Ch. 50: Hecate’s Discovery
I walked into the hospital, my face a mask of composure, though beneath the surface, rage simmered. The coat I wore hid the two items I had retrieved from Aphrodite—trophies from an interrupted encounter, but enough to push me closer to the truth. Cursed children, black amber—pieces of a puzzle, fragments of something bigger. But all of it paled now, overshadowed by a deeper, more personal loss.
“Damnit,” I muttered, gnashing my teeth as I neared the reception desk. First Hermes, now Hecate. It was as if the universe was mocking me, stripping away the ones I thought I could protect. A pang of guilt twisted in my chest. I had been distracted. If only I hadn’t lost focus at that party. If only I hadn’t been so preoccupied.
I couldn’t shake the memory of that day—Hermes trying to send me a message, only for Hecate to interrupt. After that, I had lost her in the chaos. She wasn’t my priority then. The weight of that realization crushed me. How much had I missed? How had I let this slip through my fingers? Since the calamity I failed to prevent, everything had spiraled out of control.
“Lord Hades!”
The voice snapped me back to the present. Detective Pine stood at the end of the hallway, waving with a strained smile. I moved toward him in slow, deliberate steps, my senses expanding, stretching into the hospital like tendrils, searching for every scrap of energy, every clue. Weak signatures of life pulsed around me, nothing extraordinary, except for two: Pine, and someone else—someone stronger, another god.
Pine’s eyes flickered with something unreadable. Was he still sour from our last encounter, when I had frightened him? He tried to play it off with a quip. “What’s with the broody face? Not every day you get to outwit the god of death himself.”
My fists clenched in my pockets. I hated this—these little games, these attempts to needle me when I was hanging on by a thread. I had no time for Pine’s antics. I’d barely had a moment’s respite since the underworld, and everything was unraveling. My voice came out harder than I intended. “What happened?”
The detective’s cocky facade cracked, and he quickly reset himself. He reached into his coat and lit a cigarette, puffing rings of smoke between us. “We got a call. A woman found near the riverbank, drenched in blood. Locals didn’t want to get involved.”
Each word sank into me like a stone. Hecate.
Pine led me down the hall. “We’ve already got our hands full with Hermes’ death, and now this… I’m not saying you’re responsible, but the clues all seem to point your way, or at least someone wants it to look that way.”
So, you’re suspicious, I thought. *Always expect the worst from men in suits.* I forced myself to stay calm, but my voice was icy. “Details. When and where.”
Pine exhaled slowly, eyes narrowing. “Look, Lord Hades, I hate to remind you, but you don’t tell me how to do my job. Just because you’re a god doesn’t mean we’re your lapdogs. This is a criminal investigation, not your private jurisdiction. No offense.”
I swallowed the surge of fury rising within me. I could erase him with a thought, but I had to play this right. “I understand. But I still need to know.”
His demeanor shifted, and for a moment, something else flashed in his eyes—curiosity, or something deeper. It unsettled me. “When was the last time you saw your assistant?”
I hesitated. “Two days ago. At the party. I… lost track of her. We were both grieving.” A lie, but close enough to the truth.
“Hmm.” Pine took another drag from his cigarette. “When we found her, there was a red cloth over her face. No other evidence. Any idea who that could be?”
I held my gaze steady, even as my mind raced. The man in red. He had to be behind this. But was this linked to Hermes’ death, or something new? “No. I can’t say I do.”
Pine said nothing, leading me to a door at the end of the hall. “I’ll leave you to it,” he muttered, as if doing me a favor.
I reached for the handle, hesitating. Something twisted in my gut. “Hey, detective,” I said without looking back, “why didn’t you tell me she was alive?”
“You never asked,” he replied, his voice infuriatingly calm.
He had just moved up my list.
I stepped inside and saw Hecate, her body pale and fragile, lying under a white blanket. Her head was turned toward me, bandaged and bruised. Her smile was weak, but it was there. “Boss… I knew I sensed your presence.”
A strange warmth spread through me at her words. I crossed the room slowly, locking eyes with her. There was nothing to say, no comfort to give. I had failed her. My assistant, my confidant—reduced to this.
“You look mad,” she whispered, her voice barely audible. “Did you miss me?”
I said nothing. In truth, I hadn’t even noticed her absence, consumed by my own grief and distractions. Her gaze dropped slightly, and she gave a weak laugh. “I’ll take whatever punishment you give me. I’ve failed you as an assistant.”
My fingers curled around the blanket, my knuckles white with tension. Why did this hurt so much? Why this fury—this raw, unbridled anger coursing through my veins? I wasn’t one to be moved by emotions so why…?
“WHO DID THIS TO YOU?” My voice reverberated through the room, carrying with it every ounce of rage I had bottled up.
Hecate’s reverence for me never wavered. She looked up at me, her eyes brimming with a kind of painful loyalty. “It was the man in red,” she whispered. “His power… it was beyond anything I have ever felt. As strong as a higher god. I couldn’t beat him.”
Fear rippled through her words, and my blood boiled. He had touched her, hurt her. My mind pulsed with rage to see her in such a condition.
“I’m sorry, boss,” she continued, her voice shaking. “I tried to stop Hermes from doing something stupid… Is Hermes still…?”
I closed my eyes briefly, then forced the heavy words out of my lungs. “Yes. Hermes is dead.”
Her face fell. For a moment, I saw something break in her, a flicker of grief mirroring my own. “I… I failed.”
THE CHARACTER “HECATE” IS IN A STATE OF DEEP GRIEF.
“Rest, Hecate,” I said, though my voice had softened only slightly.
But she wasn’t done. Her hand reached out weakly, grasping my arm. “There’s something you need to know. The truth about everything.”
I reached out to the chair next to the bed and took my seat, knowing that whatever she was about to say would change everything. “Hermes left something for you. He said it contained the truth. About his death. His sins.” Sins?
She snapped her fingers weakly, and a flash drive appeared in her hand. I remember Hecate practiced sorcery, it still took me by surprise seeing it up close.
“In the party he left it in my care saying you and only you had to see it. He said something else about him dying for his sins, then he vanished. Why did he have to be an idiot…?” She started to cry softly as she squeezed my hand tighter.
I took the flashdrive, feeling its weight in the palm of my hand. There was still one thing that had my curiousity. “Where were you these last two days?”
Her breath grew shakier at the mention of my question. “Hermes sent me to retrieve a book written in ancient text. It was hidden in his house, he gave me the instructions on how to retrieve it but before I could return, the man in red attacked me. My strength failed to match his so I ran, in the end he took the book from me. I think my magic saved me from dying at the last moment.”
The pieces were starting to fall into place. Hermes had the book first, then Hecate, then the man in red, and finally Ares. It was a cycle of death and betrayal.
Shortly after Hecate passed out, I stood over her, the flash drive clutched tightly in my hand. I had to let her rest and recover. The thought that the truth of Hermes’ death was within reach now, and soon, the man in red would pay for everything he had taken from me. This cycle would end with his death.
Gift My Work If You Love It
If I revive a magic castle I will mass release 10 chapters
