Lexi's Fate

~26~

Lexi's head felt like the business end of a wrecking ball as she hunched over her plate. She had filled it with homemade macaroni salad and pickled cucumbers, but she was convinced her stomach had been dredged with a rake while she slept off the rum she'd indulged in. What was she thinking, drinking in the middle of the damn day?

Aristaeus sat next to Zeus, and they bantered back and forth about chariot racing as they helped themselves to hearty portions. Apparently, Zeus had managed to capture the win twenty-five years running during Olympus' summer games. After Zeus had finished his boasting, Aristaeus informed Lexi that Jackie O and Zenith were hitting it off, and her horse's chances for surviving the trip to the underworld were increasing with every passing hour. The news put Lexi in better spirits, and she carried this promise of hope as she forced herself to eat. When everyone had become involved in after dinner conversation, she shuffled to the living room to sit in front of the fireplace.

The book Hades had been reading was still lying on the coffee table, and she opened it to thumb through the pages. Now that she knew her family's longtime friends were actually Greek gods, she read through the stories with a completely different mindset. Lexi had just reread the tale of Ares wooing Persephone when her mother sat down beside her.

"I feel badly that we've hardly spoken since your arrival," her mother bemoaned. "I have missed you incredibly, Lexi. I hate that we're so cut off from each other."

"I've missed you too, Mom." Lexi set the book on the table and hugged her mom tightly. She had forgotten how good it felt to hug her family, or maybe she was just trying not to think about it.

"Are you happy, Lexi?"

"Very much. Hades is kind and generous and entertaining, and I know he would do anything for me. He taught me this game called roll the bones that uses runes. You don't have to worry, Mom. I know that's what you've been doing."

Her mom nodded her agreement. "I can't help worrying about... Well, about what will happen when Persephone is there in the underworld with you. While I have heard she has a lovely disposition, as does her mother, I have never met either of them. They are always too busy to visit the mortal world." She cupped Lexi's cheek in her warm palm. "I can't bear the thought of you getting your heart broken, baby."

Lexi sighed, letting the air rush out of her mouth in an audible huff. "The status of my heart seems to be on everyone's mind, but I don't see the need to worry about it before it has happened. Hades has made it clear that I am free to leave if I'm not happy."

"Would you do that? Would you leave Hades and live in Olympus with Zeus and the others?"

Lexi's body tensed as her mom started the interrogation. The tactic was all too familiar, and Lexi was determined to give her opinion without reservation. "I'm not interested in going to Olympus, Mom, and I'm not a fortune teller. I don't know what the future holds for me or Hades. All I have is a feeling, and it's telling me that he is willing to do whatever it takes to live up to the expectations of a life mate."

A small smile lifted her mom's lips and she stroked Lexi's hair. "You are wise beyond your years. I have always believed that."

"How is dad doing now that he knows I'm not his real daughter? Does he mention it? Have you talked about your relationship with Zeus?" Lexi let the questions fly, thinking if she stifled them too long she may never ask them.

Her mom took in a lungful of air, a preamble to offering her honest answer. Other than the bit about hiding Lexi's true parentage, Lexi and her mom didn't sugar coat things, even when the topics were of a personal nature. Lexi couldn't think of a single friend she could say that about. "He seems fine with it. If he didn't have to hide the truth about our ties to the gods, I think he would brag about having raised a goddess. As for his questions about Zeus and me, they haven't come up yet. Your dad has been spending more time away from Nova Scotia lately, and he's been sleeping in the study when he's here, so conversations have been minimal."

"Oh, Mom. I'm so sorry." Lexi hugged her mom again, feeling suddenly responsible for her shitty marriage.

"Don't worry yourself about it, sweetheart. You just focus on your happiness and I'll try to do the same." She stood, leaving Lexi with a pat on the arm and a head full of questions. Were her parents on the brink of divorce? Would it have happened if Lexi hadn't found out she was a goddess? She closed her eyes and pressed her palms against the lids, wishing for a smidgen of normalcy, but all it did was remind her of the sledgehammer pounding away inside her skull.

"Are you going to make it?" Hades' buttery smooth voice managed to calm the hammering, and Lexi nodded as she held her hand out to him. He snuggled next to her, burying his face in her neck. "Your scent intoxicates me, and that's not because there's a hint of rum to it tonight."

"Ugh. Don't mention rum to me for the next six months, please."

He chuckled into her hair as his fingers danced across her arms. Having him near and touching her that way was like taking an extra strength pain reliever. "You need to learn to hold your liquor better if you're going to keep up with the gods."

"You're one to talk. If I remember correctly, it was me who put you to bed yesterday after you downed a bottle of champagne."

"It wasn't an entire bottle... was it?"

"Pretty damn close."

"So, I suppose this makes us even."

Lexi offered him a crooked grin. "Not exactly. I still haven't collected my reward for beating your ass at billiards."

Hades bit his lip seductively, as if he relished the consequences of his failure. "I certainly hope it involves my ass again."