The Trouble with Hades

Chapter 18

"So, what do we think?"

"That is not for us to decide, Evelyn," Niko responded. "He is your father."

I dumped myself into the chair with a huff.

"Well, he's really nice, and he explained everything. It makes sense. I don't know if it's the truth, but,"

Anzide cleared his throat, frowning at me.

"Eternals lack the ability to lie."

"I can lie."

"You're not completely there yet. Wait until the last of the immortals leave your body and see how well you can lie after that."

Great. Let's hope that didn't happen before I was done lying to Kannon and Audrey.

"So, everything that he said was the truth?"

Anzide nodded.

"Okay. I guess that means that, at some point, my mother actually wanted me. She created me to end the war."

"Your mother sacrificed her life to give you to us," Niko said.

Yeah, she did that. She also did a lot of other things too.

"Carsten said that my mother wrote in the note that she left him that she would return when I was five and that she would involve Brad as well."

"A wise idea, but unfortunate that she did not continue with that plan."

"I feel like I'm betraying her by even talking to Carsten, but the reality is that I don't care. Every single punch that she threw reminds me that she doesn't deserve anything from me."

I was done thinking about it. The past couldn't be changed, and if my mother thought that the answer to making me a stronger person was hitting me constantly, then that's how it was always going to be. Nothing could have changed that.

"Hey, did you know that Mother is really Carsten's mother?"

Anzide smirked.

"And that she's really your grandmother? Yes, she might have mentioned it. That's why she was always so lenient to you. Want me to blow your mind?"

"I seriously doubt that you could after everything else that has been thrown at me, but why not? Give it your best shot."

"Carsten is not her only child. There are many."

I sat up in the chair.

"Okay, mind blown. How many cousins do I have?"

"A lot."

Did it make any difference to Carsten being in my life? No, but to have a family beyond this group was certainly intriguing.

After half an hour of discussing Carsten and my extended family, Anzide perked up.

"Company."

Was I excited? I wasn't sure. Maybe it was a mixture of excitement and trepidation.

Anzide was with me as I walked through the door. Carsten smiled as he approached.

"You were right about Tom in every way. Lovely fellow but needs to tone down the view. Still, if it makes him happy, then I say, why not? On my path here, I had a little bird nattering in my ear that they'd like you to try again today. I told them that you were tired from the previous effort, but they were rather insistent. So, how about it?"

"Sure. We've set up a little space over here."

We walked over to the area and settled in. Carsten waited for Anzide to enter.