Chapter 39

The Hecate

She sat alone in the room her sister had lived in for thousands of years. Her hands stroked the design on the coverlet on the bed absently. It was a gift she had made and given Kathryn. The design was based on a dream Kitty had had. It was Prometheus, the god who had stolen fire from the Pantheon and given it to the humans. Legend had it that he had been sentenced to suffer eternally for his defiance. The hand Elus had crippled was still shrunken and bent as she touched the soft material.

"She's not coming back, is she?" Kitty asked.

Kate looked up in surprise.

"I thought you were resting," she responded.

Kitty shrugged, her booted feet making no sound as she entered the room.

"I couldn't sleep. What are we going to do about them?" she asked.

"We need to Summon a new Third and get her through the investiture. We need to figure out what Elus and Kathryn are planning and we need to figure out a way to contain Elus."

"Is that all?" Kitty asked with a wry grin. "What are we going to do after lunch then?"

Kate couldn't help but laugh. Some days she felt the weight of the years she had been part of the Hecate. Kitty had brought a certain lightness to the trio that made the years more bearable.

Only a small portion of her dimly recalled her mortal life, dying so long ago that she could barely remember. What she did remember was Kathryn coming to her and offering her a choice: join the Hecate, or move on to What Comes Next.

She had never regretted her choice, even now.

She leaned forward, her hair falling across her vision. The red was now liberally streaked with white.

"The change has already started, hasn't it?" Kitty asked as her hand reached out to stroke Kate's hair.

Kate nodded. Kitty's hand dropped to her stomach, tenderly protective of the small life growing within her.

"Who's the father?" Kate asked.

"I don't kiss and tell," Kitty said, winking at her.

Kate chuckled again.

"I remember when I had my first child. She was so sweet, my little Alli," she said, her eyes taking on a distant look.

Kitty watched her for a moment.

"You've never told me about her. What was she like?"

Kate reached out and brushed a curl from Kitty's face and smiled.

"You remind me of her. She was always getting into trouble," she said, and both women laughed. "I named her Alepou. It means ‘fox' in Greek. He hair was bright red you see, just like a baby fox. She was so curious! She wanted to know the ‘why' behind everything."

"What happened to her?"

Kate's smile saddened a bit.

"She married, had children who spread across the world. They lived in Greece, Illyria and Alexandria for many years. I watched over my family, gave them all pieces of me, pieces of my power. Some became unusually strong Somas, others Mageians. All Bonded Mageian pairs can eventually trace back to me."

"So Elex and Erix are the physical children of Elus, but they carry the genetic history of your power. Rhuyin and Helios are your genetic offspring and carry your power as well."

Kate nodded.

"Is that why they didn't have to go through the physical act of the Bonding ceremony?" Kitty asked.

Kate nodded.

"Elex and Erix were supposed to be balanced, Erix with Elus' power, and Elex with mine, but Elus withdrew his power from them in the womb, afraid that we would use them to overthrow the Alexus regime. I was forced to give my power to both of them in order to keep them alive."

"So, they couldn't Bond. You needed someone else for each of them," she responded thoughtfully. "Seriously, what are we going to do next?"

"In the past, we would have brought our case against Elus to the Pantheon," Kate responded. "But there are no other gods left. It's just you, me, Kathryn and Elus. It was the power of the Pantheon that kept him restrained for so long, but with Kathryn on his side now, I'm not sure what we should do. We're the only ones left."

"Are we?" Kitty asked softly, her eyes lighting on the coverlet. "The only ones, I mean. I think I have an idea."

"Tell me," Kate whispered.

Kitty's eyes went distant, the look she always had when her Oracle abilities were upon her.

"I have our new Third, and she is glorious! We need to gather our friends. It is time to free Prometheus."