at my tone. For some time
we sat there in silence,
the shrieks and sounds
of the forest beyond softening
into my haze of grief.
‘I do not know what to do,’
I said quietly, more to myself
than to him. ‘How am I to learn
my own gifts if no one will help me?’
Thanatos looked thoughtfully at me,
then crouched down next
to where I had collapsed and
lifted my chin with a gentle hand.
‘I have watched you from afar
for a long time, Hekate.’
His words made my stomach flutter,
the touch of his fingers tender.
‘Pallas forbade any of us other
than Charon from speaking to you.
So I watched you from a distance,
apart from that one time you were
with Cerberus.’
I frowned at this. ‘But why?’
He hesitated with his answer,
then stopped and rose.
It hung in the air, my question.
There are secrets Pallas
does not want me to know,
I realized with a jolt.
But Thanatos was not done.
