Page 7 of The Brothers Bane

My mouth quirks and I look down. “He’s harmless,” I say, swiping my hand over the eyes of my tattoo, which are wide and staring right back at her. “Cut it out,” I whisper. “We’re trying to make friends.”

“I guess that’s what I get for being nosy.” She lets out a nervous laugh. “Where did you come from? You’re not even human, are you?”

“Only part. I’m part everything, I think. But I grew up in Eastern Washington, believing I was human the whole time. I’m Bloodline.” I glance at her and find her frowning. “You know about the higher races, right?”

“And the gods. Who evidently don’t deign to meddle in human affairs anymore. Which is fine by me. Human men are just as bad, judging from the stories some of the newer residents share. I haven’t met many Bloodline yet, though.”

“We tend to gravitate to one another. It’s how we bond, I guess. But I have the misfortune of being different. I can only bond with demigods, or primordials, it seems.”

“Like Tartarus,” she says, eyes fixed on mine, curious but somehow understanding.

“So you heard all of that.” I finish rinsing and turn off the water, then reach for my towel when she hands it to me.

“Women often come in the middle of the night. Usually they don’t sneak in escorted by a legend, though. Did they hurt you in the prison?”

My cheeks heat and I stare down at my feet while I stoop to dry them. She clears her throat.

“I’m sorry, that made it sound like I think you only qualify to be here if a man has beaten you. You belong here as much as any of us do.”

“What makes you so sure?” I ask with a wry laugh.

She cocks her head toward the door. “Alcides brought you. He has not set foot in this land for centuries. Mother didn’t think he’d ever return once she learned he’d offered his services to Tartarus. It’s rare for anyone to leave that place once they’ve entered. And yet here you both are.”

“Your mom… she’s been here a while, I take it?” I am cautious with my words. I know how cagey and mistrustful damaged women can be. How difficult it can be to trust anyone when the world has given you little reason to. But when your entire world is only one man, I get it.

Before my grandparents gained full custody of me as a kid, I lived with my mother in a shelter, off and on. She went back to my father over and over until she finally broke free, only to place her entire trust into a different man who didn’t allow room for me in her life.

Life with my grandparents wasn’t that much better. It gave me a first-hand look at why my dad was such a bastard. I didn’t get free of them until my twenties, but the jury is out on whether my current circumstances are much better.

I remember one of those stays in the shelter, meeting women who had arrived pregnant and given birth while they were there. I remember how tightly they held their babies, how terrified they were of allowing the world in to corrupt them with all the broken promises and disappointment. I imagine Ele’s mother might not have been all that different from them.

But that impression is dashed by Ele’s answer.

“She’s been here since the start. Hippolyta is my mother. She built this place after Alcides left her. Aftermy fatherleft her.”

4

Nemea

Ifreeze when she drops that bomb.

“Does he know he had a kid?” I lift my gaze from drying my legs enough to study her a little more closely. Their resemblance is in the set to her jaw and in her sturdy build. Though just about every Amazon I’ve set eyes on were pretty sturdy women. She also has the same slightly curly, dark blonde hair.

“Mother’s hopefully telling him everything tonight.”

I wrap my towel around my body and grab my toiletry bag, slipping by her, uncertain what to say.

When I reach my locker, she follows, sitting on the bench across from me, silent. I glance at her, but she’s just studying me closely, head tilted to one side, like I’m some strange creature in her midst.

“I’m not sure what you want me to say—that I’m sorry you grew up without a dad? Honestly, I was better off when minedidn’tcome around. Parents can fuck you up. My mom wasn’t much better, but after a while she was gone too.” I find the sweats and tank top, think about the underwear, but forego it. I’m still really tender from the last few days and want as little contact against my flesh as possible.

She waves a hand. “We don’t need men here, in case you haven’t noticed. I only really missed the idea of him, but the concept of an absent father wasn’t something that caused me any trauma. Plenty of the other women who’ve come to us have had backgrounds like yours, so I get it can be a big deal to some. It just wasn’t for me.”

“Lucky,” I mutter.

Do I have daddy issues? Probably.

Definitely.

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