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“Man's gotta eat! And, clearly, no one is here,” Eziah retorts. He is about to say something else when he stops, his eyes peering at the wall behind us. I look to see the giant portrait above the fire.
“Why does she look familiar to me?” Eziah murmurs.
“That is Celeste, the first Moon Goddess,” Kaif answers. I momentarily take in the huge portrait, finally seeing the woman who helped curse my family, only she is different here, younger than in Kaif's memories.
“And that one?” Eziah asks, pointing above the other fireplace.
“Persephone, Hades' first wife,” Kaif answers, and now I'm confused.
“First wife?” Eziah asks the same question I was just thinking.
“Yes, that is why Celeste rejected him. She learned he was married. She came here looking for Hades and met Persephone.”
ChapterFifty
Eziah
I watch Kyan and Kaif talk; seeing Kyan but hearing the two voices leave him is so weird. It’s almost like he is talking to himself and answering his own questions. Yet, I am baffled at how any of this can link to Temperance.
The underworld is nothing like I ever imagined. It’s not the desolate, gloomy place I’ve read about in mortal stories. It’s a realm filled with history and mystery.
“Wait, so Hades had two wives?” I interject, trying to make sense of it all.
Kaif nods. “Yes, Hades was first married to Persephone before he found his mate in Celeste. But when Celeste discovered that Hades was already married to Persephone, she rejected him out of fear and jealousy. That’s when Hades sent wolves to her village, hoping to force her to return their daughter and accept him back,” Kaif tells me.
I absorb this information, my mind racing with questions. My head spins with the revelation. I had no idea that my family was tied to such ancient and powerful beings. The weight of it all settles on my shoulders.
“What are we doing here, Kaif?” I ask, feeling a mixture of awe and unease in this place.
“We’re here to find answers,” Kaif replies, his gaze shifting to the grand altar. “If Lucas has been summoned here, it means Hades has been in contact with him. I need to know why. And if there’s a way to break the tie he has on my son once and for all.”
I glance around the vast room that seems to have no end when I spot a door. Kaif also spots it, and he is suddenly tugging me toward it.
Kaif approaches the door, examining the carvings with intense scrutiny. “He lifts his free hand, his fingers tracing the etching on the door. It appears to be some language, one far too old for me to even recognize.
“What are those?”
“The curse.” His brows furrow for a second.
“You can read that?” I ask, and he nods slowly. “Duae sorores natae ex ferro et carmine, una vitam affert, altera cecidit,” Kaif mutters.
“Two sisters born of steel and spell, one brings life, the other hell,” he adds.
“That’s what the witches were repeating with Temperance,” I gasp, staring at the door, wishing I could read whatever it was.
I step closer, my curiosity piqued when Kaif shoves open the door, and we find a room. It’s a bedroom. Two beds are in the room, along with two portraits above each one. I stumble back, confused, when I see a girl that has a startling resemblance to Temperance, down to the eyes; one pink and one blue.
“In umbras missa et amplexu lunae, duo fata in tempore aeterno ordinantur. Sanguine aeterni, dividimus, vitam finire, vitam dirigere,” Kaif whispers when he tugs me toward the other bed. This one has a portrait of a teenage boy above the bed.
“Kaif, why does that girl have Temperance’s eyes?” I ask when I notice the boy has the same eyes. Yet Kaif is still muttering in that foreign language.
“Prima gladius desperationis, in crepusculum perditus, ad confodere sempiternum, solvere pretium. Secunda gladius spei, in diluculo suave lucens, ad coronare deam, patiar potentiam fluere. Duae sorores natae ex ferro et carmine, una vitam affert, altera cecidit. In balance tenetur, in sacrificio, creamus et destruimus in iactu talorum.”
“Damn it, Kaif, speak English!” I snap when he turns on me and grabs my face in his hands, his eyes completely black and his face twisting, no longer looking like Kyan.
“In shadows cast and the moon’s embrace, two fates align in timeless space. By blood of eternal, we divide, a life to end, a life to guide. The first blade is of despair, twilight’s lost. To smite the ageless, they’ll pay the cost. The second blade is one of hope, in dawn’s soft glow, to crown a goddess, to let power flow. Two sisters born of steel and spell. One brings life, the other falls. In balance held, in sacrifice, we create and destroy in a roll of dice.” Kaif’s eyes are wild as he repeats the words, and he lets me go, stumbling back. A cold rush instantly falls over me, so cold I breathe clouds in the air and begin to choke. Quickly, his hand falls on my shoulder, anchoring me to him with his magic.
“I don’t understand,” I gasp, trying to regain my breath.
