hide you. You will be reborn, life after life, until the time comes that they manage to trick me. At that time, you will return and right it. As the goddess of peace, Harmonia is the Chosen One. She will bring peace to Olympus. But the only way to ensure that is to hide her from the Fates.”
I froze, sucking in a ragged breath. Surely not. Surely not. Surely NOT. Cadmus couldn’t have known all along. He couldn’t have been part of the decision that imprisoned me in mortal form for thousands of years. Please god. Please, please god. No.
Cadmus stared at Zeus seriously, clearly weighing the situation carefully.
“If I agree, what will happen?”
The corner of Zeus’ mouth twitched, but he did not smile. “If you agree, then I will allow you to accompany her, to be with her in every lifetime. If you do not, I’ll send her alone.”
Cadmus nodded seriously. “Very well, then. I don’t see that I really have a choice.”
“You’re correct. You do not.”
“How will we know when it is time to return and fight? We’ll be in mortal form. We’ll have no abilities to use.”
Zeus pondered that for a scant moment. “I will send my two advisors, Ahmose and Annen, to keep track of you in each life. They will guide you and let you know when it is time. I’ll assign Annen to you and Ahmose to Harmonia.”
It felt like my heart froze in my chest. Zeus had sent Annen and Ahmose. Zeus himself, not the Fates. Everything that I thought I knew was raveling apart.
Cadmus nodded in agreement.
“Fine,” he replied curtly. “I’ll go along with this. But we cannot tell her. It will break her heart.”
The world seemed to stop and whirl together at the same time. The colors of the garden around me bled into one another and I put out a hand to steady myself. Hades’ took my hand.
“He betrayed you,” he whispered. “He lied to you.”
No matter how much I wished it wasn’t true, it was. The idea that they purposely cast me into mortal form for so long was bad enough… but to lie to me about it? That was heinous.
And it had been Cadmus’ idea.
Chapter Seven
Confusion, combined with anger, clouded my mind with dark shades of red.
“I don’t understand,” I murmured. “I’m confused. Zeus cast me into mortal form? And then what happened?”
Hades watched me calmly, his handsome face sympathetic.
“Well, obviously, the Fates found you.”
“Yes. And?”
“They turned the plan around. The plan had apparently been to keep you safe and hidden in the mortal world until the Fates had executed their plan to take over Olympus. Once that happened, Annen and Ahmose were supposed to bring you back to Olympus where you could fight for everything that was right and good… and all that.” He shrugged dismissively. “But you know what they say about the best laid plans.”
“What happened?” I demanded. “How did it go wrong?”
“Me,” he replied simply and without remorse.
“You?” My voice was small.
“Yes, me. The Fates’ plan was not going to work. I stepped in and offered my assistance. And together, we felled my mighty, arrogant brother. The only problem was that he had actually been smart in hiding you with your bloodstone. Part of its enchantment was a strange sort of protection. We couldn’t return you to the Spiritlands ourselves to dispose of you and we couldn’t permanently dispose of you in mortal form, because your soul was simply reborn time and time again. The only way for you to return to the Spiritlands was to do it on your own volition.
“That was the loop hole. The Fates decided that the best possible way of preventing your interference was to keep you mortal. So, Lachesis concocted the whole Keeper of Fate scheme. They captured Annen and Ahmose and forced them to work with them, to keep you in mortal form doing their bidding and out of our hair. And I can tell you, they had much fun at your expense making you punish your own parents time and time again.”
My head snapped up. “My parents. Why were they there? Zeus and Cadmus didn’t discuss that.”
Hades waved a hand. “Oh, you know your mother. Once she heard of the plan, she wouldn’t hear of it continuing without her. She wanted to be there, too. So, Zeus cast you all mortal.”
“My parents knew, also?” I breathed. And for a split second, I saw satisfaction on Hades’ face. And then it was gone, replaced by sympathy once more.
“Yes,” he answered. “They both knew and they lied to you also. Now, I’ll admit. Once they were mortal, they didn’t remember anything. That was part of Zeus’ plan. He was afraid that if he left you with your memories, you would all grow weary of waiting and return too soon, which would jeopardize his entire grand scheme. Your parents thought they were mortal nothings. And that played right into the Fates’ hands.”
“And yours,” I snapped. “You are not innocent!”
“And mine,” he agreed easily. “But I did not wish to harm you. I simply wanted you to stay away from the Spiritlands. I would have enjoyed having you here instead. But you’re missing the point, sweet Harmonia. Everyone close to you lied to you. Cadmus, Aphrodite, Ares, Hecate.”
“Hecate!” I exclaimed. “I completely forgot about her. How did she betray us?”
He smiled and this time, there was danger in it. He was a dangerous, dangerous man.
