Chapter Three

It took less than a second for the Mother to surge into Kate, it was a little disorienting, usually, they gave her a chance to center and open up so that the transition wasn't so jarring. This time there was no easy opening up, one minute she was in control and the next Mother Hekate was holding the reins.

"You know I hate when you do that."

"Why are you here Nyx?" the Mother's voice boomed out of her ignoring Kate, her hands exploded into flames and she took a step towards the small child.

"What are you doing? It's a child!"

No one answered her, everyone's attention was on the small form in front of them. She was just standing there looking up at them calmly her hands out palms up.

"Calm down Hekate, I mean you no harm, I am here to warn you," her small voice was like a butterflies whisper, so quiet it took Kate a second to be sure she was hearing her correctly.

"This is Nyx," the Crone's voice whispered, "Do not be fooled by her innocence, she controls the night and the dark creatures that inhabit it."

Kate thought for a moment, the Crone may have been right about there being dark creatures in the night, but there was also beauty in darkness. She looked closer at the girl, her dark hair which had looked midnight black before was more than just black, it held shades of purples, blues, and greens. Looking into her eyes she could see the stars that filled the sky, she could even see the many constellations when she looked close enough.

"Don't look too long Kate, she is beautiful and she can be sweet but she is darkness, she is night, she will suck you in and never let you go," the Maiden said.

"Warn me about? And why do you care now, you certainly didn't care before."

"You know I couldn't help then, the Fates said it had to be that way and you know no one interferes with the Fates," she turned to the stove, Kate hadn't noticed earlier but Nyx had put a kettle on and it had started to whistle. She took two mugs from the cupboard, poured water into both, and began steeping the bags.

"I'm only here now because if I don't warn you I don't think anyone will," she handed a mug to Hekate who stared at it with a raised eyebrow, the Mother wouldn't give in that easily. Nyx shrugged and set it on the table then sat down herself.

"You enjoy building anticipation don't you, tell me what you need to and go, I want nothing to do with your kind," the Mother wasn't going to give an inch, they all felt the same way about the gods that did nothing to aid them.

"My kind is your kind Hekate, whether you like it or not," when Hekate continued to just stare at her she sighed and continued, "It's Venus," Nyx took a sip of her tea making a face, and started adding cream, "She's looking for you."

Hekate rolled her eyes and finally released the fire and sat down across the table.

"Really Nyx, that's old news, she's always looking for me and when she finally catches me she always leaves with her tail between her legs."

Nyx nodded, "Your right, she doesn't hold near as much power as you, alone," her eyes dug straight into her soul.

"What are you talking about?" Hekate's stomach flipped a few times, she wasn't afraid of too many things, but there were a few goddesses that made her hesitate.

"She got tired of losing to you so she found someone who would help her win."

"Okay enough, who is it?"

"Hera."

The air left the room, nothing but silence filling it. Hera was super pissed at Hekate, Ares was her son and since Hekate had no interest in being his bride, she may not have been the nicest about her rejection. Hera might have been a little more than irked about it.

"You're glad I came now aren't you, little sister?"

"Little sister?" Kate asked, "She's a child."

Hekate laughed out loud making Nyx jump her tea sloshing out the side of her cup.

"What's so funny?" she asked standing to find a dish towel.

"I'm sorry Nyx, Kate asked a question, I forget from time to time she hasn't been my vessel for very long and has yet to learn about each of you. She's called you a child at least twice now." Nyx looked offended and aggressively started wiping down the table.

"You chose a vessel without making sure she had studied everything first?"

"Not that it is any of your business, but my last vessel, her grandmother, passed quicker than we expected."

Nyx stopped wiping the table, looking sadly at her, "I'm sorry, I knew she had passed, I didn't know it was sudden. I know you were very close to Katherine."

Hekate cleared her throat, Nyx wasn't wrong, Katherine had been an exceptional vessel, powerful, but she knew Kate was just as strong, even if she hadn't realized it yet.

"Thank you, but Nyx I think it's time for you to leave. You gave me your warning, and if Venus decides she and Hera want to come for me we will take care of ourselves, we have been for as long as I have had to run from Ares and his demons. The only thing that keeps him from getting close is my amulet," she got up and went to the front door opening it and stepping aside so Nyx could leave.

She heaved a heavy sigh and got up from the table, before she stepped out the door she looked at Hekate, "I couldn't help you then but I can help you now, when you need me call to the night and I will come," with that, she walked out the door and faded into the shadows.

"So are you going to fill me in or am I just supposed to ignore the fact that a childlike goddess showed up and warned us about two other goddesses?" Kate asked putting the mugs in the sink and pulling a bowl from the cupboard, pouring a bowl of cereal she flopped down on the couch waiting for a response, and crunched on her dinner. No one answered for once and she had a feeling they were conversing with one another and leaving her out of it.

"How exactly am I supposed to learn any of this if you won't answer my questions?" she was getting irritated, she wasn't her grandmother but she had accepted this responsibility it would have been nice to know they trusted her to handle it.

"It's not that we don't trust you, Kate, it's just a lot to accept."

"Then explain please, I felt how afraid you got when she mentioned Hera, I know who she is and I remember she wasn't exactly the sweetest of all the goddesses."

"You're right. Hera is a very powerful goddess and she is also Ares's mother, she could be dangerous."

"And Venus, why does she hate you so much?" Nothing but the sounds of her crunching filled her ears, she finished her cereal and waited until she had finished drinking the milk, trying to give them a chance to explain. It had been a long day and they had used up a lot of energy, speaking to her took very little but channeling magick through her mortal body was exhausting. There was a collective sigh.

"Venus hates us because Ares wants to marry us. She and Ares used to be together but they could never be married because Venus is married to Vulcan. Unfortunately, she made the mistake of falling in love with him, but when he realized he couldn't use her for anything he began to ignore her and turned his attention to me."

"Which of course made her super happy, and Venus is the goddess of love right?"

"Very good, you have been reading the books we gave you. Yes, she is the goddess of love, she has been following us around this earth ever since I escaped to the mortal realm, she's never been able to do much damage though, not by herself. As we both know love isn't something I care much about."

"But with Hera, she might be a problem?" she stuck her bowl in the sink and headed to her bedroom. She had so much to do tomorrow and now with this, she had a feeling it was going to be a long day.

"We may need to update our protection charms and runes, she is very strong but Nyx could be making this out to be more than it is, she has always wanted me to go back to my realm, but she never fully grasped why I had to leave in the first place."

Kate's head hit the pillow and she snuggled under her grandmother's quilt, "She wanted you to marry Ares?"

"Shhh, we can talk about this tomorrow, it has been a long day and you are not useful if you can not move," her voice soothing the Mother began to hum a soft melody and Kate couldn't fight it any longer, she drifted off to sleep.