Page 82 of Thorn & Ash

“I want to stop you from making a grave mistake,” Kronos said, his voice low and steely.

Prue scoffed. “A grave mistake would be letting you continue to poison the Underworld.”

“I am remaking it. The realm will be born anew, cleansed of the evil that has plagued it for so long. But this”—he gestured to the box—”will erase the realm completely from existence.”

Prue’s eyes narrowed. Erased from existence? “I don’t believe you.”

“And yet you believe everything your husband tells you? You believed that witch, Trivia. And look where that got you.”

The sting of Trivia’s deception cut Prue deeply, and she swallowed around the lump in her throat. “You want to cleanse this realm of everything and everyone I love. I can’t just stand by and let you do it.”

“The contents of that box will destroy it all anyway.” Kronos’s expression remained impassive. “This realm is doomed either way.”

Dread sank in Prue’s chest like a heavy weight, but she shook her head, refusing to believe it. “No. I can close the box again. The realm will be safe.”

Kronos chuckled, offering a patronizing smile. “Oh, child. Do you really think it’s that simple? When you’ve lived as long as I have, you’ll learn that sometimes the only way out is to wipe the slate clean and start again.”

Wipe the slate clean. He said it so callously, as if this realm weren’t full of hundreds of lives, millions and millions of souls who each had their own unique story. Their own personality. Their own desires.

Kronos or Trivia?

Both deceivers left a foul taste in Prue’s mouth. But Trivia had never tried to kill her or anyone she loved.

And in the end, the choice wasn’t between Kronos and Trivia… It was between what Kronos wanted and what Prue wanted.

Prue didn’t trust Kronos. But the magic emanating from this box was familiar to her. It shared a kinship with her own magic.

And that she trusted.

Kronos didn’t want her to open the box. That was all the convincing she needed to know she had to.

He seemed to read the intent in her gaze. He lunged for her, but not before she grasped the lid and opened it.

A roar exploded from within, making her ears throb. She screamed, flying backward from the force of it as a river of shapes and images flooded from inside the box, twisting and churning like a tidal wave. Bright lights danced in front of her eyes, her head throbbing from the impact. She struggled to rise, then scrambled away from the box. More magic poured from it, swirling in the air like a funnel of water. Dozens of sounds echoed in the cave—laughter, screams, whispered enchantments, bestial roars and growls… It was like an entire world had been trapped inside that box. People and creatures and magic…

The powers contained in the box were rushing out… But wasn’t the box supposed to draw magic in? Prue could only stare, numb with shock, as the flood of power continued churning and gushing with such violence she thought it might rip a hole in the cave floor.

Kronos screamed as the river of magic collided with him, slamming him backward into the cavern wall. His screams turned more anguished, more panicked, rising in pitch until they stopped entirely. Squinting through the haze in the air, Prue tried to make out his figure.

But all she saw was a pile of ash on the ground. Kronos was gone.

The walls quivered again, the earth rumbling beneath her. A boulder shook loose from the ceiling and crashed to the ground in front of her, narrowly missing her foot.

Prue jumped up, alarm flaring inside her. Opening the box hadn’t helped at all. The cave was still going to crumble.

She had to close it. Now.

With the small black lid still in her grasp, she tried placing it on top of the box once more, hoping the magic would get sucked back inside.

But while the lid was still intact, the bottom of the box had disintegrated, resembling nothing more than a charred husk of melted black sludge.

“No,” Prue breathed in horror, trying in vain to replace the lid. But once she set it atop the melted remains, the lid began bubbling and burning in her fingers. She yanked them away, hissing in pain, and watched as the lid, too, melted with the rest of the box.

You’re the daughter of Gaia, Trivia had said. You’re powerful enough to close the box. I’m sure of it.

Trivia had been lying.

“No!” Prue screamed, trying to summon her magic, to draw the dark magic back. She had to put a stop to it. She had to fix this! This wasn’t supposed to happen… The box was supposed to take her powers, to take all the magic away! What was going on?

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