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He waved his hand through the air—fingers spreading apart, then softly coming together. “Those pieces spread through the earth, finding the strong and worthy, and burrowed into their souls.” That hand lay over his chest. “Thus creating demigods.”
“Are you saying that’s what I have?” I looked around. “That’s what we all have? A piece of an actual god living in our souls.”
He nodded.
“But that’s...” Words failed me.
“Exactly,” Alex said, understanding what I couldn’t say. “Which brings me to why we had to create our own world. The demigods had great power, but they weren’t safe on their own. Monsters could sense the essence of the gods in the people and attacked them. If they succeeded in killing all the demigods, then the gods would die too. They’d be wiped from this world, and so would all they created. Leaving only the monsters to rule hell on earth. So, from all over the world, demigods came together and created Olympia. Where we can live together and protect each other.”
I frowned. “Hold on, but you said there’re monsters here. The ones that abducted my mom camefrom here. How did you create a world to protect yourself from all the monsters, if all the monsters live in your world—? Unless,” I said. “Are there not that many monsters? Are they weaker and dying too?”
“If only,” he said softly, eyes unfocused, staring off into the distance. “They are not weak or dying, Aella. And there are very, very many.”
“But then why?”
He made a noise in his throat. “Why didn’t we do the obvious thing? Create a grand, safe dominion, surround it with an impenetrable barrier, then leave all the monsters on the other side—making them the mundanes’ problem?”
“Oh. The very clear and heartless cruelty in that plan answers the question.” I took another slug from my drink.
“It wouldn’t have been that simple anyway. The monsters would’ve continued slaughtering the mundanes unchecked and all but wiped out the human race. That is what Olympia is all about. Demigods coming together to live, protect, and fight for one another. The legend says the gods bound to our souls so that they’d live on in our belief.
“One day, we’d grow strong enough to put the gods back on their throne and reclaim this world in the name of Olympus. Can’t do that if the human race is reduced from millions to the several thousand who live in Olympia. That’s not enough people to believe in them.”
I bobbed my head. I had no trouble believing Alex. Everything he was saying made more than a little sense. “But then that means the ultimate goal is for our worlds to be one again and for everyone—mundanes included—to believe in the Greek gods again and return them to Mount Olympus.”
“Yes.”
“The monsters have the same goal,” I continued, fitting the pieces together. “Kill the demigods, terrorize the mundanes, and make themselves the rulers of the hell left behind. They’ll become gods in place of the gods who rejected them.”
“Exactly.”
“And you think taking my mom and forcing me here is a part of all that? How could it be? I’m no one. Nothing,” I cried. “I don’t have power.”
“You do have power,” he said gently. “You just don’t know what it is yet. I don’t know either, Aella. Don’t know why they took your mom or what they want from you. But we’ll figure it out. Together.”
My gaze drifted down. “Alex, I’m going to ask you something, and your answer will determine whether I make you take me home right now.”
He sat up straight, eyes tightening around the corners. “Okay. What is it?”
“Where is the bathroom, and do you have indoor plumbing with proper toilets?”
Alex cracked up. “I like you. You’re hilarious.”
I refused to let him see what those three words did to me.
“Yes, we have indoor toilets. There’s one through there,” he said, pointing past my shoulder. “When you come back, dinner will be waiting.”
“And another mug of ale, please.”
“No problem.”
We stood up at the same time and went our separate ways. Ducking through a small door at the end of the hall, I closed myself in the bathroom and ripped off the bracelet.
“Who are you and what do you want from me?”
Amusement laced her reply. “Whatever do you mean, girl? You know what I want. To bring you to your mother.”
“Were you a part of the plot to take her in the first place?”
