They thought I was one of them. The pool and the way it called to me. A demigoddess? There was no way it could be true.
Gray was in front of me and took my face in his hands. “You need to get a hold on your emotions, and quickly. He’s going to ask the council to vote on this matter and they’ll vote against you if they think you’re a danger to us. And you’re a danger to us if you’re not under control. Do you understand?”
I looked at him blankly. Did Gray know about this? Did he know I was supposedly part Goddess?
“Quentin, do you understand me?” His sharp tone jolted me out of my thoughts, and I nodded.
The door to the chamber slammed open, forcing Gray away from me quickly. Without him nearby, without the support, my knees trembled.
“I suggest everyone takes their seats!” Hunter barked.
Twelve Gods and Goddesses took to their thrones, looking regal and divine, and for the first time in my life, I wished I’d prayed. I saw familiar faces and others who I knew the names of but hadn’t interacted with. My eyes kept flicking to Gray, but he barely glanced at me as everyone settled down.
Hunter stood up, his eyes boring down on me, reducing me to a few inches tall.
“You’ve been called here tonight for an emergency meeting,” he said, addressing the council but keeping his steady gaze on me. “It seems that we have an abomination in our midst.”
The words stung and made me narrow my eyes at him. Abomination? How bad was this? If I was a… With every part of my soul, I wanted this to be a joke or a hallucination, but the golden projections that surrounded me, pushing out into the room, told me otherwise.
The entire room filled with whispers, and I brought my hands to my temples. All the noise was too much to cope with. Sensory overload.
“It seems that there were some of us who knew she existed but failed to report to the council. So, Grayson, would you care to explain to the rest of us exactly who she is and what you know.”
The room settled down again, making it a little easier to think. Grayson lifted himself out of the chair with grace but didn’t look me in the eye. The weight of a dozen stares fell on me, and I suddenly felt very self-conscious.
“Quentin Scott is a demigoddess,” Gray announced.
The words rang around the room, and the space swayed. But I took in a deep breath, trying to stay calm the way Gray had advised me to.
“How is that even possible?” Aria asked.
“It can’t be,” Malachi muttered.
“They were all destroyed!” she said.
“Obviously not all of them, Aria,” Grayson said, rolling his eyes.
“Continue,” Waverly called out.
“I found out a few months ago,” Gray explained.
“Who?” Aria demanded.
“Mallory. She’s Mallory’s daughter.”
Once again, I felt the eyes on my body and I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to give myself any form of protection against the Gods.
“Mallory had her on earth and left her there. Then —”
“Then she requested death,” Elva finished.
There was a thick, heavy silence in the chamber, and my blood chilled. Mallory, whoever this Goddess was, had killed herself after giving birth to me.
“Who else knew about this?” Hunter asked.
Erik twitched in his seat.
“No one. Only I knew,” Gray said quickly. “I asked the others to come up here to witness her gifting.”
