Page 16 of The Brothers Bane

The silence stretches until it’s almost unbearable. I can’t take it anymore.

“Jesus, you two. Alcides, meet your daughter, Eleutheria. Eleutheria, meet your dad. Now, can we go get some food? I’m fucking starving.”

8

Alcides

Trickles of sweat glisten on Nemea’s skin in the morning light, rivulets tracking through the dust that settled from her blast through the wall. I’m too stunned to speak as she strides away with purpose. She’s fierce, more of a force of nature than I imagined after tearing through stone like it was paper. The sight of her round backside departing sets my heart racing in a way that’s too complex to untangle right now.

My first introduction to her was the glimpse I had while she was tangled up with Typhon and Asterius, seemingly a victim to their whims, though it was clear she was enjoying herself. Prior to that, my desire for her was merely an awareness in the back of my mind that took root the moment we learned of the Titans’ escape and Pan’s disappearance from the prison.

I’d never felt that pull to another creature before, not even my long-dead wife when we first met. As much as it pains me to admit, my attempt at domesticity was an effort to escape the debauched life of a god. My legacy at the time, it seemed, was to be my father’s son, and I wanted no part of it.

There’s a new pull now, though, and it isn’t to Nemea. This is at least familiar to me in a way that wrenches my heart. Before I murdered them in a rage incited by a bitter goddess, my sons were my entire world. Their loss left an emptiness I’ve carried ever since. And while Nemea may be the missing half of my soul, the hole in my heart cannot be filled so easily. I want to fill it. But where do I begin?

Turning to Eleutheria, I’m at a loss for words, still dumb after Nemea’s display and doubly so with this monumental introduction. How do you start a conversation with someone you’ve only just learned exists? Someone who’s lived thousands of years without you? The weight of missed time presses down on me like the labors I once bore.

Eleutheria glances at me, her expression open and unburdened by the same tangled emotions that knot inside me. Her strength is apparent, not just in the lean muscle of her frame, but in the steady gaze she offers, so much like her mother’s. Her hair is lighter, like mine, and her eyes are a shade of blue that reminds me of my mother’s eyes, from the sparse memories I retain of her before my father spirited me away to Olympus.

“Hello, Father,” she says as if she’s always known me.

I find my voice at last. “Hello, Eleutheria. I am... Alcides.”

She smiles faintly, the first hint of uncertainty at this meeting. “I know who you are.”

“Right,” Hippolyta says, as if the introductions are sufficiently settled. “Let’s go eat. You two can get acquainted over breakfast.” She takes our daughter by the arm, and they head up the path. I quickly stride forward and fall into step beside them, grasping for anything to startgetting acquaintedwith my daughter.

“I’ve missed a lot,” I say, my voice gruff with emotions. The statement strikes me as ludicrous, and I let out a soft snort. “I’ve missedeverything.”

“You’re here now.” Eleutheria shrugs. “That’s what matters.”

Her forgiveness is a gift I’m not sure I deserve, but one I accept gratefully. “I want to be part of your life... if you’ll have me.”

“We’ll see,” she says, hedging. But there’s warmth there. A start.

We walk toward the mess hall together in silence, my mind racing with all the things I want to say and ask. But for now, this is enough—just walking beside her.

Melanippe leads Nemea ahead of us, and though my eyes are drawn to Nemea’s powerful stride—a confidence she didn’t have even a day ago—I force myself to focus on Eleutheria. My heart tugs in two directions: the protective pull of fatherhood, and an undeniable attraction to Nemea that defies explanation.

Eleutheria breaks into my thoughts. “She’s something else,” she says with a nod toward Nemea.

“Yeah,” I agree, pride swelling within me at Nemea’s display of strength. “She sure is.”

We reach the mess hall where the scent of fresh bread and sizzling bacon fills the air. My stomach growls, but it’s the last thing on my mind as we step inside together.

Heads turn when I cross the threshold, more than a hundred eyes settling on me at once, whispers erupting from around the room. I stop in the doorway, letting Hippolyta and Eleutheria move ahead of me. This is not a place for men, and for the first time I’m painfully aware of how out of place I am.

Hippolyta moves to the center of the room and raises a hand; the room falls silent.

“This man is here as my guest. He is Ele’s father, Alcides. He’ll be staying with us for a week only. But the reason for his arrival is one everyone here needs to know. My most senior warriors have already felt the ripples of a shift in power. Entities as old as time have risen from the bowels of Tartarus, where Alcides has served as guard these many centuries. Four Titans have broken free of the prison and returned to the mortal world. These are no mere men, and if they are not brought to heel, their power may yet exceed that of most gods. The destruction they could wreak on our world is indescribable. We must prepare for a battle the likes of which we haven’t seen in millennia.”

Nemea has already made a beeline for an empty seat between two women I saw leaving the training field when Hippolyta and I passed by. She flashes an apprehensive look at me over a bite of toast, then at Hippolyta. But Hippolyta makes no mention of the new trainee here, or her power, nor the expectation that she will likely be the weapon to help us win this battle.

The alarmed murmurs rise in volume until Mel places fingers between her lips and emits a sharp whistle. Hippolyta nods her thanks and continues.

“Everyone, please gather at the amphitheater at sunset for a longer discussion on what this will mean for us. I have more to share, but now is not the time, nor is this the place. Please continue to enjoy your breakfast and the rest of your day.”

She directs me to a table at the far end of the dining hall, still empty but with bowls of food laid out down the center, waiting to be served. Antiope waits by one of the seats, along with their other sister, Penthesilea, and three other Amazons who seem familiar, but whose names I don’t recall. Hippolyta pulls out a chair and sits, and as if waiting for her, so do her sisters and the others.

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