“Nothing, from a genetic standpoint,” Cas sneered.
“He’s right,” said Apollo. “You and I are siblings in the proper sense, as we were born from the same womb, but early in creation, there wasn’t such a thing as hereditary traits, hence why each of Zeus’s siblings or children are so different, in looks, in power, in affinities. The concept of incest arose much later on, when children started to take in traits from their progenitors. If we could unearth both of your original forms and check your respective DNA, no one would find familial links between you. At the start, the gods were concepts, primal forces, not just flesh.”
My stomach uncoiled. It was a little weird to say the least, but I remembered enough of my origin lectures to know that Gaia had birthed Ouranos by herself—and proceeded to reproduce with him to birth the titans, who, themselves, fucked each other a lot. The same sort of thing had happened with Nyx, Lucian’s divine great-grandmother.
“Right. You’re my brother, he’s not,” I summed up, ready to embrace those facts.
From the beginning, I’d felt a kinship to Apollo. I wasn’t surprised when I realized I was his sister. My feelings towardsCas ranged from fury to something else I refused to look at too closely, but one thing was certain: brotherly affection had nothing to do with it.
“Moving on,” I decided. “Want to tell me what Ares, god of war, and Apollo, god of way too many things to list, are doing together?”
They exchanged a look. “As I said, I needed somewhere to crash. Ares—like almost all the Olympians—was sent to ferret me out by dear old Thunder Daddy, which he did.”
“Took me about two hours,” Cas boasted. “You’re shit at hiding.”
“And instead of delivering him, you gave him your Wi-Fi password?”
Apollo sighed deeply. “No internet on Asgard. No TV either. They barely have plumbing here. The world was abandoned centuries ago, so there’s nothing but goat statues and dusty weapons.”
“Hence why you were quite safe,” Cas drawled. “Anyone who knows you knows you can barely function without takeout or delivery. They’ll never think to check out lost worlds.”
Highly amused by their antics, I nonetheless brought them back to the main point. “So, you went against Zeus’s orders. I still don’t understand why you didn’t share any of that.”
“Zeus has eyes in most places, especially Highvale. Officially, I’ve been sent to observe you, as he assumed Apollo would eventually reach out. I need to be seen doing exactly what I’ve been sent for.” After a moment, he added, “He has Hestia. I have to be careful.”
“Hestia?” I took a moment to place Hestia in my mind—everything I remembered from lessons and general feelings, memories.
It wasn’t a lot.
“The goddess of the hearth, Hestia?”
Cas nodded. “She’s been good to me. Kind. Everyone else on Olympus is suspicious or downright antagonistic?—”
“Hera’s nice to you,” Apollo interjected.
Cas winced. “Hera’sweird. Zeus noted I grew close to Hestia. He’s been threatening her to keep me compliant ever since.”
I refused to analyze my sudden dislike for the goddess I didn’t know anything about.
“He’d hurt his sister to get to you?” I questioned.
“Obviously,” Cas said at the same time as Apollo replied, “Duh.”
I opened my mouth, but before I managed a word, Cas said, “Enough with the questions. We’ve lingered too long already. The portal I made reverberated through the nine bloody worlds, and it’s only a matter of time until this place is searched. You need to go,” he said to Apollo, before turning to me. “And your friends are likely concerned, as you’ve been unreachable.”
Shit, he was right.
Apollo nodded, turning on his heels. “Well, until next time then, children. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”
“Wait!” I croaked.
Cas’s jaw ticked. “If he’s caught here, Zeus will roast all three of us over a slow eternal flame until?—”
“I have one thing to ask.”
Apollo snorted, leaning around the door frame. “Just one thing? Color me surprised.”
He was right of course, I could think of a million questions. But only one mattered. “What did you do with my magic?”
