Tempting the Fates

Chapter 17

"Me?" I stared up at him, slack jawed. "Why would they want me? I'm a demi-god. My mom is the Goddess of Love. They'd be better off taking someone who matters. I'm a nobody."

Hades' mouth quirked up in one corner. "I told you, you are not a nobody. You must remember: your blank tapestry makes you a threat. You could either be a god's worst nightmare, or their best weapon. If word got out, you'd have every god from the other two kingdoms racing to make you theirs."

My stomach churned at the word: theirs. Like property.

"And what makes you so different?" I stared directly into his eyes. I would not back down. "How do I know you aren't just the first in line to make me yours?"

The eyes that held my gaze were so icy blue they were almost silver. But within them, I could see something genuine and honest. "I'm not looking to make you mine, Callie. The only reason we even must marry is because as queen of this kingdom, you are given a divine protection. You'll become immortal."

I bit down the small amount of surprise that rose in my heart over his words. He didn't even want to marry me. I straightened my spine and made my face unreadable.

"I brought you here to keep you safe." He continued. "I knew that if Zeus, or some other power-hungry immortal found out, you would either become a target for an assassin or become an unwilling servant to a god who wished only to bed you and use you. My hope is that here, you will be able to live the most normal life possible for a powerful demigoddess. Not to mention, you are incredibly intelligent. That, paired with your caring and thoughtful heart, would make you the perfect partner to rule this kingdom."

A flurry of confusing feelings worked their way through me. What he said was nice, but I was not completely convinced of his character. I found that when it came to knowing the true heart of a person, actions spoke far louder than words ever could. I'd give him some time to prove to me that he wasn't one of the monsters he'd warned me of.

"I'm still not sure where you're getting this 'powerful weapon' thing from. I'm twenty-one years old today, and I don't have powers. Don't you think I would have kicked those guys' asses back on Earth? Or at least been able to escape from them?" I glanced at my hand again, worried the magic hadn't worked. It was still healed. I wondered if I would ever have powers strong enough to heal people like he had for me. A power like that would make the bitterness over never becoming a surgeon lessen. It would make giving up my life a bite more... worth what I'd given up. I squeezed my hand into a fist.

"It's unusual, but not unheard of for a demigod to have latent powers. They're often awoken when they've had exposure to magic."

I'd only encountered my mother a day ago. And Hades had only summoned those... zombies, a couple days ago. So maybe there was still a chance for me.

I rose from my seat and wandered along the bookshelves. Hades walked over to his desk and shuffled some papers that had been laying scattered across it. He set them down in a neat pile and waved a hand over them. The papers disappeared in the blink of an eye.

I blinked back my surprise and turned back to the leather tomes sitting on the shelf before me. His library was vast, and eclectic. I had to tilt my head to the side to read all the titles. A couple shelves down, I found a copy of Gray's Anatomy. It was hard to miss, really, considering how gigantic it was.

I pulled it from the shelf and flipped through the pages. The book had to be a first edition, based on the leather dust that had rubbed off onto my fingers and sprinkled onto the floor beneath me. I carefully closed the book and paused. The room had fallen too quiet. I glanced behind me and found Hades watching me, a small smile on his lips.