From Origins (Descendant Prophecies Book 3) (10 page)

“Don’t make me regret it.” I wanted him to know that I didn’t completely trust him, even though my gut feeling told me that I could.

“First, tell me…who are all these people? And do I need to kill them?” Hades pierced his eyes on them with the look that could kill.

“No, no.” I extended my hand out. “You remember Tara. She’s one of the Oracles.”

Hades scowled at her, then relaxed his face. “Tara. We meet again.”

“Hades,” Tara greeted him with respect and backed away.

“This is Mason, Everett, Nick, and Amanda,” I continued with the introduction. “They are the descendants of gods. There are more, but you’ll meet them later.”

“I see.” Hades examined everyone. Since I didn’t know what he was thinking, I was a little jittery. “They followed you to kill me, didn’t they?” Hades tone was domineering.

My nerves shot with adrenalin, ready to take him down if he dared make a move. I could see light seeping through the spaces between Mason’s fists. He was definitely ready to take Hades on.

“They didn’t know your motives.” Persephone linked her arms through Hades’s, a sure way of calming him down. “They didn’t know that you have changed your ways. They were only trying to save their own kind, as you would have.”

Hades nodded. “Where do we go from here?”

“We go get Zara,” Tara said.

“But before we go, I think we need to stop by a clothing store and have you change,” I suggested, but it was polite way of commanding it. “Your white robe is beautiful, but you’ll look out of place.”

“You expect me to wear what you’re wearing?” Hades looked at all of us in disgust. “It looks hideous.”

I looked down at what I was wearing. My jeans were smudged with dirt and my lavender sweater was…well…very plain. “It’s not the attire I would wear to anywhere fancy, but it is our everyday normal attire. It’s simple, but this is our fashion. And you wouldn’t be wearing what I’m wearing. You’ll be wearing what he’s wearing.” I pointed to Mason.” 

“What’s the difference?” Hades gawked at Mason, then at me. “The colors are different and that’s all. And I am a god. I am not wearing servant’s clothing.”

Hades was right. Mason and I both wore blue jeans, both our sweaters were plain as could be, though Mason’s was dark gray. But damn! Hades was still arrogant.

“My love. If you want to help, you need to blend in with the humans.” Persephone tried to persuade him.

“Gods only wear white robes with gold sashes. How will they know it’s me?”

Persephone put her arms about his shoulders, fixing her eyes to his, trying to put some common sense into him. “You are dead to the world and to the descendants right now. It doesn’t matter. Right now, you need to concentrate, not on yourself, but on helping Skylar kill Hephaestus and free your brothers. Who cares what you wear?”

Persephone’s tone and her words did the trick. Hades agreed with a nod, but I could tell he was not happy by the grunting noises that escaped his mouth.

“Follow me,” I said, thinking how much time we’d wasted. Just as I turned to the direction we were headed, wind blasted by us. A portal had opened.

I jumped in front
of Hades because I had no idea what he would do. Having been alone for so long, he looked anxious and defensive. He flicked his hand and a cloud of smoke puffed out. He tried again…but nothing.

“What happened to me?” He looked at Tara with anger. “Did you do something to me?”

Tara backed away. “I didn’t do anything to you. Your body needs to adjust to the new environment.”

Hades looked like he wanted to say something, but he stopped when Tim and Noah came through the portal. Without a reason, Hades grabbed Tim and Noah by their necks and lifted them up with one hand each. “Where did you come from? Speak to me or I’ll cut your heads off.”

“Stop! Put them down,” I demanded. “They’re my friends. They’re descendants of Poseidon.”

“Put them down!” Amanda echoed my words desperately, standing near Noah. Hades released them. “No wonder they’re ugly.”

Tim scowled and cursed under his breath. “Who is he? Another one of your pets?” He directed that question to Tara.

“Pet?” Hades was huffing mad. “You dare call me a pet?” He towered over Tim and Noah.

I cleared my throat. “Noah, Tim. This is Hades.”

“Holy shit,” Tim murmured, sizing Hades up.

