AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Just as you and Melinoe are one and the same, so are your parents,” Badb said.
Did. Not. Compute. “No, that’s not right. My parents were human. They died as mortals do. Pops was my mother’s father. There are photos…”
Nemain clasped her hands together. “Ah, yes. Your grandfather. Did you ever wonder about his expertise on subjects such as mythology and weaponry?”
That was easy. “Once he knew who I was, he learned for my benefit, so he could teach me and protect me.”
“And how did he learn your true identity?” Macha asked.
“My powers showed themselves early,” I began. “He and my grandmother figured it out and they…” The more I spoke, the more ludicrous the words sounded, even to my own ears. Pops was a Navy veteran. A guy with a workshop and a comic book collection. What powers could I possibly have displayed that would’ve allowed him to piece it together?
“He already knew,” I whispered.
“When you were still ensconced in your mother’s womb,” Badb confirmed.
“My parents were…” The realization nearly knocked me off my feet.
“The same as Melinoe’s original parents,” Nemain said with a bright smile. “Which is how you came to be. Again.”
“But they were murdered,” I said.
“The Corporation doesn’t take kindly to avatars that escape their program,” Nemain explained.
My stomach lurched as the missing pieces clicked into place. Dana and James—my human parents—were the avatars of Persephone and Hades.
“The gods were reunited through their human counterparts,” Nemain continued. “They wished to be together again, live as husband and wife, but there are strict rules.”
Yes. Addison had mentioned them.
My fingers brushed the invisible mark on my forehead. “This was to keep me hidden from The Corporation.”
“Your parents had been meeting in secret. They left when they discovered your mother’s pregnancy,” Badb said.
“There would have been no hiding their relationship at that point,” Nemain added. “They had already grown disenchanted with their employers, and they knew you’d be ripped from your mother before you could draw your first breath.”
“But how did they know I would be a goddess? Wasn’t it more likely that she’d give birth to a human child?”
“Your mother consulted with us,” Macha said. “She knew we had no ties to The Corporation. We could not see everything, but we saw enough.”
I asked the obvious question. “Did you know they’d be murdered?”
They bowed their heads in unison.
“What has been written cannot be unwritten,” Nemain said.
Goody, prophet-speak. My favorite.
“The Corporation discovered your parents’ whereabouts and took swift action,” Macha told me. “Perhaps if their employers had acted with more care and consideration, they would have discovered you too.”
“All this still doesn’t explain why you agreed to help them.”
“If The Corporation knew their avatars had produced a natural born goddess, can you imagine what the ramifications would have been for others on their roster?” Nemain asked.
I shuddered. I didn’t want to imagine the experiments that would’ve resulted from that knowledge.
“We are, for lack of a better term, an endangered species,” Badb said. “It is in our best interest to look after our own, no matter the pantheon. We saw the end of our era coming long ago, yet the gods and goddesses refused to heed our warnings. They were too arrogant to believe that one day, their only means of existence would rest on human shoulders.”
“Or in them,” I said. “Does that mean there are no deities left in their original forms?”
