Stef and Phobos were cuddling on the couch. They were watching one of the Resident Evil movies with some of the guys while Jenna was upstairs getting some rest after her trip to the hospital. Stef heard Deimos in the back courtyard arguing with a woman.
"No. I am not letting you into my house. This really is none of your business mother."
That caught Stef's interest. Is this really their mother? She looked up at Phobos. He face was dark. This could not be good.
Phobos got up and stalked to the back door. Stef followed at a distance. Phobos went outside and confronted the goddess.
Alekto definitely bore a family resemblance. She was tall, lithe, with milky white skin. Her black hair was shoulder length with a red stripe on each side of her face. Her blue eyes were bright with anger.
"What do you want?" He demanded.
She lunged at Phobos. He dodged and deflected her moves until Deimos was able to grab her from behind. "You selfish boys! Both of you. This is your fault Deimos. You went and broke the rules so now your brother is doing the same. I won't stand for this."
"Seriously? Is that what this is about? I met a woman. Get over it." Phobos turned to go back inside.
"She will destroy you!" Alekto screamed.
That pushed Phobos's anger over the edge. "Yeah, she might just do that. But, I would rather have whatever time I can have with her than the rest of eternity without even trying! You say that we are selfish, look at you and your sisters. You sleep around and have kids that you don't raise, that you don't like, and order us around like we are slaves. But, then you demand that we have no relationships ourselves."
Phobos shook his head. "Ten thousand years of never having more than a few hours with any one person. That's complete and utter bullshit! All based on a lie. It's not love that weakens us. It is grief. So, yeah, Stephanie can still hurt me. But, until that day comes, she makes me stronger. Stephanie is my goddess in every way. She is smart, tender, loving, beautiful. She makes me a better man. And now that I know the difference, I cannot go back to how I was before. I don't care what you do about that. The rules have been changed, we can no longer be executed for it. So, if you want to beat me, then beat me. I don't care what you think."
Stef couldn't believe the way he defended her. He called her his goddess. She wanted to run out the door and pull him into her arms. But, before she could move a muscle, Fang's other brother, Fury, came tearing around the corner. Then she saw why, as two big black wolves hurdled over the courtyard wall and attacked.
Phobos and Deimos both materialized weapons and engaged with the wolf brothers. Fury quickly changed into his white wolf form as he joined the fight. Even Alekto fought the wolves. It was fast and furious. Others came from the house to fight as well. Stef was frozen as she watched Phobos fight for her.
He was lethal. He was brutal. But, she was no longer bothered by it. It was the people that threatened her that needed to fear him. Not her. He was impressive and he was hers. She held on to that, desperate to not think about who Phobos was fighting. She couldn't let the panic overwhelm her.
Hold on to Phobos. He is your hero. Don't look at anyone else.
But, the courtyard was so small that Phobos had not realized that he was backing up to the gate. No! Stef could see the Ice Giants behind him.
How could she help? She couldn't get there in time. With no other choice, she dug down, deep inside.
Bring down my walls. Give over to the power. Let the walls down damn it. Why isn't this working?
She couldn't lose him. Then she remembered the way Phobos kissed her after their failure of a date. The look on his face when she took his hand in Sanctuary and didn't reject him. The way he smiled at her in the mornings when she woke up, cranky and a complete mess. The sound of him calling her his goddess. She just wanted to be his. And she let go of everything to be his.
In that moment, the dam broke. Her powers flooded through her body and she lashed out with everything that she had at the Ice Giants who were trying to drag Phobos away. They went flying backwards.
Her body trembling from the rush of power that she did not know how to use, she dropped to her knees. Phobos looked at her through the windows. Then flashed to her side.
"How?" He looked her over to make sure she was not hurt.
Her lower lip trembled. "I couldn't let them take you." Tears rolled down her cheeks.
Phobos pulled her against him.
Then they heard the deep yelp of an injured animal. The fight finally stopped. Stef looked up to see that all of the people she knew were still standing, but at their feet was one of the black wolves. The Ice Giants and the other wolf were gone.
