. A blonde haired woman, the same one that had been in the bar illusion, is sitting on the top of a mushroom, swinging her legs and whistling.
I stumble over and grab my sword, then head for her. “What the hell is this?”
She finally looks up, and there’s something unreadable in her gaze. “It’s a test. Surely Ryane warned you about them.”
“How do you know she gave us the map?”
“Because my best friend is the only other person who knows about this path other than Persephone and me.”
“I don’t understand,” I say, frowning.
Hecate speaks from behind me. “You’re Persephone’s lover!”
The blonde looks surprised.
“I’d heard it whispered that Persephone never loved Hades.
That she stayed here only when she had to, and that there was someone else that she loved instead.
But the rumors were always changing, dancing between different people and completely different stories.
I always suspected most of the rumors were planted by Persephone herself to protect a secret lover. ”