Noah lightly nudged Tim. “I told you we might run into them. Haven’t you been listening to anything I said?”

Tim didn’t reply. He was too busy gawking.

“No. It’s holy Hades. Watch your manners next time,” Hades hissed.

“Okay.” Noah arched his brows. “I’m here because Hephaestus has gone nuts. He’s burning Kayla’s town.”

“Kayla…Kayla?” Nick took a fistful of Noah’s shirt. “I told you to keep an eye on her. Didn’t you send your friends to watch after her?”

Noah pushed Nick off him. “Watch it. What is it with the descendants of Zeus? You’re arrogant and angry. Kayla is at school. She’s fine. I came back to let you know. We should help the people in her home though. Hephaestus probably won’t stop until he finds Kayla and her mom.”

I knew Nick would make sure he had Kayla covered, but it didn’t dawn on me that he might have forgotten about my aunt. Knowing Hephaestus was crazy, I should have thought about the possibility that he might go after every member of my family, not that I had many.

“We need to go help them,” I said in panic, thinking about my aunt, Mona, and Jack.

I turned back to Hades when he grabbed my arm just before I could take a step. When I gave him a dirty look, he let go.

“Wait. What about my brothers?” He seemed genuinely concerned.

“They can wait. Right now, this is urgent.”

“Wait,” Hades said to me. He started to caress Persephone’s cheek. “My love, go hide where no one can find you. This is too dangerous. Find me when this is all over.”

“Please be careful. I’ll be waiting.” Persephone stroked his cheek. “There are many changes to the human world. Don’t be frightened of them. Let Skylar lead you.” She gave him a kiss, then just like that, she was gone.

Teleporting was cool. I wished I could do that.

“What kind of
abomination is this?” Hades circled Mason’s tinted BMW.

I had to laugh at the fact that many things would be new to him. Technology had advanced so much, just about everything would be new to him.

“It’s called a car,” Mason answered. “It takes you to places.” After unlocking it, he opened the door for me. Mason was always the gentleman, no matter how urgent our situation was.

“A car? It takes you to places? Why are there two? Why don’t you teleport?” Hades rambled with questions. “I guess you are not privileged to have such powers. The reason you are called a descendant and not a god.”

“You can walk if you like, or sit on top of the car if you don’t want to get in.” Nick snickered. “I’d like to see that.”

Amanda and Everett got in the other car with Noah and Tim. It was a good thing they had taken off first. Hades was slowing us down.

“Get in, please,” I said, in my sweet tone.

“I will not.” He crossed his arms.

It was funny to see this muscular man argue with me like a child. Hades might have changed his ways, but he was still arrogant and stubborn.

“If you can teleport from where you’re standing to the other side of the car, then you’ve won. You can just meet us there,” I challenged.

Hades raised his brows. With a smirk on his face, he positioned his body for takeoff. Unfortunately, the only thing that happened was that he ended up inside the car. He was still adjusting to the new environment. I knew this would happen, which was the reason why I had the door open. I knew he would slip right in and not through space.

Hades looked uncomfortable. There was barely enough room for him. Having his head touching the top and his legs tucked in, he looked annoyed. The doors slammed shut, and Mason pressed the gas pedal so fast, I swore it felt like we were going to teleport in the car.

“Hang on,” Mason said. “This is how we get around in the twenty first century.”

Fire and ashes
painted the town with red and black, and smoke filled the air like fog, making it difficult to see. The cries for help echoing throughout the town made it difficult to locate where they were coming from.

After Mason parked the car, we called Everett on the phone, but there was no answer. Our goal was to get to Kelly’s diner and rescue my family first. They were probably already there, fighting the vultures.

“Stay behind me,” Mason directed, as we snuck across the street. “We’ll go in from the back.

Seeing the window shattered and fire blasting out of Kelly’s diner was not a good sign. Entering from the back, I waved the smoke out of the way. Being quiet was impossible with the smoke causing everyone to cough. Then I had an idea.

Wiggling my fingers, I used my power. Droplets of water trickled down like light rain, cooling the air and clearing up the smoke without producing too much sound.

