The Goddess of Witchcraft didn’t seem fazed by Persephone’s outburst and just smiled. “Do not see this as defeat, my dear. It’s only through a failure to control your power that we will learn how strong you truly are.”

But Persephone didn’t feel powerful, and she said as much. “I can grow plants and kill them. To gods, those are parlor tricks.”

“Right now,” Hecate agreed. “But that does not mean other powers won’t manifest.”

Persephone pursed her lips. She thought about how she’d been sensing emotions off and on since Sybil had come to her apartment.

“My dear, there’s darkness inside of you, and we have only touched the surface.”

A shiver slithered up her spine. It wasn’t the first time she’d heard those words.

Let me coax the darkness from you—I will help you shape it.

They were words Hades had spoken against her skin right before he explored her body for the first time, inside and out. She hadn’t known what he meant then, she didn’t know what Hecate meant now, and she decided she didn’t want to ask.

“Can you fix this mess?” Persephone asked Hecate. Thick pulp dripped from tree limbs onto the flowers below. It looked like a battlefield.

“I could,” Hecate said. “But then I wouldn’t have a lesson for later.”

“You want me to fix this?” Persephone knew she didn’t have to, but she threw her arms out, gesturing to the disaster in front of them. “What makes you think I can mend this when I couldn’t stop it from happening?”

“If I thought you could do it on your own, it wouldn’t be a lesson,” the goddess replied.

Persephone seethed.

One day, she would turn her mother into a carrion flower for keeping her magic from manifesting.

“Do not worry, my love. You will learn your power as you learn yourself,” Hecate promised.

The two made their way back to the palace. For a while they were able to stay away from the topic of Hades and Apollo, mostly because Hecate used the walk as a teaching moment after they’d happened upon a grove of hemlock.

“At some point, I will instruct you in the art of poison,” Hecate said. “It’s a useful skill for any lady to possess.”

Persephone gave Hecate an uncertain look.

“I don’t think poisoning is useful skill, Hecate.”

“It is when you must kill discreetly.”

“And when do you need to kill discreetly?”

She shrugged. “There are all sorts of instances—abusers of women and children, sex traffickers, rapists…the list goes on.”

Huh, perhaps Hecate was onto something.

They walked along in silence for a little while, Persephone contemplating the usefulness of poison against one god in particular when she asked, "What does Hades have against Apollo?"

She knew why she disliked him, of course, but Hades’ fury seemed to surpass her own.