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Aurora

Everyone talks about hope like it’s a silver bullet As if it’s enough to keep a person putting one foot in front of the other even in the most ih anything

Once upon a time, I even believed it

Back when I was young and foolish and, even though the world had kicked ain, I somehow kept the stars in h, that if I could hold on to hope, one day my mother would wake up

I didn’t realize that hope could sour, could slowly go dark and begin to poison every bit of h virtue of that faltering light

The woht as well be a stranger Even before a fight for dominance put her in a co more than a promise of a relationship later, when I was older, when I could handle irl and obey randmother and eventually my mother would send for me

Another hope, dashed to pieces at my feet

Twenty years later, and it’s finally ti up It’s ti It’s tio

“Aurora”

I suck in a breath and turn to Allecto She’s the only other person who knows everything there is to know about ain with Hades, knows all the dirty little details of how I got to this place Of who’s to blame “I’m fine”

“No, you’re really not” She states it as fact, without a bit of pity I appreciate that bluntness Allecto won’t coddle me or tell me pretty lies It’s one of the reasons she’s my best friend “You don’t have to do this now”

“Yes, I do I only have teeks left in my contract with Hades If she hasn’t woken up now, she’s not going to” I almost sound like I accept it as truth As if I didn’t spend the entire night pacing ht call But that’s cowardice talking Facts are facts, and the fact is that ifto wake up, she would have done it years and years ago

Allecto huffs out a breath and crosses her i her norray T-shirt that sets off her dark-brown skin, and she’s got her long, black braids fastened back from her face “You knoell as I do that Hades will continue to pay this bill as long as you ask hi to cut her off, not after all this time”