The Grace Curse

Chapter Twenty-Two

HECATE?" I BLURTED AS SHE LED ME DOWN TOWARDS THE LOBBY. I swore I've seen her before; her blue eyes reminded me of someone, but I couldn't quite pinpoint who. She had impressive medium length light brown hair and a fair smile.

"You remind me of someone..."

Hecate smiled. "Do I? I'm not trying to destroy anyone's lives here..." I almost laughed she was sounding so familiar...maybe an English tea—

"I'm honestly impressed at how far you've come on this journey," There was a distant look in her eyes, a look that made me scared, but yet so inspired. The idea of Hecate was a mystery in itself, I had myself wondering where she got her enigma from? It was if she could transfigure me into some undesirable animal in an instant.

"Why?"

She cleared her throat as if she was about to cast some kind of spell, but to my disappointment, she did not. "I've known full well of your journey for a while now, I control the Mist," She began. "I get all kinds of information that way, nothing is hidden from my eyes," How did she do that? What the hell? Does she read people's minds too?

"How could you—?"

The Titaness dismissed me with ease. "You'd be surprised at what I can see,"

I tried to hold my words back. "Like what?"

It didn't take much for Hecate to narrow her eyes. I could tell she wasn't about to sugar coat what she was going to say. "Stuff you don't even want to know,"

"I think I've hit my breaking point already!" I snapped. "There's not much more that you could say that would shock me!"

Hecate crossed her long spider like arms and let out a small sigh of discontent. "I could go on to reveal what Apollo really wants from you,"

I clenched my jaw while baring my teeth almost monstrously. "Can you tell me something I don't already know,"

Hecate looked into my eyes with a slight scowl. "Did you ever consider the fact that Apollo is using you as a pawn?" She asked. Hecate had a valid point; all those around Apollo ended up dead or turned into trees because of his nature.

"I did realize that,"

The Titaness of Magic shook her head while leading me down more stairs. "No you don't Chase, Apollo wants to change everything about you, not only emotionally, but to the very soul as well, he wants to make you his slave," I wasn't as scared or freaked out as I should have been. In fact, if anything I was less afraid of him. Now I knew he wouldn't be able to kill me, if I defied him. I rose myself above him. Not even his curse would bother me anymore with the stuff I went through.

"What do you mean by change?"

"He wants to..." Hecate trailed off; I kind of got the gist of what she was talking about. Hecate fidgeted with something in her long black mist robe. She pulled out a vial of a black swirling liquid. She handed it to me causing me to wince. The vial was freezing cold, as if she had put dry ice into it.

"What is it?" I asked.

Hecate looked me in the eyes. "Nightshade, a very deadly poison," I remembered Aaron explaining something about it. But why would I need this? I hesitantly took the vial and shoved it into my pocket. "Just keep it on hand,"

"I remember Vivien," She said. "Oh, how much I miss her, and her sister,"

"How do you know—?"

"Megan was my adoptive daughter," She interrupted. "She is not your Aunt. Grayson only had one daughter with Aphrodite."

I felt baffled. That was why her smile looked so familiar. "H—how?" I asked.