Stef wiped the tears from her face as she tried to stand. But, her knees buckled and she started to fall. Phobos caught her held her in his lap.
As everyone made their way into the house, Stef saw that several people were bloody. Her heart broke for those who were hurt protecting her. How could she let them risk so much for her?
"Who died?" Phobos asked Deimos as he walked their mother into the house.
"Hati. What in the hell happened here?"
Phobos took a deep breath. "Stephanie managed to unlock her powers on her own and used them to push those Ice Giants back. The drain of it so quickly has left her a bit weakened."
Alekto scowled. "It was you that pushed them back?"
Stef nodded.
"And you saved Phobos?"
"He was the reason that I was able to tap into my powers. I couldn't lose him."
Alekto looked her over. "You are not as strong as the other one. What are you?"
Zeth answered. "She is my daughter. So, if you insult her again, you won't just have your sons to worry about."
"Watch it Skotus." The goddess snarled. "I don't take threats lightly."
That flamed Stef's anger. "No, you just take your children lightly. Damn woman, what is wrong with you that you can only think about whether or not they are at risk of being weak, but not see their strength?"
"Stephanie…" Phobos started.
"Don't Stephanie me baby. This is ridiculous." Stef weakly climbed out of his lap the face the goddess. "My father, who just found out that I am his daughter less than a week ago, has more loyalty to me than you do for sons that you gave birth to! And I suppose that your grandchildren will be what? Invisible problems you won't acknowledge?"
That slapped the goddess in the face. "Grandchildren? You are pregnant?"
Stef was stunned. "Is she serious?" She looked at Phobos.
Deimos groaned. "I told you about this three months ago mother."
At that point, Jenna waddled her way into the hallway. "Seriously, what happened when I was asleep. I see everyone cleaning up wounds and no one woke me?" Jenna stopped dead in her tracks as she saw Alekto. "Exactly how long was I asleep?"
Alekto's eyes were wide. "But, you said you lost your baby." She accused Jenna.
Jenna rolled her eyes. "That was over a year ago. I am now six months pregnant with Deimos's son. His name is Alcander." Jenna placed a hand on her stomach.
Stef was very confused. But Phobos stepped in behind her to wrap his arms around her waist. His strength and warmth soothed her. And he kept her from falling again as her knees still did not want to work right.
Jenna took a deep breath. "Look, Alekto. I get that you have a crap ton of anger to process. And I know that you want to care for your sons, but don't know how to get passed the anger to show it well. But, they need you to try to be their mother. I would really like it if you could be our son's grandmother. As I am sure Stephanie would whenever those two get around to having children of their own."
Alekto looked at her sons and took a deep breath. "I am sorry for causing problems tonight. I just don't want to lose my boys. When a god is weakened, their enemies come out of the woodworks, and you two have a lot of enemies. You girls promise me that you won't hurt them."
Stef looked at Phobos. The problem is that she already had hurt him. How could she promise that she won't accidentally do that again? "All I can promise is that I never want to see him hurt either. Especially by you. So, don't you dare think of having him beat because of me. I may not be strong or anything yet, but I will stop at nothing to protect the man that I love."
With a nod. Alekto flashed from the house.
Applause erupted from the rest of the household who all stood around and watched the scene.
Acheron laughed. "Damn, that was worth money. Alekto always has been a bitch."
"You boys chose your women well." Fury added. "It all reminded me of Vane's mate going after our mother."
"And now that your powers are unlocked Stef, we can really start your training. Let's get you moved the the Vanishing Isle as quickly as possible." Zeth said.
Phobos nodded. "I definitely like that idea."
"Me too. I would like to be able to sleep next to my wife again, before the baby is born." Deimos grumbled.
"What are you whining about? You see her every night in your dreams anyway." Phobos questioned.
Deimos hit him. "It's not the same and you know it."
Ramsey whined. "I seriously don't want to hear about it."
"Right!" Zeth chimed in.
