Fated for War - Book 1 - Destroying Fate

Hades' Daughter

The cloud gave her no time to process what happened, the flash of memories continuing after the scene ended.

1, her infant self wobbling across the living room of their old apartment in Montreal.

Birth. Her mother struggling to push her out after nearly 72 hours of labor. Alex's mom always told her about how difficult that birth was, and also how close they had been to dying, both mother and child.

It was then Alex noticed something that didn't fit.

One of the nurses moved about rather calmly in the midst of the frenzy, moving to stand beside Alex's mother and reaching to place both hands on her belly.

Her hands glowed white, and so did her eyes, yet in the pain of labor, Alex' mom saw nothing, and in the chaos of the room, neither did anyone else.

Alex's head burst through moments after. Eileithyia, childbirth.

Just as quickly, the cloud flashed to another memory, one without Alex present.

It was her grandparent's home in Montreal, Alex knew that place well. It surprised her to see her mother rush for the door as someone outside knocked rather loudly. Her mother, Josephina, opened the door with a bright smile, and in walked in her father, Simon.

She took his hand in hers, the glow of newlywed love surrounding them as she led him to her room.

Once the door closed, something changed.

Alex felt her legs grow weak and a surge of vertigo hit her as the man she recognized as Simon shifted, moving to the window on her mother's nightstand. It wasn't Simon in the reflection.

No. This man was taller, whiter, with long jet-black hair and a chiseled jaw. He had a smaller frame than her father, but he was no weaker, every muscle radiating strength and darkness. His irises so dark they were black, and with those eyes and a smile he turned away from the mirror, all traces of Samuel Jacques gone as a whole other man stood before her mother.

Hades.

Yet her mother's smile did not disappear, and she was all too willing to let the stranger take her in his arms, swoop down, and kiss her soundly.

Alex dropped the cloud, and before it hit the ground, it flew off like the same whisp of air it had come in as.

She was Hades' daughter.

Daughter of Death, Child of the Underworld born upon Gaia.

She was Hades's daughter.

-

Blood of the Archer, Child of the Underworld.

Alex stared at the ground once again as the memories arranged themselves in her mind, searing in every new discovery so that she wouldn't be able to forget.

She cursed.