Hunter: Fate & Fury

Chapter 2

I held my breath as Kara took a step forward, a look of disbelief on her face as Hecate smiled down at us in that all-knowing way she had. The second the shock left my friend, it was replaced with anger and I saw the tears on her cheeks as she looked up. Behind us I sensed the other women moving; standing and inching closer towards us which left me feeling caged in. The fact Cain and Apollo weren't here wasn't lost on me now and internally I slapped myself for not even trying to resist whatever spell had been put over us.

"You are all that I imagined and more, daughter." Hecate suddenly appeared in front of Kara, and the woman in front of us was so alike the one I'd seen back in the Underworld, but also completely different.

Here, she was very much alive and powerful.

The urge to stare at her, to simply be in her presence was just as strong as it had been the first time I met her, just magnified a hundred times more. Her brown eyes were still warm and kind, full of endless knowledge and able to see things I knew no one else ever could. Dark curly hair fanned out behind her and she stood taller and prouder than I'd ever seen. Here there were no plants to absorb her energy, feed off her touch, confined to a cabin that pulsed with each of her heart's beats. The whole realm did that instead. Hades had the Underworld, and here Hecate was Queen; this was her kingdom.

"Why did you leave me?" Kara managed to say, her voice shaking like her hand as it found mine.

"I had hoped by the time we found each other, you'd understand why I did all I have done. Now I see how foolish that was." Hecate put her arms around Kara, suddenly pulling me into the group hug before slowly letting us go. "I am sorry, daughter. I made a promise and so it was. Our pain in this journey was as necessary as her own. As his."

She gave me a pointed look.

"What are you talking about?" Kara frowned, yet I could feel the anger growing inside her. "Just once, can you stop with this martyr bullshit, the riddles and talk to me? After everything, don't you think I am owed an explanation?"

"And this is why I stayed away," Hecate said simply. "Even now, you are still unable to see it all. There is only anger where there should be understanding. You needed to be shown another way, another life. To stay at my side would have done you no favours. You needed to be more than the rest of them, and you are. I am so proud."

Kara didn't move. No words left her now as she just stared at her mother. I saw the hate in her eyes but could feel her pain and the sense of betrayal. Most of all, it was clear that for Kara, seeing Hecate now, it was easier for her to hide behind those feelings than accept and risk showing what she felt most deep inside. Whether she knew it or not, she wanted that approval, and recognition from Hecate nearly as much as she wanted her love.

How many times have I faced off against my own parents in the same way?

"As I am of you as well, Elise. Time is not your friend nor is it your ally. For all you have endured, look at you now." Pride radiated from her and I struggled to stay so close as it became overwhelming. "Look at you both. And here you stand, together."

This really wasn't like all the times before.

With her attention solely focused on us, it was overwhelming. I wasn't sure if I wanted to cry, lay down and hide, or run - back into her arms or as far away as possible. I'd wondered about the Underworld weakening her, and it had. Any restraints she'd previously had placed on her were gone, and the woman in front of me was the Hecate that so many feared and admired. Hera had once cut out the tongues of any who dared to say her name and standing here now, basking in her praise like adoring fangirls, I understood why.

Cain once told me Hecate wasn't like the other Powers.

I wonder if he knew how right he was.

Sensing those behind us creeping even closer, I turned to find Artemis gone and the one that stood where she had caught my attention. Her skin was copper, with lush lips and dark ring of makeup curving around her eyes. The dress she wore had a distinct egyptian flair, the heavy golden collar around her neck something others didn't have. As she smiled at me, I smelt the earthy dampness of the mud by the rivers edge, and felt the sand on the breeze, stinging my cheek as we walked across a barren land.