Stef was still very tired from the power drain earlier. So, Phobos helped her upstairs and into bed. He changed into his pajama pants and laid in bed while Stef curled around him so that her head was on his chest. His fingers ran through her hair and over her shoulders.
"Stephanie, did you really unlock your powers just to save me?" He asked.
She looked up at him. "Of course."
"How? I mean, it is so hard to consciously choose to unlock your powers. Most immortals are born with their gifts and grow into them, or have them given to them fully opened. Those that do have their powers locked typically can't do it until they have a moment of physical release, such as being close to death or intense intimacy."
She rolled so that her chin was resting on his chest while she looked up into his electric blue eyes. "I don't know. You are my intense intimacy." She smiled then took a breath. "I saw what was happening and I couldn't lose you. So, I tried to force myself to let go and it didn't work. So, I just thought about you. The feel of you." She ran her fingers through the coarse brown hairs of his chest. "The taste of you." She nipped at his milky skin. "The sound of your voice saying my name. The way you defended me to your mother. I chose to let go of myself and give everything to you."
Phobos was stunned. To truly choose to give yourself to someone else in such a deep level, it took intense courage and trust. That kind of trust was so profound that it was almost unheard of. And to do it when she was physically protected, while she watched him in his bloody and violent element? It was mind boggling to the god.
Tears pricked the back of his eyes. "I love you Stephanie."
"I know baby. You show me that ten thousand times a day." Then she nuzzled back into his embrace. She kissed his chest. "And I plan to show you just how much I love you, every day for the rest of our lives."
Phobos held her close as she drifted to sleep. Thoughts of everything she said and did, still racing in his mind. He never could have imagined a more euphoric feeling than knowing that she loved him so deeply, even knowing exactly who he is.
Kol was on a rampage. Those bastards killed his brother.
This was no longer just about getting Lucy's daughter back. He was going to take her and then kill every single Greek god he could get his hands on for this outrage.
"Bard!"
The giant hesitatingly entered the room to face Kol.
"Do you remember exactly where my father and grandfather are right now?"
Bard lowered his head submissively. "They are bound."
Kol snarled. "They are not just bound. They have been bound for centuries. Damn, the gods killed my uncle and used his entrails to bind my grandfather down with a serpent above him dripping acidic venom. His only relief from the torture of it burning his flesh is that his wife actually stays to collect the venom in a bowl to protect him as long as possible. But, when ever the bowl needs to be dumped out, he is burned again. And because his wife is the one collecting it, he has her there to arouse him constantly and yet she is too busy to please him."
Bard swallowed at the thought of such torture. But, he remained quiet.
"If you don't find me a way to get the girl. I will make Loki's torture seem like a day at the park. Am I clear?"
Bard nodded and left to try anything to get his hands on the demigod.
Kol winced as he felt the image of his aunt shimmer into the room behind him.
"So, this is who I have been relying on?" Hel questioned him.
Kol snarled at the goddess. "Go back to Hel and leave me alone to work."
She remained calm as she always was. She had a demeanor that reminded Kol of someone from a psych ward, seriously depressed and withdrawn, and right on the edge of being pushed too far. But they are too unpredictable to try temping that final push.
"Yes, I can see that you have everything under control. That is why your brother is dead."
"Well you know that you are more than welcome to come out here and help."
She arched a brow at him. "Just remember, nephew, that I control the final piece to this puzzle. I have Morginne. Once you have a child, we will feed the child to the Dark Huntress and let the blood infuse her. Then with my magic, it will reunite her blood with her soul that Artemis still keeps. That is the only way to get the mixed blood to Olympus without alerting the Olympians. Only then can you attempt to kill them all."
Skoll was really starting to hate this damn prophecy. But deep down, he didn't care. He wanted the girl and he wanted to kill the Greeks. He no longer cared about what happened after that. No matter what Hel wanted. The dumb bitch actually thinks that Baldr is in love with her and will make her his queen when he is resurrected after Ragnarok. Please.