Mortal Gods by Kendare Blake Read Free Book Online Page B

have left,” Hera replied. “And Athena would see us dead.”
    “From what I understood, Athena was just protecting mortals.”
    “She places mortals above us,” Hera said. “Above her family. Even though there are so few of us left, and billions of them.”
    “We’re dying,” Ares said. “And it doesn’t surprise me that Athena’d spend her last days playing protector. It was always her favorite cape to wear.”
    “So you’ll let her win?” Hera asked. “I thought you would fight.”
    “We’re dying,” he said. “What’s the point?”
    “Such a defeatist attitude,” Hera clucked. “You’re the god of war. If you’re going to bleed to death, wouldn’t you rather it be all at once?” Her jaw worked, and small stones clacked together like dice in a palm. “Wouldn’t you rather not die at all?”
    “What are you talking about?” Ares asked.
    Hera turned away. Her movements were rough and crippled. Ashamed.
    “That girl really did kill me,” she said. “That day by that lake. When they killed your uncle Poseidon, they killed me, too. The rock crept over my lungs and into my heart. It felt like…” She paused and laughed. “It felt like turning to stone from the inside out. I saw the granite spread over my eye. I was inches away from death. Moments.”
    “But you’re not dead.”
    “I didn’t tell him,” Aphrodite sang from the corner. “You said not to tell him, and I didn’t.”
    “I know, my darling,” Hera said. “We couldn’t tell him until we knew whose side he would be on. But he’s my son. And he’s your lover. We can trust him.”
    “You can trust me, Mother. What are you saying?”
    “I’m saying that if it hadn’t been for them, I would be dead.”
    “If it hadn’t been for whom?” he asked.
    “They healed me. And if I please them, they’ll heal me more. Until all this rock is gone.”
    “Who?” he asked. “Who could do that?”
    Aphrodite slid behind Hera and wrapped bruised arms around her ribs. Her cheek pressed against Hera’s stone shoulder.
    “The Fates,” Hera said. “The Moirae. The three sisters.”
    Ares stood aghast. He hoped wildly that she spoke in metaphor. That she spoke of miracles.
    But she didn’t. Hera meant the Moirae. Klotho, Lachesis, and Atropos. The sisters of Life, Destiny, and Death. The gods of the gods.
    “What have you done?” he asked. “Not even Zeus would dare.”
    “It’s not what I have done,” she said, and fear quickened her eyes. “Come now. Don’t be afraid. It will be fun. Don’t you want to fight Athena one last time? Don’t you want to find out which god of war will be left standing?”
    “You’re mad. You’ve called down the Fates—”
    “I didn’t call them,” Hera hissed. “As if such a thing were even possible. They came to us. They sent us out to fight.” Her voice dropped low. “They heal us and give us strength. And we serve them.”
    Aphrodite stuck a fingernail into her mouth and hugged Hera tighter.
    “In the beginning, it seemed like a choice,” Hera said. “They seemed like allies. But then I fell, and they dragged me back through worse pain than any god can imagine. They left me like this.”
    “Why did you send for me?”
    “Because I’m a fallen soldier,” Hera said. “I failed. You, my son, are my chance at redemption. I’ll send you out in my place. You’ll get what they want. And then they’ll heal me.”
    Ares wanted to run. The Moirae had to be near, somewhere in Olympus. They could come crashing through the doors at any minute. He pointed at his mother.
    “You put me under their eye,” he said.
    “They are the Fates, Ares. You were always under their eye. At least now you know. So make the most of it.”
    He looked at Aphrodite, sucking on her fingernail and hugging Hera tightly with her other arm. He had no choice.
    “Don’t be so glum,” she said. “Aren’t you happy to live? Aren’t you happy to fight? Won’t you enjoy putting that bitch in her