"Persephone." A masculine voice overtook the story, interrupting Elandra. My eyes flickered toward Hades as he spoke, seeing all the grief, the sorrow, the torture he lived with every single day. And I knew even without the words uttered and signs shown—he was suffering because of her.
"Yes," Elandra continued. "Persephone. Demeter cursed the Gods, sacrificing herself in the process, locking every immortal to this island. To this wicked place between life and death, cutting them from their realms, from their homes, giving each a part of this land in the process they would rule over." Elandra kept talking, but my eyes couldn't leave Hades.
They couldn't leave the one God that, unlike before, wore his emotions on his face. The God that seemed about ready to flee from the room the more Elandra spoke, and just as she opened her mouth to share more, he moved away from his corner and stepped outside, taking my fucking soul with him.
Heads turned toward the entrance where Nox and Vesper still sat, not following him, but it took everything in me to stay seated. It took everything not to get up and follow him, because it was obvious this story, this curse, had more to it than what Elandra had mentioned.
"Ignore him," Artemis murmured, but the bite in her tone was no longer there. Neither was the venom in her eyes as she looked at me. "You need to learn the truth, Kaira. The truth about your heritage, and we can't waste a single second. We can't wait for you to realize things on your own. Not right now."
My brow furrowed, my fists clenching in my lap when Grimm lifted his head, pressing his snout against my calves.
"Please," came softly whispered from my right, and as I looked to the side I could see the pleading look in Megaira's eyes. "I promise you will understand everything, but you need to stay. He will be okay. Trust me." And for whatever reason, her words had calmed the turmoil coiling in my gut, making it descend back into the dark parts of my soul.
Turning toward Elandra and seeing the wariness in her eyes, I knew I had made the right choice, even if it didn't entirely sit well with me. "Please continue," I murmured. "I want to know. I need to know."
Artemis nodded, a teeny tiny smile appearing on her face as Elandra continued talking.
"As I was saying." Elandra rose to her feet, standing over the parchment in front of her, and as I looked closer, I realized it was a map. An ancient-looking map showing an island in the middle of the sea. "Nevermere Island is split into five areas. The Serpents Bloom, The Drowned Veil. The Stormkeep," she spat out, her finger stabbing into the map where the mountains seemed to be drawn, connecting the main island to a smaller one, "Zeus's domain. The Sanctum?—"
"My domain," came from the doors. My head swiveled sharply, seeing Hades standing there again, between Nox and Vesper. "On the south side of the island, in the middle of the Umbra Forest," he added.
Elandra rolled her eyes as I looked back at her. "Yeah, his domain. And last." She looked up, spearing me with her eyes."The Hollow." She pointed at the area not far from Hades's domain. "This is yours, Kaira."
My own eyes widened as I leaned toward the table, trying to see better. Roughly drawn caves littered the area, connecting it with Hades's domain, bordering the forest. "What do you mean, mine?"
"Your father was Thanatos, child," Echidna explained, making me turn toward her. Her serpent-like eyes dragged over my face. "The God of Death was never supposed to have an heir. He was never supposed to find a soulmate, either. It was never to be. But he did."
And it dawned on me. "My mother."
"Yes," she hissed. "Your mother. Daniela Vale. The seer. The mortal."
Wait a second. "A soulmate?" I asked, more confused than ever. "You can't mean literally." I turned toward the rest of the group, all of them looking at me expectantly. "Right?"
"We do mean it literally," Apollo added from his spot next to the firepit. "Gods and Goddesses were born with only half of their soul. Half with them and the other half with their soulmate."
"But the power Thanatos wielded was too big. Bigger than Zeus, bigger than Hades and Poseidon," Artemis added. "Bigger than any of us."
"But why?"
"Because he was the only one that could kill one of the Ancient Gods," Hades answered instead. "He was the only one that could destroy me or one of my brothers, and that's why my dear brother," he practically growled, "killed the only God that could destroy him. That could prevent him from getting all the power he wanted."
My eyes filled with tears, realizing the death my biological father faced was not a simple death. It wasn't painless or quick. He must have suffered. He must have been tortured.
"But his power, Kaira," Elandra jumped in. "His power didn't die with him." The way she was looking at me made me feel uneasy. Made me want to bolt and run. "His entire power transferred to the only other living being that could hold it, that could wield it. His power, my dear child, went to you. His power lived in your veins even before the accident. Even before Grimm helped you pass into the immortal realm. Your soul, your blood, was always bound to this island. You were destined for something bigger than any of us. You were destined to destroy the God that corrupted almost every single being. You are destined to destroy the God that is planning to use you to escape this island, to get out there and rule the rest of the world."
My heart hammered in my chest as the pieces of information slowly fit the empty slots of the puzzle in my mind.
"That's why my mom ran away," I mumbled, more to myself than any of them. "That's why she wanted me to train. That's why she wanted me to know all those things."
"Yes." This time it was my aunt that spoke. "My sister could see the future, Kaira. She could see you in her dreams, but more than that—she could see the different versions of the future that awaited you had she stayed." Aunt Alyana stood behind Elandra, placing her hands on the other woman's shoulders. "When the three sisters?—"
"Fates," Megaira spat out.
"Yes, Fates. When they announced the prophecy of a child being born under the blood moon, she knew it was you. And when they said that the child would be the God Slayer, the destroyer, the one that could be the deciding factor in how the scales are tilted, Zeus ordered for every child born within those two months to be killed. He didn't care who they were. He didn'tcare if they were immortal children or not—he slaughtered them all."
"That's why she ran," Megaira mumbled next to me.
"And why my real father stayed," I added, feeling the tears dripping down my cheeks. "That's why she never spoke of this place."