“Good idea,” Mason whispered with a wink.

“It’s too quiet,” Zara said, breaking my trance from Mason’s smile.

“What’s that awful smell?” Hades sniffed, halting behind me.

“Either you’re smelling yourself,” Nick started to say, “Or it’s the vultures you created.” Nick’s angry pitch went up a notch through his gritted teeth.

Hades growled and fire glowed out of his eyes. He was about to take a swing at Nick when we heard a scream. I dashed through the door without thinking about the consequences and stopped after we passed the kitchen. My Aunt Kelly was holding a knife. Mona and Jack were standing next to her, each of them holding one too. Vultures surrounded them, and some were eating in the far corner.

“Skylar.” My aunt looked so happy to see me, then her smiled faded. “What are you doing here? Get out!”

I didn’t know what to do or say. I took a moment to gather my thoughts and my strategies, but hearing the vultures’ growls snapped me out of being frozen in place. A group of them were coming for us, snarling and hissing. I didn’t want my aunt to see what I could do, so I stayed behind Mason.

“What the hell are they?” My aunt cried hysterically.

“It’s okay, Auntie Kelly. My friends are here. They’re going to help.”

Hades stepped in front. “Medusa and I made one hell of a mess. And they’re hideous. Must be from Medusa’s genes. They certainly aren’t from mine.”

Hades powers were useless, so he used his physical strength. With both hands, he bashed their heads against each other to knock them out.

Nick got behind Auntie Kelly and gave her enough voltage to knock her out. Then he carried her away to the side for safety. When he tried to do that to Mona, she caught his arm. Holy cow! That was when I knew Mona was not fully human.

“Watch it, hot stuff. You’re not putting me to sleep unless you’re coming with me to bed.” She swung her knife like a badass woman just in time for the vulture that was about to jump on her. She penetrated the knife through its chest.

Nick was utterly in shock and didn’t see the vulture behind him.

“Get down!” Jack commanded to Nick, and cut across the vulture’s neck with one swipe.

Mason whipped out his bolts. Crack! Crack! He created sizzling whips and sliced the vultures’ bodies in half. Ashes floated around like black snow. It was a beautiful sight in contrast to the reason it was happening.

Standing at the end of the diner, Tara used her hand like a magic wand and crashed the vulture’s bodies against the wall when they approached her. Then I stepped in and sealed the deal with lots of my voltage and fire.

The fire had spread, and the heat and smoke were becoming unbearable. I called on Poseidon’s power and put out the flames with the help of Noah and Tim. By that time, all the vultures had been killed.

“Hades?” Mona looked shocked. “How did you get out?”

Hades eyes grew wide. “Cleo. Eros. How did you…you got new bodies? How?”

Cleo? Eros?
I was completely speechless, as were Mason and Nick. Their eyes were just as wide as mine. They had eaten at the diner often. Mona had even lusted after them. Who knew?

“Hi, Skylar.” Mona shrugged her shoulders. “I’m Cleo, Athena’s minion, and Jack is Eros, Aphrodite’s minion, or nymphs…whatever you want to call us. When we found out what Hephaestus was up to, we were too late. We found everyone in iron casts, so in order to survive the destruction of gods and minions too, we jumped into the closest bodies. Unfortunately, this is it. Our bodies were destroyed the day all the gods were supposed to die. We call it Blood Moon Day. The prophecy foretold by the Oracles stated that it would happen as such: a series of four, consecutive, total lunar eclipses, with six full moons in between. That was the sign of the end of time.”

“If you think about it, what Hephaestus did was a blessing in disguise,” Eros explained. “If the gods were not in iron casts, they would have died on Blood Moon day; but instead, they were kept safe. It’s ironic. Hephaestus actually saved them.”

It was true, but what Hephaestus did was wrong.

“I’m going to kill him. He sent Skylar to kill me.” Hades’s hands puffed out smoke instead of fire. Feeling embarrassed, he dropped them to his side.

Mona and Jack gasped in accord. It was going to take some getting used to, calling them Eros and Cloe, and it was going to take longer to see them as minions, instead of humans.