4. SETH
SETH
“I wondered how long it would take you to come. Do you want a drink?” Thea was pouring herself a stiff one as she spoke and I frowned and shook my head.
“It’s ten o’clock in the morning, mother. I’ll pass.”
She shrugged. “Let me know if you change your mind.”
“I will. Now stop stalling and tell me about my father.”
“I don’t know what to tell you, Seth,” she said with a sigh. “You know more now about who your father is than I ever did. I honestly thought he must be fae.”
“Because he disappeared through a portal,” I said flatly and she nodded.
“I had no idea he was anything but mortal when I chose him. It wasn’t until afterwards, when I’d crept out of his camp and was about to return to Olympus that I felt it.
The portal. I went back because I thought he might be in danger, and I didn’t want anything to happen to him, not after the incredible encounter we’d just had. ”
“Just stick to the facts, will you,” I growled, really not needing to hear anything about my father’s prowess in bed.
“Sorry. I went back to make sure he was okay, but he’d gone. His two companions were both still in the magical sleep I’d put them in, but it was as if he’d never even been there. Not a trace of him was left. That was when I realised he couldn’t be mortal.”
“So where did the Oracle fit into all this?”
“She was waiting there for me when I went back to the camp to check on him. She told me to go home to Olympus and not breathe a word of what had just happened to another living soul. To let everyone believe I’d hooked up with a mortal as planned.
‘If the time ever comes when his true nature must be revealed, you will know’, those were her exact words.
That was when I knew I was carrying a son.
” She smiled softly at the memory. “And that I would do whatever was necessary to protect him. For as long as I could, anyway. I hoped this time would never come, but now it has. What are you going to do?”
“I’m still deciding. I’ve told Gabriel in no uncertain terms that I have no intention of ruling the Underworld. But I need to know more about the demons and my father’s role in all this before I can be at peace with a decision to go against the Prophecy. What was my father like?”
She blew out a long sigh. “That’s a difficult question to answer. I only met him once and most of the time we were, well, never mind what we were doing. He was mesmerising, I guess you could say. The perfect male specimen.
“I’d been visiting the mortal realm for a while looking for the man I wanted to father my child, and I’d really been set on finding a blond.
Then I saw him. He wasn’t blond, in fact his hair was so black it was almost blue, but that didn’t matter.
His eyes were the exact same shade of green as yours are, and as soon as they met mine I knew I’d found the one I’d been searching for.
It felt as though he was looking into my very soul.
“And he was so confident, so sure of himself and of me, as if it never even crossed his mind that I might not want him. He told me his name was Luke, and that he was going to give me the night of my life. Which he did,” she added candidly, and I had to suppress a shudder.
“That’s not all he gave you,” I grumbled, trying not to sound too judgemental. In fairness, she’d only been following Zeus’s orders. “Were you never tempted to try and find out who he really was?”
She shook her head. “No, never. The Oracle had warned me that anyone who found out what had happened would be put in danger, as would you. I can see now that she only said that to make sure her little scheme wasn’t interfered with of course, and it worked.
I never told anyone, not even Affie or Artie.
After a while, I just learned not to think about it.
Eventually, I all but forgot that you were different from the others. Until now.”
“I was different though. I was always the strongest fighter, the fastest runner. And my magical abilities far surpassed those of the others. You always encouraged me to downplay my magic so the others wouldn’t be jealous of me. But it was really so I wouldn’t draw attention to myself, wasn’t it?”
I’d often thought it was out of character for her that she hadn’t wanted to flaunt how much more gifted than the others her son was.
“Not that my discouragement ever stopped you from exploring it,” she said wryly.
“Did you think I didn’t know how you used to sneak out at night to learn about shadow magic from Hekate?
” That was exactly what I’d thought. “I knew I’d never be able to stop you from learning everything you could, but at least you were doing it in secret to escape my disapproval. I thought it would be safer that way.”
“So what happens now?” I asked curiously. “Now that you know he’s still alive, do you want to see him?”
“I hope you’re not expecting a fairytale ending with mummy and daddy getting back together again,” she said with a snort.
“Although I can’t deny the thought is tempting.
Seeing him, I mean, not hooking up with him again.
” She didn’t sound too sure about that. “You’ll have to let me know what you make of him after you’ve seen him. ”