Page 230 of A Kingdom of Wild and Power
Now she did not know what she was.
Certainly not beautiful.
Something inside her chest cracked then, and a terrible sorrow surged through her, spreading from her heart to her throat, tightening until she could scarcely breathe.
A grief for everything that had been taken.
For everything she would never reclaim.
For all the pain she had endured.
And for what?
Revenge.
Yes.
That was the only thing that had kept her rising each morning. The only thing that had kept breath in her lungs.
She had killed Saren.
Now it was Hagan’s turn.
Alina sank against the wall and sobbed.
She wept until there were no tears left to give, until the well of grief inside her ran dry and her body could do nothing more.
And when the last tremor faded, she welcomed the numbness that followed.
Cold.
Hard.
Unbreakable.
It wrapped around her like armour once more.
Alina wiped the last dampness from her cheek.
‘I’m coming for you,Hagan,’ she whispered.
Hades always pretends to be the victim. But the truth is this; he is the reason all of this started. He never allowed me to leave. He twisted our daughter’s mind to believe that I hated her. All because he could not deal with me falling in love with a mortal man. He is at fault for everything.
But he will never admit to it.
Tabitha Wysteria
Kage did not know why, whenever he returned to the Underworld, his feet always carried him back to Tartarus.
Perhaps it was because of Zagreus. Perhaps he had glimpsed something in the god that reminded him too much of himself. A loneliness, carved deep and silent beneath the surface.
Or perhaps Kage simply did not wish to be alone.
He had noticed the way Zagreus had grown attached to the great white wolf that wandered the prison halls, and how Wren often lingered nearby, keeping the god company without question or fear.
And that alone had told Kage enough.
Wren was one of the purest souls he had ever known. If she trusted Zagreus, if she chose to remain at his side, then Kage believed he could do the same.
