Ares

Ares POV

I knew this was part of that kid's prophecy—the nepheline who dropped from the sky looking just for me. Elara had questions I needed to answer fully and honestly. Deep down I knew I couldn't leave anything out, despite desperately wanting to. This would break her heart, with no good coming of it, but I also knew worse would happen if I didn’t tell her.

“Your mother did something horrible, and in turn, so did I,” I admitted, remembering how I killed her with Elara in my arms. “She made you without my consent, taking something from me that almost killed me…that did kill me internally. When I saw her again, I took it back and more. I took you, and I killed your mother, Elara.”

Her eyes stabbed my heart as they misted with tears, now haunting me with how eerily similar they were to her mother’s. A few slid down her cheek, but her eyes never left my own. She was trying to understand, trying to process everything I had just told her. There was no preparing her for the truth. The tr