They would all play a part in changing Nick’s life and setting her own destiny in motion.
Time swam before her eyes, coalescing into one moment. Nick holding their infant daughter in his arms, sitting only a few feet from where she currently was.
The dimpled smile on his face stole her breath as he fed her a french fry from his plate. “I wish my mother was here to see our little girl. She’d spoil her rotten.”
Tears filled Kody’s eyes as she saw herself dabbing at the drool on her daughter’s chin. “I wish I could have met Cherise. I feel like I already know her.”
“She was an incredible woman … like you.” Joining them at the table, Acheron paused by Nick’s side to make faces at their daughter. “And how’s my little angel, huh?” he asked in a falsetto. “You keeping daddy up at night? I hope so! Make his ears bleed for me!”
Charity squealed in delighted laughter as if she understood him. Cooing, she reached for Acheron who took her in his arms and held her against his shoulder so that she could fist her hands in his long black hair.
“So where’s Aunt Tory?” Kody looked around for his wife.
“Shopping with your mother for the baby,” he continued to speak in that high-pitched tone that kept Charity laughing while he dodged her attempts to tug at his nose ring.
Kody smiled at the sight of his obvious care and tenderness. “She loves her uncle Ash.”
“Like her mama did at the same age.” Acheron kissed Charity’s cheek.
“Yeah.” Kody’s father sighed as he came to lean over the back of Nick’s seat. “There were times when I thought my baby girl preferred you to me, brother. Made me jealous until it dawned on me that it wasn’t so much that, as she couldn’t tell us apart.” He winked at Kody who laughed at her father’s tsking tone.
“Now, Daddy, that’s not true. I always knew you two apart.” Aside from the fact that her father kept his shorter hair their natural blond shade while her uncle dyed his black, the twins had different eye colors. Acheron’s were swirling silver and her father’s were blue. But other than that, there were identical copies of each other.
Except for one thing.
“And how is that?” Her father challenged.
She could tell by the suspicious light in his celestial eyes that he expected her to say the scars on his body, which was true, but like her mother, she didn’t really see those. Rather it was a much more obvious difference. One that made her lean forward to whisper loudly above the club’s din. “Your pockets don’t bulge from carrying Simi’s barbecue sauce and snacks.”
Nick laughed. “That is true enough. Gah, I’ll never forget that Thanksgiving when we almost ran out. You’ve never seen anyone run faster to make groceries,cher, than me in your life. I don’t know who went paler, faster. Me or Ash.”
“Oh that was definitely Alexion,” Ash said with a laugh. “He was the most frightened by Simi’s pout that day. I assure you.”
“Nah, it was Savitar.”
Kody tsked as she saw Simi approaching with her husband. “Are you hearing the lies they’re telling about you, Aunt Simi? Terrible, terrible lies!”
“Hey, Kody!”
Blinking, Kody left her memory to return to the present or the past …
For the first time, it was strangely confusing for her. As she finally had real memories of her life with Nick.
Takeshi had been right.
She’d been a lot older than Sroasha had led her to believe. Had led her to remember. She hadn’t been the young teen she’d originally thought. They’d taken more than just her life from her.
They’d taken everything.
I was lied to …
Kody cursed as she realized what they’d done. They’d stolen the water of the Lethe. It was the only thing that explained all this. Hades gave it to all the dead so that they would have no memory of their life.
“How could I have been so stupid?” she breathed.
No, not stupid.
Trusting.
