AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He stood at the side of her bed, running a hand over her hair, before leaning into kiss her forehead.
“Got to run and do something really quick. I’ll be right back,” he whispered against her skin.
Pushing his hands into his pockets, he light jumped to the gates, catching sight of Thanatos and Hecate standing near the ghostly form of Cybil.
His mother. The woman who abandoned him and yet with her last breath, protected him.
Moving slowly towards them, he found himself unsure of how to act as he stopped in front of his mother.
Her eyes widened in surprise, and he saw that they were clear, and her hair once again a dark blonde. It was like she had gone back in time to the day he first saw her in the forest as a child.
Nodding to Thanatos and Hecate, they left him and his mother in a swirl of silver moonlight and shadows.
Devon felt like his tongue was too large for his mouth. His throat too tight to allow any words through, much less the air in which to vocalize them.
A moment passed before she threw her arms around him, shocking him out of his moment of hesitation and his arms slowly pulled her into a tighter hug.
“I am so glad you are okay, my darling,” she whispered words he had always longed to hear. “I worried for you even when they tried to pull my mind from me.”
He swallowed down the emotional turmoil as he stood back, his hands on her shoulders. He knew he only had a small amount of time to deliver her to the judges, who would then go about erasing her memory, and he needed to know what happened.
“So, when did Crius get a hold of you?”
She ran her hand through her hair as she shook off some emotion.
A trait from her, he mused.
“Two years before your birth. He worked on your father’s family farm. All my life I had visions, though I said nothing as that would have put a target on my back, but the visions of darkness always had Crius in them.
“I was engaged to your father and had told him how Crius always seemed to be watching us. Your father moved us away, but Crius would still show up here and there, as if to taunt me and drive me mad. When I realized I was pregnant with you, it was too late. Crius had known Demetri held power inside of him that he would pass on to you. That I would be the perfect weapon to use against you. He attacked me one day near the forest where your father worked and took blood from me to put in a necklace. My blood was able to amplify your power when he wore it near you.”
“How would he know all of that when even the Goddess knew nothing about me?” he asked, irritated that someone out there might be sitting around with all the answers.
“Because they have watched the sisters since the beginning. Watched them struggle to rebuild society and humanity. They watched what happened with the sisters who did not survive the manifestation of their powers and they watch now, because they want Cronus out. He holds the key to them taking back everything, but only if all five of the sisters’ power stay dormant. If they ascend, the Titans have no chance.”
He felt rage and fear over what she was saying. The Titans taking back over humanity, laughing as they sat upon their mountain, and watched their greed spread through the land like a plague.
Humans would be nothing more than cannon fodder for the Titans.
“Thank you for telling me,” he whispered, taking her hands in his.
“I stayed away because I feared they would use me against you, but I should have been stronger for you and your father. I should have worked to control my visions, to not let that be the reason I was unable to raise my son, and to not have left myself vulnerable to Crius and his minions. I regret so much, but I am so very proud of you. I’ve followed you the best I could, seeing you in my visions. Fighting the darkness. When you fought, you fought for life, and the heroes in the story always stand against the darkness to light the way for others. You, my son, are the hero.”
She put her hands on his cheeks to bring him down for a kiss to his forehead.
“The only thing I’ve ever done right was creating you.” Her smile when she stepped back pulled the breath from his lungs. It was a smile he had dreamed of as a child. Full of love and pride.
With eyes full of tears, he pulled his mother into a hug for the last time.
“May the Fates shine kindly upon you, my darling,” she whispered in his ear.
***
Persephone woke in her room long after the red sun had left the sky to the purple moon.
“You’re finally awake,” Devon whispered from the chair next to her bed as he moved forward to put his forehead against hers.
She reached out her hand to run it along his jaw. He obviously hadn’t shaved in a good while. “Are you,” she started, her throat dry. “Are you okay?”
