Fated for War - Book 1 - Destroying Fate

Josephina

Athena stared at her for a moment before sighing. "I'll convince my father."

"No, I want to leave now. Tell you father I'll be leaving."

"You can't just go, Alex."

Frustration seeped from her pores. "And why not? I'm a prisoner on Olympus now? Is that a new revelation you all with to dump on me like a sack of potatoes?"

Athena raised a hand and shook it. "No, no. Fine, I'll bring you down from Olympus, but you must promise me to return. I can only let you down if you do so."

"Whatever."

There was pleading in Athena's eyes. "Please Alex."

The girl huffed. "Athena? Begging? Fine then, I'll come back. Can I go now?"

Something else flashed in Athena's gaze before she nodded. "Do you want to go with Eric?"

"No, I want to be alone. I don't need a chaperone." Wisdom nodded. "Where to?"

It took a moment of hesitation before Alex spoke. "Home."

-

In a blink of an eye, Alex was in Florida, standing in front of her parent's house.

Athena was nowhere to be seen.

She would have loved to continue as though the last twenty-four hours had been a freakish nightmare, but no. "Daughter of Hades, blood of Artemis," she muttered beneath her breath, inhaling deeply to find the courage to walk up the steps of the house and know on the door.

It took a few moments before her mother answered, staggering backwards in surprise at the sight of her daughter who was supposed to be in Greece. "Lexi? What, how-you're not in Greece?"

Alex gave her mom a tired smile. "No, something popped up so I'm back."

Josephina raised a brow. "But, but your dad dropped you off at the airport, he watched you go in."

Dad. Alex nodded. "Something happened in Greece so I had to book the first flight back, can I come in?"

Josephina jumped at the question, realizing she had been keeping her daughter outside and rushing to pull her into the house.

It smelled of spices and cooked rice, it smelled like home. Alex quickly walked into the kitchen and sat down on a chair rather unceremoniously, just now realizing how much she had been trembling.

Her mother seemed to realize this as well, giving her daughter a signature worried look. "You okay bebe?"

Alex closed her eyes and braced herself before looking up at her perplexed mother. "I have a question for you, and I need you to be honest with me. I'm tired of lies."

Josephina pulled out a chair to sit across Alex, reaching out and grasping her daughter's hands in hers. Her hands were warm, comforting yet Alex felt little comfort from them at that moment.

"Mama. Something happened in Greece. You won't believe it."

"What is it?"

"I met a woman, I'd never seen her before, yet she knew exactly who I was. She knew I was from America, she knew everything."

Josephina's brows drew together. "Are you sure you never met her before?"

"I'm positive, listen to the rest of the story."

And so Josephine did, not saying a word as Alex told her about the Oracle, about Eric being Enyo, about Athena, Olympus, Ares, the Olympians, the Fates, everything.

With each word Alex said, she watched as her mother's expression dropped further and further, and as a shadow fell over her face.

"And then, then, you'll never believe it Mama. Then they told me that dad isn't my real dad. They told me that Hades is my dad. They even showed me a scene with you and Hades kissing."

Josephina's hands were now trembling and sticky with sweat, and Alex's heart dropped. "That's funny, isn't it Mama?" She paused. "That's a lie, right? I saw wrong?"

The questions came out more like pleas from her lips, and Josephina pulled her hands away before standing from the chair and beginning to pace back and forth in the kitchen.

"Mama?"

Her mother stopped, frozen in place as she pressed a palm against her cheek and rested the other hand on her waist, a clear sign of distress. "I should have been the one to tell you."