A Pawn For Time (Daughter of the Olympians #1)

(24) Truth Be Told

•Artemis's Point of View•

Katherine stormed out the room, her last words echoing in my head. Lately, she's been temperamental and distant. I didn't realize it was because she was angry with us.

No one spoke, everyone was too stunned. Katherine never snapped at us before, and now that she did, it made everyone uneasy. Katherine was very powerful, even more powerful than Zeus himself.

"Should we go after her?" Hermes said, breaking the silence.. His voice cracked, so I could tell that he was taken aback.

"No, we should let her cool off. It might be what's best right now," Athena responded. Hermes nodded and stared at his untouched meal.

"Why did she snap at us like that, though? I highly doubt it was just because of us asking about a boy. I think there's something more going on." Aphrodite said. She was biting her nails, which was unusual. Aphrodite was all about perfect cuticles. She's must be really anxious about this.

"Yes. I believe there is something she's not telling us." Zeus said. He paused and looked up at us. "Tell me, when was the last time Katherine didn't have an attitude when she talked to us?"

Everyone thought to the last time Katherine was kind to us. It was difficult, because it seemed like so long ago. I've been away with the hunt, so my mind went blank.

"After she got her memories back," Dionysus said,"Since then, she's been acting strange."Apollo and Hephaestus nodded in agreement.

"Katherine spoke of a voice haunting her in Tarturus," I said finding my voice,"Do you think that could have anything to do with it?"

"Maybe. This voice might belong to someone locked away in Tarturus," Poseidon answered. His eyebrows were scrunched together.

"What would a prisoner in Tarturus want with Katherine?" Aphrodite asked.

"They would probably want her to free them," Hera said, "Think about it. Katherine possesses great power. It was only a matter of time until someone tried to take advantage of her."

"Okay, yeah that makes sense. But if we are correct, who would do this?" Apollo asked. He seemed clueless about the situation, which worried me. He was the god of prophecy; how could he not have known this was happening?

I looked at everyone's face. They all wore the same combination of expressions: concern, worry, and fear. Everyone did, except for Hades. He looked guilty. Does he know something we don't?

"I'm not sure, but do you have any ideas, Hades? After all, Tarturus is in your domain. You know everything that goes on in there." I stated firmly, turning everyone's attention to him.

He swallowed and wiped his brow. "Look, I'm not exactly sure, but I do have a lead suspect. To be honest, I've been knowing that Katherine was being watched. She visited me, and told me. In fact, our first encounter was her telling me that. I didn't want to tell you until I was absolutely positive who was doing this. But I guess that was a foolish plan."

"So who do you think is doing this to Katherine?" Demeter asked.

Hades' eyes shone with fear. His hands trembled. He pushed himself out his chair and turned away, now facing the balcony.

He cleared his throat and turned back to us.

"I fear that it may be our father, Kronos."

The air in the room went cold. The lights seemed to dim, and my mind went numb with fear. This couldn't be happening.

"You think that Kronos is haunting her?" Hera said, her voice shaking.

"I not only think that he is haunting her, I think Katherine is helping him plot his escape."