The Life I'm Running From

29\ My Secrets Are Out of My Control

It was like time had slowed down. Everyone was staring at me, and my mind was fuzzy and unable to form words. Loki's last sentence hung in the air, almost tangible.

She's a demigod.

I could've denied it. Called them crazy, and threatened that if Thor ever channelled that power again when he touched me, I would kill them. But somehow, I knew that wouldn't work. Nothing I said now could erase Loki's words. All I could do was stay seated on the couch.

Steve folded his arms. "Demi-god? What's that?"

Loki rolled his eyes and muttered "mortals" while Thor answered. "It's a weaker version of a god. Some might have called us demigods once, but not now. Demigods are less powerful, and die more easily."

That was their best definition? If this information is coming out, it needs to be accurate.

"Actually," I said, "that's not quite right. Yeah, maybe it's true, but that's not how you'd explain a demigod."

All eyes turned to me. Loki cocked an eyebrow, daring me to challenge him. "You think you know better than true gods?" He punctuated the word "true" very clearly, making my lower status clear.

"Yes, I know for a fact I know better." I couldn't believe the words coming out of my mouth. I had avoided exposing my secret for so long, and now I was openly sharing. "A demigod is half-human, half-god. Meaning, one of their parents is a god and the other is mortal."

"So one of your parents is a god?" Wanda asked, surprising me. I hadn't realized Wanda—or Peter, who was standing beside her—had entered the room. Wanda was clasping a hairbrush in her hand, and I remembered why I had been here in the first place. Oh, how things had changed.

I nodded slowly, my eyes on Peter. He was shocked. "Yes. My father."

Thor folded his arms, but the gesture wasn't threatening. "Who is your father? He must be a member of the royal court. I should know him."

I smirked at that, and pulled my fingers through my blonde hair. "Oh you won't find him on Asgard." My back straightened subconsciously, as I delivered my dad's title. "My father is Poseidon. The Greek God of water, ruler of the seas, creator of earthquakes."

The look on Tony's face was priceless. Whatever he had expected me to be—mutant, human or otherwise—it hadn't been this. I wonder how he felt about my father being a king, higher in the hierarchy than Stark would ever be.

"Greek?" Loki echoed, his cape swishing by his ankles and hitting Natasha's leg. "You're a Greek?"

Thor rubbed his beard thoughtfully, the only one in the room not surprised by my announcement. "This is interesting. My father hasn't crossed paths with a Greek God in centuries. I thought they had faded."

"They're very much alive." I fought the urge to roll my eyes. "Trust me. They like to make my life complicated."

There was a clatter from one side of the room. Wanda had dropped the hairbrush, and red sparks were flying from her hands. But it wasn't her who spoke.

"Your father is a Greek God?" Peter asked. "Like Thor? But Greek? But you don't—you don't live with your parents. You live with your cousin."

My fingers toyed with the string of my necklace. "My cousin's a demigod too. She just has a different father. Technically, she's my cousin's daughter. Godly families are complicated."

Loki and Thor exchanged a look. "You're telling us," Thor chortled. "Our sister tried to kill us, and nearly destroyed Asgard."

"I promise you my family is weirder."