The hair on the back of my neck stood up. Me?
Cadmus stared absently at the horizon of the bustling city. “I do not think I can. It is not right.”
“Not right?” Zeus boomed and everyone on the streets around him drew to a stop, staring in apprehension. He immediately calmed and dropped his voice again.
“Why do you think we are in this position? Because of the treachery and deceit of the Fates. They think to overthrow me. I have heard of their plans.
“In readiness for it, I must put safeguards into place to protect us all, although I know you are only concerned for your wife. So know this, this is the only way to protect her. Otherwise, they will eventually hunt her down and eliminate her, because they know that she will stand in their way.”
Zeus’ face was thunderous even though his voice was now calm.
“I knew this long ago. Why do you think that I allowed Hephaestus to use my own blood when he created the necklace for Harmonia? Because my blood will be the key to save us and Harmonia must be the one to hold it.
“You must become mortal, along with Harmonia. It is the best way to hide you. You will be reborn, life after life, until the time comes that they manage to trick me. At that time, you will return and right it. As the goddess of peace, Harmonia is the Chosen One. She will bring peace to Olympus. But the only way to ensure that is to hide her from the Fates.”
I froze, sucking in a ragged breath. Surely not. Surely not. Surely NOT. Cadmus couldn’t have known all along. He couldn’t have been part of the decision that imprisoned me in mortal form for thousands of years. Please god. Please, please god. No.
Cadmus stared at Zeus seriously, clearly weighing the situation carefully.
“If I agree, what will happen?”
The corner of Zeus’ mouth twitched, but he did not smile. “If you agree, then I will allow you to accompany her, to be with her in every lifetime. If you do not, I’ll send her alone.”
Cadmus nodded seriously. “Very well, then. I don’t see that I really have a choice.”
“You’re correct. You do not.”
“How will we know when it is time to return and fight? We’ll be in mortal form. We’ll have no abilities to use.”
Zeus pondered that for a scant moment. “I will send my two advisors, Ahmose and Annen, to keep track of you in each life. They will guide you and let you know when it is time. I’ll assign Annen to you and Ahmose to Harmonia.”
It felt like my heart froze in my chest. Zeus had sent Annen and Ahmose. Zeus himself, not the Fates. Everything that I thought I knew was raveling apart.
Cadmus nodded in agreement.
“Fine,” he replied curtly. “I’ll go along with this. But we cannot tell her. It will break her heart.”
The world seemed to stop and whirl together at the same time. The colors of the garden around me bled into one another and I put out a hand to steady myself. Hades’ took my hand.
“He betrayed you,” he whispered. “He lied to you.”
No matter how much I wished it wasn’t true, it was. The idea that they purposely cast me into mortal form for so long was bad enough… but to lie to me about it? That was heinous.
And it had been Cadmus’ idea.
Chapter Seven
Confusion, combined with anger, clouded my mind with dark shades of red.
“I don’t understand,” I murmured. “I’m confused. Zeus cast me into mortal form? And then what happened?”
Hades watched me calmly, his handsome face sympathetic.
“Well, obviously, the Fates found you.”
“Yes. And?”
“They turned the plan around. The plan had apparently been to keep you safe and hidden in the mortal world until the Fates had executed their plan to take over Olympus. Once that happened, Annen and Ahmose were supposed to bring you back to Olympus where you could fight for everything that was right and good… and all that.” He shrugged dismissively. “But you know what they say about the best laid plans.”
“What happened?” I demanded. “How did it go wrong?”
“Me,” he replied simply and without remorse.
“You?” My voice was small.
“Yes, me. The Fates’ plan was not going to work. I stepped in and offered my assistance. And together, we felled my mighty, arrogant brother. The only problem was that he had actually been smart in hiding you with your bloodstone. Part of its enchantment was a strange sort of protection. We couldn’t return you to the Spiritlands ourselves to dispose of you and we couldn’t permanently dispose of you in mortal form, because your soul was simply reborn time and time again. The only way for you to return to the Spiritlands was to do it on your own volition.
“That was the loop hole. The Fates decided that the best possible way of preventing your interference was to keep you mortal. So, Lachesis concocted the whole Keeper of Fate scheme. They captured Annen and Ahmose and forced them to work with them, to keep you in mortal form doing their bidding and out of our hair. And I can tell you, they had much fun at your expense making you punish your own parents time and time again.”
My head snapped up. “My parents. Why were they there? Zeus and Cadmus didn’t discuss that.”
Hades waved a hand. “Oh, you know your mother. Once she heard of the plan, she wouldn’t hear of it continuing without her. She wanted to be there, too. So, Zeus cast you all mortal.”
“My parents knew, also?” I breathed. And for a split second, I saw satisfaction on Hades’ face. And then it was gone, replaced by sympathy once more.
“Yes,” he answered. “They both knew and they lied to you also. Now, I’ll admit. Once they were mortal, they didn’t remember anything. That was part of Zeus’ plan. He was afraid that if he left you with your memories, you would all grow weary of waiting and return too soon, which would jeopardize his entire grand scheme. Your parents thought they were mortal nothings. And that played right into the Fates’ hands.”
“And yours,” I snapped. “You are not innocent!”
“And mine,” he agreed easily. “But I did not wish to harm you. I simply wanted you to stay away from the Spiritlands. I would have enjoyed having you here instead. But you’re missing the point, sweet Harmonia. Everyone close to you lied to you. Cadmus, Aphrodite, Ares, Hecate.”
“Hecate!” I exclaimed. “I completely forgot about her. How did she betray us?”
He smiled and this time, there was danger in it. He was a dangerous, dangerous man.