“Ah, Hecate. She did not do it willingly. Parents will do almost anything for their children. Her daughter was threatened and Hecate was told that if she complied with the Fates, her daughter would be released. But that wasn’t their decision to make.”
“I didn’t realize that she had a daughter. Where is she?” I asked.
“Here,” he replied.
I shook my head as my shoulders slumped. “So, they threatened her. Is there nothing good in the world? Is it all lies and deceit?”
“Perhaps so,” he answered. “But the key is in finding beauty in the midst of ugliness. And you are that, Harmonia. You are beauty in a complex, vast sea of black.”
He moved to embrace me and for one moment, I allowed it. I didn’t trust him, but with the heavy knowledge that everyone around me had betrayed me, I just wanted to feel the comfort of someone. Anyone. For just a minute.
And in that scant minute, while I allowed the god of the Underworld to wrap his arms around me, Cadmus stepped onto the terrace with Ares and Persephone right behind me.
“What the hell is going on here?” His dark eyes snapped and he moved quickly to shove Hades away from me.
“Stop!” I screeched, throwing myself at him, pummeling his rock hard chest with my fists. “How could you? Cadmus, I trusted you. Out of everyone in the world, I trusted you. And you have betrayed me more than anyone else ever could.”
He stood still and watched me in shock as he tried to make sense of what I was saying.
“I don’t know what you mean,” he answered uncertainly. “What did I do?”
“You don’t even know?” I shrieked. “You have ruined everything and you can’t even remember it. I will never trust you again.”
“Hades,” Persephone began, looking from her husband to me. “What is going on?”
“Ah, my love. Poor Harmonia has just discovered that she cannot trust anyone around her. They have all betrayed her. Isn’t that horrible?”
Persephone was puzzled and turned to Ares. “What did you do?”
“Nothing!” he thundered. “You are lying!” He grabbed Hades and even without his powers, he threw Hades into the wall. Hades straightened and smoothed his clothing calmly.
“I assure you it is true. She saw it for herself.”
“Then I want to see also,” Cadmus interrupted. “Now. Show me what I did.”
“Then drink,” Hades waved toward the fountain. “Both of you.”
Ares and Cadmus strode toward the fountain with matching steps and quickly scooped water into their mouths with their hands. I numbly waited. I was still so dumbfounded that I couldn’t thi
nk. What was I supposed to do now that I couldn’t trust anyone?
After a moment, Cadmus turned to me, his face filled with pain.
“Harmonia, I had no choice. Surely you can see that. Zeus gave me no alternative.”
For once Ares remained silent. He knew there was nothing to say.
I watched my husband, the man who I knew every inch of, every thought, every dream…and I couldn’t think past the pain of betrayal. It felt as though my entire world had shattered. Because if there was no trust, then what was there at all?
“Cadmus, you purposely kept it from me. You lied. I had no choice or say in it at all. And your lies are why I can’t forgive you.”
Hot tears streaked down my cheeks and blurred my vision. Cadmus rushed to soothe me, but I pushed him away.
“No. Don’t touch me.”
“You honestly can’t forgive me?” The pain in his gaze gave me pause and ripped my heart out, but I couldn’t lie. “You honestly can’t understand the position that I was in?”
“I don’t know. I’ve always trusted you as no other and you have destroyed that. I don’t know if it is fixable. If only you hadn’t chosen to lie to me… then, perhaps. But now…” My voice cracked with pain and trailed off. I struggled to avoid weeping.
“But Harmonia, can you not see that he was pushed into a corner by Zeus?” Ares interjected, his dark gaze thoughtful. “Surely you know that he would never knowingly hurt you. You know that.”
“And you.” My voice turned to ice. “You and mother lied to me as well. You all treated me like I was a child- too simple to make up my own mind or know the truth.”
“It wasn’t like that,” Ares protested, holding up his large hands. “Harmonia, we were not given a choice either. You know Zeus. He had already made up his mind.”
“But you didn’t have to lie,” I answered quietly. “None of you did. But each of you did it anyway. You betrayed me. I can’t be with you right now.”
I turned my back on them and struggled to maintain my composure. Tears dripped down my face and it didn’t matter to me that I was standing in Hades’ palace in the Underworld. The visions that I had on the hillside on the Necromanteion came rushing back to me. Betrayed. And I had thought it was Hecate and that was devastating enough. But instead, it had been everyone that I loved.
“I need to be alone for awhile,” I mumbled quietly. Persephone wrapped an arm around my waist.
“Of course,” she answered. “I’m sorry, Harmonia. I really am. I’ll show you to a bedroom and you can rest.”
I nodded. “Not the same bedroom as Aphrodite,” I warned. “I need time alone to think.”
“Absolutely,” she answered and I allowed her to lead me from the room.