Free Alex Anderson The Last Son of Zeus by Sevan Paris

A miserable human child! A--"
     
    "Demigod."
     
    Hera blinked. "A-a what?"
     
    "A demigod, wife. He's not just any child. Like Herkuleas , Persueas and the others before them, this is an actual demigod. Possibly even a Titan."
     
    The children looked at one another. Hera smiled. "You have just sealed your fate. The others were not entirely convinced this was the right course of action until you foolishly spoke just now."
     
    "Well, this might change their minds." Zeus threw a lightning bolt at Hestia.
     
    She exploded, stunning most of the gods in the alley, but not all.
     
    The people of Athens heard thunder several more times that night before Zeus died.
     

BOOK THIRTEEN
    THE LATE TALK
     
     
    Alex woke up and saw his mother staring at him.
     
    "Mom?"
     
    "Yeah."
     
    Alex looked at the clock. It was 3:30 in the morning. He wanted to ask her what was wrong. Why was she sitting on the foot of his bed staring at her like something out of an Alfred Hitchcock movie?
     
    Then, he remembered his fucked up day.
     
    He remembered Zeus, he remembered the baldy at the door, he remembered the Minotaur (and finally remembered its name), and most importantly, he remembered his mom had been lying to him for his entire existence.
     
    Alex though of several things he could say to his mother. None of them were pleasant.
     
    " Here. " She extended her hand in the darkness.
     
    Alex hesitated for a moment then reached out. She placed two objects in his hand. Both were made out of plastic, one was hard, the other soft and flimsy. It was the smell that made Alex identify them. "Cigarettes and a lighter?"
     
    "I've been smoking for ten years. Never told anybody till tonight."
     
    A silence passed. Alex thought she was grinning.
     
    "I didn't have a way to explain it to you. By the time you were five, you would think it would get easier, but it got worse. I hadn't had straight sex since I was seventeen, and somehow I had a kid. Not knowing why or how, I was going crazy." She sniffed. "And I couldn't tell anybody, y'know ? People who knew I was gay wouldn't believe I had sex with a guy. People who didn't know I was gay...it was just hard to deal with."
     
    "That's when he came back to me. Ten years ago. He told me who he was and what he had done. I thought he was crazy. I actually started to call the police until I saw him change into her." She sniffed again. "So, when I saw him turn into her right there in my living room, I went from thinking I was going crazy to knowing I was crazy. He managed to calm me down and explained everything to me again."
     
    "Why did he come to you?"
     
    "Something about liking my ass."
     
    "No, I mean, the second time. Why did he come back?"
     
    "He kept watching me, he said. He saw what not knowing was doing to me. He wanted me to know for my sake. And I think for yours."
     
    "Did knowing make things better or worse?"
     
    "Better. I still had to hide everything, but at least I knew what I was hiding."
     
    Another silence.
     
    She put her hand on Alex's foot. "I never meant to hurt you, Alex. I didn't. I just didn't know how to tell you. I didn't have any proof and I...I just didn't know how."
     
    "Okay. But I know now. And you know I know, so no more secrets." Alex put the cigarettes and lighter back in her hand.
     
    "Fair enough."
     
    "Did he ever show you anything? Like, some of the other gods?"
     
    "No, I wanted to. I asked him. I thought I deserved it. But he said it was too dangerous. He told me about them though." The gentle hand on Alex's foot turned into a grip. "Did something happen?"
     
    "Nope. We just met. That's all."
     
    "Well, what did he say?"
     
    "Pretty much what you just did, without the details."
     
    "That's all?"
     
    "Yeah."
     
    "Alex, I think I deserve a little more than that."
     
    "Mom, what do you want me to say? He came to me, told me I was his son, I freaked out; he told me not to freak out. He told me he wouldn't let anything bad happen to me, we sang